“Freedom Day” has now been and gone and with it the requirement that we continue to work from home. Many businesses will soon be ramping up their attempts to get their employees back to the workplace. The pandemic plunged many businesses across the country into an unexpected trial of remote working. Moving back to the more rigid working arrangement will not come without its challenges as employers battle to protect their businesses and safeguard their workforces. Melanie Stancliffe, employment partner at Cripps Pemberton Greenish, explores the carrot and the stick approaches many businesses are adopting to strongly encourage staff to return…
Author: sme-admin
Many professional consultants in business (and trades people) can struggle to answer their phone when they are the sole employee of their business. This becomes even more tricky when the business owner takes a break. At the Virtual Business Centre, we’ve found that some business owners don’t receive lots of calls, however the ones they do are often very important. Those calls can be from: Clients asking questions or making appointments. Clients who don’t want to use email to communicate. Potential clients who want to make first contact. Possible clients who want to know the answers to some initial questions.…
Helen Barraclough, Global Education Manager – Customer Success at global small business platform, Xero, reveals three ways that businesses can create a thriving learning culture for their employees. “The single biggest driver of business impact is the strength of an organisation’s learning culture”, according to a recent Bersin report on how learning cultures can empower businesses to be successful. Findings from Xero’s Future of Small Business Report reveal that the pandemic has led to ten years of innovation and technological adoption taking place in just 90 days. This disruption has led to a shift in demand for human expertise – in fact, the World Economic Forum suggests we are on…
Websites unfortunately don’t maintain themselves. Between frequent update roll-outs and the ever-evolving threats to site security, investing in a maintenance plan ensures that all the hard work put into building your site wasn’t all for nothing. When it comes to building a website and deciding on the platform on which to base it, many small businesses choose a WordPress site. Although less flexible than a site built in html it means that website owners can easily create and manage new content, change the site’s appearance and extend its functionality via plugins without any coding knowledge at all. But it still…
The office playlist can often lead to a heated debate. While some employees prefer to listen to music to get them through their 9-5, others wish to work in utter silence. But, according to new research1, over half (54%) of workers do favour music in the office. As many offices across the UK prepare to welcome their employees back into the workplace, a new study by Office Furniture Online1 has revealed once and for all whether music really does improve performance, alongside worker’s preferences. Whilst over half (54%) of workers enjoy listening to music when working, 61% of offices don’t play music out…
Manchester-based independent ratings specialist embarks on accelerated recruitment drive. Fast-growing business rates reduction specialist, RVA Surveyors, has launched a targeted recruitment drive that will see the family-owned company triple its workforce in the next 12 months. Professionals are being sought across a range of full time positions including senior surveyors, senior credit controllers, ratings surveyors, key account managers, junior customer service agents, junior audit executives, telesales executives and data administrators. Apprenticeships are also being created for school leavers. 15 new roles have already been filled with 52 more positions set to become available in the coming weeks as RVA seeks…
British business owners are happy to prioritise their business over their personal lives, study finds. A new survey from Superscript: the subscription-based, online business insurance provider, found that business owners and entrepreneurs across Britain are happily choosing to prioritise their business over their personal lives. A shocking 52% of men and nearly half of women (48%) surveyed agreed that it is often necessary for them to put their work or business first, over their family or friends. Superscript asked entrepreneurs and business owners, with its unavoidable impact on home and family life, is starting up and running a business all…
As corporate advisers they have written hundreds of business plans for all types of organisation – start-ups, not for profit, public sector and multi-million-pound firms looking to expand, improve or exit. Each is different, but if you are thinking of writing your own plan here are some thoughts from Andrew Pollard, Director of Falkirk-based Ahead Business Consulting, to bear in mind. 1. Write for your audience. If your plan is written to seek investment or secure a loan then you need to set out your stall in a way that will convince someone who is not an expert in your business. They need to “get it” by just reading your plan. Explain properly what you do, why it…
Paragon Bank has provided £160,000 in funding to The Log Company, a Richmond-based business that specialises in logs, wood fuel and outdoor living equipment. Established 10 years ago, The Log Company was created by Mark Smith and Edward Gibon and supplies over 10,000 bags of logs per year alongside other outdoor living products such as wood-fired heating and cooking equipment. It also stocks a selection of top of the range Kirami wood fire hot tubs and saunas. Paragon provided funding for a range of equipment, including telehandlers, light commercial vehicles, gritters and a weighbridge. The new equipment will support the…
To mark International Day of the Cotton-top Tamarin, on 15 August 2021, Cotswold Wildlife Park is celebrating two new additions to the Burford collection from one of the world’s rarest primate species. The striking eleven-week-old infants were born to the Park’s new breeding pair, Johnny and Trillian. Visitors can see the playful youngsters in their enclosure opposite the entrance to walkthrough Lemur exhibit Madagascar. Cotton-top Tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) are considered to be one of the world’s 25 most endangered primates* and are classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), making them one of South…