Nearly 80% of HR and L&D professionals see the importance of cultural intelligence (CQ) to their organisations’ success, with 93% emphasising its role in boosting engagement and teamwork.1 In light of this, Chris Crosby, CEO at Country Navigator, a cultural intelligence training platform, explains how leaders can better develop cultural intelligence in their workplaces to help their teams reach the next level. Why is cultural intelligence important for leaders? Managing performance: A leader’s primary role is to drive team performance, understand potential, and motivate, develop, and encourage the team. Programs may promise development, but they don’t always deliver the expected results. Cognitive…
Author: sme-admin
With Neurodiversity Celebration Week taking place this week, Dan Kentley, Head of Assessment and Specialist Clinical Services at Onebright, discusses the benefits of embracing neurodiversity, common challenges neurodivergent individuals face in the workplace and practical workplace adjustments. Many companies have a talented workforce consisting of individuals with remarkable skills and insights, yet some may face challenges navigating the traditional working environment. It’s estimated that one in seven people in the UK are neurodivergent, meaning they may learn or process information differently to those who are neurotypical. A neurodiverse workforce includes individuals with unique strengths and traits, including those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder…
As the 5 April tax year deadline approaches, Penfold warns that last-minute errors are quietly costing UK savers thousands. With the tax year ending on 5 April, Penfold, a leading UK workplace pension provider, is urging savers not to leave pension contributions to the last minute. Every year, many people miss out on allowances they are entitled to, mistime contributions that fail to process or overlook relief they could have claimed. Chris Eastwood, CEO and Co-Founder of Penfold said: “We see the same money mistakes come up time and time again at this point in the tax year. Most of them…
Jurit law firm has advised Marine Products (Scotland) Ltd on its transition to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), securing the long-term future of the Glasgow-based salmon producer, and placing the business in the hands of its employees. Marine Products (Scotland) Ltd supplies a range of salmon products to long-standing trade customers and retailers. The move to an EOT ensures the company’s independence and provides a clear succession solution following careful planning by the Mackenzie family after the passing of former owner Angus Mackenzie in 2018. Lawyers from Jurit LLP advised on the transaction, supporting the company through the process of…
The Entrepreneurial Revolution: How to scale without losing your soul One of the UK’s most acquisitive groups, London-based Celnor Group (Celnor) was founded in 2023 by industry expert Simon Parrington and is backed by Inflexion Private Equity. The Group of ambitious, entrepreneur-led businesses is one of the most dynamic and rapidly growing organisations in the Testing, Inspection, Certification and Compliance (TICC) sector. In just two years it has grown from a concept to a £250m-revenue international group, with over 40 specialist companies – within 4 key Celnor Group divisions – across 60 locations, more than 2,000 colleagues and operations in…
By Greg Sutch, CEO, Intralink For many tech scaleups, international expansion has traditionally meant looking to North America or Europe. Markets in Asia have often been set aside, assumed to be too difficult to enter because of the distance, not to mention the language and cultural differences. But this assumption is changing – and fast. It’s not simply that western markets have matured or become more competitive. Ongoing disruption to global trade, economic uncertainty and slower growth across parts of Europe and North America are also prompting the most innovative tech scaleups to rethink where their greatest opportunities lie. Meanwhile,…
Late payments are increasingly undermining the stability of UK SMEs, threatening payroll, job security and growth potential. New research from Bibby Financial Services (BFS), based on a study of 1,000 SME owners and decision makers, reveals that late payments from customers prevented more than two-fifths (42%) from paying staff salaries on time in the last 12 months, while nearly a quarter (24%) have paused hiring. BFS’s recent SME Confidence Tracker also reveals that late payment is harming resilience, with four in ten (41%) small businesses dipping into emergency funds to stay afloat in the last year. Derek Ryan, CEO for…
For many growing businesses, credit control is one of those things that’s important, but rarely urgent, until it suddenly is. Late payments start stacking up, cashflow tightens and time that should be spent running the business gets swallowed by chasing invoices. At Insight Associates, this is something we’ve seen many times. As a fully outsourced accountancy and finance function, with more than 30 years’ experience, we work with ambitious businesses every day to put strong financial foundations in place, from bookkeeping and management accounts to cashflow forecasting and crucially, credit control. This is not because business owners are doing it…
From passive aggressive emails to people who never clean the kitchen, everyday office habits are quietly damaging productivity, focus and team harmony. 72% of UK workers say office etiquette has declined in the last three years 61% say bad office habits directly reduce their motivation at work Loud phone and video calls are the UK’s most hated workplace behaviour Small habits like tidying shared spaces rank higher than perks when it comes to morale A new study of 2,000 UK office workers has revealed the everyday behaviours that irritate colleagues the most, and the small habits that make a surprisingly big difference to workplace…
What matters more to you: the pace at which information arrives, or the speed at which it leaves? Many organisations only discover the difference when an important call collapses or a cloud backup stalls. Here Kristian Torode, Director and Co-Founder of business broadband expert Crystaline, explains why the balance between download and upload speed matters more to business performance than many leaders realise. According to the 2025 Enterprise Horizons report, “33 per cent of UK businesses claim that network instability has resulted in revenue losses of up to £4m per year, with a further 18 per cent reporting even greater…