FFB April 2015

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THE ROBOTS ARE COMING...

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First For Business

CONTENTS

APRIL 2015

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CONTENTS APRIL 2015 AGENDA 8 Forget I Robot and Chappie, robots and autonomous systems are already in our homes and set to transform the way we live, make things, and grow old

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BACK ON THE BIKE 13 Last year’s Grand Depart was excellent news for businesses, particularly those working in tourism, hospitality and cycling. Excitement has now turned to the Tour de Yorkshire and businesses are encouraged to make the most of the event

DREAM TEAM 14 As part of new government legislation, employers must enrol staff in a pension scheme. Our Dream Team look at the steps your business needs to take – or you could face penalties

GIVING IS GOOD 20

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As well as the financial boost to charities there are plenty of reasons why giving is good for business

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES 24 Creative Sheffield figures show that the banking and finance sector is one of the region’s biggest – and it is growing bigger every year

HOW TO... 28 Host a conference

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HOTEL & CONFERENCE GUIDE 29 Our pick of the region’s best venues

COMPETITION 41 Win tickets to an upcoming meeting at Doncaster Racecourse

MAXIMUM BREAK 44

41 Editor Chris Wilson chris.wilson@regionalmagazine.co.uk Consultant Editor John Yates Chief Feature Writer Julie Farmer

Julie Farmer looks at the impact of the World Snooker Championship and discovers how it came to be in Sheffield in the first place

OLYMPIC LEGACY 46 The site of the former Don Valley Stadium is a hive of activity and the resulting development could secure Sheffield a worthy place on the global map

WORK & PLAY 48 Round-up of news, achievements, celebrations and new faces

10 THINGS... 50 That ultra-endurance running has in common with business, by Chris Heaton, group managing director of Osl Group Ltd FRONT COVER: Sheffield Robotics

By Mark Rodgers

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Chief Sub Editor Richard Abbey Sub Editor Richard Smith Operations Director Jillion Wood Publishing Manager Mandy Ogle mandy.ogle@regionalmagazine.co.uk Studio Manager Chris Brierley Design Dan Wray, Steve Levers New Media Manager Terri Moore Regional Magazine Company 6 Broadfield Court Broadfield Business Park Sheffield, S8 OXF Tel: 0114 250 6300 Email: ffb@regionalmagazine.co.uk Web: www.ffb-online.co.uk

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First For Business

PREVIEW

APRIL 2015

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PREVIEW T

his month in First For Business we take a glimpse into the future with help from Tony Prescott, the director of Sheffield Robotics. It is easy to view robots either with ridicule (remember the mechanical dog that used to rattle around to no specific purpose on Doctor Who?) or fear (they’re coming for our jobs – and one day they will take over the world).

But yesterday’s science fiction is becoming science fact and pioneers like Prescott can foresee a future where robots (built by humans, of course) can help mankind in areas such as increasing the healthcare of an ageing population and improving safety and performance in many aspects of daily life. That is why companies like Network Rail and Costain are showing interest.

We sent consultant editor John Yates to meet the team at Sheffield Robotics.

Despite the playful image on the front cover of this issue, they haven’t built a robot capable of sitting down and reading a magazine – yet. But what they are doing might have a significant impact on how we all aspire to live our lives in the future.

One invention that seemed straight out of sci-fi not too long ago was the electric car, but this sleek, silent eco-friendly machine is making a big impact on our daily lives.

The Electric Vehicles Inmotion! Scheme has proved popular with businesses

across the region and the sale of electric cars and other plug-in vehicles continues to increase. The charging network is growing all the time, making it easier for drivers to charge their electric vehicles.

Getting behind the wheel of an electric car is also a great way of showing off your green credentials, both as an individual and as a company. Chief feature writer Julie Farmer takes a close look at the latest developments.

One thing that plays a vital part in our region’s economic wellbeing is Sheffield’s reputation as one of the country’s top conference cities. With new facilities constantly being unveiled at major hotels, educational establishments, football stadia and restaurants, delegates are flocking – and many who like what they see will return to spend their tourist cash in our area.

With two high profile outdoor events already secured for 2015 – the European Outdoor Summit and the International Adventure Tourism Conference – we examine what makes Sheffield such a popular city for businessminded visitors.

The World Snooker Championships returns to Sheffield later this month, another important money-spinner for the local economy. Local hotels and restaurants will be anticipating a bumper few weeks as the world’s best players, a large media presence and thousands of snooker fans, will flock to the city.

CHRIS WILSON, EDITOR But why Sheffield, and could these battles on the green baize ever take place anywhere else? We tracked down Mike Watterson, the man responsible for bringing the event to Sheffield for the first time in 1977, in search of answers.

From long distance walks to sponsored car washes, more companies are finding inventive ways to raise cash for worthy causes. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) certainly comes high on the business agenda these days, which is excellent news for charities. But giving is also good for business when it comes to key areas such as networking, marketing, media coverage and staff morale. We look at how giving generously can have a positive return for your business.

Along with news of the Tour De Yorkshire cycle race, the latest plans for an Olympic Legacy Park on the site of the former Don Valley Stadium, and more sound business advice from our Dream Team, that is just a taste of this edition of First For Business. Let us know what you think by tweeting us at @ffbmagRMC.

@ Facebook: Regional Magazine Company Twitter: @FFBmagRMC LinkedIn: First For Business magazine Email: ffb@regionalmagazine.co.uk

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AGENDA

APRIL 2015

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DYSTOPIAN DREAM FORGET I ROBOT AND CHAPPIE, ROBOTS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS ARE ALREADY IN OUR HOMES AND SET TO TRANSFORM THE WAY WE LIVE, MAKE THINGS, AND GROW OLD. JOHN YATES MEETS THE DIRECTOR OF SHEFFIELD ROBOTICS WHO IS AT THE HEART OF THAT TRANSFORMATION.

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o sooner had Tony Prescott returned from an official trade mission to Japan that the professor of cognitive neuroscience was sprinting back to Sheffield to host an event aimed at bringing high-tech business leaders and robotics researchers together to form a powerful, collaborative nationwide network.

If the exchange of business cards and intense conversations taking place in between the formal presentations was any guide, the ‘national symposium on field robotics’ at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham was a huge success.

For Tim Embley, group innovation and knowledge manager at Costain, and one of the day’s keynote speakers, collaboration between his company and university research teams is vital to the firm’s continued success. Costain, he said, had spent a century and half ‘pouring concrete into holes in the ground’, but today it was an ‘engineering solutions’ company whose customers range from nuclear energy, motorways, railways, aviation, water, utilities, and construction.

“Our customers want innovation, and that doesn’t mean turning up to work with a bigger spade,” Tim told the more than 100 delegates gathered at the AMP’s Knowledge Transfer Centre.

He pointed out that Andrew McNaughton, chief technical director of HS2, is demanding the industry provide innovative solutions for the biggest infrastructure project since the construction of the M25. “That means 3D printing and other novel

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technologies such as robotics that will make civil engineering works all but ‘invisible’ to rail travellers.”

the new breed of academics who are at the forefront of Britain’s industrial, innovation revolution.

But where will those innovations in robotics and autonomous systems come from? Long-term partnerships between companies such as Costain and their customers may provide the income flows needed to invest in research and development, but they don’t provide the capacity or the capability to carry out the research. That must be sourced elsewhere. Which is where Professor Prescott and his team come in.

Such academics recognise that the benefits of working closely with industry – improved funding streams, sharing of ideas and facilities, the development of more rounded and work-ready postdocs – do not require the sacrifice of intellectual independence or investigative rigour. On the contrary, companies like Costain and Network Rail want innovations that are grounded in fundamental research.

A psychologist with a deep understanding of the ethical, philosophical and computational aspects of robotics and artificial intelligence, Professor Prescott, with his youthful looks and Paul McCartney Beatles-era mop, may seem an unlikely entrepreneurial partner. But he is one of

While it remains vital for academics like Prescott to publish learned articles in peer reviewed Journals – one of his latest has the pithy title Strategy change in vibrissal active sensing during rat locomotion – he is equally at home discussing his ideas on Radio Four, penning think pieces for The New Scientist, or commenting through social media @tonyjprescott and blogs. This ability to communicate at all levels is also a defining feature of the new generation of market-facing academics. And, for someone operating in the potentially controversial field of robotics, it is a vital skill.

As the director of the recently formed Sheffield Robotics – what he calls a ‘collaborative enterprise’ between Sheffield’s two universities – Professor Prescott is out to show that robotics and autonomous systems are not some distant, science fiction dystopia, but a rapidly emerging technology that will have a significant and positive impact on nearly every market sector within the next decade. >>>

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“PROFESSOR PRESCOTT IS OUT TO SHOW THAT ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS ARE NOT SOME DISTANT, SCIENCE FICTION DYSTOPIA, BUT A RAPIDLY EMERGING TECHNOLOGY.”

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First For Business

APRIL 2015

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“We need to be aware of public concerns, to engage with the public and explain what we are doing. Most of the dystopias are science fiction rather than fact, but we have a duty to engage and bring people along with us,” he said. But the benefits of robotics, he argues, have the potential to transform and rebalance our economy.

The latest Innovate UK report into this country’s robotics landscape agrees: “This economic impact is not just related to an expansion in the market for robotics technology but to the significant impact robotics technology will have on competitiveness and service provision across all economic sectors from agriculture to healthcare.

“One clear direction that emerges from this landscapei s that robots will no longer be confined to use within manufacturing. Robotics will extend its impact into almost every human activity.”

But the role of robotics in advanced manufacturing and hazardous environments will become ever more important. And that is why Professor Prescott and his team, currently based in the heart of Sheffield, also want to develop a test bed facility out on the everexpanding Advanced Manufacturing Park.

This combination of research labs in the Pam Liversidge Building and field environment facilities alongside the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) would enable Professor Prescott and his team to offer a full spectrum of research capability to its partners.

Within both industry and academia, there is much talk today of ‘technological readiness levels,’ a term derived from the US Department of Defense and NASA to describe just how close a particular technology is to production and implementation.

The lower levels, say one through to four, involve research that ranges from solving basic principles through to proof of concept and validation in the

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laboratory. While the higher levels, say from six to nine, would involve production and testing of prototypes through to manufacturing and operational readiness.

The success of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, for instance, has been to harness the engineering and materials skills of its researchers at the higher end of the TRL readiness scale to meet the needs of some of the most technically demanding industries – aerospace and nuclear. This means research projects with turnaround times much faster than those for fundamental science projects.

But the AMRC also understand that companies have aspirations beyond their immediate and medium term needs: hence their interest in the fundamental or ‘basic’ research that is happening elsewhere in the university at the other end of the TRL readiness scale. Professor Prescott understands this too. “Sheffield Robotics will be the link between research and innovation from fundamental research right up to the TRL levels where industry gets involved,” he said.

Immediate plans are in train to take over a disused aircraft hangar on the old Sheffield airport site which would be a temporary home for a large, test bed facility. “It’s a space our partners could use to simulate the target environment, whether that’s a deep mine, or a search and rescue mission without the risk and danger,” he said. “Our ambition, however, is to create a reconfigurable space where we can do the testing of robots in realistic but controllable conditions.”

Professor Prescott revealed plans for a state-of-the-art facility to be built next door to the AMRC’s Factory 2050, which is currently being erected on the old airport site. “There’s a close synergy between what the AMRC is doing and what we want to achieve,” he said.

But Professor Prescott’s own interest in robotics lies more in the role robotics will play in the healthcare of an increasingly older population – an issue he found was having a profound impact in Japan.

“Addressing this challenge is at the forefront of a lot of Japanese R&D planning, with assistive robots one of the key technologies they are looking to develop. Here in the UK we face a similar issue, but are only just beginning to wake-up to the scale of the challenge.

We have much to learn from the Japanese who have been thinking about this challenge for well over a decade.”

Prescott argues there is now a growing convergence between these challenges in what he calls ‘service robotics’ and the challenges facing the use of robots in industry. “Industry is looking at robots working much more closely with people, working in human robot teams, to produce efficiencies and savings with no loss in quality,” he said.

“Take aerospace, for instance. Rather than having one big static robot doing a job, you might want to have a small team of robots moving around a fuselage doing different jobs but also working in teams with human engineers. This challenge is the same as that faced in the

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AGENDA

service sector, such as hospitals and the care of the elderly – how do you get robots working closely and safely with people?”

The solutions to those challenges are what motivate Professor Prescott and his team. By working with industry – and researchers in other universities across the UK – he argues Britain could lead the world in aspects of this rapidly emerging economy.

“The message I brought home from Japan is that Britain is much better positioned than we might think. We have real critical mass in various aspects of robotics and autonomous systems – by bringing people together, by pooling our talents and resources, we can make sure that critical mass is translated into real impact,” he said.

Kevin Blacktop, research and development specialist with Network Rail, agrees. His video presentation of what the rail network could look like in the near future showed a heavy reliance on autonomous systems and robotics to improve safety and performance.

“THE MESSAGE I BROUGHT HOME FROM JAPAN IS THAT BRITAIN IS MUCH BETTER POSITIONED THAN WE MIGHT THINK.” – PROFESSOR TONY PRESCOTT Such systems range from the observation and inspection of the rail infrastructure to identify potential faults and failures – enabling a move away from find-and-fix, towards predict and prevent – through to the use of big data to better manage the movement of people, goods and trains across the network – improving capacity and efficiency.

Innovate UK sees robotics and autonomous systems as having their greatest impact in three areas – ‘the production of goods, the provision of services, and the delivery of goods and resources’. Which is a long-winded way of saying that will impact on just about everything.

Professor Prescott, and those around him, understand that. They also

understand that the pace of change is accelerating and that time is of the essence. “We have some great small and medium-sized enterprises working at the cutting edge of robotics. But if we are to scale-up to meet the international challenges and opportunities, academia and industry will need to work closely together,” he said.

Happily, his recent trade visit to Japan, where he met fellow researchers, policy makers and business leaders, made it clear that “there is the willingness, and national infrastructure, to do just that.”

Perhaps it won’t be too long before Professor Prescott and his colleagues in Sheffield Robotics are moving out of their aircraft hangar and portakabin, and into accommodation more fitting to their global ambition.

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First For Business

TRAVEL/TRANSPORT

APRIL 2015

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES CHARGING SOUTH YORKSHIRE BUSINESSES AHEAD WITH NEWS THAT THE ELECTRIC VEHICLES INMOTION! SCHEME HAS BEEN EXTENDED FOR ANOTHER YEAR, JULIE FARMER BELIEVES THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME FOR BUSINESSES IN SOUTH YORKSHIRE TO MAKE A STATEMENT ABOUT THEIR COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL.

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n an increasingly competitive marketplace showing off your green credentials can be an easily-achievable way for businesses to create that all important good first impression.

‘Going green’ not only helps the environment, but it can also pay off on the bottom line. Plenty of research shows that eco-policies can reduce a company’s costs and improve customer perceptions, ultimately leading to more sales.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that the Electric Vehicles Inmotion! scheme has proved popular with businesses across the region. In fact, across the board electric vehicles are making an impact. The number of ultralow emission vehicles on British roads rose notably at the end of 2014 and the sale of electric cars and other plug-in vehicles continues to increase.

Inmotion! recently announced additional funding for 2015-16, meaning companies in our region can take advantage of the electric vehicle grants until at least March 2016. And to make the news even better, the Office for

Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) has committed to increase plug-in car and van grants from 25 per cent to 35 per cent from 1 April 2015, resulting in lower costs for some electric vehicle models.

Inmotion! is the first scheme of its kind to make use of government grants (in collaboration with certain manufacturers) to offer a subsidised lease on a plug-in vehicle and a workplace charging point. Leases range

from 12 to 48 months and start from under £200 per month.

The vehicles available include the Renault Zoe, Renault Twizy, Renault Kangoo, Nissan Leaf, Nissan eNV200 van and BMW i3. All are available for test drives and can even be borrowed for a week to assess suitability.

Inmotion! has put together a price comparison between the Nissan Leaf and a 1.6 TDi VW BlueMotion Golf which would cost around £5,000 less to buy – and taking into account factors such as employer’s NI, finance rate, lease rate and fuel costs, the potential saving of using the Leaf over a 48-month period would be 38.52 per cent, at an average 34p per mile compared with 56p per mile in the Golf.

The charging network is developing all the time, making it easier for drivers to charge their electric vehicles.

Regional locations include Meadowhall, Doncaster town centre, Rotherham centre, Sheffield Business Park and Sheffield city centre. >>>

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TRAVEL/TRANSPORT

APRIL 2015

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In January, Councillor Jayne Dunn, Cabinet Member for Environment, Recycling and Streetscene at Sheffield City Council, launched two new fast charging points in Sheffield at Parkers Lane in Broomhill and Carver Lane in the city centre. Both charge vehicles in just three to four hours and are free to use.

Speaking as she unveiled the charging point at Parkers Lane, Cllr Dunn said: “We recognise the need to have cleaner vehicles on our streets to reduce air pollution and carbon emissions, and I am pleased to announce more charging points for drivers of electric cars and vans in Sheffield.

“The charger in our car park at Parkers Lane in Broomhill is great for visitors to the city’s hospitals and universities, and the one at Carver Lane is centrally located for visitors to the city centre.”

“I hope that this increase in the provision of chargers will encourage more people to consider going green and using electric vehicles.”

Mark Daly, Sustainable Development Officer at Sheffield City Council, said: “This project is helping to not only establish publicly-accessible electric vehicle charging in our region, but also to help businesses in South Yorkshire to lease an electric car or van. Through our additional funding, we are able to add £2,500 on top of the government

subsidy towards the lease of a vehicle and provide money off installing a charge point at their premises.

“We are installing fast charging sites in Sheffield, Meadowhall, Rotherham town centre, Barnsley and Doncaster.

“We’ll also be installing at least three more rapid chargers across the region, which can charge a car in as little as 20 minutes.

“Working on this project has led me to see the benefits of electric cars for the environment and my wallet. I bought my own electric car almost a year ago and have just completed 10,000 miles in it, so – along with the growing numbers of electric vehicle drivers – I welcome these new charging points.”

Locating charging points is simple.

Through the Electric Vehicles Immotion! website drivers can access the ‘Zap-Map’ which shows charging points across the UK, with tailored information for each point including the full address with postcode, supply information, type of socket and any parking/charging fees.

The Inmotion! partnership is made up of representatives from South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) and the four South Yorkshire local authorities of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.

The Electric Vehicles Inmotion! scheme is looking to work with businesses across

South Yorkshire to trial the lease of an electric vehicle of their choice with a grant of up to £10,500 towards the lease of a van and £7,500 for a car.

Reflecting the success of the scheme and Sheffield’s commitment to ‘go low’ is the recent news that Sheffield has been shortlisted by the government to be one of 12 UK cities which will share £35million of funding to promote ultralow emission vehicles (ULEVs). The Go Ultra Low City Scheme will reward cities that demonstrate most potential to achieve ‘exemplar status’ – becoming internationally outstanding examples for the adoption of ULEVs in a local area.

For more information or to arrange a test drive visit the dedicated electric vehicle website, evinmotion.co.uk or get in touch at, travel@inmotion.co.uk

PUTTING AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE TO THE TEST I admit to having a number of preconceptions when I was invited to test drive the electric Nissan Leaf. It

Julie tries the Nissan Leaf

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would probably be quite slow, pretty basic and expensive to buy.

First impressions were good – it looked just like any regular vehicle.

In fact it felt noticeably chunky, the steering and pedals felt sturdy and solid, the seats were comfortable and there was plenty of space.

I was surprised at the lack of noise when I turned the car on (at the touch of a button) and

even when I put my foot down. I think the only sound the vehicle made during my 15-minute test drive was when I used the indicator.

Building up speed in silence did seem strange and actually made me question the reading on the speedometer. How could I be travelling at over 40mph having not heard any sound?

In the space of my short test drive I became rather fond of the Leaf. I hadn’t expected it to be so nice to drive, for it to feel so luxurious and for it to be quite so nippy.

For those who haven’t tried one I’d definitely recommend having a test drive. You’ll probably be surprised.

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First For Business

CYCLING

APRIL 2015

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BACK ON THE BIKE LAST YEAR’S GRAND DEPART WAS EXCELLENT NEWS FOR BUSINESSES, PARTICULARLY THOSE WORKING IN TOURISM, HOSPITALITY AND CYCLING. EXCITEMENT HAS NOW TURNED TO THE TOUR DE YORKSHIRE AND BUSINESSES ARE ENCOURAGED TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE EVENT.

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he Grand Depart of 2014’s Tour de France had a significant impact on our economy.

The financial boost for Yorkshire was approximately £102million, although additional spending associated with the event will continue into the future.

Tourism was enhanced, the International Business Festival showcased companies to visitors from overseas and investments were made into the cycling infrastructure.

Now, in just a few weeks’ time, we will welcome the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire which, although on a much smaller scale to the Tour de France, is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to our region.

The event, run by Welcome to Yorkshire and Amaury Sport Organisation (which operates the Tour de France) and backed by British Cycling, will take place from 1-3 May and will include parts of the county that the Yorkshire Grand Depart didn’t visit.

It will be one of the most exciting cycling events held in Europe in 2015 and will be broadcast in the UK, and on

Eurosport, to 70 countries around the world, showcasing the beauty of Yorkshire’s landscapes to an international audience, growing the profile of Yorkshire as a destination for fans of world-class cycling.

Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “This new official international cycle race heralds the start of a world-class event for Yorkshire that we want to see grow over the coming years to become known the world over.

We already have a huge amount of interest thanks to the Yorkshire Grand Depart, which captured the imagination of millions of people globally – and the Tour de Yorkshire will be a fitting legacy.”

Stage one will take riders from Bridlington to Scarborough, stage two from Selby to York and stage three from Wakefield to Leeds. There will be over 500km throughout Yorkshire where people can choose to see the race over the three days.

The Tour de Yorkshire will also feature a women’s race on the York circuit on 2 May. The race will be held over four laps of a 20km circuit around York with the

same infrastructure being used for the Tour de Yorkshire later that afternoon.

Bob Howden, President of British Cycling said: “This is a fantastic new addition to the calendar and a great showcase for women’s racing. The York circuit is set for huge crowds and a superb atmosphere, so we look forward to an action packed day.”

The first ever Tour de Yorkshire Festival has already been launched to celebrate the county’s arts and cultural scene ahead of the cycle race. The Tour de Yorkshire Festival began on 1 April and will conclude on 3 May. Theatres, concert venues, festivals, galleries and museums across the county are taking the opportunity to promote their work with over 200 events expected in the programme.

Mark Fielding, Tour de Yorkshire Festival producer, said: “This month-long festival features some first class performances at leading venues right across the county, and with the programme already shaping up well, it promises to be a wonderful showcase for Yorkshire’s arts and culture.”

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First For Business

APRIL 2015

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Lisa Leighton

Rob Moore

PROVIDING FOR RETIREMENT AS PART OF NEW GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION, EMPLOYERS MUST ENROL STAFF IN A PENSION SCHEME. OUR DREAM TEAM LOOK AT THE STEPS YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO TAKE – OR YOU COULD FACE PENALTIES.

DEAR DREAM TEAM: As a small business owner employing around 20 people, I was brought up short recently by a newspaper story regarding auto-enrolment for workplace pensions.

I know all employers, no matter how large or small, must offer their staff a pension scheme, enrol all staff who don’t choose to opt out, and make a contribution on their behalf, and that this system is being introduced over a six-year period.

The story in question stated that many of Britain’s small businesses have been dragging their feet and may now miss legally binding deadlines and face penalties.

I suppose this is my wake-up call! What do I do, and how much time have I got?

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ROB MOORE RECOVERY EXPERT AND PARTNER AT TAYLOR&EMMETT Your new duties under the pension reforms will apply once you have passed your ‘staging date’. According to the legislation, employers with fewer than 50 workers in their largest PAYE scheme will be staged between 1 June 2015 and 1 April 2017. Regulation 4 (Employers Duties (Implementation) Regulations 2010) contains a table which breaks down the exact staging dates according to PAYE reference numbers. So the date you need to implement the changes necessary to comply with your new duties is fast approaching.

As the enrolment legislation applies to workers (not just employees), you should look at the contractual relationships which you have with the individuals who are working for you to ensure you are clear about who is a ‘worker’ and therefore caught by the legislation.

Also look at your PAYE record which should help identify the number of workers you have. Not all workers will be on the PAYE scheme and so they

need to be identified and included when establishing your staging date.

As the staging date cannot be contracted out of, it would be advisable to act expediently to make sure auto-enrolment is implemented, or you will be in breach of your duties as an employer. In worst case scenario you may face enforcement action by the Pensions Regulator.

If breaches of employer duties are not remedied and notices given by the Pensions Regulator are repeatedly ignored then two types of penalties can be issued; Fixed Penalty Notice and an Escalating Penalty Notice. A Fixed Penalty Notice provides for a flat-rate penalty of £400 for failure to observe notices from the Pensions Regulator to remedy the breach. The Escalating Penalty Notice, for more serious and persistent breaches, can range from £50 a day to £10,000 a day depending on the size of your organisation.

As you have around 20 employees, you still have adequate time to implement auto-enrolment. Once you have completed the auto-enrolment process you have five months to register your compliance and you will need to reregister your compliance every three years following the initial registration.

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DREAM TEAM

By establishing when your staging date is as soon as possible this will allow you to plan for the months ahead, to organise who within your workforce is eligible for auto-enrolment, and what information you need to provide your workers. If you want more time, you should identify whether you can take advantage of the exception which allows small employers to modify the staging date.

LISA LEIGHTON PARTNER AT BARBER, HARRISON & PLATT We would suggest that you plan between 9-12 months prior to your staging date. Here’s what to do: • Confirm your staging date (www.tpr.gov.uk/staging-date).

contributions; will you phase contributions in, or will you postpone?

• Choose payroll/pension/third party software. Payroll software will help you keep track of the ages and earnings of all your staff and will tell you what you need to do for each of them. You need to make sure your software supports automatic enrolment and you should test it well ahead of your staging date.

• Choose a pension scheme. If you have an existing scheme for your workforce you should check with your pension provider to see whether it is a qualifying workplace pension you can use for automatic enrolment. Don’t leave it too late. It’s important that the scheme you choose provides good governance and offers good value for money for you and your staff.

• Provide a point of contact to The Pensions Regulator (www.tpr.gov.uk/nominate-contact).

• Enrol employees. At your staging date you will need to identify which members of staff to automatically enrol and which will have a right to join your pension scheme on request.

• Develop a Project Plan. Don’t leave it until the last minute. If you do, it could be more costly and complex to prepare.

• Communicate to all employees. You have a mandatory requirement to write to your staff.

• Assess the workforce for eligibility. You will need to know the costs of

• Complete Declaration of Compliance and Certification. This confirms to us that

you have fulfilled your legal duties. It must be completed up to five months from your staging date • Maintain Records. You must keep records. This will include the information you sent to your pension provider, and copies of any opt-out requests you receive.

• Ongoing Responsibilities. Automatic enrolment is not just something that happens at your staging date – it is an ongoing duty.

• It’s against the law to take any action to induce anyone to opt out. Examples of this could include persuading or forcing staff to opt out by offering them a cash bonus to do so, or by withholding a pay increase until they opt out.

CHALLENGE OUR TEAM. The team will respond to one selected question in each edition of First For Business.

Send your questions to ffb@regionalmagazine.co.uk.

Name withheld on request

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APRIL 2015

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Use your company’s expertise to give something back to the community – and market your business at the same time

DON’T BE AFRAID OF CSR C

orporate social responsibility is nothing new. It’s just the name that we have for it and the fact that we’re told we should be doing it that is relatively recent.

Way back in the 1800s we have evidence of companies demonstrating their corporate social responsibilities by giving back to their local communities.

These days we live in a world of acronyms and we prefer to talk about ‘CSR’.

You might not realise you are doing it CSR is about the engagement, not just of a company but also of its employees, in the community. Plenty of big companies do it – and do it very well. Many SMEs wouldn’t particularly put a CSR tag on it, but are doing some great things within their communities.

At Wosskow Brown we work with some incredible small companies doing some amazing things in their communities, but many of them don’t shout about it. It’s

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just part of their make-up to do these things and they don’t expect recognition for it.

SOME COMPANIES EMBRACE IT; OTHERS FEAR IT. BUT THERE IS NO NEED TO GET HUNG UP ON THE WORDS ‘CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY’ EXPLAINS WOSSKOW BROWN’S HR CONSULTANT JIM LAWSON.

Of course, there are some organisations which do it as part of a box-ticking exercise and which chase accreditations in various areas. But that doesn’t always mean they do things well. If you are a right-minded company you don’t have to tick the boxes; you just choose to do good things because it makes sense.

EARN RESPECT During the LA riots of the 1990s there were areas where every store had been burnt to the ground other than McDonalds. The rioters didn’t target McDonalds because the company had always put a lot back into the community through sponsorships and various other means. The community felt a connection with McDonalds and didn’t want to destroy it.

Of course, this is an extreme example but it shows that being active in the

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community lets people know about your business. In some ways your business becomes their business.

REAP REWARDS Recently we did some work with Voluntary Action Barnsley, an organisation which links employees from local companies with local projects such as rebuilding a wall or planting trees.

One of the valid ways companies use these activities is to bond people together and demonstrate teamwork outside of the office. They are not only doing good in the community but at the same time their employees – who might not usually work together – are getting to know each other, working as a team and building valuable skills they can take back into the workplace.

Could you provide the core service of your business to the community? At Wosskow Brown we speak 16 languages and there are people in the community who can benefit from that.

MAKE THE TIME People who say they don’t have time to give something back are a bit shortsighted because in the long term giving back to the community can have a commercial pay-back.

If there are 15 accountancy firms and one of them does work in the community which one will members of that community think of when they are actively looking for an accountant?

It is about marketing your business. If you look at the classic interpretation of marketing it is about letting people know what you do. Why wouldn’t you go out and do that?

STILL UNSURE HOW TO HELP? The recently-launched Wosskow Brown Foundation is the ideal place to start if you are unsure where your skills could be utilised. We are building a bank of mentors for the foundation so your company’s CSR could be giving your time to the Foundation or collaborating with us on a local project. These activities make you stand out from your competition and we have found that companies which are active in CSR – or simply in giving back – are the ones that tend to grow.

Email jim@wosskowbrownfoundation.org.uk to learn more about the Foundation.

IN THE LAST YEAR, WOSSKOW BROWN’S TREVOR BIRD HAS ADVISED AROUND 15 LOCAL CHARITIES Charities are ultimately commercial organisations with charitable objectives.

They are often set up by people who are very passionate about a particular issue and who deliver the service brilliantly – but they don’t have the commercial awareness and get themselves into trouble by not looking at the legalities.

We have had people come to see us who have been to the Charity Commission and have been told to see a lawyer because they are not doing things correctly.

These days it is crucial for charities to operate commercially. Now that funding from local and central Government is really depleted,

charities have to really look for their own areas of funding and have to be sustainable.

New charities should forge relationships with companies as early as possible. It is all about networking.

Network with lawyers, accountants, property companies, surveyors – it’s not what you know, but who you know. Form a bank of mentors who can help you and who you can phone up for advice.

CSR is a hot topic and companies are becoming more aware of their corporate social responsibilities. It is a great time for charities to tap into that by picking up the phone and saying ‘this is what we deliver’, ‘how can we engage with your organisation’, ‘how can we utilise your services’ and ‘what publicity can we give you for helping’?

WOSSKOW BROWN PROPERTY PARTNER MOHAMMED NAZIR WAS RECENTLY PRESENTED WITH AN AWARD FOR HIS WORK WITH LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL CHARITIES I moved to this country from Pakistan in 2001, became a solicitor in 2004 and became a partner at Wosskow Brown in 2013.

Throughout this term I have worked with different organisations, helped schools in Pakistan with things like getting clean drinking water and worked with local schools and charities.

I present a radio show, Imaan 103.1 FM where people can call in for legal advice and I also present a TV show, Sheffield Live TV (on Virgin Media Channel 108, Freeview Channel 8 and online) where I am joined by a different guest each week. I have also been writing for two local newspapers for the last few years.

My next aim is to work with local law students who would like to shadow solicitors at work. Being from a Third

World country, I feel it would be inspirational for them to see what can be achieved with hard work. My school was very basic – and in my primary years, me and my classmates had no building and had to sit on a mat on the ground. I believe sharing my positive story could encourage other young people and inspire them, in turn, to give back to those less fortunate in society.

I was recently presented with the Trade Union Council’s Community Recognition Award by Bob Jeffery, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Campus Convenor UCU Sheffield Hallam and the High Sheriff of Sheffield, in recognition of the community work, pro bono media work and charitable work I’ve done.

It is wonderful to have recognition from the community. It is nice to know people have looked at the work I’ve done, seen it as positive and taken the time to thank me for it.

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First for Business

LOGISTICS

APRIL 2015

www.ffb-online.co.uk

MONSTER SUCCESS

Port of Tyne CEO Andrew Moffat with Paul Stephenson, MD of South Bay Civil Engineering Ltd

YORKSHIRE DRINKS COMPANY IS LOOKING FORWARD TO A BUSY SUMMER WITH THE HELP OF PORT OF TYNE’S FLEXIBLE LOGISTICS SUPPORT.

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he Port of Tyne is one of the UK’s fastest growing major deep-sea ports and it is helping a Yorkshirebased soft drinks company make a splash with its products Yorkshire based Gourmet Water is gearing up for a busy – and thirsty – summer, with the aid of some little monsters and the Port of Tyne.

The two-year-old soft drinks company centred in Harrogate secured the licence to produce its Moshlings range of drinks based on the hugely popular children’s cartoon characters Moshi Monsters.

Moshi Monsters is a website with more than 80 million registered users in 150 countries around the world. It has grown from being a website game to merchandising and a magazine.

Gourmet Water’s Moshlings Magic Water has joined the company’s range of vitamin waters made from natural ingredients sweetened with natural fruit and stevia.

Moshlings Magic Water, along with the company’s other soft drinks, are distributed around the UK to major supermarkets, high street bakeries and pub chains.

Gourmet Water’s Andy Clarke said: “With a little help from the Port of Tyne, our logistics partners, we are getting ready for summer which is our busy time with family holidays, days out, kids’ parties and people just enjoying the sunshine. We’ve been producing Moshlings Magic Water for just over 12 months now. It’s proving to be extremely popular and we are sure

it’s going to be another big hit this year.’ ’ Gourmet Water’s products are made in Sunderland and are distributed all over the UK by Port of Tyne logistics, which handles around four or five trailer loads a month for Gourmet Water.

Andy added: “We have forged an extremely useful relationship with Port of Tyne which is enabling our business development. They are very reliable and always flexible. We drop things on them at the very last minute because our customers tend to drop things on us, but the Port always come through for us and handles our last minute deliveries.”

The Port of Tyne is one of the UK’s fastest growing major deep-sea ports and is a vital trading gateway to worldwide markets.

Investment of over £120m in the past 10 years has created the infrastructure to deliver continued growth of the Port’s diverse businesses and has culminated in the Port being named UK Port of the Year in the 2014 National Transport Awards.

The Port of Tyne bulk and conventional cargo business handles coal, woodpellet, grain, scrap, steel and other cargoes, but it is the volume of imported coal, which has increased dramatically from zero in 2003 to

4.9 million tonnes in 2013, that has earned the Port its place as the UK’s second largest coal importer.

Port of Tyne Logistics offers customers an integrated package of container handling, warehousing and distribution, with many customers already experiencing the advantages of using the Tyne rather than bringing their goods through Felixstowe or Southampton and trucking them all the way up country. Not only does it help reduce the carbon footprint, it also offers cost efficiencies.

In addition to cruise and ferry, other business areas include car terminals, developed by the Port of Tyne to support manufacturing giants Nissan and VW, and Estates, which manages a growing portfolio of commercial properties and land holdings.

The port is also leading developments in renewable energy and with its asset base and geographical location, is well placed to meet the needs of the emerging offshore oil, wind and gas industry.

CONTACT: Port of Tyne Headquarters Maritime House, Tyne Dock, South Shields, Tyne & Wear, NE34 9PT Tel: 0191 455 2671 www.portoftyne.co.uk

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First For Business

APRIL 2015

www.ffb-online.co.uk

GIVING IS GOOD IT IS EXCELLENT NEWS THAT AN INCREASING NUMBER OF COMPANIES ARE HAPPY TO GET ON BOARD WITH RAISING MONEY FOR GOOD CAUSES, BUT AS WELL AS THE FINANCIAL BOOST TO CHARITIES THERE ARE PLENTY OF REASONS WHY GIVING IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS. JULIE FARMER REPORTS.

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ress down days, quiz nights, sports events, 10Ks, battle of the bands, car washes… these are just some of the ways companies across the region raise funds for worthy causes.

The fact that the Challenge gets bigger each year is a clear reflection of the increasing willingness of individuals, groups and organisations to give up their time and effort for those in need.

Just recently Master Cutler David Grey launched the annual Master Cutler’s Challenge, prompting imaginative employees to come up with outlandish ways of turning £50 into as much as possible for charity. There are even prizes for the most innovative and most fun ways of raising funds.

And it appears that this is a trend that is reflected across the UK. In the last five years the UK’s biggest companies have almost doubled their donations to charities – with the FTSE 100 giving £2.5bn to good causes in 2012 compared with £1.3bn in 2007.

Interestingly, the public is largely unaware of the commitment. A report carried out by the Charities Aid Foundation (Corporate Giving by the FTSE 100) found that consumers think 36 per cent of the FTSE make donations to charity every year while in reality 98 per cent of them do.

The report also highlights how important corporate giving is from a customer perspective, particularly younger customers. Almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of 18-24 year olds said

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CHARITY

they were more likely to buy a product or service from a company that makes donations to charity, compared with 51 per cent of the general public.

It seems younger people also take into account a company’s charitable activities when selecting places to work. While 45 per cent of people said they would be more inclined to work for a company that donates to charity, this increased to 61 per cent among 18-24 year olds.

way for companies to report and measure their giving so they can be clearer and more vocal about their work for charities. It also asks them to integrate a clear social purpose into the core of their business and increase their participation in employee giving schemes.

John Low, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, said: “The way

The report also showed:

n 61 per cent say corporate responsibility is just a PR exercise

“We now need all companies to be more transparent and vocal about the great work they’re already doing for charities across the country. Why not shout louder about the remarkable growth in corporate charitable giving in spite of difficult economic conditions.

n 69 per cent think that businesses have an obligation to support the local community in which they operate

The report calls for a more consistent

“I often hear stories that hopeful graduates look into the charitable work of a company directly after browsing the jobs pages – this is becoming an increasingly important factor when it comes to career choices.

“We’ve seen a growing number of brands putting their ethical aims and values at the heart of their businesses, and many have been hugely successful, particularly among a younger age group.

n 73 per cent of people think companies should be more open and transparent about their corporate responsibility

n 44 per cent think that businesses have an obligation to donate to charitable causes.

businesses work with charities and their local communities is becoming increasingly important, especially as younger generations are influenced more and more by the way in which they operate.

Master Cutler David Grey

“This will begin to restore public trust in businesses after so many setbacks.”

GIVING MAKES GOOD CORPORATE SENSE

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n today’s world, corporate social responsibility (CSR) comes high on the business agenda.

And for more and more companies this involves going beyond compliance and beyond the interests of the organisation itself to engage in activities that benefit the local community.

This is excellent news for charities and communities – but of course they are not the only ones to benefit.

Giving is inevitably good for business and there are many reasons why.

NETWORKING Working with charities and local organisations offers a regular platform for networking, introduces you to new contacts – many of them influential – and gives you a shared interest for discussion. Teaming up with other local businesses to support events and good causes can also lead to collaboration in the future.

MARKETING

STAFF MORALE

Sponsoring local charity events can be a great way of getting your name out there in the community. This can be particularly worthwhile if the charity aligns well with the nature of your business. Consider who your target market is and think about the types of fundraising events these people might take part in.

Many surveys show that employees value their company’s charitable activities. Boost morale by getting employees involved in organising events – and consider rewarding them for their efforts with a prize or an afternoon off.

MEDIA COVERAGE Whether you are donating products to a local food bank or hosting a fancy dress day, if you take a picture and send out a press release you have a good chance of securing local media coverage. This not only gets your name out but shows your customers – and potential customers – you care about the local community. The wackier your fundraising event the more coverage you are likely to obtain!

DOUBLE PUBLICITY If you work regularly with one charity you should publicise that involvement in marketing materials such as newsletters, advertisements and signs.

You could also ask the charity to recognise your efforts by including information about your company on its website. Utilise the charity’s existing network of contacts by advertising your products in their publicity materials (with a percentage of your profits going to the charity) or offering discounts to people associated with the charity.

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First For Business

APRIL 2015

www.ffb-online.co.uk

GROWING SUCCESS SHEFFIELD’S LARGEST RETAILER OF NEW AND USED OFFICE FURNITURE HAS HAD ITS MOST SUCCESSFUL YEAR TO DATE.

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&TA Office Furniture, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of office desk seating and storage systems, has seen turnover treble in the last 12 months thanks to forward thinking and the ability to meet customers’ every need when it comes to office furniture.

The company, which has been trading for 25 years, is the natural choice for local businesses and corporate customers seeking new or used office furniture to furnish or update their workspace, whether they are looking for a low cost budget solution or high- end luxury equipment.

L&TA provides a complete service, including design advice and layout planning. It supplies to customers in a range of sectors including businesses, charities, schools, colleges and universities.

Regional clients include Sheffield City Council, Sheffield Hallam University, The

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University of Sheffield, Sheffield United FC, ITV, The Motorpoint Arena, First, ASDA and Tesco. L&TA is also now a major supplier for one of the world’s largest providers of engineering services, which has a turnover of £36bn and 650 offices wor ldwide. L&TA supplies between 100-300 desks per site and takes care of every aspect of each installation, from design through to the finished project.

The company’s furniture ranges include desks, modular meeting tables, and personal storage, dividing screens and huddle pods.

In today’s modern offices end-of-desk personal storage lockers are being used to replace the traditional mobile pedestals.

Removing drawer pedestals allows businesses to make use of beam system

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OFFICE FURNITURE

benefit the environment, but it can assist customers with their own environmental efforts.

Managing director Terry Askew said: “We provide carbon footprint reduction services for both businesses and organisations and are committed to helping those which are serious about reducing the amount of products sent to landfill.

“By actively reducing the quantity of furniture and office products that would otherwise be diverted to landfill organisations can become more environmentally responsible and reduce their carbon footprint.

“Our policy is zero landfill so we provide clients with a full report on furniture recycled, giving details on how products have been utilised, whether they have been relocated, donated or even shredded for heating.”

One tonne of waste deposited into landfill produces between 200 and 400 cubic metres of landfill gas. Landfill sites released 32 per cent of the UK’s methane emissions in 2009. Methane is approximately 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Allowing methane to escape into the atmosphere has significant implications in terms of the global warming problem that the Earth faces.

as a hot desk.

desking, which gives total flexibility for any member of staff to work at any desk in the office.

All L&TA’s beam system desks are manufactured using the new elevate beam design, which means the desks can be height adjusted to suit clients’ needs, now or in the future.

End-of-desk personal lockers have been designed to contain special steel trays to hold lap-top computers and personal items. These trays simply hook on to the management rail screens fitted to each desk, meaning any free desk can be used

In addition to supplying furniture, L&TA also offers clearance services.

Customers benefit from an efficient and cost effective move with minimal operational downtime and a smooth transition to new facilities.

Office furniture and equipment is relocated back into the marketplace, with L&TA’s client base for used and recycled furniture encompassing the length and breadth of the UK. Cleared furniture is always redistributed wherever possible and, in instances where recycling is not feasible, items are dismantled and reduced to base materials via chipping machines.

Not only does the recycling service

“By recycling more unwanted items, traditionally deemed as 'rubbish', that in turn means that less waste is sent to landfill,” said Terry. “This leads to the release of less methane into the atmosphere, resulting in less of an impact in terms of global warming, and less leachate seeping into the earth and damaging our already fragile eco-system.

“As well as households and manufacturers, all businesses have a role to play in protecting our environment and in reducing the level of waste that is produced and discarded. Our aim this year is to divert over 20,000 tons of surplus office furniture away from landfill and our office clearance and office furniture recycling services will help achieve this.”

CONTACT: L&TA Office Furniture, Unit 2-3 Stevenson Industrial Estate, Stevenson Way, Sheffield, S9 3WZ Tel: 0114 242 5511 www.ltasheffield.co.uk

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First For Business

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

APRIL 2015

www.ffb-online.co.uk

FINANCIAL BOOM CREATIVE SHEFFIELD FIGURES SHOW THAT THE BANKING AND FINANCE SECTOR IS ONE OF THE REGION’S BIGGEST – AND IT IS GROWING BIGGER EVERY YEAR.

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he professional services sector is interlinked with all other sectors.

People working in a range of professional service occupations provide essential support to businesses of all sizes across all industries.

In March, TheCityUK announced its latest report, Key Facts: UK Financial and Related Professional Service which highlights the importance of the sector to the country’s economy.

It showed that during 2013, financial and related professional services employed over 7 per cent of the UK workforce, produced nearly 12 per cent of total economic output, contributed £66bn in taxes and generated a trade surplus of £67bn. Since 2007 foreign companies have invested around £100bn into the UK financial services sector – more than in any other sector.

The report also indicated that across the UK over 2.1 million people work in the sector, with two-thirds of these employed outside London. The average GVA per

financial and related professional services worker is close to £85,000, compared to a UK average of £50,000 for other sectors.

Particularly interesting is that no region has financial services GVA per employee lower than £61,000, indicating that high value jobs are spread throughout the UK by the professional services sector.

The most recent local sector statistics compiled by Creative Sheffield show that the sector is one of the largest in the area, employing 12.7 per cent of the workforce (117,100 people).

Sheffield has a particularly strong banking and finance sector, employing over 18,900 people. HSBC is one of the largest private sector employers in the city, employing over 4,500 people in a variety of functions,

including a global IT shared service centre.

The region is also home to Banco Santander, BDO, Grant Thornton, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, PWC and RBS. In the area we also have a sizeable pool of home-grown international legal talent.

Names such as DLA Piper, Nabarro and Irwin Mitchell sit alongside niche firms and a wealth of patent attorneys. In addition, insurance and pension employers include Aviva, Aon Hewitt, Capita, Lombard Direct and Westfield Health. Sheffield also has key strengths in life and pensions administration.

As a low risk location for doing business it’s not surprising that our growing professional services sector attracts new businesses of all sizes each year.

HART SHAW CORPORATE FINANCE TEAM EXPANDS Hart Shaw has expanded its Corporate Finance team to enable the department to deal with an increased portfolio of work in 2015.

Joshua Greveson has joined as corporate finance executive and will be focusing on delivering the department’s strategic services to clients.

Patrick Abel, Corporate Finance Partner said: “This year we have seen an increase in activity for business disposals and acquisitions, and for companies looking for additional funding to achieve their long term goals. The MBI and MBO markets are also becoming more active which is creating new levels of demand not seen in recent years.

“Joshua brings some much needed support to the department as we look to grow our added value services to our current client base and beyond.”

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First For Business

LEGAL

APRIL 2015

www.ffb-online.co.uk

BEST SOLICITORS APPOINT NEW HEAD FOR COMMERCIAL LITIGATION STACEY POCOCK JOINED BEST SOLICITORS AT THE BEGINNING OF MARCH AND IS KEEN TO DISPEL THE MYTHS SURROUNDING THE LEGAL PROFESSION.

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tacey Pocock is the new Head of the Commercial & Civil Litigation department at Best Solicitors.

A dispute resolution specialist dealing with all aspects of civil and commercial litigation matters, Stacey has represented clients in court proceedings, first tier tribunals and mediations.

She is keen to point out that lawyers are not only there for the bad times – in fact, they can play a huge role in preventing the bad times from happening at all.

“Some people think that lawyers are just there for when something goes wrong,” said Stacey. “Solicitors can actually help you get things right from the beginning.

This is one of the reasons I’ve always enjoyed working with start-up businesses. It is important to me that new businesses get the advice they need so they can be certain they are starting out on the right footing and are able to enjoy a positive future.”

Stacey regularly supports clients with business activities such as drawing up partnership agreements, writing terms and conditions of business, reviewing contracts with suppliers and reviewing existing documents for those buying other businesses.

As a civil and commercial litigator Stacey is there to support businesses when things do take a turn for the worse. She regularly advises clients in relation to

disputes, debt recovery matters, arbitration and adjudication matters.

Property law is of particular interest and Stacey offers advice to landlords new to the rental market or to clients who are considering purchasing properties to rent out, to ensure they are fully informed and aware of their obligations to their tenants.

Acting on behalf of landlords with the preparation and service of statutory notices is common practice for Stacey.

As well as possession proceedings Stacey has a commendable success rate in obtaining possession orders for clients.

She works regularly with commercial property landlords and tenants in relation to a wide range of matters including dilapidation claims, rent reviews, service charge disputes and enfranchisement.

As head of department, Stacey’s role at Best Solicitors will involve overseeing the work carried out by other members of the Civil & Litigation department. In her previous role in Doncaster Stacey had a great deal of involvement with Doncaster Chamber and its Doncaster Skills Academy. Through the delivery of workshops in schools she helped encourage the younger generation into the professional services industry.

Stacey is keen to undertake similar activities in Sheffield – and to dispel the many myths surrounding the profession.

“As well as the idea that lawyers are just there for the bad times I think many people have the preconception that lawyers are a bit scary! I’m keen to get across the message that, actually, lawyers are a form of business support. Another myth is that lawyers are always very expensive but that is not the case. We can offer cost-effective solutions tailored to a client’s needs. We don’t necessarily work on a set hourly fee; we can offer one-off advice, have a very limited minor involvement and be really flexible as to the support we give.”

Many of the services Best Solicitors offer are on a fixed fee basis. Alongside the head office Best Solicitors also has a walk-in centre open six days per week so Saturday appointments are available for people who cannot attend during the working week.

If you have a question about your business or any property matter feel free to email Stacey directly on staceypocock@bestsolicitorsonline.co.uk or go online to see the other services offered by Best Solicitors.

CONTACT: Best Solicitors Head office: Broughton House, 48 West Street, Sheffield, S1 4EX Walk-in Centre: 26 Pinstone Street, Sheffield, S1 2HN Tel: 0114 281 3636 www.bestsolicitorsonline.co.uk

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First For Business

FEATURE

APRIL 2015

www.ffb-online.co.uk

www.abcranes.co.uk 24 HOUR SERVICE AND REPAIRS 7 DAYS A WEEK 52 WEEKS A YEAR

ON THE WAY UP! A&B CRANES EXPANDS WITH TAKEOVER OF CLAYTON HOISTS LTD.

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&B Cranes is reaching new heights following the purchase of Clayton Hoists Ltd.

The takeover adds further value to the Sheffield-based company, which was started just five years ago and which has since become one of the most recognised companies supplying new and used cranes throughout the UK and worldwide.

Clayton Hoists has been manufacturing hoists and cranes since 1949.Thousands of units have been installed throughout the world, with over 20,000 used by British industry alone.The Clayton wire rope hoist has proved to be an extremely rugged and reliable workhorse, earning the universal respect of end users and other crane manufacturers, many of whom have installed the Clayton hoist into cranes under their own brand name.

Many units are still giving trouble free service after operating for over 30 years.

Over time, the Clayton hoist has been improved and upgraded to keep it at the forefront of current safety standards but it still offers the same solid reliable engineering that has made it famous

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throughout the world.

The addition of Clayton Hoists to A&B Cranes further boosts the company’s portfolio of products and services. It carries a large stock of new and used overhead cranes and gantries including full Goliath cranes with double cantilevers, semi-Goliath cranes with a single leg, jib cranes, underslung cranes, lightweight cranes and gantry cranes.

All second-hand cranes and lifting equipment are serviced, reconditioned, LOLER certified and covered by warranty.

Add-on items are also available, ensuring customers can get everything they need under one roof. The range includes loose tackle such as chain hoists, lifting eyes and chain slings; supporting steelwork such as A-frames and runway beams, vacuum lifting equipment, PVC flat cables, drum handling, Arc radio control and electrical power feed systems.

A&B Cranes managing director Dominic Murphy said: “I’m delighted to announce the acquisition of Clayton Hoists which is a well-established business that has the same ethos as ours – a focus on customer

understanding and quality service. This investment has been made to further enhance the services we provide and strengthen our position in the market.

“Clayton Hoists will continue operating as normal from its Liverpool depot, managed

by Kevin Hague.”

A&B Cranes’ servicing department includes both routine and emergency servicing with 24-hour, 365-day breakdown assistance.

The professional and expert team at A&B Cranes supplies and installs cranes for every type of business – from engineering and logistics to gas, oil and coal – and always at a price to suit your budget. Give the team a call today with any questions and one of their experts will be happy to offer help and advice.

CONTACT: A&B Cranes Tinsley Park Close, Sheffield, S9 5DE Tel: 0114 243 9612 Email: info@abcranes.co.uk www.abcranes.co.uk

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First For Business

AIR CONDITIONING

APRIL 2015

www.ffb-online.co.uk

AIRMASTER’S NEW MAINTENANCE MANAGER KNOWS CUSTOMER SERVICE IS THE HEART OF A BUSINESS.

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esley McNeill has worked for Airmaster Air Conditioning since 2005, joining the company as a service co-ordinator. Her enthusiasm and dedication to customer service earned her the role of office manager in 2009 – and most recently she has been promoted to maintenance manager.

For Lesley, everything she does revolves around providing the best service possible for customers and resolving queries promptly and efficiently.

Her day to day tasks include quoting, renewing maintenance contracts, obtaining feedback from customers, invoicing and overseeing two office staff and a team of six engineers, including two apprentices.

Lesley is also a qualified internal auditor, has undertaken the SEATS environmental awareness training course and is currently working towards a NEBOSH qualification.

“I have always been committed to

delivering service that goes beyond customer expectations,” said Lesley. “My new role as maintenance manager will provide greater scope for interacting with maintenance customers, obtaining useful feedback and developing ways of building on the strong customer relationships we already have.”

At Airmaster, customer relations have always been of upmost importance. Established in 1992 the company was founded on a desire to provide a reliable, first-class service based upon honesty, quality and value for money.

excellent customer service. At Airmaster we have an ongoing policy to review, invest and improve and Lesley is at the forefront of ensuring our customer service reflects this commitment.”

Resources director Lisa Pogson said: “Lesley really is a great advocate of

Bringing comfort to your environment ៉ ៉ ៉ ៉ ៉ ៉

Design Commissioning Maintenance Installation Servicing Energy Assessment

Airmaster Air Conditioning Limited Wetherby House | Parkhill | Swallownest | Sheffield S26 4UN

Tel: 0114 288 9911 | Fax: 0114 288 9922 Email: team@airmaster.uk.com | Web: www.airmaster.uk.com 27

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First For Business

CONFERENCES

APRIL 2015

www.ffb-online.co.uk

HOW TO...

HOST A CONFERENCE YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE JOB OF ORGANISING A CONFERENCE BUT WHERE DO YOU START? THE SHEFFIELD METROPOLITAN’S BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER RACHEL LAWTY OFFERS SOME TIPS TO MAKE YOUR NEXT CONFERENCE RUN SMOOTHLY. THE BASICS Location, Location, Location. Have you considered how your delegates will be travelling? If it’s by public transport then perhaps a city centre venue would be most suitable or if everyone is driving then choose a location close to major road networks. Is there car parking and is it easy to find?

Consider the purpose of the event, the duration, number of delegates and layout of the room. Do you require accommodation? Are workshops going to be included and will you need additional meeting room space for this?

You often get a good feel for a venue by how well they respond and show an interest in your enquiry.

THE MONEY POT It’s all very well enquiring to the Ritz if you have a three-star budget and there are certainly times when deals can be struck but be realistic about your budget whilst receiving the best value for money.

Be very clear in your enquiry to avoid additional unexpected charges postevent.

THE IMPORTANT BITS For every conference you book you should be issued with a contract. This is to protect you, the organiser and the

28

venue. Read it carefully before you sign and don’t worry if it has to be amended two or three times; it needs to be correct.

how much time you have for lunch and how delegates should be seated. Are there any dietary requirements, and the all-important question, what’s for pudding?

THE NITTY GRITTY Everything is booked, now time for the finer details.

Know who you are inviting and create a log (spreadsheet) to record responses.

Sometimes it’s not always possible but please do try to give your delegates plenty of notice. The information included in the invitation is crucial to ensure everyone turns up on the right date, at the right time and at the right location. Take it from me; it is possible to arrive at the wrong venue.

CONFERENCE DAY Arrive early! You will be able to meet the conference team at the hotel and once more go through the details of the event, general housekeeping rules e.g. fire procedures, toilets etc. Please then check the following: n Is the meeting room set up correctly? n Will all your delegates be able to see and hear the speakers? n Does the audio equipment work?

Do you need to send conference material to the hotel in advance? If so, ensure it is marked clearly so it does not get mixed up with other conferences which might be taking place.

By this point you should have thought about who is going to meet your guests, planned conference packs and produced name badges – all of which should be set up on a registration table.

THE LUNCH BOX

THE FINALE

There is a theory that if the food and coffee breaks have been a success then delegates will tell you what a great conference it was; if they are not, all they will remember is that the food was awful rather than how good the conference was, making it a waste of money and time. Important points to consider are

It’s important your delegates not only enjoy the conference but they gather all the necessary information from the day.

Request feedback from delegates as it will help in the smooth organisation of your next event. Above all I hope you as an organiser enjoy the experience of hosting your event.

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First For Business

HOTEL & CONFERENCE GUIDE 2015

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Your First Choice for Business

Tankersley Manor

Tankersley Manor is a charming 17th century manor house which oozes character, yet has state-of-the-art conference and business facilities. It is located on the doorstep of some of the country’s most picturesque scenery, yet only minutes from the M1.

The hotel’s facilities make it an excellent choice for business. With 12 conference and meeting rooms for up cater for any event, from large conferences and award dinners to small board meetings.

The hotel offers 98 bedrooms, each stunningly decorated, superb leisure and spa facilities and a fantastic bar and brasserie. With all this you’ll agree with us, this hotel is truly a Yorkshire gem.

- 12 conference and meeting rooms for up to 400 guests, with vehicle access - Exclusive conference and events centre - 98 spacious bedrooms - Superb leisure and spa facilities - Brasserie & Bar (private dining available) - Free Wi-Fi throughout - 256 complimentary car parking spaces - Tesla Car Charger and1minute from the M1 - Leeds Bradford airport – 27 miles

Tankersley Manor Church Lane, Tankersley, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S75 3DQ

20

14 - 201 5

2014 - 2015

01226 744700 tankersleymanorevents@qhotels.co.uk

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HOTEL & CONFERENCE GUIDE 2015

WELCOME

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THE TIME IS NOW

SHEFFIELD’S REPUTATION AS ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S TOP CONFERENCE CAPTIALS CONTINUES TO GROW, WRITES JULIE FARMER.

W

ith dazzling venues, plentiful accommodation and great visitor attractions, Sheffield is one of the UK’s top conference capitals.

During 2014 the city significantly developed its portfolio of conference venues. A brand new Hampton by Hilton Hotel opened complete with Marco Pierre White restaurant and we also saw the reopening of Sheffield Cathedral which has been tastefully modernised following a £4million renovation.

Both of the city’s universities unveiled new facilities. Sheffield Hallam University opened its new Heart of the Campus, an open, energy-efficient three storey building with cutting edge facilities including informal meeting spaces, a café, rooftop garden, 220-seat lecture theatre and a courtroom for mock trials.

Meanwhile The University of Sheffield’s £20million investment project saw the creation of six new meeting spaces for up to 250 delegates and a flagship restaurant, Inox Dine. In late 2015, the University will unveil The Diamond, a new highly sustainable building with six floors of state-of-theart facilities incorporating flexible learning spaces, lecture theatres, teaching rooms and study spaces. The Diamond will be an ‘open building’ to the people of Sheffield, its design a statement to celebrate the city’s engineering excellence and heritage and an exciting new venue for business events.

Over at Bramall Lane, Sheffield United FC completed a substantial investment in facilities, transforming the hospitality suites and boxes which all overlook the pitch. The oldest professional football ground in the world now incorporates five main function suites, 28 executive boxes, one

Super Box, a ground floor exhibition space, a restaurant and sports bar facility. It also has a new Ambassadors’ Suite, known as the TC10 Restaurant on a match day, which can host up to 220 guests and features the modern facilities of a conference centre. The International Bar can accommodate up to 400 guests, ideal for parties, events or smaller exhibitions.

Most recently, Saxon Hotels Ltd, a company 100 per cent owned by Greg Dyke, the chairman of the Football Association and former Director General of the BBC, acquired the city centre Best Western Cutler’s Hotel and immediately announced substantial investment plans.

Speaking about the investment, Greg, who already owns the Best Western Plus hotel Mosborough Hall and Whirlowbrook Hall, said: “The simple truth is I believe Sheffield has a very positive future, it is a great city with warm, friendly people and an innovative, entrepreneurial almost edgy business and civic culture. I believe Sheffield is a city whose time has come and, given that, it is not a difficult decision to invest.”

With such an active conferencing industry it is no surprise that Business

Tourism has maintained a steady year on year increase in Sheffield. The sector was most recently valued at £117million (Events Market Trends Survey 2013), which has positioned Sheffield as a regional frontrunner in this area.

Marketing Sheffield’s Conference Ambassador Programme in particular has proven a success and continues to generate a healthy amount of event leads. The Programme alone has now generated over £13.5million worth of conference and events to the local economy.

On the back of Sheffield being named Outdoor Capital City of the UK, two high profile outdoor events have been secured for 2015 – the European Outdoor Summit and the International Adventure Tourism Conference.

Medical events are also high on the agenda, with the British Elbow and Shoulder Society Annual Conference 2015 (BESS), British Society Paediatric Endocrinology & Diabetes Annual Conference 2015 and British Scoliosis Society Annual Meeting 2015 all being hosted in Sheffield this year.

Other key events include Doc/Fest the International Documentary Festival and MADE: The Entrepreneur Festival.

INFORMATION OF SHEFFIELD’S MAJOR EVENTS PROGRAMME CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.WELCOMETOSHEFFIELD.CO.UK/ CONFERENCE

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HOTEL & CONFERENCE GUIDE 2015

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‘AN ENCHANTING GREEN WORLD’

THE WINTER GARDEN CONTINUES TO WOW VISITORS, AND COULD BE THE PERFECT VENUE FOR YOUR UPCOMING CONFERENCE OR RECEPTION, WRITES JULIE FARMER.

A

truly stunning space in the heart of Sheffield city centre, the Winter Garden really is a venue unlike any other.

One of the largest city centre temperate glasshouses to be built in the UK during the last hundred years, the Winter Garden has created an enchanting green world in the heart of the city, guaranteed to wow visitors and provide an elegant backdrop to receptions and business gatherings.

Situated in an enviable location, it is on Sheffield’s Gold Route linking the train station with the Peace Gardens, the Millennium Galleries and the Mercure St Paul’s Hotel and Spa. Close to Sheffield Hallam University and Sheffield Theatres and within walking distance of more than 1,000 hotel rooms, the Winter Garden makes a great addition to a multi-venue event or offers that wow factor for a standalone occasion.

The venue can be hired in conjunction with the Millennium Galleries or the Mercure St Paul’s Hotel, both of which are interlinked, to increase capacity or include an extra element to your event such as a bar or seated dining.

The Winter Garden’s forte is the pre-dinner drinks reception as well as gatherings for drinks and canapés and has been host to some of the city’s most prestigious events including the G8 meeting, the BBC World Snooker reception, the Vivienne Westwood exhibition, a Light Night Show and a

host of other corporate clients.

Alternatively, why not use the venue’s superb subtropical planting and award-winning architecture as a backdrop for commercial brochures, which will give an additional element to your brand or product?

Conveniently located on Surrey Street, the Winter Garden is just a few minutes’ walk from the train station, bus routes and a secure Q-Park car park.

Whatever event you choose to host at the Winter Garden, City Centre Management can support you throughout and award-winning City Centre Ambassadors are also on hand to provide help and support throughout your event.

AN AWARD-WINNING SPACE:

n Best Cultural Attraction in Sheffield – Exposed Magazine n RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) Pro Yorkshire Award for Design & Innovation n RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Award [with the Millennium Galleries] n The Variety Club of Great Britain – Best Regeneration Award n Royal Fine Art Commission ‘Jeu D’esprit Building of the Year’ Award n British Guild of Travel Writers – Commendation n Green Flag Award

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WINTER GARDEN

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A VENUE TO IMPRESS GUESTS:

n The Winter Garden was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen accompanied by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh on 22 May 2003 n The Winter Garden is 70 metres long, 22 metres wide and the enormous wooden arches are nearly 21 metres high n It is large enough to accommodate 5,000 domestic greenhouses n More than 2,100 square metres of glass, 900 cubic metres of concrete and 80 tonnes of steel were used in its creation n It’s one of the largest glue laminate or ‘Glulam’ buildings in the UK (Glulam is made by forming and gluing strips of timber into specific shapes) n The wood used is larch, a durable timber which will, over time, turn a light silvery grey colour. The larch, derived from sustainable forests, requires no preservatives or coatings. This reduces the use of solvents and also avoids the use of chemicals that could kill the plants n It has an intelligent Building Management System which controls fans and vents to make sure the plants are cooled in summer and kept warm in winter. The system will ‘learn’ year-on-year n It is home to more than 2,000 plants from all around the world n There are 150 species of plants, including big palms from Central America, Madagascar and China n Before being planted in the Winter Garden the plants were housed in an acclimatisation glasshouse in south-east England for almost two years. This was to give them ample time to adjust to light and temperature levels similar to those of the Winter Garden

Angela Gower Sheffield City Council City Centre Management & Major Events, Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield, S1 2HH Tel: 0114 273 6003 Email: angela.gower@sheffield.gov.uk

“THE WINTER GARDEN’S FORTE IS THE PRE-DINNER DRINKS RECEPTION AS WELL AS GATHERINGS FOR DRINKS AND CANAPÉS.”

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• A hotel conveniently located close to city centre & train station for visitors attending events • Ideal for business, conference and leisure guests • Two ground floor air conditioned meeting rooms

• 111 spacious stylish bedrooms • Picasso Restaurant & Bar • Complimentary Wi-Fi throughout the hotel for all guests • Fabulous service • On site car parking

The Sheffield Metropolitan Hotel, Blonk Street, Sheffield S1 2AU Tel: 0114 220 4000 Email: sales.sheffieldmet@bespokehotels.com Web: www.bespokehotels.com/sheffieldmet

There’s room for you Conference, Event and Meeting Spaces at The Source It’s all about location, location, location and we’ve got it. Outstanding facilities in /GCFQYJCNN 4QVJGTJCO CPF 5JGHƒGNF UVCTVKPI HTQO CU NKVVNG CU c RGT FGNGICVG

Spread over three locations, The Source is your local conference centre. We are the preferred independent conference and meeting room provider in South Yorkshire.

Our experienced professionals have years of know-how to assist your event planning and we ensure your delegates have a superb experience. Your dedicated conference team will be on hand to assist with any requirements you may have prior to and throughout your event.

T To o book or for more mor e information call us on 0114 263 5643 or email bookings@thesourceac bookings@thesourceacademy.co.uk ademy.co.uk www www.thesourceacademy.co.uk .thesourceacademy.c o.uk

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For business presentations and prestige conferences in the Sheffield city region • Quality Audio-Visual equipment hire • Technical support • Full conference service

Autocue

Production

Microphones

Projection

Lighting

Sheffield’s leading AV hire service CVC event services Ltd — The Quadrant, 99 Parkway Avenue, Sheffield S9 4WG

www.av-hire-sheffield.co.uk

E info@cvceventservices.co.uk

T 0114 245 4484

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THE OLD RECTORY Conference & Meeting Room Hire

If you are looking

402b Handsworth Road S13 9BZ tel 0114 2692537

to advertise in First For Business

www.orh.org.uk email: tim@orh.org.uk - Close to junction 33 of the M1 Sheffield - Free car parking for 36 cars - 5 Meeting rooms available to hire - Rates from ÂŁ10 per hour

please contact:

Mandy Ogle or Jillion Wood Tel:

- Full catering service

0114 250 6300

Email: mandy.ogle@regionalmagazine.co.uk Email: jillion.wood@regionalmagazine.co.uk

9 conference and events rooms Whirlowbrook Hall, Whirlowbrook Park, Ecclesall Road South, Sheffield, S11 9QD

enquiries@whirlowbrook.co.uk

Tel: 0114 321 0209 www.whirlowbrook.co.uk

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NORTHERN COLLEGE fo r Ad u l t s

NORTHERN COLLEGE

Day Delegate Rate From £19.95 An ideal conference venue offering quality catering, free secure parking and WiFi with residential accommodation available on request.

Ofsted says we are

Outstanding!

Contact us :

Wentworth Castle, Barnsley

01226 776000 www.northern.ac.uk

@northerncollege

/northerncollege

Conveniently situated in a secluded position just off the A61 at Wadsley Bridge, Sheffield, Niagara Conference & Leisure is superbly equipped and offers flexible accommodation to meet all your business and social requirements: • Choice of rooms for meetings, conferences and social events of 2 to 300 plus • High quality facilities including wi-fi and projectors • Superb catering with a range of menus to suit your individual requirements • Luxurious marquee April – September • Sports grounds for team building events • Secure parking

For further information please view our website at www.niagaracentre.co.uk Our Events Co-ordinator is available to discuss your individual requirements on 0114 2964945, email: events@niagaracentre.co.uk

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HOTEL & CONFERENCE GUIDE 2015

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MAKE AN INFORMED CHOICE WHETHER YOU’RE HOLDING A MEETING, A CONFERENCE OR AN AWAY-DAY, YOU’RE SURE TO FIND SOMETHING TO SUIT YOUR NEEDS AND BUDGET FROM FIRST FOR BUSINESS’S SELECTION OF VENUES.

Sheffield Metropolitan Hotel Tel: 0114 220 4000 Email: res.sheffieldmet@bespokehotels.com Website: www.bespokehotels.com/sheffieldmet Details: With two modern and flexible conference rooms for up to 40 delegates, the Sheffield Metropolitan regularly hosts meetings, small conferences and business events. The

location in the Quayside district gives quick and easy access to the city and interesting attractions for group events.

Facilities: Conference equipment included (does not include video or audio conferencing), cycle park area and home-cooked food.

Max numbers: (theatre style) 50, (boardroom style) 22 Number of rooms: 111 Number of parking spaces: 15 (additional secure QPark 150 metres from hotel)

Leisure Centre is a fully equipped conference venue situated just three miles away from the city centre and providing exceptional levels of hospitality, catering and technical support for conferences and meetings.

Facilities: Niagara’s extensive grounds make the venue an ideal location for team-building and corporate events.

Max numbers: (theatre style) 400, (boardroom style) 60 Number of rooms: 5 Number of parking spaces: 90

Niagara Conference and Leisure Centre Tel: 0114 296 4945 Email: events@niagaracentre.co.uk Website: www.niagaracentre.co.uk Details: Niagara Conference and

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LISTINGS

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Tankersley Manor Hotel Tel: 01226 744700 Email: tankersleymanorevents@qhotels.co.uk Website: www.QHotels.co.uk Details: Tankersley Manor is a fantastic four-star hotel near Sheffield.

Just off J36 of the M1, the hotel is close to the bustling city centre but also on the doorstep of some of the country’s most picturesque scenery.

Facilities: The hotel is built around a former 17th century residence with many of the original features being retained including exposed wooden beams and Yorkshire stone windowsills.

A modern edge has been created with the addition of a purpose-built conference centre, magnificent health club and spa and a contemporary bedroom wing.

Max numbers: (theatre style) 400, (boardroom style) 100 Number of rooms: 98 Number of parking spaces: 261 free spaces

The Source Tel: 0114 263 5643 Email: bookings@thesourceacademy.co.uk Website: www.thesourceacademy.co.uk Details: Spread over three locations, Meadowhall, Rotherham and Sheffield, The Source is your local conference

centre. Rooms vary in size from luxurious meeting rooms for six to lecture theatre seating up to 150 delegates. All rooms are fully flexible and suitable for a wide range of needs.

Facilities: Café and gym.

Max numbers: (theatre style) 150 (boardroom style) 40 Number of rooms: 24 Number of parking spaces: 44 plus additional parking across the road at Meadowhall

Magna Tel: 01709 723118 Email: events@magnatrust.co.uk Website: www.visitmagna.co.uk/corporate Details: Set within a colossal former steelworks Magna offers unique corporate event facilities, guaranteed to leave a lasting impression on delegates! The venue can cater for five to 5,000 guests and with over 4,000 sq m of dedicated events space the layout is flexible.

Facilities: Impressive industrial pieces such as hulking hooks and cranes are still in position around the site and can be incorporated into your event to create a distinct wow factor. Facilities include eight flexible rooms, a dedicated experienced events team, conferences for up to 3,000 delegates, dinners for up to 1,000 and concerts for up to 5,000. Ideal for team building with a difference – for activities such as bungee jumping, zip wire or Segway.

Five minutes from J33/34 M1.

Max numbers: (theatre style) 1,500 (cabaret style) 600, (banqueting) 1,000 Number of rooms: 8 Number of parking spaces: 500

The Old Rectory Handsworth Tel: 0114 266 9247

Email: tim@orh.org.uk Website: www.orh.org.uk Details: Grade II listed conference, meeting and wedding venue set in quiet grounds.Very close to J33 of the M1 and only minutes from the city centre.

Facilities: A fully licensed bar, free parking, quiet location, lawns, flexible rates.

Max numbers: (theatre style) 150 (boardroom style) 100 Number of rooms: 5 Number of parking spaces: 37 Meals available: Yes

Sheffield Winter Garden Tel: 0114 273 6003 Email: angela.gower@sheffield.gov.uk Website: www.sheffield.gov.uk/promotions Details: An iconic subtropical glasshouse located in the heart of the city centre, this stunning venue is perfect for an evening of drinks and canapés, networking events, ticketed small concerts for up to 300 guests, or a formal dinner when linked to the Mercure St Paul’s Hotel or Millennium Galleries. Times from 6pm onwards up to 10pm.

Special facilities: Easily accessible to wheelchair users Number of parking spaces: Nearby Q-Park on Charles Street or APCOA multi-storey car park on Eyre Street

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Behind every great chef...

Wednesday 13th May 2015 2.00pm - 4.00pm

...is a great publisher!

Ask about our successful book publishing and what we can do for you

Regional Magazine Company Publishing quality titles since 1986 Broadfield Court, Sheffield S8 0XF Tel: 0114 250 6300 www.regionalmagazine.co.uk info@regionalmagazine.co.uk First For Business

COMPETITION

APRIL 2015

www.ffb-online.co.uk

WIN TICKETS TO DONCASTER RACES

W

ith the lighter nights just around the corner, it’s time to enjoy the delights of evening racing at Doncaster Racecourse.

These are occasions to be savoured, and when the top quality sporting action is coupled with fantastic live music then the event takes on a light-hearted festival atmosphere.

Celebrate the arrival of spring in style with a great Saturday night out courtesy of Doncaster Racecourse and Regional Magazine Company.

On Saturday 25 April, there will be an exciting evening of quality flat racing followed by live music from The Superlicks.

The Superlicks are a four-piece party band of highly charged musicians based in York. The band boast a powerful rhythm section supported by infectious bass riffs and energetic beats. This, capped with a sensational lead guitarist and the captivating vocals from their charismatic front man, is what has made them one of the most entertaining, dynamic and fun party bands in the UK. For further information about Doncaster Racecourse or to book tickets visit www.doncaster-racecourse.co.uk or call 01302 304200.

To win a pair of County Enclosure tickets for this event go to www.regionalmagazine.co.uk and click on the Competitions link, then answer the following question.

The world’s oldest Classic horse race is held at Doncaster Racecourse every year. What is it called?

Closing date: Monday 13 April

41

110 WSide Apr15 05/03/2015 14:30 Page 1

2015 2015

GRANDSLAM AM A

MADNESS SS SATURDAY 27 JUNE Live after racing!

TICKETS FROM

£35

*

UNDER 18’S £15

www.doncaster-racecourse.co.uk o uk k 01302 304200 | info@doncaster-racecourse.co.uk *Terms & conditions apply. Price per person and includes VAT. For full terms and conditions, race times and details of the the live music concert please visit our website ßBooking restrictions and fees may apply. Doncaster Racecourse encourages responsible gambling. www.gambleaware.co.uk.

#MUSICLIVE2015

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First For Business

APRIL 2015

www.ffb-online.co.uk

MAXIMUM BREAK ON 18 APRIL SNOOKER’S GREATEST TOURNAMENT WILL RETURN TO SHEFFIELD FOR 17 DAYS, BRINGING MILLIONS OF POUNDS WITH IT AND RAISING THE CITY’S PROFILE WORLDWIDE. JULIE FARMER LOOKS AT THE IMPACT OF THE WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP AND DISCOVERS HOW IT CAME TO BE IN SHEFFIELD IN THE FIRST PLACE.

T

he snooker is something us Sheffield folk have just become used to – we don’t really give much thought to how it came to be played at the Crucible Theatre and we don’t always recognise the benefits it brings to the city.

But, for Sheffield, snooker certainly delivers a big break. The World Snooker Championship is worth over £5million to the city, based on a combination of direct economic impact and extensive media coverage in the UK, Europe and Far East, with a total audience of 285 million viewers.

The tournament is the richest and most prestigious in snooker and Sheffield has

fought off competition from a host of major international cities looking to take the ‘blue ribbon’ event out of its traditional home.

In January this year a new deal was announced by World Snooker Limited and Sheffield City Council, which will the see the Crucible Theatre remaining as the dramatic centre-stage for the event until at least 2017.

The deal also includes a new international trade partnership which will see the city promoting itself to investors and future international students at over 17 events on the World Snooker Tour held outside the UK.

Councillor Julie Dore, Leader of Sheffield City Council said: “We are delighted to keep the World Championship in Sheffield. It’s very important to Sheffield because for those two weeks it puts the city right in the spotlight, not just nationally, but internationally.

“This deal shows that Sheffield has real ambition. We are determined to use this partnership with World Snooker to grow their audiences and open up new global business opportunities for the city.”

Barry Hearn, Chairman of World Snooker said: “Sheffield and the Crucible are such an integral part of the history of the World Championship. Many thousands of people make snooker’s

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SPORT

greatest pilgrimage each year to witness the intense and magical ambience that the Crucible generates. It’s marvellous to have the continued support of Sheffield City Council and to take the agreement up to the 40th anniversary and hopefully beyond.”

Many of snooker’s great names have lifted the famous trophy at the Crucible, including Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan and the reigning champion Mark Selby.

Why is the snooker in Sheffield?

The name Mike Watterson should be synonymous with snooker and at the very least it should be familiar within Sheffield. Yet, despite the World Snooker Championship having taken place at the Crucible for almost 40 years and bringing with it millions of pounds for the city, few people appear to know that Mike was single-handedly responsible for bringing the event to Sheffield.

£17,000 prize money and hired the Crucible for two weeks for £6,600,” said Mike. “I also got Embassy in as sponsors a few days before the start of that first event in 1977. I took the late Peter Dyke into the auditorium and noticed the ‘no smoking’ sign so quickly stood with my back over it!”

Mike was also successful in securing television coverage. In the first year the two semi-finals and final were televised in four days-worth of coverage. The following year Mike was responsible for devising a match format which would enable additional coverage and in 1980 an adjusted format to enable coverage of 32 players – a format that is still played to this day.

“It was like my throat had been cut,” said Mike. “It really crippled me and I have never worked since.

“Nobody ever gave me any credit for bringing the snooker here. I spend 364 days of the year beating my brains out driving all over the country and selling it to television – something you couldn’t do in those days. You couldn’t give it away never mind sell it.”

Despite his resentment Mike still watches the tournament every year and attends a handful of the matches at the Crucible.

Does he feel the World Snooker Championship could take place anywhere else?

“The only place I think it could be moved to would be China but I can’t see that,” said Mike. “It’s like shifting Wimbledon from Wimbledon. It becomes the home of the game I suppose. I’ve been all over and in virtually every country they know of Sheffield and the Crucible Theatre because of the snooker – in Dubai, Bangkok, Prague, Berlin and Paris.

Snooker has done a lot for the city, although you wouldn’t think so considering the recognition I never got.”

Mike, who was born and bred in Chesterfield, was a motor trader and amateur snooker player. In 1977 his late wife went to see a play at the Crucible and suggested to Mike that it would be the perfect place for a snooker match.

With experience of staging a number of matches, Mike went to visit the theatre manager, measured the stage and decided it was the ideal size for two snooker tables.

“I submitted an offer to the Professional Snooker Association guaranteeing them

Mike ran the event for eight years, but in 1985 was told he was no longer required.

Mike Watterson

Mike was also responsible for creating the UK Championship, the World Cup (Snooker) and the World Darts Championship.

45

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First For Business

APRIL 2015

www.ffb-online.co.uk

CREATING THE ENVY OF THE WORLD THE SITE OF THE FORMER DON VALLEY STADIUM IS A HIVE OF ACTIVITY AND THE RESULTING DEVELOPMENT COULD SECURE SHEFFIELD A WORTHY PLACE ON THE GLOBAL MAP.

D

espite costing Sheffield City Council £700,000 a year to run, the decision to close and demolish Don Valley Stadium was surrounded by controversy.

By the beginning of last year the stadium was no more, but with hindsight its flattening might have marked the beginning of something very big for the Sheffield City Region, and indeed much further afield.

46

The site will become the home of one of the city’s most ambitious projects, the £50million Olympic Legacy Park (OLP), which has the backing of the city’s two Universities, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield College, Sheffield City Council and the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce.

The OLP will include a new multi-million Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC), which represents a unique

opportunity for the practical development of the country’s wellbeing agenda and delivering the 2012 Olympic Legacy on Health.

The AWRC will be home to facilities allowing the design, research, evaluation and implementation of products, linking the medical, physical activity, leisure and sports sectors. It will take products from concept to market, maximising wealth and job creation opportunities from the

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HEALTH

Former Sports Minister the Rt. Hon Richard Caborn is driving the project

intellectual property and knowledge and products developed in the centre.

It will be home to around 50 researchers who will have fully instrumented indoor and outdoor laboratories capable of carrying out research on most physical activities. The facility will allow research on all sports but will be of particular benefit to those housed in the nearby English Institute of Sport.

There will be clinical facilities on site, working in conjunction with the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM). Facilities will include MRI, Xray and ultrasound. The AWRC will be the research hub for the NSCEM with a remit to use physical activity as medicine.

Through the NCSEM, the AWRC will use the city of Sheffield as a ‘field lab’ for the testing of new innovations.

The development will also see the Sheffield Eagles Rugby League club move into a new community stadium which will feature a high quality synthetic pitch, a main stand seating 2,500, a 50-bed hotel, catering and hospitality areas and facilities developed in partnership with Sheffield’s second University Technical College (UTC).

A new sustainable multi-purpose indoor community arena on-site will be the future home of the Sheffield Sharks. The facility will be built through private investment and will deliver an affordable, functional and flexible building for sport, culture and business.

Former Sports Minister the Rt. Hon Richard Caborn, who is driving the project, said: “We are taking the whole concept of the Olympics and saying can you use the Olympics to make the nation more physically active? If we can do that we will start addressing not only the quality of life for people but also the cost to the health service.

“We will have discharges from hospitals there, referrals from hospital and physical activity will be on prescription. Our slogan is ‘Physical activity: miracle cure’.

“The drive is to prove we can get the city more active in a very systematic, sustainable and measured way and we can then create from that not only a healthier and more productive city but a wealthier one.

“There are three main questions that we will be addressing. Can you run a multi-

sports community stadium with professional sports playing out of it? Can you make this city more active around physical activity and also engage some of the great institutions to do that including universities, teaching hospitals and the private sector? Finally, can you transfer that knowledge into wealth creation by making gadgets and systems and exporting them?”

The AWRC model will mirror the highly successful Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) which has created a £150million Advanced Manufacturing Park where companies such as Boeing and Rolls-Royce are located.

The AWRC has already received backing from the International Olympic Committee and has attracted the interest of companies such as Panasonic, BBraun, Siemens and the Toshiba Corporation, which flew in senior representatives from Japan to discuss the plans.

“It has provoked a lot of interest internationally and some of the big international companies are now looking at whether we can create the same model we have done with manufacturing at the AMRC,” said Mr Caborn.

“Three senior people from Toshiba came over from Japan especially which sends out a strong message about the project.

“I sat with them and asked if they knew of anywhere else in the world that had done this and they said no. Not with a half-a-million live-in laboratory like we are doing, where universities and teaching hospitals engage in a corporate way. As far as I know nobody has done this before.

“What we will have created is a critical mass of activity and I don’t think there is anywhere else that could do this, bringing in two universities, a teaching hospital and a children’s hospital. Not only are they partners but the reach-back into their knowledge and their systems is huge. That makes it pretty unique.

“The demands of the health service are going to be different so therefore we are training the next generation. It is about the whole wellness agenda and looking into the future. That is why we are already looking at Hospital 2050. This will be like Factory 2050 but looking at what a hospital will look like in 2050. This is a bit further down the road but we have our eye on it.”

Mr Caborn believes the development will be hugely significant to the regeneration of the Attercliffe area and will give the Sheffield City Region something to really shout about.

“Without a doubt this will make a huge difference to the Attercliffe area. It is already attracting large amounts of interest and we will find a lot of people from sports will want to be based here, as will those from the health and wellbeing agenda.

“Sheffield has got two fantastic universities, the second largest teaching hospital in the country and probably one of the leading children’s hospitals in the world but we don’t particularly shout about it. All of that has now come together and it will be a world-beater.

These institutions are already worldrenowned and by bringing them together I feel we will have something that will be the envy of the world.”

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First For Business

APRIL 2015

www.ffb-online.co.uk

BANK OF ENGLAND GOVERNOR PRAISES THE AMRC’S ROLE IN MANUFACTURING RECOVERY Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has praised the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre for its contribution to UK manufacturing’s recovery.

“No one knows better than the people in this room that manufacturing needs to be ever more productive to prosper in a world of strongly falling prices and rising international competition.

Mr Carney was delivering his last public speech before the General Election at the Nuclear AMRC, an event that coincided with the publication of “Building Futures” – a new book celebrating the achievements of the whole of the AMRC. Building Futures marks the 10th anniversary of the completion of the first AMRC building on the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Waverley and includes a foreword by the Governor in which he hails the AMRC as ‘a world leader in metallurgy and engineering research’.

“The strong recovery of UK manufacturing in the last year, growth stronger than at any point in the past decade, is testament to the sector’s continuing improvement.”

Mr Carney expanded on that theme during his speech, telling a 200 strong

WORK AND PLAY A MONTHLY ROUND-UP OF NEWS, ACHIEVEMENTS, CELEBRATIONS AND NEW FACES

HOTEL’S FUNDRAISING REACHES NEW HEIGHTS The Sheffield Metropolitan Hotel’s Nicola Carlin, one of the longest serving members of the team, took to the skies in a tandem parachute jump, raising over £200 towards The Children’s Hospital’s ‘Buy a Room’ campaign.

Nicola Carlin

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audience of local business people: “Sheffield has remained fleet of foot through innovation. The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre is the latest and prime example of that.

Mr Caborn said the Training Centre not only gave young people the skills to be first class artisans, it also opened the way for young people from some of Sheffield’s most deprived areas to go on to gain top level engineering degrees.

APPRENTICE AWARDS SUCCESS Two Barnsley College apprentices are being put forward for national accolades after their success at the Yorkshire and Humber Talent for Care Awards 2015.

The awards, which took place at the Marriott Hotel in Leeds, celebrate the successes of individuals, healthcare support staff and apprentices.

The awards showcase and recognise the continued enthusiasm and commitment of everyone involved in the delivery of NHS Apprenticeships and the training and development of support staff.

Nicola, who has worked at the hotel for 14 years, said it was one of those challenges she had always wanted to do – although she’s in no hurry to repeat it!

Barnsley College apprentices Kira Rosser, who works as a Clinical Apprentice at Sheffield Road Surgery, and Jenny Murfin, a Healthcare Science Apprentice in the Audiology Department at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, were highly commended at the awards and will now be nominated for national awards.

The hotel has committed to raise £1,000 for the campaign via a number of fundraising activities. Another employee – Rachel Lawty – is taking part in the Plusnet Sheffield Half Marathon (www.justgiving.com/Rachel-Lawty1) and guests have an opportunity each weekend to enter a prize draw – costing £5 – to win their overnight stay with compliments of the hotel.

Brigid Baker, head of the Early Years and Care department at Barnsley College, said “Both girls deserve to be recognised for their outstanding achievements and commitment to both their work and apprenticeship studies.

They both have shining careers ahead of them in the NHS and I wish them every success at the national awards. ”

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WORK AND PLAY

DAFFODIL BALL MAKES IT BETTER FOR THE CHILDREN’S CHARITY A couple have raised over £970,000 after hosting their 25th annual ball in aid of The Children’s Hospital Charity.

Over 200 supporters, including singer Katie Melua and James Toseland, came together on 7 March for the Daffodil Ball, hosted by local business owners David and Jean Fyfe at Sheffield’s Baldwin’s Omega.

All money raised from the ball will support the charity’s Make it Better appeal, which was launched in 2012 to help transform the hospital into a world-class facility to match the existing world-class care. As part of the David & Jean Fyfe, Katie Melua and James Toseland appeal, kind donors pledged £22,000 to help bring one of only three ground-breaking 3T MRI scanners to The Children’s Hospital in Sheffield.

The evening’s host, David Fyfe, who has been involved in organising the Daffodil Ball for the past 25 years, said: “It all started in 1990. Together with our friends Nigel & Sandra Worthington we set up what we thought was a “one-off ” ball raising £5,000. We have now passed our 24th year, raising over £970,000 in total. We are proud to support The Children’s Hospital in Sheffield and would like to thank the generosity of those that have contributed to our success over the years.”

NEW STARTER FOR INOX DINE

CHARITY PARTNERSHIP FOR TOUR DE YORKSHIRE The Children’s Hospital Charity has been announced as the official charity partner for the Tour de Yorkshire.

Yorkshire cycling legends Brian Robinson, the first British man to win a stage of the Tour de France and Malcolm Elliott, one of Britain’s most successful riders, united to launch the partnership - set to benefit hundreds of thousands of children who come from all over the county and further afield for specialist treatment at The Children’s Hospital in Sheffield.

Money raised through the Tour de Yorkshire will help fund a brand new hospital wing and equipment to keep the hospital’s services at the forefront of medical provision.

TANKERSLEY MANOR CELEBRATES QHOTELS AWARD Tankersley Manor, one of QHotels’ 21 luxury hotels, is celebrating the group scooping AA Hotel Group of the Year in the AA Hospitality Awards 2014.

Hayleigh Parkhurst, general manager of Tankersley Manor said: “We’re delighted to have been recognised with yet another prestigious accolade this year and it really is testament to the hard work of the staff, not only at this hotel but across the group. We would also like to thank our loyal customer base for their continued support.”

THOUSANDS OF YORKSHIRE BUSINESSES UNPREPARED FOR CALL CHARGE CHANGES The head of an independent communications company is urging Yorkshire and Humber businesses to re-evaluate the numbers they give out to consumers, including freephone, as they could be landed with significantly higher bills.

Ofcom-led changes to the pricing of inbound telephone numbers will affect the cost of some ‘non-geographic’ numbers, that is any beginning with 08, 09 or 118. Numbers beginning with 01, 02 and 03 are not affected.From a provisional date of1 July, freephone numbers beginning 0800, 0808 or 116 are to be free for consumers to call from mobiles as well as landlines.

Erica Lewis, managing director of Leeds-based

Diva Telecom, warns that companies using freephone numbers will pick up the tab for the extra cost of extending freephone to mobiles.

“The changes to freephone mean our business customers will be charged according to the origin of a call instead of its destination – with calls from mobiles costing more.

“Obviously this is likely to lead to higher overall costs.

Businesses should find out from their providers where most of their calls originate so they can make an informed decision about which numbers to use in the future.”

The University of Sheffield has appointed new Business Development Manager Steve Timmins to support the growth of its many bars, cafés and restaurants as well as the events, meetings, conferences and occasions it hosts and caters for.

The University hosts over 1,000 events and over 40,000 delegates each year.

With locations in both the city centre and South West Sheffield, its prestigious venues include, Inox Dine, Halifax Hall,The Edge and Firth Court.

Steve joins the University’s specialist conference and hospitality team, cUStomised, having gained sales and marketing experience working within hospitality, sport, leisure and the UK music industry.

Steve said: “I am incredibly excited to be working with such a great team of hospitality professionals and at a venue as prestigious as the University of Sheffield which has a fantastic range of conference, banqueting, catering, event and accommodation facilities.”.”

Steve Timmins

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First For Business

10 THINGS

APRIL 2015

www.ffb-online.co.uk

10 THINGS… THAT ULTRAENDURANCE RUNNING HAS IN COMMON WITH BUSINESS

BY CHRIS HEATON, GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR OF OSL GROUP LTD. n his spare time Chris is a multi-day endurance runner committed to raising funds for disadvantaged young people.

To date he has raised over £70,000 for Brathay Trust by doing challenges such as running across frozen Lake Baikal in Siberia and completing 30 marathons in 30 days. On 30 April he will begin his longest distance run ever; a 100-mile run around the boundary of the Company of Cutlers to raise funds for the Master Cutler’s Challenge.

I

1

THE ICEBERG EFFECT

Most of the work and training you do is unseen and unappreciated. People only see the end result.

A great quote I keep returning to during the many lonely dark hours of training: “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”

– Muhammed Ali

2

SELF-BELIEF

You need confidence and belief in your ability and your training schedule when you are doing extreme challenges. There isn’t a manual on how to prepare for 30 marathons in 30 days. Building a business requires similar self-belief.

3

REALISTIC THINKING

Relentless positive thinking is dangerous.

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Things can and do go wrong. If you have contemplated them in advance you are better prepared to deal with them. This is not the same at all as being pessimistic. I am optimistic – but also realistic.

ORDINARY PEOPLE CAN DO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS

IT’S A LONELY BUSINESS

7

Well it just is – not all the time, but ultimately you control your own destiny and everyone looks to you for the big decisions.

4

I am a middle aged be-suited businessman.

I ran 30 marathons in 30 days, I’ve run across Lake Baikal in deepest Siberia. And I’ve raised over £70,000 for charity. Bill Gates dropped out of university in 1975 and started Microsoft. Before fame and success everyone is ordinary. You could be developing the next Microsoft right now.

DON’T GET CARRIED AWAY WITH YOUR SUCCESS 5

Just when you think everything’s going well … is often when disaster strikes! I fell on day 27 of 30 (but fortunately recovered well). It’s the same in business – somewhere along the line there’s a bad year, a lost contract. Hubris followed by nemesis is an eternal truth.

6

JUST DO IT

If I waited until conditions were perfect, until I was in perfect condition, I would never start a challenge. It’s the same at work – you have to get started, to give it a go. You cannot always wait until everything is perfect because you’d never get anything done.

CALM IN A CRISIS

8

Making the right decisions under intense pressure requires you to keep calm, to slow down time, to be logical and not emotional.

VISION

9

If you can visualise the outcome, see what success looks like and feels like and imagine the journey with great clarity – you will succeed.

“Close your eyes and imagine where you want to be. Imagine the complete journey you need to take in order to get there.

Now go pack. Your reservations have been made.” – Michelle Ustaszeski.

10

HOPE AND FEAR

Hope and fear are inseparable. There is no hope without fear. If you have a dream, you will be frightened sometimes. If you don’t have a dream then you’ve nothing to fear. But you will never achieve anything remarkable.

To sponsor Chris visit virginmoneygiving.com/chrisheaton

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