Surrey Chambers Magazine issue 5

SURREY CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE

The Official ofGCommerce M Surrey Chambers A AMagazineZ

DON’T FOLLOW THE CROWD Follow the Investors

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Issue 5 - Oct/Nov 2017 N E

45 MILLION AND COUNTING Exclusive interview with Gatwick Airport CEO, Stewart Wingate THE PRESIDENT’S AWARDS

INFINITI AND BEYOND

Nissan’s luxury brand

THE WORLD OF MERCEDES-BENZ

CHRISTMAS PARTIES Where to go - and how to make them tax-efficient

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Big, small, techy, traditional, light, heavy, established, growing, merging.

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Issue 5 - 2017

A word from the CEO It has been an exciting month at Surrey Chambers of Commerce with the launch of new services, some celebrations, news of some key events, and meetings with overseas businesses.

Celebrations locally I was very privileged to be invited to afternoon tea at The Lightbox, Woking to celebrate their 10th anniversary. The Lightbox gallery and museum in Woking is one of the most exciting cultural spaces in the South East. For those of you walking around Woking recently, you may have noticed some slightly oversized models of people. If you go along to the Lightbox you will be able to see the rest of sculptor, Sean Henry’s, stunning collection of fully proportioned but over or under-sized figures. The attention to detail is awesome and the fact that Sean was born locally makes it even more special.

Mentoring At Surrey Chambers we have recently launched a mentoring programme pilot offering 10 mentors and 10 mentees the chance to take part in three workshops as well as being paired for five sessions with an appropriate mentor or mentee. Created and delivered by two of our members, Marina Dieck and Nick Allsopp, who are both experienced professionals and qualified coaches, this promises to provide a fantastic opportunity and we still have a few spaces to fill.

Selling to major organisations There are two brilliant opportunities coming up where local businesses can meet with the big local companies with a chance to pitch for business. Each of these have been driven by the major airports in our county, Heathrow and Gatwick but open the doors to many more buyers. Gatwick Diamond Meet the Buyers will take place on the 18th October and The Heathrow Business Summit takes place on 8th November. Both are unique opportunities for SMEs to connect and trade face to face with large companies including the airports and their supply chains.

Beyond our boundaries It is quite difficult to talk about the world of business and not mention ExportSurrey, which encompasses the services we provide to exporters and potential exporters. We help nearly 300 businesses a year to safely deliver their products to their final destination because we make sure they have the correct documentation. We introduce businesses to Chambers overseas and recently I met a high-level Finnish business delegation in London, and whilst here the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), and the Finnish Chambers of Commerce (Kauppakamari) jointly called for UK and EU negotiators to minimise trade barriers - and prioritise shared economic ties beyond Brexit. Alongside BCC we continue to work to get businesses the best Brexit outcome.

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 Directors: Maarten Hoffmann maarten@platinumbusinessmagazine.com Tel: 07966 244046

Head of Design: Amanda Harrington Travel Editor: Rose Dykins Sub Editor: Kate Morton Food Editor: Amanda Menahem Photographer: Sarah Walker-Bennett Motoring Editor: Maarten Hoffmann

Ian Trevett Ian@ platinumbusinessmagazine.com Tel: 07989 970804

For editorial and advertising enquiries email lesley@platinumbusinessmagazine.com

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PLATINUM PUBLISHING

Website: www.platinumbusinessmagazine.com

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

Advertising Director: Lesley Alcock Tel: 07767 613707 lesley@platinumbusinessmagazine.com

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Welcome

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At a Glance 6

Policing Surrey

THE BIG INTERVIEW

7

Chambers President

8

Member News

STEWART WINGATE

16 Partridge Muir & Warren

The Gatwick Airport CEO on the growth of passenger numbers and the effect of Brexit

18 Stewart Wingate

14 NatWest - Economic Update

22 Wilkins Kennedy 24 Haines Watts

INTEREST RATES ON THE UP?

25 Herrington Carmichael

Read the verdict of Sebastian Burnside, Senior Economist for NatWest

26 DMH Stallard 28 Morrisons Solcitors 30 Shadow Foundr

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32 New Members DON’T FOLLOW THE CROWD

35 Should you be a School Governor?

Why crowdfunding can work… if you follow the investors

37 Branding - Farrow Creative 38 Meet the Buyers 41 Event Sponsorship

22+ 48

CHRISTMAS PARTIES

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OAKLAND

Where to hold your party - and how to make the most of the tax breaks

42 Business Travel - Oakland 47 Woking Means Business 48 Christmas Parties 55 President’s Awards 56 Surrey Youth Clubs

Business guide to San Francisco’s ambitious neighbour

57 New Heathrow Office 58 Chamber Events 60 Motoring - Infiniti Q60S 63 Motoring - Range Rover Evoque 66 Mercedes-Benz World

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INFINITI & BEYOND Review of the Q60S - Nissan’s upmarket marque

69 Golf Society 70 Business Funding 71 Chamber Helplines 72 Anger Management 74 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.

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Policing Surrey

RAVING ABOUT SECURITY David Munro, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey

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ou may have seen in the news recently one of the more unusual incidents Surrey Police had to deal with when officers were called to an illegal “office rave” in Dorking.

traditionally signals a rise in burglary offences across the county and elsewhere and business premises are by no means immune, particularly those where expensive goods or equipment are stored.

Hundreds of young people had gained access to a vacant office block in the town late on a Saturday night for what was described as an “unlicensed music event”.

Commercial burglary can bite hard. Reports suggest the average cost of a burglary to a small business is around £4,000 which could be potentially devastating, particularly for smaller firms.

The police did a great job in swiftly taking charge of the situation and dispersing the crowd, but sadly damage was caused to a nearby park in addition to the disruption for local residents.

Although this was one of the more unconventional police call-outs, it does bring a timely reminder of the need for all businesses, large and small, to think about security.

Whilst it is unlikely that a large group of young people will descend on your premises for a party, businesses are unfortunately a regular target for criminals.

With the emergence of issues like cybercrime, it can be easy to become complacent about some of the more obvious threats.

We are approaching the time when the clocks go back at the end of October which

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There is some useful advice available on the Surrey Police website which will help businesses of all sizes to secure their premises against intruders and protect itself from crime.

In terms of access to any offices or buildings, organisations are advised to only give master keys to trusted members of staff and if any keys are lost - to immediately change the locks. For high security areas, push button combination locks are recommended with the codes changed on a regular basis.

If you have CCTV, make sure it is fully effective and store the equipment in a locked cabinet. Face a camera towards the doorway to get clear head and shoulder images, ensure the time and date settings are correct and save any recordings for at least 31 days before deletion.

Properly approved, monitored alarm systems with police response are strongly recommend along with making sure security lights are positioned and working properly.

Consideration to leaving some lights on or using a timer to give impression that someone is there 24/7 is also advised.

Other tips include keeping as little cash as possible on the premises, siting tills way from the entrance and exit doors and leaving them empty and open at night and locking away valuable items such as tools when not in use.

In addition, keep doors and windows shut and locked, never leave reception desks unattended, search your premises before leaving and consider using permanent property marking on expensive equipment along with signage warning of their presence.

More detailed advice can be found at: https://www.surrey.police.uk/advice/ protecting-your-business/.

These are quite simple steps to take and I would suggest anyone running a business in Surrey refreshes their memory by having a look. It might just prevent your workplace becoming a potential crime scene.

President’s Column

A WORD FROM OUR PRESIDENT Introducing Yvette Etcell

B

y way of an introduction, I joined Gavin Jones Ltd (Landscape construction & Grounds Maintenance contractors) in February 2003 and shortly thereafter was asked to research the SCC and to consider corporate membership.

With the demise of BusinessLink, there was a definite gap in terms of where we could go for help and support as we grew and developed our business and The Surrey Chamber quickly became the go-to organisation for us after we became members in 2006.

organisation. Engagement is key.

As a result of my “get-involved” mentality, I have enjoyed time on the Surrey Chamber Council since 2011, before being invited to join the Board in 2013. In recent months I have acted as Vice-President to Frankie and, with Louise’s “encouragement”, I have now been nominated as President.

I should just like to conclude by saying I am truly honoured to be involved with Surrey

Chamber and through them with the British Chamber of Commerce; I look forward to my tenure as President, working with my fellow Board Directors in support of Louise and her team and to meeting many of you at future events!

Yvette Etcell President, Surrey Chambers of Commerce

One of my early requests for recommendations of local legal firms resulted in us striking up a working relationship with Herrington Carmichael – a relationship which continues to thrive to this day. One of my first event invitations was to the final of Young Enterprise at Surrey University, and so impressed was I with the energy and enthusiasm of the youngsters that Gavin Jones has continued to support YE over the years with both sponsorship of prize money and Business Advisers.

In 2009 I was appointed to the GJ Board as Director, Business Development & HR – the first female in the Boardroom at GJ and quite a rarity in our industry!

During our membership of the Chamber myself and other members of staff have been given the opportunity to speak at events, attended seminars, breakfast briefings and tutorials on numerous current business topics, been to lots of networking and social events, and I was even invited to a roundtable meeting at Number 11 with the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, which enabled me to present our pressing concerns relating to regulation compliance requirements post-Brexit.

As with any membership organisation, the best benefits are derived from active participation. I am a steadfast believer that you only get out what you put in, and that if you pay for a membership, it is important to ensure value – and the only way to do that, is to get involved in the direction of travel of the SURREY CHAMBERS

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News

MEMBER NEWS RETREAT FOR SUCCESS Tricia Woolfrey of A-HEAD for Success, has launched an initiative to help overworked and overwhelmed people get back on track. The initiative is a retreat to help people feel empowered, engaged and ready to face any challenge with a sense of flow and balance.

The Time Out Personal Retreat is for those who want to: • Unwind • Offload • Develop stress-resilience • Acquire new perspectives/skills • Create clarity • Establish a clear way forward • Regain control “Taking care of people is taking care of business,” Tricia explains. She has road-tested the concept which yielded the following feedback: “I had serious brain fog in my very demanding job as a solopreneur. I needed clarity with my business and attempts to do that were always sabotaged by daily demands from myself, my time and energy. I attended Tricia’s retreat and in a perfectly paced couple of days, I was able to sit down and think clearly about where I was and where I was going. The value I received from being able to get that clarity more than covered my investment in many ways.” Wendy Firmin Price Tricia Woolfrey is a consultant, coach, trainer and developer of the A-HEAD for Success 5D Coaching Program, designed for individuals, teams and businesses. She is author of ‘Ultimate Energy: From tired to inspired’. Contact her on 0345 130 0854/www.a-headforsuccess.co.uk

PIMMS O’CLOCK We are excited to announce that Winter Pimm’s Networking is back on Friday 1st December.

Hosted by projectfive, a well-known local IT Support company, this networking event takes place on the heathland at Barossa in Camberley, and is a great opportunity for local businesses to join together to help Surrey Wildlife Trust clear some of the pine trees, to allow the natural heathland-habitat to flourish.

There’ll be time for a spot of informal networking, the chance to enjoy a delicious al fresco lunch, share some mince pies and Winter Pimms, and the best bit? Everyone gets to take home a Christmas tree for free!

Last year’s event was a sell-out with over 150 businesses in attendance, and we expect this year to be even more popular. To book your place visit www.pimms.projectfive.co.uk or call the team on 01276 455466.

HISTORY COMES ALIVE

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The award-winning Guildford Shakespeare Company are bringing the magical Spiegeltent back to Guildford for a brand new stage production of The Legend of King Arthur from 13th October to 5th November.

Be a flamingo in a flock of pigeons

Anon

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SURREY CHAMBERS

This rollicking family adventure contains all the legendary aspects of Arthur including Camelot, Excalibur, the Lady in the Lake and the all-powerful wizard Merlin, guiding Arthur towards his destiny.

Written and directed by Caroline Devlin (Macbeth, King Lear, Henry V), the production will once again feature five actors who will transport audiences to a world of medieval magic.

For the event, GSC are very excited to be bringing back the fabulous Spiegeltent from Belgium, which so enchanted audiences last year. Set in the field at Burchatt’s Farm in Stoke Farm, the Spiegeltent holds 200 people, is fully heated and accessible to all.

For further information on performance times and tickets, please visit www.guildford-shakespeare-company.co.uk

News

POWER HOUSE On Sunday 27th August, Halcyon Offices’ owners James Sheppard and Miles Dobson celebrated an incredible win at their first attempt competing in the Cowes Torquay Cowes Offshore Powerboat Race (CTC).

Their Ilmor-powered Halcyon Connect boat tackled the gruelling 200-mile course crossing the line with an elapsed time of 2 hours 35 minutes 58 seconds and reaching average speeds of 84.03mph.

James from Sussex who throttles the boat and Miles, the driver, from Teddington, have been business partners for 13 years. They bought the Class B boat earlier in the year and have been preparing for her debut over the last few months. The CTC has put the pair in a good position for the forthcoming offshore season which will see them racing in America and attending the Key West World Championships in November.

It is a sensational comeback to the sport for four-time World Champion Sheppard, 50, who most famously had a ‘close shave’ after barrel-rolling his boat during the British Grand Prix in Plymouth 2006, as widely reported at the time on the BBC and South Today show.

Sheppard and Dobson are long-term friends and business partners at Halcyon Offices, Leatherhead, which offer serviced and virtual offices to SMEs. www.halcyonoffices.com

MEDIA MOGULS Guildford based agency Finsbury Media have been hitting the headlines recently with more great client success stories. The Guildford based team have secured gold status in Google’s prestigious ‘New Customer Olympics’ scheme for 2017.

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You’re either at the table or on the menu Al Capone

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The company, founded by New York tech entrepreneur, Carlos Dasilva, has become one of the most successful Google Premier Partner agencies in Europe. They manage lead generation, and specialise in helping clients grow their customer base using their unique Adwords optimisation software.

A CELEBRATION IN STYLE

Paul Squires, one of the team members based at the Jeffries Passage office, has joined the Surrey Chambers to represent the company, and is keen to meet other members.

Hakim Fry Chartered Accountants of Epsom, are celebrating 25 years in practice in 2017 and to mark the event, they held a reception for clients, staff and intermediaries at The RAC Club at Woodcote Park.

Paul said: “Finsbury Media are an incredible company - from humble beginnings we have grown to be major players, generating over 10,000 leads for our clients from our Guildford office last month alone. One of the challenges facing business is marketing and return on investment. It is all about tracking and optimising - when I show clients live campaigns and what we achieve, they are quite simply staggered!”

You can contact Paul on 07415 192898 or email him at paul.squires@finsburymedia.com. www.finsburymedia.com

Senior Partner Nilesh Patel gave an account of the firms’ formative years, along with a tribute to the founding members, whilst highlighting the ethos of the firm - “to help SME’s businesses to grow under the direction of a highly experienced team of individuals”.

He paid tribute to the Hakim Fry staff, both present and past, and was joined by his fellow Partners - Dominic Witham, Lynn Clamp and Sam Lawrence.

As an Epsom based firm they enjoy a unique position of not only advising clients in the UK, but also in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Australia and Japan. Hakim Fry are now looking forward to the next 25 years!

Visit www.hakimfry.co.uk for more extensive coverage of the firm and its services.

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MEMBER NEWS

News

BEAUTY AT ITS BEST Stepping into the elegant new premises of Julia Lampard’s hair salon in Guildford, it’s easy to see why the business has made the move. Julia has taken full advantage of the large, dual-aspect space to create a glamorous, relaxed setting.

The new salon also enables Julia to achieve an aim dear to her heart – by offering privacy to clients who come for the salon’s wig service, set up twelve years ago in her previous premises a stone’s throw away. In a dedicated consulting room with its own facilities for washing and cutting, customers who have suffered hair loss as a result of cancer treatments or alopecia can try on wigs from a huge range of styles. With referrals from a growing list of local and London hospitals, Julia and her team of seven can now accommodate those clients who need a completely new head of hair with just as much comfort as their regular hairdressing clients.

“We want people who are undergoing a personally challenging time to feel 100% safe with us,” Julia says. “We don’t simply supply and fit a wig, we care for the well-being of our clients and try to keep them looking like their normal selves. www.jlwigs.com

CYCLE CHAMPIONS

LOCAL TECHS SHORTLISTED Leading Surrey-based IT Service Provider, ramsac is celebrating being shortlisted as a finalist for SMB Reseller of the Year at the prestigious CRN Channel Awards 2017. ramsac provides customised IT services including network management and 24 hour support, project design and implementation.

The CRN Channel Awards are now in their 24th year and reward excellence and outstanding performance by vendors, resellers and distributors in the IT channel. The ‘SMB Reseller of the Year’ category recognises excellence in the delivery of solutions, service and support to end user customers. The winners will be announced at a gala awards dinner on Thursday 16th November at Battersea Events Arena.

A team from Godalming accountants, Shipleys LLP, recently took part in the Prudential 100 cycle race to raise money for the Oakleaf Charity.

Oakleaf is the only charity in Surrey, working as a social enterprise to provide vocational training for those suffering from mental health issues.

The Prudential Ride London-Surrey 100 is an annual event and starts in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It then follows a 100-mile route on closed roads through the capital and into Surrey’s stunning countryside.

Steve Ryman, Lizzi Gear, Stephen Hume and Alice Ancrum from Shipleys took part in the race and raised an impressive £3,840 for Oakleaf.

Commenting on the team’s performance, Tim Hardy, Partner at Shipleys in Godalming, said: “We are very proud of the team’s efforts in the ride.

As well as tackling the tough terrain, they did a great job raising money for this excellent local charity. It’s a fantastic achievement given many of the team had only recently taken up cycling.”

ramsac’s commercial director, Dan May commented: It’s such an honour to be shortlisted for a CRM Channel award. When we started our business over 25 years ago, we set out to do things differently; we believe in technology being strategically led, jargon free and people focussed. We’ve stuck to these core beliefs from day one, and it’s fantastic to see them being recognised by the IT industry.”

Learn more about ramsac at www.ramsac.com

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I am thankful to all those who said no. It’s because of them that l did it myself

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Albert Einstein

For more information about Shipleys LLP visit www.shipleys.com

SURREY CHAMBERS

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MEMBER NEWS

News

GEORGE AND HIS MARVELLOUS EVENT In aid of local charity George and the Giant Pledge and The Royal Marsden children’s hospital, Hartsfield Manor held their first Family Fun Day on Sunday 16th July 2017.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of over 700 local residents from all around Surrey and West Sussex, the hotel managed to raise over £2750 which will go towards helping families coping with cancer.

The day was packed full of family friendly activities and the adults were all well looked after too with a dedicated Pimms tent, BBQ, hog roast and afternoon tea.

Of course amongst all the fun the real reason for the event was never lost. Young George and his family were welcome attendees on the day and seemed to really enjoy the whole event as a well-earned release from what has been a very difficult time.

George’s mum Vicki said: “The whole event was just what the doctor ordered. Thank you so much for helping support us”.

For more information on the charities or to see what else Hartsfield Manor has coming up contact the hotel on 01737 845300 or visit them at www.hartsfieldmanor.co.uk

READY FOR TAKE OFF

ROSES ARE RED Simon Pennock, an IT entrepreneur, who has invested in two rugby based businesses, Lions Sports Academy and SNAP Sponsorship, is coming to the Rescue of the England Women’s Red Roses.

Following the Women’s World Cup Final, it is anticipated that several of the England Squad will be made redundant due to the RFU deciding to concentrate on Sevens next season and not renew the 15s squad’s contracts.

Pennock’s solution is to offer every woman who is without a job a three-month contract on the same financial terms as the one they had with the RFU, and expects to offer them full time work at SNAP Sponsorship or Lions Sports Academy.

The Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade 2017 has been awarded to Flight Calibration Service Ltd (FCSL) in recognition of its significant growth in exports over the last three years. Representatives of the company have been invited to attend a reception with Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace later this year.

FCSL’s international success has been built on the back of experience gained in the UK, where the company is established as the main flight inspection service provider including, among others, contracts for London Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted Airports.

FCSL is unique in that it has developed and manufactures its own Advanced Flight Inspection System (AFIS). FCSL currently owns and operates six specially modified flight inspection aircrafts with sufficient aircrew and equipment to operate the aircraft simultaneously. Two new aircrafts are being added to the fleet this year and new pilots, flight inspectors and engineers are being trained in anticipation of the company’s continued expansion. www.flight-cal.com

Lions, based in Teddington, gives all young people access to best practice rugby coaching, strength and conditioning, and nutritional advice to help them build confidence and achieve their potential in their chosen sport and career path.

Those players more interested in the strategic and commercial part of sport have the opportunity to work with Pennock’s Guildford based company, SNAP Sponsorship.

SNAP is a leading sponsorship agency, and their lifeblood is securing the viability of grassroots rugby in the UK by helping every club become, or remain, commercially sustainable.

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Don’t cry because it’s over.

Smile because it happened Dr. Suess SURREY CHAMBERS

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Finance

WILL INTEREST RATE TALK TURN TO ACTION?

By Sebastian Burnside, Senior Economist for NatWest

T

he Bank of England wants you to know that it’s thinking of raising rates. Not only the two members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) who voted for rates to rise earlier this month, but also the rest of the committee.

So what’s prompted this change of heart, barely a year after the MPC cut the Bank Rate?

The two most important factors are inflation and the labour market.

Inflation is currently 2.9%, some way above the MPC’s target of 2%. In normal times that overshoot itself would be reason enough to raise rates, but these are far from normal times.

The weakness of sterling has pushed up prices of imported goods, artificially raising inflation. Measures of domestically generated inflation are far weaker, so it isn’t inflation

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today that’s bothering the MPC, but what it expects to happen to prices in the future.

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Average wages today are worth less than they were back in 2008 in real terms, it’s hard to see how raising interest rates is going to help with that

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To understand its fears there you have to turn to the labour market.

Plunging unemployment is obviously a good thing but the recent history of the UK’s labour market has been all work and no pay.

Unemployment is at a 40 year low of 4.3% across the UK, and an even more staggering 3.2% in the South East. And yet the rewards are meagre. Pay growth is barely above 2% and a long way below inflation. This is what the MPC expects to change.

Job growth is so strong that the Bank of England thinks a pay rise is coming. It expects that to turn into inflation in short order, keeping inflation above target long after the exchange rate impact fades. That’s what its forecasts say, at least.

But we have been here before. Mark Carney brought “forward guidance” to the Bank of England. His predecessor, Mervyn King, always refused to talk about what he

might do in the future so Carney’s attempts to guide people’s expectations are still a fairly young experiment. The MPC is careful never to make any promises, but that didn’t stop the Treasury Select Committee comparing Carney’s commentary to an “unreliable boyfriend”.

So will this time prove different? Only time will tell, but it is peculiar that 10 years on from

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Finance

Plunging unemployment is obviously a good thing but the recent history of the UK’s labour market has been all work and no pay.

the start of the financial crisis the MPC should be so keen to pre-empt an acceleration of wages and get in ahead of any domestic price pressure. Average wages today are worth less than they were back in 2008 in real terms, it’s hard to see how raising interest rates is going to help with that.

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THE SOUTH EAST AND LONDON REMAIN THE BEST PLACES TO START A BUSINESS Over half of the respondents to the latest NatWest Entrepreneurship Monitor believe that the South East and London are the best places to start a business. However, across the country only 17% of people think now is a good time to start a business, hitting a record low. The NatWest report also shows the proportion of people wanting to start their own business has dropped from 39% to 14% since the UK voted to leave the EU. The reasons range from less people believing that they have the ability and skills to set up their own business - dropping from 42% to 36%; a feeling that it is too risky – 34%; and fear of failure - 58%.

Encouragingly, young people are much more likely to want to start up their own business. However, this desire is not being turned into action as the ambition gap in young people is almost double that of the general population – 20% compared to 12%. Results show they are also much more likely to perceive barriers to starting up, are concerned more about risk, failure, accessing start-up money and not having the right skills.

Against this backdrop, and two years on from the hugely successful launch of the Brighton Entrepreneurial Spark hub, NatWest has opened the doors of its Regents House innovation centre in Angel to London’s first ESpark hub, the world’s largest free business accelerator. The hub will be home to more than 100 of the capital’s most inspiring entrepreneurs, who will be given free office space and facilities, business advice, entrepreneurial enabling support and access to business and support networks.

Gordon Merrylees, NatWest’s Head of Entrepreneurship, Alison Rose, NatWest’s CEO of Commercial and Private Banking, Lucy-Rose Walker, Entrepreneurial Spark CEO and Ross McEwan, NatWest and RBS CEO

SURREY CHAMBERS

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Discover how to

protect your wealth Simon Lewis, CEO at Partridge Muir & Warren, gives tips on protecting your wealth.

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SURREY CHAMBERS

www.pmw.co.uk

Grow and protect your wealth

M

aking your wealth work effectively for you has never been more challenging. As we see it, you are under siege from a number of directions. Firstly, it is an inescapable fact that tax revenues will need to rise as the population becomes older. The tax burden on those of modest wealth has increased substantially during the last 10 years and it seems likely that this will be a continuing trend. If your financial means are greater than the UK average, it might be worth remembering Benjamin Franklin’s quote that: “democracy is like two wolves and a lamb deciding what’s for dinner.”

Of course, if a society is to work effectively, everyone should pay their fair share. However, political expediency often trumps fairness when it comes to the priorities of Parliament, so if you do not want your hard earned wealth dished up for the benefit of others, it makes sense to take advantage of legitimate measures to prevent you from being exploited by the less fair aspects of the UK tax system.

There are many opportunities to optimise the tax efficiency of your financial plan and these extend to the use of investments and pensions as well as wills and trusts; so there are actions for everyone to consider. I have provided a modest selection of alternatives to get you thinking about what you need to do.

Pensions Recent years have seen a considerable relaxation of the rules that govern the accessibility of pension funds, yet tax relief on contributions remains available at the pension holder’s highest marginal income tax rate. Paying into a pension is a more compelling proposition than ever before, particularly for higher and additional rate taxpayers. However, the new rules also mean that you cannot have ‘too much of a good thing’ so it is important to plan not to exceed either the annual allowance or lifetime allowance, both of which act to restrict the benefit of tax relief for high earners and those with substantial pension pots.

Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) It is now possible to invest up to £20,000 each tax year in an ISA. Some people say that the tax benefit is marginal but when you look at the big picture, the tax benefit can be substantial. For example, we now have many clients who have accumulated ISA funds of over £1 million, simply by taking advantage of their annual allowance every year and investing

the money wisely under our guidance. The benefit of having saved in ISAs (and their predecessor, PEPs) over such a long period is that some clients are saving up to £20,000 a year in income and capital gains tax compared with having saved in the same investments, but outside an ISA. Wills, trusts and estate planning As if we don’t pay enough tax during our lifetime, HMRC has a final bite of our financial cherry when we die. With very few exemptions, inheritance tax (IHT) will consume 40% of the value of an estate in excess of the nil rate band (currently £325,000). Yet this tax liability can be reduced by many methods; for example gifting before death, sheltering money in trusts and pension funds, making charitable bequests and utilising business property relief. It might even be sensible to simply increase your spending.

We are currently using a number of noncontentious schemes that are capable of generating substantial IHT savings.

Modify your investment strategy Although tax planning is important, tax efficiency is less beneficial if the underlying investment return is poor. You might have enjoyed good investment returns in recent years, but much of this has probably been driven by quantitative easing (QE): the widely adopted Central Bank policy of creating new money with which to infuse the financial system.

There will be some painful withdrawal symptoms for financial markets during the unwinding of QE and it is important that you position your existing investments so that your previous gains are not lost.

The first rule of successful long term investment is not to assume that history will repeat itself. The tools used by most financial advisers and investment managers to help them invest their clients’ capital are backward looking by nature. In other words, they prioritise the selection of investments that have already done well and relegate those that have performed poorly. This increases the risk of buying investments when they are over-priced. A good investment becomes a bad one when you pay too much for it.

Get some advice To find out more about how you could structure your financial strategy please come and talk to us. We offer a complimentary, no obligation initial consultation. It is unusual for us not to be able to find at least one thing that you can do to improve your situation, so you have nothing to lose and something to gain.

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The Big Story

FLYING HIGH Brexit or no Brexit, new runway or not, Gatwick Airport is planning for long-term growth, as CEO Stewart Wingate explains in an exclusive interview

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fter years of fielding questions on whether or not Gatwick will get the green light to build the much-needed new runway, Stewart Wingate has found himself being repeatedly asked a totally new question. Quite simply, how has the airport been affected by the result of the Brexit referendum as a key gateway to Europe, Gatwick Airport could be seen a bell-weather for the UK economy in general. So how is business?

has risen by 25% in the last year. In fact, both the rise in cargo and passengers can be attributed to the same dynamic - Gatwick is now attracting more and more long-haul routes - and longer journeys usually means larger planes.

“We’ve never been busier,” says Stewart.

“We publish all of our results every month, and month in, month out we continue to hit new passenger volume records throughout the year and we have increased our connectivity across the globe. Since the referendum we’ve had a very, very busy time and we’ll grow again this winter.”

“Some of our long-haul carriers are having load factors (ie seat sales) close to 95%. The other part of the equation is what cargo can you get into the belly of the aircraft?

Long-haul planes tend to spend longer on the ground for refuelling and cleaning because they’re bigger, which means you have time to load and unload cargo. On the European flights the turn can be just 30 minutes, whereas a long-haul plane might take three to four hours on the ground. It’s a critical

Perhaps even more revealing than the increase in passenger numbers is the remarkable increase in cargo volume, which

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Stewart concurs: “Cargo volume in today’s world tends to follow the long-haul. So if you start having more success in long-haul routes, as we’ve done, then you’ll start to see significantly more cargo activity.

element of the economics of the route.”

One factor in the change of emphasis has been the growth of long-haul low-cost airlines such as WestJet or Norwegian, operating with

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Without capacity, airlines will now have to go and look for the next best alternative, which may be the UK or it may be a different country, or even a different continent.

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the new fuel-efficient Dreamliners: “You can now fly you Boston for £139 or £149, New York for £150, San Francisco will probably cost you £200, Singapore about £300. It’s transformational.”

The Big Story competition at Gatwick and Stansted.”

Seeing as the report was only published two years ago, the forecasts do seem nonsensical.

❝ The other factor according to Stewart is the upgrading of aircraft on other routes: “Earlier this year, EasyJet announced that they were upgrading their fleet order with Airbus to include A321 neos. What’s the significance of this? It roughly means 50 seats more per aircraft. We’ve already seen this with Emirates, for example, going from a 777 fleet, which they had six or seven years ago, to now having a full A380 fleet. The 777s can hold a maximum of 396 passengers, while the A380s can hold up to 853.

“We’ve had such a success on long-haul growth and what you tend to find is, success breeds success and we now have pent-up demand.

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Our commitment is to upgrade the rail station irrespective of expansion. We’d like to see a rail station that’s fit for purpose at Gatwick, as we continue to invest heavily in the airport.

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The Runway Debate Continues Conversations about growth at Gatwick inevitably return to the airport’s campaign for a second runway, which seemingly appears almost impossible after the 2015 report by the Airports Commission opted for Heathrow as it offered greatest strategic and economic benefits. Stewart, however, remains optimistic, partly because the projections for growth at Gatwick, which formed a key factor in the findings, were so far off the mark.

Stewart says: “We have said for years now that the forecasts that have been used to look at this issue are woefully underestimating not only the potential of Gatwick but the actual situation on the ground. With the second runway in 2040, Gatwick would have grown, according to the estimates, to 46 million passengers per year – but actually we’re already at 45 million with a single runway.

Likewise, it was claimed that Gatwick would get to 48 long-haul routes by 2050 with a second runway, but we’re already at 63.

“I understand the forecasts were based on passenger preferences dating back to 2008 which was before the full break-up of the BAA monopoly and the full enablement

The government recognises, when it comes to Brexit, the number one issue that they’ve got to sort out are the rights to fly between the UK and Europe and also between the UK and North America.

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So is the battle between Heathrow and Gatwick still on.? In fact, Stewart advocates a different outcome: “Our position on Heathrow is, let us just compete with them and let them compete with us. The marketplace in London and the South East is big enough for the two of us to have a really good competition and you get more choice overall. I think you will get better value fares for passengers, regardless of whether you’re travelling on business or for leisure. In the post-Brexit world, when we want to reach out to the world, why on earth do we not want to just throw the doors open to the world and have the whole variety of flight options available to residents of the UK. “From Gatwick’s perspective we’ve made clear to the government that we’re available.

As the government themselves said, our scheme is financeable and deliverable, and our investors are quite prepared to go ahead and invest to do it.

“If we did the full scheme it would cost £8 billion but it’s a phasable scheme where we

“When you’re in that situation where you’ve got people who we have courted globally, who we know would like to fly into Gatwick to serve the London and South East market, but we haven’t got a slot, then we are in a frustrating position. As a business person that means you’re in a situation where you can’t actually satisfy the demands of those airlines.

The issue for the region is that those airlines will already have ordered the aircraft because there are long lead times on the aircraft, so they’ll now have to go and look for the next best alternative, which may be the UK or it may be a different country, or even a different continent for that matter.”

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More destinations than any other UK airport

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Source: OAG schedules 2016

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The Big Story can build the first £3 billion’s worth, then the second phase which is a further £3 billion and then we build out the full scheme. It’s a very flexible scheme, and if we do it, it means that we will keep the airport charges to less than £12, which is about half of what Heathrow’s charges are today.”

The Brexit Factor As Brexit edges closer, the travel industry looks on nervously and for Gatwick, the impact will be felt in both the business and tourist sectors. The days of Gatwick being regarded as a bucket and spade airport are long gone. Now one in six users of the airport are travelling on business.

Stewart confirms the increasing trend towards business travel. “We’ve got the likes of British Airways, EasyJet and Norwegian flying from virtually all of the major European cities where you want to go and do trade.

The carriers cater for this market. If you travel Norwegian you’ve got free WiFi on board; if you travel with EasyJet you can have your EasyJet Plus card which gets you through premium security and gives you speedy boarding.

“With an eye to the future when it comes to Brexit, one of the things that our industry is driving very hard is to really push the Brexit negotiating team to get the matter of traffic rights for air transportation sorted out at the earliest opportunity; because whilst we’ve had record-breaking figures since the referendum, what we want to do is to continue that growth.

“I don’t think it’s in the industry’s interests to be alarmist. We’ve had the opportunity to meet, as an industry, with our government and the good news is they recognise when it comes to Brexit the number one issue that they’ve got to grapple with and sort out are the rights to fly between the UK and Europe and also between the UK and North America. With other countries we will put in place bilateral agreements, so nothing changes there. But, of course, these are the two biggest markets, so the issues have to be resolved.

“The thing that the industry has impressed on government is that the lead time for the product that the airlines sell is very long indeed. For example, tickets for planes that fly in the summer season of 2019 will start to be sold as early as the autumn of this year. It’s an issue which is really quite pressing, not just for the UK government but also for the EU side because commitments are being made.

“Our expectation is that it will get sorted out, it’ll be one of a number of issues that, as

and when the negotiating teams get to it, they will have to figure out because surely it’s got to be in the interests not just of the UK but also of the Europeans.

“We haven’t actually Brexited as yet, so when I talk to business people across the area, often the way that it’s characterised in the business community is that Brexit still lies ahead. It’s getting closer with every day that passes, of course, and as it gets closer then the uncertainty attached to Brexit is the thing that can affect business confidence. For certain businesses so far, like the airport, we’ve seen very, very positive statistics and financial performance within our businesses.”

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In the post-Brexit world, when we want to reach out to the world, why on earth do we not want to just throw the doors open to the world and have the whole variety of flight options available?

Future Confidence

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Whatever happens with Brexit and the proposed new runway, Gatwick has the confidence to invest in the future.

“We’ve invested £1.9 billion in Gatwick during my time here,” says Stewart. “I’ve been here just short of 8 years – that’s a heck of an investment that we have made and it’s a heck

of an investment that our shareholders have supported.

“We are now looking at upgrading the railway station to improve the connectivity.

Outside of London, if you just look at the UK to the south of Birmingham New Street, our rail station is the busiest. With seven platforms we really do have a busy rail station and we’re now in quite advanced discussions with Network Rail and the Local Enterprise Partnership in putting together a package which should see about £130 million invested in upgrading the rail station. There will be a bigger concourse area and will see easier access to and from the platforms and the 12-carriage trains that we’ve now got with the upgrades of the rail carriages for the Gatwick Express and Thameslink.

“Our commitment is to upgrade the rail station irrespective of expansion. We’d like to see a rail station that’s fit for purpose at Gatwick, as we continue to invest heavily in the airport. We’ll invest another £1.2 billion over the next five years upgrading the facility – we’d like to put some of our funds to work in upgrading the rail station.

“The keys to success for us are better service levels, continuing the strong levels of investment in the infrastructure so that we get a better built environment for passengers to travel through, and to continue our marketing efforts, not just with the airlines that we currently enjoy excellent relationships with but also with airlines from around the world to try and get the connections to the longhaul routes. That remains our focus and our strategy to deal with the transition.”

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Taxation

LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU Are there tax advantages of client entertaining or staff events? Dave Hedges, Employment Tax Director at Wilkins Kennedy, gives a brief overview…

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is nearly the season for entertaining, both for business and pleasure. If you choose to entertain clients or staff over Christmas, there could also be some tax advantages to be had along the way.

Looking firstly at “business” entertaining, such as lunch in a restaurant or a sporting event. An employee can claim reimbursement of costs incurred, or, their employer may meet the cost directly. There should be no taxable benefit for the employee where an external third party is entertained for a genuine business purpose.

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It is important to establish business purpose and consider the extent to which there is a formal business structure to the event in assessing whether or not a taxable benefit arises

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This sounds relatively straightforward for client entertaining, but what about staff entertaining?

Where there is an annual party or similar annual event which is open to all employees then provided the cost per head does not exceed £150 per attendee, no liability to income tax should arise. This £150 limit includes VAT and all costs associated to the event. Sometimes an employer will provide a second event in a tax year and where this is the case no liability will arise provided the aggregate cost does not exceed £150 per head. Where in combination the two events

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exceed £150 it is usual to exclude the larger and tax the lesser one.

An employer may choose to reward an employee or group with a meal, a trip to a sporting event, or perhaps an activity such as go-karting. Such events are taxable on the basis they are derived from the employment duties. The employer may elect to bear the tax cost on behalf of the employee under an agreement with HMRC. Alternatively it may decide to include the item on a form P11D with the employee then being taxed on the element of the cost attributed to them. In my experience most employers will agree to bear the tax cost directly through a mechanism called a PAYE Settlement Agreement.

Finally, what about that staff conference or away day? Such events must be carefully

considered from an employment tax perspective. It is important to establish business purpose and consider the extent to which there is a formal business structure to the event in assessing whether or not a taxable benefit arises. It is possible to exclude such events but the unwitting can fall foul when it is little more than a reward or thank you event. The agenda and component costs need therefore to be carefully assessed where such an event is being planned.

If you would like some further tax advice relating to claims for your staff or client entertaining costs, contact the tax team at Wilkins Kennedy’s local office in Heathrow and Guildford for more information.

dave.hedges@wilkinskennedy.com

BUDGET BRIEFING EVENT Surrey Chambers of Commerce, together with patrons Wilkins Kennedy LLP Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers, are delighted to invite you to join them for a Budget 2017 breakfast briefing on Thursday 23rd November at Brooklands Museum.

The Chancellor will deliver what will be the first Autumn Budget the day before. To help you understand the changes announced in the Budget, our tax team will take you through the key issues and the impact they will have on businesses and individuals.

As ever, the devil will be in the detail, so we will also highlight anything the Chancellor may not have made obvious in his address to parliament.

Book at www.surrey-chambers.co.uk

Taxation

THINKING OF GIFTING SOMETHING DIFFERENT THIS CHRISTMAS? Company shares are a great way to reward staff. Jemima Jones, Tax Partner at Wilkins Kennedy, explains the tax efficiency of this type of Christmas gift.

I

t feels far too early to be thinking about Christmas, but with the nights pulling in and weather turning colder, it is hardly surprising that our thoughts start turning towards the festive season. For an employer, it can be a time to consider how to reward employees for their service and loyalty to you and your company. More often than not, if you do give your staff something at Christmas, it may well be in the form of a bonus. But what if cash is tight this year? If that is the case (or even if it is not), you might want to consider something a little different.

Share options are a great way to retain key employees and in return they get the chance to share in the future success of the company they work for.

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EMI shares are particularly tax efficient because they can also qualify for entrepreneurs’ relief, which limits the charge to only 10% of the taxable gain.

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One of the most effective schemes, and possibly the most well-known, is the Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme. As well as being tax efficient, EMI share options are very flexible meaning you can include performance conditions, vesting criteria (i.e. the shares can be issued in stages), none of these at all (or both!) and you can choose which employees to grant options to; helping you to retain and motivate your key employees over the longer term.

The big attraction of EMI shares is that at a point in time when the shares are purchased, they are bought at the price set when the option was originally granted, not the current value. So long as the shares under option were granted at market value, there is no tax due on exercising the shares under option.

Not all companies meet the requirements for EMI and employers may not want their employees to pay for shares. In such instances, a popular option is to issue growth shares.

These are particularly suitable for high-growth companies as the shares are usually offered at a low initial price.

In addition, HMRC takes a lenient view when determining the value of privately held shares. New share options can be discounted to reflect factors such as minority interest, so employees can often buy at a surprisingly low price. Add to this the fact that vesting periods can last up to 10 years, it becomes easy to see how, in a growing company, employee share options can become highly valuable.

The range of employee share schemes is very wide and some schemes can be complex to set up. Before you know what is best for your company and its employees, you need to weigh up all the options. But, if you would like to consider gifting something a bit different this Christmas, Wilkins Kennedy can help.

Contact the tax teams at our Guildford and Heathrow offices for more information.

Of course, once the shares have been purchased, any future gains may be subject to capital gains tax. However, in this respect EMI shares are particularly tax efficient because they can also qualify for entrepreneurs’ relief, which limits the charge to only 10% of the taxable gain.

jemima.jones@wilkinskennedy.com Contact details: Guildford office - 01483 306 316 Heathrow office - 01784 435 561

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Inheritance Tax

DON’T LEAVE YOUR INHERITANCE TAX TO CHANCE

By Claire Spinks, Associate Partner, Haines Watts Esher

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nheritance Tax (IHT) is often referred to as an optional tax. So why is it the Government

received a whopping £4.9 billion in IHT revenue last year?

Is it because Inheritance Tax is for so many a forgotten tax, with too few individuals taking time to consciously plan and consider the tax cost of their Estate. Or, is it because of the frequent press coverage alerting us to the pitfalls of tax planning, that many business owners see IHT as an inevitability?

The good news is that legitimate planning can be done to secure your wealth and provide for future generations. However, it takes careful planning to navigate the minefield of allowances and reliefs. For example, over the last number of years the Government proclaimed that individuals would only pay Inheritance Tax (IHT) where their estate exceeded £1 million. Misleadingly this amount applies jointly to married couples. While most individuals are entitled to a tax-free sum (nil rate band) of £350,000 this does not go very far when calculating the value of family homes today.

The current rate of UK inheritance tax is 40% on death, one of the highest in the EU, this means that the final tax burden can be substantial and family members are often required to sell assets to fund the taxes payable.

their spouse, who will have maximised their pension savings, invested in tax efficient investments for income tax and capital gains tax sheltering, will put off tacking their estate planning and perhaps more worryingly - won’t have a current will.

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Planning does not need to involve fancy complex schemes, which will make tomorrow’s headlines. It’s about understanding the tax burden of your estate today and evaluating scenarios that make best use of current legislation and allowances to give you and your family certainty and make the future a little clearer.

The final tax burden can be substantial and family members are often required to sell assets to fund the taxes payable

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In my experience, often the most prudent taxpayer, who will be sharing income with

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Claire Spinks T: 0208 549 5137 E: cspinks@hwca.com Surrey offices in Esher and Godalming www.hwca.com

Legal

INDIVIDUALS AND DEBT The New Court Protocol The Pre-action Protocol for debt claims will have an impact on any business with an exposure to debts due from individuals, says Robert Syms, Dispute Resolution Partner at Herrington Carmichael

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he Pre-action Protocol, which came into force on 1st October 2017, arises from negotiations between creditor companies issuing debt claims, organisations representing the interests of debtors and the needs of the court service to cope with a restricted budget.

The Protocol applies to business-to-business debts where the Debtor is a sole trader, or there is an instance of personal liability, for instance under a personal guarantee.

Any business claiming payment of a debt from an individual will need to adhere to it, unless there is a pre-action protocol already in existence such as in construction and engineering cases or mortgage arrears. Claims being made by Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue for the recovery of taxes are also exempt.

The Protocol has the aims of: a. Encouraging early engagement and communication between parties, including the early exchange of information to help clarify whether there are any issues in dispute. b. Settling claims without the need to start court proceedings, including agreeing a reasonable repayment plan, or use of an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedure. c. Encouraging parties to act in a reasonable and proportionate manner in all dealings with one another. d. Supporting the efficient management of proceedings that cannot be avoided.

The Letter of Claim The first stage of the Protocol requires a business seeking recovery of a debt from an individual to send a Letter of Claim, which is far more detailed than previously required.

There is a prescribed list of information including details of the debt, interest and other charges claimed, the date of any

agreement and if assigned, the details of the original debt and creditor.

The Letter of Claim must also have attached a series of documents including a statement of account showing interest and administrative charges, an Information Sheet, Reply Form and Financial Statement form (all of which are annexed to the Protocol).

The Reply The Reply Form has to be attached to the Letter of Claim and the Debtor is encouraged, (although not obliged) to reply on this Form.

The Debtor should send the Reply Form and, if relevant, the Financial Statement, back within 30 days.

Disclosure If documents are requested by the Debtor in the Reply Form, they must be provided within 30 days, or explanation should be given as to why they are not available. This will undoubtedly become a source of contention, particularly where debts are assigned and the assignees will need to provide documentation from the original lender. Debtors are likely to see a failure to provide documentation as an opportunity to argue that the debt is not owed.

Sanctions

a debtor to complete, seems excessive. For individuals already struggling with their financial affairs, this could be bewildering, particularly if they are under pressure from a number of creditors.

There may be sanctions for non-compliance, but they are focussed primarily upon penalising creditors who fail to adhere to the terms of the Protocol. There are no corresponding penalties for individuals who continue to raise redundant issues.

What does this mean for business?

The Protocol introduces an additional element of risk and expense where debts are due from individuals. There will be increased cost in handling large volumes of these cases, which could be a deterrent for some, or the need to find new ways of passing those costs on.

Comment

The Protocol increases the likelihood of delay with claims against individuals. There is obvious potential for debtors to be evasive in providing financial information. This raises the need for a robust credit profile from the outset, followed by an assertive credit control strategy, to ensure that the exposure to this part of the customer base is properly assessed

The Protocol expects creditors to invest in a significant amount of effort before issue of proceedings which will involve additional cost and process change. The presentation of explanatory information at the outset is welcomed, but the volume of documentation the Protocol requires a creditor to send and

For further information or to discuss the issues raised by this article, please contact Herrington Carmichael’s Dispute Resolution team on 0118 977 4045 or drteam@herrington-carmichael.com

If court proceedings are started, the court will expect the parties to have complied with the protocol. The court has the power to sanction a party who has not complied, which can include reducing or removing any right to costs or interest.

and then managed.

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Legal

THE BUSINESS OF BUY-TO-LET Faye Didcote, Senior Associate at DMH Stallard, explains how buyto-let landlords can avoid falling foul of the law when it comes to their properties.

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esidential property is a popular investment for businesses and individuals alike. Brexit and hikes in stamp duty for buy-to-let landlords reportedly contributed to a reduction in buy-to-let borrowing in the last year. But according to a June 2017 study by property experts at Knight Frank, the private rented sector (PRS) in England will continue to grow, with nearly one in four households expected to be renting in the private sector by 2021.

There has in recent years been a focus on the role of professional institutional landlords in the PRS, including the growth of “build to

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The industry is overwhelmingly made up of small-scale landlords and individual investors. Many will self-manage and we often see PRS landlords falling into the same traps when it comes to managing their lettings.

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rent” developments. However, the industry is overwhelmingly made up of small-scale landlords and individual investors. Many will self-manage and we often see PRS landlords falling into the same traps when it comes to managing their lettings. These can be costly to resolve and may even restrict or delay landlords being able to end a tenancy.

Here we look at three common pitfalls for PRS landlords, how to avoid them and how to get it right. This piece looks at the law as it applies to assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs), although parts may also apply to other types of residential tenancies.

Legal Tenancy Deposits It has been a legal requirement since 6th April 2007 that landlords protect deposits paid by tenants with a government approved scheme. This involves either paying over the deposit to the scheme provider or insuring it with the provider. Landlords are required, within 30 days of receipt of the deposit (or 14 days for ASTs granted prior to 6th April 2012), to protect the deposit and provide the tenant (and any person who paid the deposit on their behalf) with certain prescribed information about the deposit. The prescribed information is set out in legislation and will often accompany the tenancy agreement itself.

Whilst most PRS landlords are aware of their obligation to protect the deposit, providing the prescribed information can cause problems. What many overlook is that, depending on the deposit protection scheme used, it may also be necessary for the landlord to give the tenant a leaflet (supplied by the scheme provider) setting out the operation of the scheme, or the information contained within that leaflet, in addition to the statutory prescribed information.

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Landlords must ensure that they are adhering to the letter of the law or they may face hefty penalties or difficulties down the line when looking to reclaim their property.

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A landlord who fails to protect the deposit in time and/or provide the prescribed information may be barred from serving a notice under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to recover possession of the property (unless the deposit is returned to the tenant).

They may also be liable for financial penalties of up to three times the value of the deposit.

Section 21 is a non-fault based procedure to enable landlords to recover possession without having to prove a ground for possession such as rent arrears or nuisance. It is therefore imperative that landlords check with their scheme providers what the individual requirements of the scheme are and what additional documentation or information needs to be given to their tenants under the scheme. This will help avoid any delays in seeking possession. A landlord who serves the prescribed information late will not be

prohibited from serving a Section 21 notice, but may still face financial penalties.

Deregulation Act 2015 The Deregulation Act 2015 imposed further obligations on landlords to provide tenants with additional information for ASTs granted on or after 1st October 2015, namely a gas safety certificate and energy performance certificate for the property (where applicable) and the government “How to Rent” checklist.

Again, a landlord will be unable to serve a Section 21 notice until this requirement has been complied with. We recommend PRS landlords provide these documents at tenancy sign-up to avoid complications or delays at the end of the tenancy. This requirement will apply to all ASTs from 1st October 2018.

Section 48 Notice Landlords are obliged under Section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 to provide their tenants with an address in England and Wales where their tenants can serve notices on them, including notices in proceedings. Any rent or service charges otherwise due by the tenant will not be payable unless the landlord has complied with this obligation. This causes particular problems where a landlord intends to end the tenancy and take possession of the premises due to rent arrears, because the relevant grounds for possession in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 require rent to be lawfully due from the tenant. The notice required under Section 48 can be included in

the tenancy agreement itself, but if a separate notice is served this should be properly recorded to avoid any later dispute.

Summary Despite the significant role played by the PRS in providing housing, the PRS continues to be heavily regulated, often at the expense of small private landlords. Such regulation was compounded in February 2016 when new duties were imposed on PRS landlords to carry out immigration checks on new tenants and occupiers of their properties, with criminal offences and fines applicable from 1st December 2016 for those who fail to do so and let their properties to persons disqualified from renting in England due to their immigration status. Landlords must ensure that they are adhering to the letter of the law or they may face hefty penalties or difficulties down the line when looking to reclaim their property.

This is not an exhaustive list of the pitfalls for PRS landlords and the problems they may face when dealing with their lettings, and PRS landlords who need advice on their legal obligations should always speak to a specialist solicitor. DMH Stallard have a dedicated team dealing with landlord and tenant law, who give advice to PRS landlords on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious issues, including tenancy agreements, possession claims and statutory duties. For more information please contact Faye.Didcote@dmhstallard.com.

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Workspace Design

MOVING FORWARD Why Morrisons Solicitors have invested in a new headquarters…

Studies show that companies who invest in providing a comfortable and positive workspace receive a significant boost in creativity, morale, motivation, and teamwork, as well as having a positive impact on the wellbeing of the team.

Paul Harvey

These gains can have a significant impact on the company’s ability to attract and retain talent, as well as having a huge knock on effect on the service they provide to clients In the summer of 2016, Morrisons Solicitors commenced a project to find a new space for their head office in Redhill that reflected the firm that they had become – a modern, forward thinking law firm.

Ross Wilkinson

Morrisons chose to move into a brand new, state of the art building in Redhill called Prospero, and they engaged with a leading office design and build business to create the office.

PBM caught up with Paul Harvey, Morrisons’ Managing Partner, and Ross Wilkinson, WorkPlace Creations’ Managing Director, at Prospero.

How would you describe the move to Prospero?

both in terms of our strategy and vision for the future, and also our personality.

Paul Harvey (PH): I think it’s a real statement about the type of firm that we are. Our clients confirm that we provide an outstanding service and high quality advice to them, but the presentation may have been slightly lagging behind and this move enables us to bring these elements into alignment.

I’ve always held the belief that delivering excellent service begins internally. If you have a happy, engaged and committed team, those

What was the most important consideration when a choosing a new home?

PH: Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, location. We have had our HQ in Redhill and Reigate for almost 300 years and we remain committed to the businesses and residents in the area.

Secondly, we recognised that we needed a space that allows us to service the needs of our clients but also reflects who we are as a firm,

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qualities will be projected outwards naturally – both through the quality of the work we do, and the way in which we deliver that work.

Teamwork is a really big part of our culture, it’s integral to everything do. Moving from an office spread over 3 floors to being on one floor will improve collaboration on a day to day basis.

What features are included in the new office?

PH: Firstly, for our clients and visitors, we wanted to be agile in the way in which we can engage and communicate with them – whether that’s face to face in our office, or virtually by video conference.

So in addition to a suite of state-of-the-

art meeting rooms, we have created quiet working pods, and a more relaxed area where both our teams and our clients can continue to work, have less formal meetings, take a call, or just to get a change of scenery.

People spend a significant portion of their lives at work so it was really important to create an environment that makes that time as comfortable, enjoyable and as productive as possible. I strongly believe that the space we have created will inspire and motivate our team to be even better – and that attitude will be reflected externally in the way we deliver our services to our clients.

What was the design brief?

Ross Wilkinson (RW): When I first met with Paul, it was clear he wanted to create a modern and agile working environment, and to break down some of the barriers between departments, teams, and clients – a space where everyone can collaborate and share facilities.

Workspace Design But also, the office should be more than just a place to work – it should be fun, it should be exciting, and it should be a space of social interaction.

Being able to support a healthy work-life balance and the wellbeing of the teams was also key. So in addition to spaces where people can get away from their desks, the building has shower facilities, changing rooms and bike racks that help Morrisons promote a healthy lifestyle and more options for getting to and from work.

Paul wants his team to be proud of working at Morrisons, and turn round to clients, friends and family and say “I am working for a great company” - and that creates business opportunities as well.

What influenced the design of the specific areas?

RW: First impressions. We wanted the first thing you are met by when the lift doors open to be a modern, professional and welcoming look and feel. We didn’t want the reception to be just a waiting area; it should be a place where you could also use to have a brief informal meeting with somebody, if it wasn’t a sensitive topic.

In addition to a suite of excellent client meeting rooms, we also created a combined client and staff café area. So if you are a client and you are early for a meeting, or you need to do something before you head home, you can use this space to log on, have a coffee and do what you need to do before heading off.

The client then sees Morrisons for what Morrisons represents - a transparent and welcoming business, with a team of people who are passionate and enthusiastic about what they do.

In the open plan office area, the key design feature is the spine, which runs straight through the middle of this area. The spine is an “enabler” that staff can access from either side. This provides a shared space that eliminates duplication of office facilities, and provides easy access to centralised services.

We have also integrated a video conference facility at the far end in an internal meeting room, and a training area that can also serve as a hot desk area for staff visiting from other offices.

The other thing I would say is that we have tried architecturally to use the framework of the building to reinforce the Morrisons brand.

And that’s not just using corporate colours and logos throughout, but it’s about making statements about the business, the core values, and the vision.

This gives everyone an understanding of who the firm are by telling them that this business has structure, it’s got a vision, it’s got ambition, and it values its people.

Finally, it’s not just about what we create on the inside. Prospero has been designed to a supreme standard of sustainability, including electric car charging points. Internally, everything that we have done in this space has been with sustainable products - and that’s been really important in all of our considerations.

What are your thoughts on the completed project?

PH: I love change, I love innovation, I love moving forwards, I’m very ambitious for this firm and it’s been a really exciting project for me. I think this is just the start of the next phase in our development as we continue to grow, to expand upon the services that we provide and to attract the best quality lawyers.

RW: From our point of view it’s quite a sad day because we are coming to the end of something that we have created. The best projects are when clients take a proactive approach in delivering a project. The Morrisons team have been involved throughout and as a result, we finished the project on time, on budget and we have created a great working environment where everyone is really looking forward to coming in and using the space.

Our success will be measured by everyone using the space and the business continuing to thrive. Morrisons is a great business who I’m sure will grow from strength to strength.

www.morrlaw.com www.workplace-creations.co.uk SURREY CHAMBERS

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Interview

FOLLOW THE INVESTORS Crowdfunding has revolutionised the alternative investment sector

Heath Lansbury

Jason Kluver

and its simplicity is quite seductive. Use the power of the crowd to fund great new businesses and projects. Although it may be fun to invest this way, do you really know what you are investing in?

Rather than follow the crowd, isn’t it wiser to follow experienced investors? Shadow Foundr provides an investment platform that combines an active private investor network with a crowdfunding element. Two of the founders of the business, Jason Kluver and Heath Lansbury, explain to Ian Trevett how the model works.

T

he Shadow Foundr website looks, to all intents and purposes, like a typical crowdfunding platform. You are invited to click on an image of an interesting, growing business, under which is a running total of how much has been invested, plus a percentage figure of how close the business is to reaching its target investment. But never suggest to Jason Kluver or Heath Lansbury that they have a crowdfunding company.

“We’re an investment platform,” corrects Jason, “and we have an offline network of almost 600 seasoned investors. We try and embrace crowdfunding and educate the crowd to invest smartly and wisely into these companies because a lot of the time we’re seeing the crowd just following the crowd, a bit like lemmings, and they’re not really understanding the basic fundamentals of investing into these start-ups.”

Heath adds, “We didn’t want to become a 100% crowdfunding platform because sometimes you can get too automated and in this industry you need to have an offline and an online presence.

“People don’t want to be putting £10,000 into a company without speaking to anyone.

From our previous experience, we learnt that having an offline private investor network adds real value. Our strapline is: “Don’t just follow the crowd, follow the lead of experienced investors”.

“After we conduct our due diligence on an investment opportunity, we’ll put it to the private investor network first,” says Jason.

“If they’re happy with it they’ll invest into it.

Once we reach at least 30% of the investment target, we’ll put it on the platform for the

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crowd to follow, although in almost all cases the investor network will take far more than 30%.”

❝

Our strapline is: “Don’t just follow the crowd, follow the lead of experienced investors”

❞

As the team at Shadow Foundr are seeking initial investment from experienced investors, they have to do their homework and due diligence. In fact, of all the businesses they look at, they typically only take on about 7%.

With such a high bar, it is interesting to ask what Jason and Heath look for in a start-up or

growing business.

Jason replies, “We’re not looking at business at too early a stage. Probably the first and foremost thing that we look for is the quality of the team involved. There are so many young people out there with great ideas for apps and gadgets but they don’t have any commercial experience to carry them through. We look for scalable opportunities. “Generally they’re in the tech and renewable sectors. We’re not looking for a coffee shop chain or craft brewery, although some of those have done very well. We’re looking for opportunities that can be scaled globally or that are truly disruptive.”

“You have a gut feeling,” says Heath.

“Over time our radar has become very finely tuned and we can look at something and within five minutes we’ll know it’s just not for us. We know what our investors like.

Renewable energies are attractive because

Interview risks associated with engaging in investment activity. We also welcome people who have been a member of an Angel Group or an investment group.”

of the government quotas and subsidies. The CleanTech sector is only going to get bigger, and there is a bit of a niche in renewables that can be reached because the banks generally won’t lend to companies in those early stages.”

In some ways the Shadow Foundr team could be compared to the panel on TV’s Dragon’s Den, with businesses looking for investment in exchange for equity - and always the thorny issue of how much the company is valued at. Some of the selfcalculated valuations can be optimistic in the extreme. Heaths takes up the point, “If we don’t challenge the entrepreneur then we’re not doing our job. By the time it gets to our investors, they know that we’ve done our job. The valuation is the key in our sector. If you can’t justify your valuation then we can’t raise the money for you. We are very investorfocused and we get returns.”

lend to the high-risk start-up sector. If we’re going to tap into private money we needed to educate people on tax breaks, covering both the upsides and downsides and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing. Over the last seven years, it’s been a reassuring and nurturing process.”

And they are on the lookout for new investors. Jason says, “To be part of the network there are criteria. You’ve got to be a high net worth individual with £250K of net liquid assets, or you should be certified or self-certified as a “sophisticated investor” as assessed by an FCA authorised firm as being sufficiently knowledgeable to understand the

Over recent years, Shadow Foundr have begun to develop secondary markets on some of their chosen businesses, to allow more liquidity for the investors, though in most cases the investors tend to prefer to keep their investment. One example has been Chayora, which is one of only a very small number of international companies which holds the necessary licenses to build and operate data centres in China. Shadow Foundr have arranged four rounds of funding which have raised £2,153,056. The share price has increased from USD $160 to USD $2000.

To allow investors to cash in, a secondary market was established, but of the 55 private investors, 45 opted to stay with the company as the investors believe it has a very bright future.”

So where next for Shadow Foundr? They have a team of 15 with offices in London, Brighton and Loughborough. Where will they be in five years? “Hopefully on a beach in Barbados!” says Heath. “We are building a brand not just in Brighton, Sussex and South East England but around the UK and eventually, globally.

www.shadowfoundr.com

❝

We’re looking for opportunities that can be scaled globally or that are truly disruptive

❞

On the other side, who exactly are the investors - and are there spaces for more?

Heath answers, “We’ve both worked in the investments sector for a long time and we have built up a good network of contacts. We know a lot of property investors from our last couple of ventures, and although the sector is different, the core principles are the same.

We realised we needed to tap into that private money because the banks weren’t going to SURREY CHAMBERS

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New Members

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

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FINANCIAL SERVICES Swinton Business Insurance Contact: John Cornett Tel: 02380 268539 www.swinton.co.uk

HEALTH & WELLBEING Mount Alvernia Hospital Contact: Kelly Doherty Tel: 01483 442690 bmihealthcare.co.uk/hospitals/bmimount-alvernia-hospital

HOTELS/RESTAURANT/VENUE Mercedes-Benz World Contact: Deborah Hunt Tel: 01932 373803 www.mercedes-benzbrooklands. co.uk

IT & COMMUNICATIONS Modulus Software Ltd (Modulus Retail) Contact: Shiva Kumar www.modulusretail.com Epicor Software (UK) Limited Contact: Nikki Sproson Tel: 01344 468468 www.epicor.com/uk Eagle Radio 96.4 Contact: Emily Spanton-Hay Tel: 01483 300964 www.964eagle.co.uk

LEGAL Jo Humphrey Notary Contact: Jo Humphrey Tel: 07387 57071 www.johumphreynotary.co.uk

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PHARMECEUTICALS Novamed (Europe) Ltd Contact: Jenny Hill 0Tel: 1428 681068 www.novamedeurope.com

RETAIL/WHOLESALE Satelliet UK Ltd Contact: Harvey Ockrim Tel: 01252 541386 www.satelliet.co.uk

TRAINING & EDUCATION Knowledge in Action-BlueBottleBiz Contact: David Jenkins Tel: 07531 075858 www.bluebottlebiz.com

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Education

SHOULD YOU BE SCHOOL GOVERNOR?

‘I

t won’t take up too much of your time,” my children’s genial primary headteacher reassured me as he co-opted me onto the governing body. “Just one meeting per term, and leave the rest to the professionals” – or words to that effect.

It sounded so eminently manageable that morning at the school gate. How could I say no? So why, according to a new report from the charity Governors for Schools, are one in 10 governor posts currently vacant, with the shortfall as high as one in four in some schools in rural and deprived areas?

The answer lies in the gap between promise and reality. The latter, I only discovered once I had my feet under the governors’ table, is that being a governor can take over your life, whether you intend it or not.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t blame the head. Had he asked if I’d take responsibility for appointing his successor, signing off the school budget, overseeing classroom standards, getting involved in tricky safeguarding issues, meeting Ofsted inspectors for a hostile interview which could, if I mucked it up, cost the school a prized “outstanding” ranking, and attending endless training sessions laid on by the local authority to equip me to understand the mountain of statutory responsibilities that sit on the governors’ shoulders, I would obviously have said no.

As for leaving it to the professionals, one of the prime roles of a governor, I quickly learnt, is to do the polar opposite – to be a “critical

friend” to the head, which can cause a good deal of tension.

At best, becoming a school governor is a lottery. Perhaps, in a well-run, high-achieving school, below the radar as far as Ofsted is concerned, with settled staff and committed parents, it could just about be a breeze, all things being even. I’ve never met a fellow governor, though, who has had it that good.

It is baffling that school governors, the largest volunteer force in the country, are invisible to so many people – nationally, in their local authorities and even in their schools.

Why? Most people have been to school, so they know what teachers and heads do – even

if things have moved on since they sat in a classroom. Few will recall seeing any governors, except, perhaps, on a speech day or other awards ceremony. Who knows what governors are for and what they do?

Heads and teachers are salaried professionals, with professional associations to protect and promote their interests. The National College of School Leadership’s remit does not include governors. Governors are volunteers and amateurs – although they are charged with very significant responsibilities which they must carry out professionally. Their representative groups are run on a shoestring.

In any walk of life the professional always has more power and influence than the amateur – and a higher profile.

“The work of governing bodies goes largely unnoticed” according to the University of Bath’s excellent school governance study published in October 2008 (and described in the Nov/Dec edition of School Governor Update). It recommends that “The status of governing bodies should be enhanced, their contribution more widely recognised, and greater publicity given to school governing in all sectors of society especially the business community”.

It does not say how this should be achieved, though.

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Branding

CREATIVE ACCOUNTING We launched Farrow Creative with the strapline ‘Profit by design’. Ten years on and we, and our clients are doing just that – and as official figures show, our industry helps the wider UK economy get ahead, too!

By Sam Farrow

W

e launched Farrow Creative with the strapline ‘Profit by design’.

Ten years on and we, and our clients are doing just that – and as official figures show, our industry helps the wider UK economy get ahead, too! By Sam Farrow The latest roundup of industrial statistics doesn’t normally form a big part of our bedtime reading - and probably isn’t anyone’s idea of a fun time, if we’re honest. But occasionally, sets of dusty graphs, charts and columns of figures reveal a surprising and encouraging picture.

❝

The creative industries generated a whopping £87.4 billion – almost £10 million every hour

million people – and perhaps surprisingly, more than two million of us are based in towns and cities outside London.

The design sector, which includes product and fashion specialists as well as graphic designers like us, is doing especially well, growing by 57% between 2011 and 2016. And that matters because design is a powerful and vital engine for growth in businesses of all kinds. Whether it’s a website or a washing machine, an advertisement or an aeroplane, a newsletter or a nuclear reactor, almost everything every company produces begins with a designer (or team of them) and a blank sheet of paper (or screen). And even though we ourselves often refer to our work as ‘colouring-in’, that self-deprecating description belies the true value we bring to our clients’ businesses.

Our technical skills in areas like typography,

layout, print, photography and digital UX are the ones the world sees and recognises.

But in our book, design only truly works when it achieves a commercial objective. To do that requires imagination and intuition; the ability to think in both conceptual and concrete terms; a willingness to challenge assumptions and preconceptions; the capacity to analyse and interrogate information, make connections and draw conclusions; the agility to apply prior experience and knowledge to new problems and situations; and, above all, taking the time to understand the client’s objectives, and get to know their business and customers almost as well as they do themselves.

The billions may get the headlines. But it’s the thinking behind them that’s the real story – and the part you can’t put a price on.

farrow creative.co.uk

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Take a recent report from our trade body, the Creative Industries Federation (CIF), for example. According to figures from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), the creative industries generated a whopping £87.4 billion – almost £10 million every hour - in 2015, the latest year for which statistics are available. That’s up more than a third since 2010, compared with average annual growth of just 4.3% for the wider UK economy over the same period.

It also means our sector is now worth four times more than the automotive industry, six times more than oil and gas, and almost 10 times as much as aerospace. The creative economy as a whole employs over three

SURREY CHAMBERS

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18th October 2017 THE ARORA HOTEL, CRAWLEY

Don’t just Meet the Buyers get yourself connected The Gatwick Diamond Meet the Buyers Programme brings together Buyers and Suppliers to help each other grow their businesses.

For Buyers, you will have the opportunity to meet new Suppliers of the products and services you need as well as explore ways to solve your procurement issues.

For Suppliers, you will be able to access the kind of businesses you simply cannot reach elsewhere, with face to face meetings with their procurement professionals.

From June 2017, there will be a programme of free Seminars to help you understand how to engage with Public Sector and large businesses that are seeking new suppliers as well as improve your general sales processes.

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Sponsored by

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@GDMeettheBuyers

Business Event

MEET THE BUYERS A Unique Opportunity On 18th October 2017, Gatwick Diamond Meet the Buyers will bring local, regional and national buyers together with businesses from across the region.

W

ith just a few weeks to go, Platinum Business Magazine met with the sponsors, Paula Aldridge of Gatwick Airport, Rosemary French of the Gatwick Diamond Initiative and Lise Sorensen of Crawley Borough Council, to discuss how Gatwick Diamond Meet the Buyers works and how anyone reading this magazine can take part.

How is the 2017 Meet the Buyers different from previous years?

Rosemary French (RF): In previous years, Meet the Buyers has focussed on construction and infrastructure. These sectors are still important and will be represented in 2017, but we are looking to create more opportunities in other sectors.

For 2017, our 17th year, we have introduced 5 separate Zones to reflect different business needs and types in the Region. These Zones are: • Business Services – to include Professional, Financial, Digital, Education • Manufacturing and Innovation • Public Sector and Utilities • International and Advisory Business Services • Construction and Infrastructure

What are the Buyers looking for?

Lise Sorensen (LS): All the Buyers are looking to expand their network of local suppliers to help them cut costs, gain efficiencies and to bring their supply chain closer.

Paula Aldridge (PA): The types of products and services include: catering, environmental, health & safety, and security services. They are also looking for brickwork, groundwork, metalwork, fabricating, fixings, fastenings and fire safety. But the list is almost endless.

How can businesses take part?

LS: To find out if there are matches for you, go to www.

GatwickdDiamondMeettheBuyers.com and complete the online form (Suppliers tab). If we can match you with Buyers looking for what you sell, then you’ll be invited to buy a ticket for the day. Once you’ve paid, we’ll generate your individual Buyer Appointment diary.

RF: Once in the room, don’t just Meet the Buyers, get yourself connected

What else is going on?

PA: We are part way through a series of free seminars that are providing insights for the attendees. These seminars have been very well attended so we urge any of your readers to register now.

There is further information on the website with two seminars taking place after the event itself to help attendees continue with their discussions with Buyers.

RF: I’d just like to say this a fantastic opportunity for so many different businesses to gain access to procurement teams within some of our biggest businesses and we look forward to meeting you on the 18th October.

www.gatwickdiamondmeetthebuyers.com · 01293 813889 · @gdMeettheBuyers

BUYERS TO DATE INCLUDE: • Balfour Beatty • Beard Construction • Crest Nicholson • Kier • Raven Housing • Sunninghill Construction • Thakeham Homes • Willmott Dixon • Airport Facilities (Marco) Ltd • Omniserve • Elekta • Manroy • Thales • Varian • B&CE • Crawley College • Gatwick Express, GTR • Southern Water

Local Authorities including: Crawley, Horsham , Mid Sussex, Croydon and West Sussex County Council, The Home Office

On hand to give you advice: • Business Navigator Service from Coast to Capital LEP • Council of British Chambers in Europe • Department for International Trade • Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry

Seminars: Digital & Social Media Marketing – Oct 25th 2017 What do You Say After You’ve Said Hello? “It’s not rocket science it’s neuroscience!” – Nov 14th 2017 Gatwick Diamond Meet the Buyers 2017 is sponsored by Gatwick Airport, The Gatwick Diamond Initiative and Crawley Borough Council SURREY CHAMBERS

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SURREY CHAMBERS

Sponsorship

SPONSOR A SURREY CHAMBERS EVENT

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 & Construction Forums - A series of events around issues affecting businesses working in the construction & property industries.

• Business Women in Surrey Events - Business Women in Surrey is a specific stream of events designed to highlight and celebrate the achievements of business women in Surrey.

• Flagship - Our flagship events include, Annual Summer BBQ, President’s Drinks Receptions and Annual Christmas Lunch.

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

If you choose to sponsor a Surrey Chambers event you will receive complimentary tickets to the event, your stand or pop up banners & promotional literature at the event with branding on badges and delegate list alongside. Promotion before, during and after the event across all Surrey Chambers social media channels and press coverage in the Surrey Chambers of Commerce Business magazine.

If you are interested in sponsoring a Surrey Chambers of Commerce event, please contact: Molly.Edwards@surrey-chambers.co.uk or call 01483 735 540 SURREY CHAMBERS

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Travel - Oakland

Shake hands in...

OAKLAND

San Francisco’s lesser-known neighbour makes it on the business radar, but only creative, community-minded companies need apply. Julia Trevett reports

A

cross the bay from San Francisco sits Oakland. Once a place of poverty and gang violence, Oakland has risen from the depths of despair to give the vibrant and cultural metropolis of San Francisco a real run for its money. While San Francisco’s transformation from hippy haven to the home of the Tech Giants has come at a price, Oakland is having a surprisingly different evolution.

Oakland is one of America’s rising stars as a city with a heart for business. The fact that Uber have shelved plans to move 3,000 employees to their acquired office space in the Old Sears Building (instead they will move in a few hundred and rent the remaining office space) is no bad thing. While the local economy might have benefitted initially from the move, the long-term effect could have encouraged a spike in rents.

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Sky-rocketing rents in San Francisco are a symbol of the city’s success, but have punished the local population. Such a hike in rents in Oakland would undoubtedly have a negative impact on the vibrant culture that is currently developing. For the local business community, the Uber retreat could be more of a blessing than a curse.

It’s been the organic business growth that has made Oakland such an attractive place with local people growing innovative and creative businesses. There’s a passion about grass roots here, and a vibe that has many parallels with Brighton. Just as people are shying away from the exorbitant rents and property prices in London and settling in Brighton, the exodus is mirrored in Oakland in preference of San Francisco.

San Francisco is packed full of people with

great business ideas, but the rents in the city are stifling. Ordinary city folk have reached their limits with the sight of billionaires stepping over homeless people. The inequality in San Francisco is huge.

Oakland isn’t without its problems, but it does have some innovative community projects in place. That’s not to say San Francisco doesn’t have some great projects of its own, but to the business visitor they’re largely hidden from view. Oakland has a contagious sense of optimism and you’ll hear about community the minute you hit the city streets.

So far, Oakland is proving a viable alternative for those nostalgically seeking the old vibe of San Francisco, but looking for more reasonable rents. If Oakland can hang on to its sense of social responsibility, there’s every chance it will continue to attract a socially conscious and creative business crowd.

Travel - Oakland huge. For sophisticated dining try Yoshi’s Japanese Restaurant (conveniently located next to Yoshi’s Jazz Club), or Lake Chalet, an amazing fish restaurant overlooking the bay.

On Jack London Square offering views of the bay, Bocanova is the number one place for great food and a buzzy vibe. Here interesting food combinations are born from a chef with classic French training and a passion for food spanning North, South and Central America – the Pan American menu is as creative as Oakland’s business community.

Don’t leave Oakland without heading to the Gastropig for one of their provocatively named Baconslut breakfast sandwiches.

Featuring applewood smoked bacon with an over easy egg, cheddar, and Aleppo chilli aioli, these awesome baps offer the ultimate hangover cure.

Business with community at its heart In Oakland, you’ll find businesses proud of their roots, committed to supporting their community, yet conducting business with a real sense of flair. It’s a refreshing change from the type of business conducted by the Tech giants across the bay.

Oakland is surpassing itself with an extraordinary sense of cohesion and community. The whole set up should be a contradiction, but Oakland’s real sense of business purpose is intertwined with a strange contemporary hippy vibe.

Walk into any small business in Oakland and you’ll hear tales of local people doing great things and supporting each other. The sense of pride and camaraderie here is impressive and it’s infectious. Community spirit is making the whole area a very attractive proposition for businesses seeking a place for supportive, organic growth.

hands-on creativity.

Innovative businesses need to be close to one another, feeding off each other’s dynamism. Oakland has the diversity and exciting creative vibe that an up and coming business community needs.

The Gourmet Ghetto Along with Oakland’s organic and exciting business growth, the city is also being lauded for its food. The North Shattuck area has been popularly known as the “Gourmet Ghetto” since the 1970s because of its concentration of innovative restaurateurs. But it doesn’t stop there. In recent times, some really exciting chefs are ditching San Francisco and hitting the Oakland scene.

The choices for eating in Oakland are

As well as fine wines from the nearby California vineyards, craft breweries in the area are plentiful. Just as with everything else in Oakland, craft brewers here are making flavour combinations that stand out from the crowd. The Oakland Ale Trail is a must for beer connoisseurs. Brewing is part of the fabric of Oakland. Home brewing is big here and as much a part of every day life for local residents as home cooking.

Oakland insights If you really want to experience the hipster vibe so reminiscent of San Francisco, you must visit Temescal, a locality on the northern outskirts of Oakland. It’s hard to imagine, but there’s an even more relaxed and open vibe here than downtown.

Temescal Alley houses a collection of shops and workshops filled with creative people

Oakland Skyline

T-shirt and accessories company, Oaklandish, are a great example of business success with a conscience. Impressively, community motivates everything they do. They give back to the city of Oakland by way of grants and donations, as well as offering pro bono design and marketing to small local businesses. It’s a business model that is at the heart of many of Oakland’s home-grown businesses.

Creative collaboration comes easily in Oakland. An example is the industrial arts school, The Crucible, an impressive community project which comes with the nostalgic whiff of school metalwork workshops. Business travellers are invited to try out a session of SURREY CHAMBERS

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Travel - Oakland making and selling beautiful wares. From apothecaries, horticultural shops, and innovative jewellers, to hip and cool independent clothing stores, there’s a real buzz about the place.

A PEEK ACROSS THE BAY

One store that typifies the spirit is the cool men’s clothing store, Standard and Strange, who peddle high quality clothing with a price tag to match under the banner, ‘own fewer, better things.’ The argument for splashing out is enticing.

Temescal is the best place to buy gifts you plan to take home. Don’t miss out on the best Tacos in town while you’re here. Cholita Linda’s is low-key, buzzy and deliciously satisfying.

At the other end of the spectrum, nestled in Oakland’s hills, is the iconic Claremont Club & Spa hotel. This is one of America’s finest hotels offering breathtaking views of the bay, handsome guest rooms, elegant dining and a high-end spa. Approach the hotel by road and the imposing, snow-white structure pops into view, to literally take your breath away. The exquisite breakfast menu here is not to be missed. In happier times, and before the break-up, Brad and Angelina stayed here while filming nearby.

It’s the place in Oakland to go if you want to impress.

Norwegian now offer direct flights to Oakland from Gatwick. www.norwegian.com Claremont Club & Spa

While Oakland has everything you need from art to museums, a plethora of restaurants and cool bars, to hip entertainment venues, travelling across the bay to San Francisco is easy and well worth the trip. If you do nothing else in San Francisco, take a spin on the San Francisco Love Tour.

You not only get a whistle-stop tour of the city, there’s an eclectic musical accompaniment, and plenty of amusing facts from your driver and tour guide. Your only uncomfortable moment might be cruising through San Francisco’s China Town with Carl Douglas’s track ‘Everybody was Kung-Fu fighting’ blaring from the speakers. It’s not perhaps the most sensitive of musical choices.

A trip to San Francisco wouldn’t be complete without a tram ride, visiting the seals at the pier, and, if you have the time, a boat trip to Alcatraz, the historic prison.

WHERE TO STAY

➠

HOTEL ZELOS, SAN FRANCISCO

Set in the historic Pacific building in San Francisco’s SOMA district, Hotel Zelos is an ideal place to stay if you’ve travelled in from Oakland (Powell Street BART station is just around the corner). The rooms are a reasonable size for the city’s often compact offerings, and the hotel boasts a decent restaurant, Dirty Habit, located on the fifth floor, which has a trendy vibe, great cocktails and a cocktail focused menu. A good pick, Hotel Zelos is within walking distance of Chinatown and Union Street. www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com

WATERFRONT HOTEL, OAKLAND

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Overlooking the waterfront in Oakland’s Jack London Square, this boutique hotel offers a nautical theme, hugely spacious rooms and is perfectly placed to explore everything Oakland has to offer. The wind-chiming concert of nearby boats is strangely comforting, as is the infrequent claxon of the Amtrak trains hurtling through the main thoroughfare a few streets away. A comfortable hotel with a very relaxed atmosphere. Don’t let the thought of all this surrounding noise put you off, this is a comfortable hotel with a very relaxed atmosphere, and I would definitely go back. www.jdvhotels.com

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Travel - Oakland

TOP PLACES FOR A MEETING/EVENT Rose Dykins lists some of the Golden City’s most interesting places for corporate events

EXPLORATORIUM

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With its mission to ignite curiosity and inspire creativity, this excellent science museum would be great for teambuilding. Its event spaces include a waterfront terrace and the hands-on exhibition galleries themselves. exploratorium.edu

CONSERVATORY OF FLOWERS

Set amid the glorious surrounds of Golden Gate Park, the romantic glass-paned pavilion has five event spaces filled with tropical plant life. conservatoryofflowers.org

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WINEMAKER STUDIOS

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For a sample of North California’s vinification culture, this co-op of three wineries is within easy reach of Downtown on Treasure Island, accessed via the Golden Gate Bridge. Group tastings can be arranged, and there is event space for up to 1,000 delegates. winemakerstudios.com

COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM An interactive museum with exhibits that chart the evolution of computers – including a recreation of a bizarre-looking 1960s computer system – this attraction ties in nicely with a tech-themed event. Group reservations are available for a minimum of ten people. computerhistory.org

➠

CAVALLO POINT

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Offering a dreamy view of the Golden Gate bridge, the lawns of this luxury resort make for summer outdoor receptions. It also has a cosy indoor meeting and dining spaces with fireplaces and smart walnut wood tables. cavallopoint.com

SURREY CHAMBERS

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Take a fresh look HOME

WHY VISIT?

WHY EXHIBIT?

EXHIBITOR SUPPORT

FLOORPLAN

FREE SEMINARS

VISITOR REGISTRATION

START UP WORKSHOPS

VENUE

CONTACTS US

HG Wells Conference and Events Centre

18 October 9.30 - 4.30

Wide range of exhibitors Seminars on marketing, wellbeing and mindfulness HEALTH AND WELLBEING ROOM Sponsored by Mercers

Woking Borough Council Breakfast Forum Make the Connection Afternoon Drinks reception

HOME

WHY VISIT?

WHY EXHIBIT?

EXHIBITOR SUPPORT

FLOORPLAN

FREE SEMINARS

VISITOR REGISTRATION

START UP WORKSHOPS

FREE ADMISSION

46

Register at www.wokingmeansbusiness.com SURREY CHAMBERS

VENUE

CONTACTS US

Business Expo

IT’S SHOW TIME The 15th Anniversary Woking Business Show

“W

oking Means Business, the annual business show presented by Woking Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Woking Borough Council, is likely to be a very special show this year,” says event organiser, Paul Webster.

Introduced for the first time, the Health & Wellbeing Room, sponsored by Mercer, was quickly sold out with a small speakers’ corner included to accommodate regular talks throughout the day.

Picking up on the Wellbeing theme, the main seminar programme will include a presentation by Tricia Woolfrey on Success, Profits and Wellbeing - solving the Business Dilemma, another by Mercer on Healthy Employees make a Thriving Business, superb marketing presentations by Sam Farrow ofd Farrow Creative and Richard Woods and Adam Stott along with a final session on the Benefits of Meditation including a guided meditation by the monks from the Buddhist Temple in Knaphill.

The splendid exhibition already includes Inchcape Toyota who will be bringing a car into the hall, Aviator Hotel, Mercedes Benz World, Curchods, Farrans, Mercer, International School of London, Freedom Leisure, Swinton Insurance, Madlins, White Brasserie Group, Lexus Guildford and Guildford College, along with long term stalwarts of the show, Lansbury Estates, Menzies, HG Wells Conference & Events Centre and DoubleTree by Hilton. Over sixty organisations have already booked in to date.

WOKING means BUSINESS

One very interesting new exhibitor is The Woking Loyalty Card. The Woking Loyalty Card is designed by global experts to help business increase sales, develop customer loyalty and make more money, delivering great benefits for them and their customers. It is a loyalty card that is welcomed at all participating merchants across the borough as well as at over 75,000 outlets worldwide, in-store and online. Find out more by visiting their stand, number 36, at Woking Means Business.

The Woking Borough Council Breakfast Forum will certainly be filled to capacity once again as Council leaders bring delegates up to date with the massive re-generation projects in the town and the work they are doing to encourage business growth in the borough. Woking is on a roll and the show reflects this air of growth and optimism.

The event will be open to all this year for the first time.

Admission to the exhibition and the seminars is free.

Registration to attend and to have your badge waiting for you at reception can be made at the show website - www. wokingmeansbusiness.com . Visitors may also register at the door.

A very few stands may still be available. Please contact Paul Webster at paul@websterconsultancy.co.uk

exhibition HG Wells Conference & Events Centre, Woking

Wednesday 18 October, 2017, 9.30am – 4.30pm SURREY CHAMBERS

47

Christmas Events

BE THE PERFECT PARTY PLANNER

by Julia Trevett

T

he holiday tans may have only just faded, but taking the time now to book your Christmas party will mean you’ll have a slick, well-organised, festive celebration.

Here are our six top tips to help you get ahead of the game: • Planning ahead is key: the best venues, and even the best deals, can be snapped up with an early booking. It also allows you to spread the cost if you are paying some of the bill up front.

It’s a daunting prospect sifting through the hundreds of venues and menus and finding the right one for your company. Ask your staff, get a feel for what your colleagues would like. You can’t please everyone, but you can work with a general consensus.

You might be surprised by some inventive suggestions.

• Setting the date early is a good way of ensuring most people are available to attend. Check out the consensus on a few possible dates with staff first and go with the majority for maximum attendance.

Sending a ‘save the date’ email out early will help to ensure a good turn-out.

❝

Entertainment can make or break your event, so some carefully planned surprises can lift your teams’ spirits and add to the party atmosphere, plus it’s a great way of ironing out any awkward small talk.

❞

• Work out your budget and stick to it.

If the budget is tight, you might want to consider venues offering shared parties. A table at a bigger event may be a good way of offering some entertainment without blowing the budget. Maybe you can buddy up with other companies in the same

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building to create a bigger event with a shared cost. It’s always good to save a bit of the budget for any unexpected costs.

Consider the food and drinks bill. Be clear about what is included. Is there free wine with a meal and a pay bar after that? Make sure staff know, and remember that a big part of the offering is a thank-you to staff for their hard work throughout the year. It won’t boost morale if you ask for a contribution. It’s better to do something less fancy, but cover the cost.

• Food and drink: festive drinks to get your crew in the party spirit are a great way to kick-start the evening. If you are worried about a certain contingency using up the drinks budget with excessive rounds of Jäger bombs from the off, consider drinks vouchers, or limit freebies to wine and beers.

Food is usually expected at the Christmas do, so do organise a menu tasting prior to booking so you can sample the quality of the food on offer. Consult with the chefs and your staff to ensure there are vegetarian options and that other dietary requirements can be catered for. The food is an important part of the event, so making

sure the venue is used to catering for large numbers is another must. There’s nothing worse than the whole evening falling flat because the food and/or service is awful.

• Entertainment can make or break your event, so some carefully planned surprises can lift your teams’ spirits and add to the party atmosphere, plus it’s a great way of ironing out any awkward small talk.

Musicians or magicians working the room, circus acts, casino tables and giant games are but a few of the many options for adding some entertaining sparkle to your event. You’ll want to consider music, too. A small dance floor is always a plus.

• Thank-you speeches and awards: the Christmas party is a great time to let your staff know how well they’ve been doing.

Pick some serious and funny awards to present to staff to let them know how much they are appreciated.

FIVE

Friday 1st & Saturday 2nd December 7pm - 1am

Farnborough GU14 6FD Christmas party

£40 per ticket Tables of 10. Over 18’s only.

To purchase your tickets visit www.pth.org.uk or call 01252 729446 Join us for an amazing Christmas party in aid of Phyllis Tuckwell!

Delicious 3 course meal, live entertainment, disco, survivors’ breakfast and much more!

Kindly sponsored by:

Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care, Waverley Lane, Farnham, Surrey GU9 8BL

Phyllis Tuckwell Memorial Hospice Ltd. Registered Number 1063033. Registered Charity Number 264501.

Kindly supported by:

01483 444333 www.visitguildford.com WEDDINGS

CONFERENCES

EXHIBITIONS AND MORE

SURREY CHAMBERS

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Christmas Events

FORGET MISTLETOE AND WINE Sandown Park is introducing Mistletoe and Stein for Christmas

’T

is the season to say prost! as Sandown Park Racecourse introduces its Bavarian Christmas Party ‘Mistletoe and Stein,’ which will take place on Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd December 2017.

Sandown Park will transform its Esher Hall into an authentic, traditional Bavarian beer hall for the two nights with live music from its resident oompah band Die Dorf Fest Kappelle!

Dan Smyth, Regional Business Development Executive – London said: “We’re making this a truly immersive festive experience for guests and would really encourage for them to dress up and get involved in the festivities. We’re excited to host this new concept for Christmas celebrations here at Sandown Park.”

Tickets for Mistletoe and Stein are £39 per person and include: • Stein of lager on arrival • German food basket and large pretzels • Entertainment from Oompah band ‘Die Dorf Fest Kapelle’ • DJ and disco to finish the night In addition, Sandown Park will also host private Christmas parties and it’s more traditional sharer party nightChristmas with all the trimmings on selected nights throughout December.

www.sandown.co.uk

1ST-2ND DECEMBER 2017

7PM-12.30AM TICKETS FROM

mistletoe and stein

£39 PER PERSON

A BAVARIAN

CHRISTMAS PARTY Beats, Beer and Bratwurst

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SURREY CHAMBERS

TO BOOK VISIT SANDOWN.CO.UK Terms and conditions apply.

Visit website for details

Events Venue

S

HOW TO FIND A VENUE…

o often, finding the perfect venue for a meeting, conference or event can be a minefield. The Visit Guildford website and Conference and Hospitality Group brings together some of the best venues in the area, with a diverse offering of price and facilities, and gives advice for bookers as to what to look for during a show around.

Www.visitguildford.com includes easy links to all the venues where you will find details of their conference, meeting and event facilities as well as number of rooms and the capacities so you can ensure the venue fits your needs. There is a separate page highlighting those venues that also have accommodation if it is important that guests can stay on site, but you can always look at the ‘stay’ pages for other accommodation providers in the area.

The site also points event organisers to venues suitable to stage exhibitions and breaks them down to list those large enough to take shell-scheme exhibitions or just table top events. There are signposts to entertainment and event venues and those suitable for weddings, highlighting those licensed for the actual ceremony and those perfect for the wedding breakfast celebrations.

For many companies, organising large events is not a regular occurrence and maybe reserved for special product launches or annual team conferences. Often the person tasked with venue finding has not performed this task many times and would enjoy some help and support. This help can be found at www.visitguildford. com, where you will find a page entitled ‘Organising Events’, which gives lots of hints and tips as well as a check list of the information you will need before approaching a venue.

Finally, we are all very busy, and venue searches can take a great deal of time – Visit Guildford provides a venue enquiry form which can be sent in for the team to locate the perfect venues that will fit the criteria – forwarding the enquiry to them so you get quotations back from ideal places for what you need.

Through Visit Guildford you can explore lots of different kinds of venues from your desktop or mobile device including new members Mercedes Benz World and The Electric Theatre; Guildford Castle and the Guildhall; or traditional hotel venues such as Guildford Harbour Hotel, The Hogs Back Hotel and Spa, Guildford Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Kingston South, The Thatchers and more. Unusual venues can add a considerable amount to an event so check out WWF Living Planet Centre, and RHS Garden Wisley. For small meeting look at Greenarc, The Guildford Institute or The Brew House. Team Building events are speciality of Chessington World of Adventures Resort, Denbies Wine Estate and G Live.

The featured venues cater from a meeting for 2 people up to over 1000 – and plenty of scope in between, so instead of fretting of finding your next venue – simply visit www.visitguildford.com and click on the venues tab. Alternatively you can call 01483 444333 or email tic@guildford.gov.uk

SURREY CHAMBERS

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C HRI S R EIGAT E MA N OR S U R R E Y At Reigate Manor we are fully aware of how stressful it can be choosing the perfect venue for your Christmas party or family celebration.

That’s why we not only strive to offer great food and a superb service but to make the whole process of organising as relaxed and hassle free as possible.

• PARTY NIGHTS • CHRISTMAS MURDER MYSTERIES • CHRISTMAS LUNCHES • FESTIVE CARVERIES • CHRISTMAS DAY • NEW YEAR’S EVE BALL & MUCH MORE For bookings call Rebecca, Annalise and Julie on 01737 240 125 or email functions@reigatemanor.co.uk Reigate Manor • Reigate Hill • Reigate • Surrey RH2 9PF

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www.reigatemanor.co.uk SURREY CHAMBERS

STM AS H ARTS F I E L D MANOR B E T C H W O R T H

•

S U R R E Y

This festive season join us with colleagues, friends or family for a Christmas celebration that is truly unforgettable.

Whether you’re looking to host a spectacular Christmas party or a festive feast with all the trimmings, we’ll take care of every detail to make it a stress-free, enjoyable occasion

• •

• PARTY NIGHTS SANTA’S GROTTO AFTERNOON TEA

•

FESTIVE CARVERIES

•

CHRISTMAS DAY

NEW YEAR’S EVE MASQUERADE BALL & MUCH MORE

For bookings call Helen, Robyn, Allese and Isabelle on 01737 845 300 or email events@hartsfieldmanor.co.uk Hartsfield Manor • Sandy Lane • Betchworth • Surrey RH3 7AA www.hartsfieldmanor.co.uk SURREY CHAMBERS

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SURREY CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE

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Awards

SURREY CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE PRESIDENTS AWARDS

J

oin Surrey Chambers of Commerce for our annual President’s awards reception sponsored by Charles by Charles Russell Speechlys. It is a great chance to network with fellow business professionals and enjoy drinks and canapes at Horsley Park Estate.

PRESIDENT’S AWARDS & DRINKS RECEPTION

Shortlist Headline Sponsor

At Surrey Chambers of Commerce we value our members and all the hard work they do to support us. The reception will includes five awards that celebrate the successes of Surrey Chambers of Commerce members.

Award Sponsor

• International Trade Award – this award celebrates the best exporters that use our services.

International Trade Award

• Kevin Cantlon Start-up Award - this award highlights the most successful start-up businesses that have used Surrey Chamber of Commerce’s clinics.

Special Products Vision Engineering Bisley Office Furniture Award Sponsor

• Chamber Champion Award – this award celebrates companies who have championed Surrey Chambers of Commerce to fellow members and new companies.

• Networker of the year Award - this award applauds members who attend plenty of Surrey Chambers events throughout the year.

• Social Media Influencer Award (voted for by Chamber members) – this award highlights Surrey Chamber members who have a strong influential social media presence.

At the event we will be welcoming our new president Yvette Etcell, Director, Business Development and HR at Gavin Jones Ltd, who will talk about her vision for the Chamber for the year ahead.

If you would like to book onto this event please visit www.surrey-chambers.co.uk , call 01483 735540 or email molly.edwards@surrey-chambers.co.uk

Kevin Cantlon Start up Award The Cabin Pink Giraffe Exodus Insurance Award Sponsor

Chamber Champion Award

Sam Farrow - Farrow Creative Peter Quilter - NatWest Giles Thomas - Reigate Manor Hotel Award Sponsor

Networker of the Year Award

Robert Cull - Redbox Sapna Sharma - Rewsourcing4HR Daniel Suddaby - Lookers Audi Award Sponsor

Social Media Influencer Award (Voted for by Chamber Members)

Cellar Wines Guildford Shakespeare Company The Jockey Club

Please visit www.surrey-chambers.co.uk to vote SURREY CHAMBERS

55

Youth Clubs

POWERING YOUTH CLUBS SINCE 1947 Surrey Clubs for Young People celebrates its 70th Birthday Celebrations

S

urrey Clubs for Young People (SCYP) operate in Surrey and the South London boroughs of Merton, Sutton, Kingston, Richmond and Croydon.

Their aim is to ensure that young people in Surrey can access high quality youth provision, giving them a range of exciting and challenging opportunities through which they can develop into active and confident young adults.

Chairman Tony Willis, first got involved with SCYP as a trustee in 2009 before becoming treasurer and then being appointed chairman three years ago.He has overseen some big changes during his tenure, the first was dealing with the blow of Surrey County Council pulling 75% of its funding at six months’ notice after the 2010 General Election.

❝

White badge guests

What really makes the youth clubs is the volunteers, who tirelessly give up their time week after week

❞

Tony’s priority was to secure funding to ensure SCYP’s immediate future, before restructuring the organisation to put it on a sound financial footing. Among SCYP’s biggest success stories was securing funding for Croydon’s youth clubs after the council cut in 2010, and Beare Green, where it helped establish a much-needed youth club for the community two years ago, as w ell as it s long association with the county’s boxing clubs.

“I first got involved because I wanted to make a difference in the community and to help empower young people to be a force for good,” he said. “But what really makes the youth clubs is the volunteers, who tirelessly give up their time week after week, without which there would be no youth clubs in Surrey.”

Volunteers - yellow badge

On the 6th September, for its reception, SCYP returned to the Houses of Parliament, the scene of its launch in February 1947, when the interim committee of the Surrey County Association of Boys Clubs first met, to celebrate it’s 70 years. As a SCYP Vice President, Louise Punter CEO Surrey Chambers of Commerce attended the celebration.

Soon after 1947, SCYP became affiliated to the National Association of Boys Clubs and the county’s youth club leaders formed an association that focused on the developmental needs of young men and established competitions, events and activities, which has since been opened up to young women and extended to the arts.

scyp.co.uk

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SURREY CHAMBERS

Ms Claire Davies Wealth Manager, Coutts, Ms Sapna Sharma,Resourcing4HR, Mr Peter Quilter, Natwest, Ms Louise Punter CEO Surrey Chambers Vice President, SCYP

Enhanced Service

SURREY CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE SERVING HEATHROW

F

rom the beginning of October, Surrey Chambers of Commerce will be offering a full International Trade service from their Heathrow office based in Staines-Upon-Thames. Based at Spelthorne Borough Council, the new offering will include export documentation services as well as expert advice and support on international trade matters. Situated in the town nearest to Heathrow Airport, the Heathrow Office will allow local and airport based businesses to drop-in and get their documents processed the same day without losing any time travelling.

Manager, commented: “We are delighted to be reinforcing the support we already offer businesses in North Surrey and surrounding Heathrow, by being able to offer export documentation services, friendly expert advice and guidance right on their doorstep.”

Louise Punter, CEO of Surrey Chambers of Commerce, said: “Our International Trade team currently support 400 exporters with over 3500 documents a year and the easier we can make it for them the better. Our documentation ensures a safe passage for their goods being delivered all around the world and we very often have to deal with time sensitive situations. By bringing our services close to the users we believe we are helping them”.

Heathrow’s Head of Economic Development, Sundeep Sangha, said: “As the UK’s gateway to the world and its biggest port by value, Heathrow wants to do all it can to help local businesses spread their products around the globe and grow international trade. We are looking forward to working even closer with the Surrey Chambers of Commerce to boost British trading links and make Britain the best connected country in the world.”

Ian Harvey, leader of Spelthorne BC, commented: “We are delighted to support Surrey Chambers in this service as we want to make it as easy as possible for our businesses to export. The advice and services they provide are excellent and we are looking forward to seeing a busy vibrant office”.

CONTACT US: Surrey Chambers of Commerce (Woking office) Unit 14a Monument Way East Woking Surrey GU21 5LY T: 01483 735540 (Heathrow office) Council Office Knowle Green Staines-Upon-Thames Surrey TW18 1XB T: +44 (0)1483 735544 E: export@surrey-chambers.co.uk

Gary Hayes, Surrey Chambers International Trade

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Chamber Events

SURREY CHAMBERS EVENTS DIARY 2017 To find a full list of our 2017 events visit http://my.surrey-chambers.co.uk/eventcalendar.aspx

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th October

PRESIDENT’S AWARDS DRINKS RECEPTION 18:00 - 21:00 Price: Member Rate: £35.00 +VAT Non Member Rate: £45.00 +VAT Event Location: De Vere Venues - Horsley Park, Horsley Park, Ockham Road South, Guildford KT24 6DU Join us for our annual President’s awards reception. It is a great chance to network with fellow business professionals and enjoy drinks and canapes at Horsley Park Estate.

Sponsored by Charles Russell Speechlys, this year’s reception includes five awards that celebrate the successes of Surrey Chambers of Commerce members. At the event, you will also have the opportunity to hear from our new president Yvette Etcell, Director, Business Development & HR at Gavin Jones Ltd, on her vision for the Chamber for the year ahead.

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all about … ‘Inspiring and empowering business owners to fulfil their marketing and business growth potential’.

In one of Vanessa’s trademark ‘no-nonsense’ and highly practical talks, she shares five ‘Pareto Principles’ – the 80/20 rule – that will help you get properly focused and achieving results quickly. As she says, “Accepting that you’ll never ‘get it all done’ is critical. Meaning it’s time to find out what works – and do more of it – NOW.”

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ACCESS TO BUSINESS FUNDING 17:30 - 21:30 Price: Member Rate: £15.00 +VAT Non Member Rate: £25.00 +VAT Event Location: Surrey Business School, University of Surrey, Stag Hill, Guildford GU2 5XH Join Surrey Chambers of Commerce and Surrey Business School, University of Surrey for an interactive forum to inform you on the latest products to help point you towards business growth.

Keynote Speaker - Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta, Chief Operating Officer, UK Export Finance

CHAMBER POWER BREAKFAST - CRANLEIGH - KEEP IT SIMPLE! WITH VANESSA LANHAMDAY 07:45 - 09:30 Price: Member Rate: £20.00 +VAT Non Member Rate: £30.00 +VAT Event Location: Hurtwood Park Polo Club, Horsham Lane, Ewhurst Green, Nr Cranleigh GU6 7SW Keep it Simple! – Five Powerful Pareto Principles to Fast Track Your Marketing Join us for a power breakfast with Vanessa Lanham-Day at Hurtwood Park Polo Club Vanessa’s business is On Track Marketing, where she delivers intensive business growth mentoring programmes to business owners, as well as leading her Mastermind group. Vanessa describes herself as being

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Camberley Heath Golf Club

Chamber Events

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th October

OPEN 18 HOLE GOLF COMPETITION AT CAMBERLEY HEATH 10:00 - 17:30 Price: Member Rate: £70.00 +VAT Non Member Rate: £85.00 +VAT Event Location: Camberley Heath Golf Club, Golf Drive, Camberley, GU15 1JG Open to all business people to attend. A round of golf with clients and colleagues is one of the most enjoyable forms of corporate entertainment and an excellent networking opportunity. The golf course provides an ideal setting for business deals, cementing networks and building friendships. So come and enjoy business golf specifically aimed at business people and professionals.

Coffee and bacon rolls, tee off 10.00 - ends 17.30 Join as a team of three or four players and entertain your clients or as a solo player and we will place you in a team.

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1

st November

MEMBERS’ NETWORKING EVENING 18:00 - 20:00 Price: Member Rate: Free Non Member Rate: £20.00 +VAT Event Location: Canon (UK) Ltd, Cockshott Hill, Reigate RH2 8BF Join members, non-members and the Surrey Chambers of Commerce team at Canon’s fabulous UK Headquarters for our monthly evening networking event.

Friendly, informal and relaxed these events take place at locations across Surrey and provide a great opportunity to build new relationships and deepen existing ones, growing your network of contacts and potential customers.

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st November

CHAMBERS POWER BREAKFAST WAVERLEY

BUSINESS BREAKFAST AT THE BULLDOG

07:45 - 09:30

09:00 - 10:30

Price: Member Rate: £20.00 +VAT Non Member Rate: £30.00 +VAT Event Location: Waverley Abbey House, Waverley Lane,

Price: Member Rate: £9.00 +VAT Non Member Rate: £9.00 +VAT Event Location: The Bulldog, 556 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.

Monies to be paid direct to the Bulldog on the day.

Farnham GU9 8EP 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.

This continues our series of Power breakfasts which consist of a speaker presenting a topic which is then discussed over breakfast. This is a fantastic way to get clued up on a certain subject learning from somebody who is an expert in the field.

It is a great opportunity to start the day on a productive note by being able to walk away with some real tips on how to be more productive as well as meeting and discussing a topic with some great business people.

Waverley Abbey House

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Motoring

INFINITI

and beyond

By Maarten Hoffmann, Motoring Editor

I

t is a very rare occasion that l receive a car for review that l have never driven or even sat in before but that occasion arrived recently when an Infiniti arrived on the drive. I know nothing about this marque and therefore come at it with no preconceived notions or thoughts, which is rather refreshing.

Infiniti is the luxury arm of Nissan as Lexus is to Toyota and, as most of my readers will know by now, l do not have the greatest affection for Japanese cars, I find them flat, dull, uninspiring and a tad boring. Don’t get me wrong, they are incredibly reliable cars and sell by the truck load but they just don’t float my boat. I might now have to review my thinking now that l have spent the last week with the Infiniti Q60S as this is a surprisingly good car.

First impression is that it is a very handsome car with good lines and proportions. There are

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so few on the road at present that it gets quite a few stares from people trying to work out what it is and therein lies its immediate appeal.

They are not common and therefore you do feel as if you are driving something a little bit special. That might change after this review but then Nissan really don’t want it to be a secret l guess. The point here is that as good as its rivals are, and they are very very good, it can be difficult to find your car in a car park if you drive an Audi A5, Mercedes C-Class or BMW 4 series as there are so many of them.

Drive the Infiniti and you will have no trouble

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It is a very rare occasion that l receive a car for review that l have never driven or even sat in.

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finding your car and you will be pretty content when you do..

My car is the 3.0-litre Sport Tech with a 7-speed auto box and all-wheel drive and l really cannot complain about its get up and go. 62mph arrives in a very respectable 5 seconds and it will power on to 155mph in great comfort. It boasts a Bose sound system with 13 speakers, Bluetooth, dual touch screens, 360 degree cameras, Sat Nav and all the other bells and whistles you would want. Most importantly, it has no bloody annoying stop/start function that drives me to distraction. The cabin is well laid out but with some oddities. For example, the centre console that houses everything including two screens is slightly angled towards the passenger. This is either ridiculous or it is a trait of being a lefthand drive car that has had the wheel changed over but little else. Also, the two screens sit there as if they have had an argument, as they

Motoring

TECH STUFF Model tested: Q60S Sport Tech Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo Power: 400 bhp Performance: 0-62 5.0 seconds Top: 155 mph Economy: 30.1 mpg combined Prices from: £46,690.00 As tested: £47,780.00 both do different things but do not look as if they were designed to be together. I also found the radio controls quite fiddly to use and l often judge this by watching my kids work them, as young teenagers, they can work all tech with a speed that defies logic and they stated “This radio system is rubbish Daddy”.

Next to the cutting edge systems offered by Mercedes and BMW, this will not do in this very tough sector.

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First impression is that it is a very handsome car with good lines and proportions.

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One clever little item is the world’s first ‘by-wire’ fully electronic steering system called

the Direct Adaptive Steering system, which removes the direct connection between the steering wheel and the steered axle, and the makers claim it offers smoother and more responsive handling. Interestingly, l didn’t know l had it until l started writing this and to be frank, l didn’t notice any discernible difference.

It does drive very well and feels well planted and l did what l always do - l found the Sport plus button, ripped it off and threw it out the window and it really does have an impressive turn of speed. The suspension seems firm but acceptable, steering is accurate and you could drive all day without problems. There are quite a few high tech annoyances such as the multitude of warnings that you are about to crash or deviating from your lane and if you don’t pay attention, it slams the brakes on. The one that was most annoying is the constant droning buzzer that tells you the door is open

when the engine is off and you are exiting. As l have turned the engine off and am getting out of the car, l KNOW the blasted door is open!

My final moan is the boot, as if it has been raining when you open it, it dribbles water all over the contents. Such a simple design fault that one might of expected a massive manufacturer such as Nissan to have fixed.

That said, all in all l liked this car. There are very few alternatives to the teutonic dominance on our roads and this is a very good alternative.

It’s not as good but then it will mark you out as slightly different from the crowd.

The major problem for Infiniti is, as always, the competition. At £46,000, it is around the same price as the new Audi A5 and £7,000 more expensive than the Mercedes C-Class and BMW 4 Series. It’s good but not that good but l still liked it and would certainly consider it if l were shopping in that sector.

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BMW Business Partnership

The Ultimate Driving Machine

NATURAL SELECTION. THE BMW PLUG-IN HYBRID RANGE.

For more information, please contact your Local Business Development Manager on 0800 9154700 or visit your local Vines Centre.

Vines of Gatwick

Stephenson Way, Three Bridges Crawley, West Sussex RH10 1TN www.vinesofgatwickbmw.co.uk

Vines of Guildford

Slyfield Green Estate, Woking Road Guildford, Surrey GU1 1RU www.vinesofguil dfordbmw.co.uk

Vines of Redhill

10-12 Bonehurst Road, Salfords Redhill, Surrey RH1 5EP www.vinesofredhil l bmw.co.uk

Official fuel economy figures for the BMW iPerformance range: Combined 83.1-148.7mpg (3.4-1.9l/100km). CO2 emissions 78-44g/km. Figures are obtained in a standardised test cycle. They are intended for comparisons between vehicles and may not be representative of what a user achieves under

usual driving conditions.

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Motoring

Going Topless RANGE ROVER EVOQUE

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his is long awaited. The Evoque has been with us for five years, sold over half a million and the Range Rover badge still carries its fair share of prestige.

Therefore, lopping the lid off was always going to be interesting and very tricky.

becomes a problem, cameras and parking sensors notwithstanding. As with the standard Evoque, it has great seats, bags of style, is very well equipped and easy to live with. But there’s a stonking great elephant in the room.

recall how good the original Evoque is l just cannot see the reason to make this massive compromise for the sake of the roof coming off for the 3.8 days of sunshine this country enjoys.

Who and what is it for? I know not. So buy the hardtop and you will have a great car.

As l have reviewed the car itself recently (on the website in case, for some inexplicable reason, you missed it), l feel inclined to concentrate on the convertible aspect above all else.

The most glaring problem for me is the miniscule size of the boot. It really is no more than a letter box and ridiculously small for this style of car. This is a premium SUV droptop that will appeal to a predominately female market and therefore many will be used for school runs, shopping and trips to work. The kids are in but possibly not their bags, once parked in Sainsbury’s, the shopping probably won’t fit and good luck with the lack of vision in traffic on route to work.

With the lid down and the windows up, it’s not draughty and the heater works a treat and with the lid up, it is quiet and serene although the size of the A pillars is such that visibility

When l first saw the design sketches over a year ago, l feared it would look like a Silver Cross pram with its top off but not at all, it actually looks quite good but when l

The engineers are rightly proud of the technical result in making this very odd shaped roof, fit well, remain dry and, most importantly, power back in 18 seconds in silence. They have made a good fist of it.

TECHNICAL STUFF Model tested: Evoque TD4 petrol Engine: 2-litre Turbo Power: 240bhp Performance: 0-60 7.1 seconds Top Speed: 135mph Economy: 36.2mpg combined Price: £45,250 As tested: £54,060

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Mercedes-Benz

Customer Service

Team of the Year 2016

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Event Venue

A VENUE WITH A DIFFERENCE

By Maarten Hoffmann

W

hatever the size of company, there is always that perennial problem of where to book that next conference, meeting or event? Everyone wants something a little different to mark their event out from the crowd but this is increasingly difficult these days. Or maybe not……

How about a space age building, a museum, a restaurant, a car showroom and a race track all-in-one? I can only be talking about Mercedes-Benz World in Weybridge, of course.

As MB World have just joined the Chamber, they were kind enough to invite me down for a day of fun and frolicking and l cannot tell you what a splendid day it was. Of course, ripping a powerful AMG Mercedes round the track for a few hours is not exactly work and then thumping a 4x4 ML round their 10 acre off-road course does not really constitute work either. But what a surprise l received when having driven up a hill so steep that it defied logic, l came down the other side to see a family of deer grazing in the bushes. This was

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not the only surprise of the day.

The building itself is like the villains lair from a James Bond movie with the only giveaway being the huge three pointed star on the roof.

Oh, and possibly the race track outside the front door. This venue is truly unique and is a mix between a stunning events venue and a grown-ups playground.

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I cannot see how your delegates would not love every minute of it and want to come back for more

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There are a great mix of suites to choose from and, even though it is a hackneyed old saying, there really is something for everyone.

From the AMG Suite for 24 delegates up to

the Exhibition Area that will take in excess of 1,000, and everything in between. In total, there are sixteen different spaces, set up in a variety of different ways and there’s even a cinema that will house 86 people for a presentation with a difference.

Team building days are a must here and they are experts at arranging such events.

The high-speed track, skid pan, off-road course and a variety of racing simulators offer an exceptional way to encourage effective communication, collective problem solving, decision making and ultimately, to stretch the imagination. I cannot see how your delegates would not love every minute of it and want to come back for more. Their award winning catering team can cope with any request or size of event and the cuisine offering is superb and matched with highly professional service. You might want to eat after you have performed on the off-road course, blindfolded whilst taking instructions from your passenger.

Possibly the true test of trust in your colleague!

Event Venue

Another of their significant array of offers is the Corporate Responsibility Course. With insurance rates ever increasing and the safety of staff and company vehicles paramount, this course provides your employees with the skills required to improve their car control techniques in all conditions. There is also a Little Learners programme to get the little tykes behind the wheel in advance of them learning to drive.

And it’s not all business. They have highly competitive packages for weddings, Christmas

parties and private functions throughout the year.

The other option is just to go for fun. It really is a playground with a selection of high powered cars and top professional instructors that really will make you a better driver - albeit at 100mph whilst screaming with joy.

There really should be an official ‘Brooklands Experience’ as there is much more here. With the splendid Brooklands Hotel right next door and the famous Brooklands Museum on the other side, and the whole area

ringed by the remnants the world’s first ever race track. There really is so much to do here that l cannot think of a more ideal location for your next event.

MERCEDES-BENZ WORLD Brooklands Drive Weybridge, KT13 0SL Events Team: 01932 373707 General number: 0370 4004000 www.mercedesbenzworld.co.uk

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Golf

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

Now in its 21st year, it is open to all business people to join.

2017 FIXTURES THURSDAY 19TH OCTOBER

TUESDAY 5TH DECEMBER

Camberley Heath GC

Woking GC

Bacon rolls, tee off from 10am, 18 holes and late lunch. Ends 5.30pm.

Bacon rolls, tee off 9.10am, 18 holes followed by lunch. Ends 5.30pm.

SCGS & SCC Members £70 + vat Guests £85 + vat

SCGS & SCC Members tbc Guests tbc

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I think we must be pretty unique to have such 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

Membership of the golf society runs annually. Members of Surrey Chambers can register for free. Non-members £50 +VAT (per person) or 2 years at a discounted rate of £85 +VAT

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

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Swinley Forest Golf Club

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THURSDAY 9TH NOVEMBER Swinley Forest GC. Bacon rolls, tee off 8.45am, 18 holes and late lunch. Ends 5.30pm.

SCGS & SCC Members £125 + vat Guests £140 + vat

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Business Event

ACCESS TO BUSINESS FUNDING FORUM Funding Journey for Growth Companies

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ith the shifting economic climate, many small and medium-size enterprises (SME’s) are faced with daunting challenges about choosing the appropriate funding source for targeting growth. Funding is typically a long-term decision which affects the firm’s capital structure as well as competitivenes, so it is an important part of any growth strategy.

Finance (UKEF), the UK export credit agency, will offer the keynote address and provide a broad overview of funding challenges and opportunities in the export sector which is one key area for growth companies today. As COO, he leads UKEF’s operations and business management, technology, operational risk, directing digital transformation and change programmes.

On 18th October 2017, Surrey Business School is pleased to organise the third annual Access to Business Funding Forum

A panel discussion by a select group of growth companies will follow. They have a range of experiences including debt and equity

in conjunction with the Surrey Chambers of Commerce to address these issues. The event is targeted at companies of all sizes seeking to scale their businesses, to learn about funding opportunities and to connect them with a wide range of expert funding partners.

funding, traditional and alternative finance as well as growth and working capital purposes.

They will answer and discuss key questions about the different stages of their funding journeys, such as:

Bhaskar Dasgupta, COO of UK Export

• What types of funding did you consider at which stage?

• What were the challenges and opportunities?

• What were the lessons learnt?

Finally, a networking reception takes place where participants can meet informally or arrange 1-2-1 meetings with designated funding partners. Please contact Surrey Chamber of Commerce for more details or visit www.surrey-chambers.co.uk

Award-winning pest control services

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Chamber Services

ADVICE ONLY A CALL AWAY Launch of exciting new Chamber Services to help our members

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urrey Chambers of Commerce is constantly looking for services which will help our members to achieve their objectives. Following some research amongst current members and potential members, we have identified a range of benefits that offer real value to them. Without doubt, services that help protect our members are very important and that is why we have invested in four key services which will make it easier for all of our companies to run their business with real peace of mind.

We are delighted to announce that from the 1st October our Chamber will adopt the new British Chambers of Commerce National Scheme, operated by Qdos, a long-term partner of BCC, and will provide members with access to a wider range of services allowing them to derive even more value from their Chamber membership. Members will have access to four key services:

once advice has been sought they may then work with fellow members.

Louise Punter, CEO of Surrey Chambers of Commerce said; “The Chamber is thrilled to be able to offer this expanded and integrated service which we believe will genuinely protect our members and give them peace of mind in these challenging times. I encourage all members to use these premium quality services.”

With these new services being introduced, we believe the timing is ideal with all the changes in legislation arising out of Brexit.

Surrey Chambers of Commerce members have the chance to prepare themselves with the most up-to-date advice and resources available.

• 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.

The website resources require a password provided by Surrey Chambers of Commerce to all members, and once logged, in users will have access to a document library with over 750 free downloadable template documents covering employment, health and safety and legal matters. By integrating these services into our current offering, it also reminds our members that within Surrey Chambers of Commerce, we have experts in every area and

SURREY CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE Surrey Chambers of Commerce is the county’s largest independent not-for-profit business support and networking organisation. We utilise the expertise and experience of thousands of businesses (55,000 business people). Sitting at the heart of the business community, Surrey Chambers of Commerce acts as a catalyst by connecting you to opportunities, skills, knowledge and valuable contacts. We help you to grow and develop by connecting you, promoting you, supporting you and representing you locally, regionally and nationally. By joining the Chamber your business has the best chance to thrive and prosper. All of our services and products are directed by the business community for the business community.

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Chamber News - Extra

VISION ENGINEERING SADDENED BY LOSS OF FOUNDER ROB FREEMAN, MBE

V

ision Engineering Ltd is saddened by the loss of founder Rob Freeman, MBE, who passed away on 19th August, aged 84.

Rob Freeman, born in 1933 in Singapore, grew up in Woking, Surrey and was a toolmaker who worked as a race mechanic with the Jaguar Racing team in the 1950s. He developed a borescope that enabled internal race engine components to be inspected, without taking the engine apart. This innovation led to the foundation of Vision Engineering in 1958.

In 1996, Rob was awarded the MBE, in recognition of his services to the British optical industry.

On 13th June 2017, Rob Freeman presided over the opening of the Freeman Building, Vision Engineering’s purpose-built global headquarters, manufacturing and R&D facility, in Send, Woking, UK. The new building, close to the site of the original 1950s factory, is named after Rob Freeman and was officially opened by Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Surrey and the Mayor of Guildford.

Vision Engineering was founded in 1958 and holds several patents on its high-tech optical systems, which it supplies to organisations all over the world that require high specification, ergonomic inspection and measurement systems in the automotive, aerospace, electronics, medical and mobile manufacturing sectors.

Employing 120 people at its headquarters in Send and more than 200 staff worldwide, with offices across Europe, North America and Asia, as well as a fully trained global distribution network, Vision Engineering is the only manufacturer of stereo microscopes left in the UK and will export 90 per cent of the products developed and manufactured at its new, purpose-built facility in Send.

The Freeman Building was built by Beard Construction of Brookwood, with BBF Fielding of Woking as the lead consultants and architects. The new global HQ and factory replaced the old 33,000 ft2 Send Road factory in Send and the 28,000 ft2 assembly, warehousing and commercial offices on the Monument Way West industrial estate, in Woking, UK. Mark Curtis, managing director, on behalf of the staff of Vision Engineering, commented: We are extremely saddened by the death of our company founder, Rob Freeman. He was a true pioneer of engineering who learnt his trade during the glory days of British car racing and aerospace and whose dynamism, grit and ingenuity created a thriving business, which continues to grow and innovate today.

Rob enjoyed a challenge and was an early leader in the development of overseas technical markets, to the point where 92% of the company’s turnover comes from export. It was a great privilege and pleasure to work with him and we are glad that he was able to see the completion of the building dedicated to his legacy. We extend our deepest sympathies to Rob’s family, colleagues and many friends, who remember him with great fondness.”

The company is now an award-winning manufacturer holding several patents for its ergonomic microscopes and measurement systems, which are used extensively by manufacturers in the electronics, automotive and aerospace industries.

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Chamber News - Extra

EAGLE RADIO PARTNERS WITH BOTH SURREY AND HAMPSHIRE CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE

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agle Radio has become patron of both the Surrey and Hampshire Chambers of Commerce.

It is a move which signals Surrey and Hampshire’s most listened-to local radio station’s intention to continue to develop relationships within the business community.

It is also a significant step for the Chambers, who are looking to work closer together to help business thrive across county borders.

All three organisations are hoping to work with businesses of all sizes; from one-man-bands to the larger corporates in our area.

The partnership means there will be many more exciting business events held in Surrey and Hampshire, some run by the Chambers, some run through Eagle Radio’s BIZ platform.

Paul Marcus, Managing Director of Eagle Radio, said: “This joined-up approach to boosting business in our two counties is an exciting and hugely promising move.

“Eagle has always been ‘in the business of Surrey and Hampshire’, by providing a local platform for businesses to talk to their customers and find new ones.

“This forward-thinking move shows our belief, and the belief of both Chambers, that business does not stop at the county boundary.”

Louise Punter, Chief Executive Officer of Surrey Chambers, said: “Working in partnership with our neighbouring Chamber makes huge sense as we bring together businesses from both our areas.

“Adding Eagle Radio to the mix adds another dimension and we look forward to presenting some great opportunities

for our members and Eagle Radio’s clients to build connections.”

Maureen Frost, Chief Executive of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Businesses work across areas that help them to grow and prosper and there is a natural synergy between Hampshire and Surrey.

“This new initiative is a practical and innovative way of integrating contacts and maximising opportunities and we see Eagle Radio as an ideal partner to help us to achieve this.”

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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 to 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.

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• 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.

• 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 member to a member deal.

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

Surrey’s Venue of Choice Merrist Wood College is set in 400 acres of Surrey countryside, located just three miles from Guildford town centre.

The College offers a unique location with indoor and outdoor venues, all of which are available for hire. We would be happy to talk to you about any event and can also arrange catering and other requirements.

Indoor rooms, fully equipped with AV facilities, ideal for: ▶ Meetings and conferences ▶ Celebrations

▶ Training days ▶ Functions

Outdoor areas including fields and woodlands ideal for: ▶ Corporate family fun days ▶ Fairs/festivals ▶ Sporting events

▶ Car shows ▶ Weddings ▶ Trade fairs

Corporate activities including: ▶ Tag archery ▶ Clay pigeon shooting with Surrey Clays ▶ Containment live escape games

For enquiries and bookings please contact: Tel: 07854 27 48 66 or Email: mwevents@guildford.ac.uk

www.merristwoodevents.co.uk Merrist Wood College Holly Lane Worplesdon Guildford SurreySURREY GU3CHAMBERS 3PE

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Representative example (based on 10,000 miles per annum) Monthly Rental ¹

£478.00

Payment Profile

6 + 35

Advanced Rental ¹

£2,868.00

CO2

129 g/km

Contract Length

36 Months

Excess Mileage Charge incl. VAT

14.4 pence per mile

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SURREY CHAMBERS