In this weeks episode of Impromptu Business Chat, Mark and James share their views and personal experiences of Covid induced anxiety. They offer 3 top tips to help reduce anxiety levels, and along the way they make reference to the theory of Hedonic Adaption, the book Getting Things Done by David Allen, the work of Peter Crone (AKA The Mind Architect) and the song-writing skills of family entertainer Ken Dodd!
Find about more about David Allen’s Getting Things Done here and Peter Crone, The Mind Architect here.
The Maids Head Hotel in Norwich joined forces with the Paston Footprints project to celebrate Norfolk Day at the hotel with Edmund Paston’s Tombland Tales. Dr Rob Knee, dressed as Edmund Paston, gave a very entertaining talk about the Pastons, using excerpts from the letters, which brought to life the family’s ups and downs in 15th century Norwich and Norfolk.
The Maids Head has a special link with the Paston Letters, as a letter dated 22 November 1472 features the first written mention of the Maids Head, confirming the name change of the inn from the Murtel Fish.
To celebrate this anniversary, the hotel and Paston Footprints are staging an evening with John Paston, Head of Household on 22 November 2018. The event at the Maids Head will feature a three-course dinner, poetry readings and music. Tickets are £35. For more information t. 01603 272007.
Time For You at Barnham Broom Make some Time For You at Barnham Broom. The resort offers perfect escapism for guests to relax, feel at ease and prioritise themselves and their own valuable time. The meaning may be different for everyone, but there is something for all to enjoy here. The two championship golf courses provide individuals an idyllic countryside setting to escape the everyday. In addition, members and visitors can enjoy premium practice facilities and expert yet friendly tuition, a Pro shop and much more. It’s the perfect opportunity to get into golf. The Edge Health & Fitness Club offers a state-of-the-art gym, swimming pool, spin bikes, onsite and virtual fitness classes, tennis and squash courts and much more. It’s the ideal place to focus on wellbeing and make a positive change to exercise routines. Meanwhile, for spa-seekers looking for peace and tranquillity, The Spa at Barnham Broom will take the weight off those shoulders. Whether looking to relax with a massage, get spoiled with a luxury spa experience or feel flawless with a facial, the specialist therapists are on hand to prioritise guests. Or, for those who relish indulgent food, visit the award-winning Brasserie at Barnham Broom. Delve into decadent afternoon teas in the sunshine with friends, or cherish a moment with a loved one, whilst devouring delicious locally-sourced dishes. Watch our full video to see how guests, visitors and members enjoy Time For You at Barnham Broom: https://youtu.be/rLm9Zpm8J88 For more information on memberships, spa treatments or dining, visit www.barnham-broom.co.uk Alternatively, please get in touch using the details below: Golf and Health & Fitness Memberships – membership@barnham-broom.co.uk The Spa – spa@barnham-broom.co.uk The Brasserie – enquiry@barnham-broom.co.uk
We are delighted to announce our soon to be open incubator in the centre of Norwich City.
When we started reviewing the concept, we wanted to set out to create a space where any businesses accepted to the incubator would receive support to achieve their full potential. We understand that full potential may mean different things for different people and companies. Not every new venture can be a unicorn, but they can still be a solid business for the owners, it’s employees, customers and the local community. It is from this world view that we wanted to make an incubator with a difference. Being accepted to the Akcela incubator gets you access to our team listed below, access to free office space in the heart of Norwich City Centre and support from our great partners. Our lead sponsors include Ashtons Legal, Farnell Clarke Accountants and FUEL Studios.
We would also love to introduce you to the team who will be on hand to support companies working within the incubator.
James Adams BA, MBA, DiPC – Director/Shareholder
James has 8 years with Fortune 200 US firm ITW, experience of managing projects in China, USA, and throughout Europe. James has worked with companies such as Tesco, Vauxhall, ITW, Serco and McDonalds. James has experience in supporting start-up and scale up companies such as Readingmate, Gorilla Juice and The Forest of Memories. James completed his MBA at the University of East Anglia in 2018.
Martin Yapp BSc – Director/Shareholder
Martin worked within KPMG for over 10 years, has experience with building and exiting multi-million-pound businesses, a case in point being DMW group. Martin has worked with companies such as Network Rail, Virgin Media, TFL and Motorola. Whilst Martin still runs large scale transformational projects with blue chip clients, he is also extremely passionate about supporting and nurturing start up and scale up companies.
Kate Yarbo MBA, DiPC – Director/Shareholder
Kate is an experienced CEO, working with a Norfolk and Suffolk based group of schools and Children’s homes. Kate has many years working and supporting start-up and early-stage businesses. Kate is passionate about developing individuals and culture that deliver success. Kate completed her MBA at the University of East Anglia in 2018.
Matt Lawley BA, MBA, DiPC – Director/Shareholder
Matt has extensive experience working within the FMCG environment with clients such as Waitrose, Tesco etc. Matt currently works with tech start-ups including Norfolk based Readingmate, Harvest London as well as others. Matt is also MD of £3m+ turnover company with 180+ staff. Matt completed his MBA at the University of East Anglia in 2018.
James Rix BA, MASt – Director/Shareholder
James has a wealth of business experience having started his career at Deloitte, before moving to an early-stage tech company as one of their first employees. James enjoyed several years working within the fast-paced and ever-growing company. This included VC investment before an eventual buyout. After a small amount of time out, James decided to create Readingmate with his wife Hannah, a company on an explosive growth trajectory and one of Akcela’s tenants within the incubator.
Mark Merrywest BSc, MBA, DiPC – Consultant/Shareholder
Mark is Director of Norfolk based marketing agency Flocc. Works within brand building and development. Has worked with companies such as MTV, Advance London, and the University of East Anglia. Mark completed his MBA at the University of East Anglia in 2018.
Once again, if you are interested in finding out more, get in touch or pop in for a coffee and take a look around the space.
Chances are that your local park is swamped with runners every Saturday morning. Parkrun has become the world’s largest physical activity provider, operating in 23 countries, with 7 million members worldwide and over 2000 weekly events.
This charitable organisation prides itself on being an accessible access point to exercise for everyone. It works with local communities, relying on volunteer participation to make the events happen. You may wonder how these free-to-attend events make money and Nick gives a fascinating answer by discussing what it’s like to say no to giant corporations like Pepsi and navigating the ethics of commercial sponsors, making sure they fit the message and ethos of Parkrun.
As part of government initiatives to improve wellbeing in communities, Parkrun works with local authorities across the world to make these events happen. It’s not just about physical health, they are huge advocates of the mental health benefits that come from volunteering and taking part at their events.
Parkrun’s success comes from the flexibility it offers and its informal arrangements. Organising this many people every week takes serious people skills, especially when your global team consists of only 45 staff! Nick tells us how his retail background gave him the perfect skill set for his role, using his customer service experience to help create the culture and PR strategy at mission-based Parkrun.
Nick reflects on lockdown, and how although the financial future of the business was secure, there was a great deal of uncertainty around events starting again. He talks openly about being caught up in UK bureaucracy as restrictions were being lifted and his involvement in applying pressure to cautious local authorities to reopen events, when the Government had advised that Parkrun should go ahead but had handed down the decision-making to local levels. Nick didn’t want the attention, but with Parkrun’s high profile, it meant that this ‘spat’ was in the spotlight. Nick persevered because he knew it was important for the mental health of so many members, particularly those who access Parkrun, in part, because they can only afford ‘free’.
This is a great peek behind the scenes of a huge, not-for profit organisation, and a fantastic place to pause series 2 of Business Insights Chat for the summer. We will be back with more guests in the autumn!
You can listen to this episode by clicking on the button below, or we would love it if you could subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, or wherever else you get your podcasts, so you don’t miss out on any episodes! If you could also leave us a review we would love to hear from you, and it helps others find our podcast.
You can also catch up on all episodes of Business Insights Chat, including conversations with Coes, Turners, Archant and Suffolk Food Hall, here
CHIEF will be switched off on 31st March 2023. Our message is: do not delay, make a plan for CDS
As many of us are aware, import declarations will soon be migrated to CDS. The Government have started the countdown to CHIEF’s shutdown, setting 30 September 2022 as the date for CDS to handle all import declarations, and the last date for export declarations in CHIEF will be 30 March 2023.
To avoid delays and issues at the border, your preparation for this change will be as important as those made for Brexit.
Last week’s announcement
“HMRC will be closing its Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system on 31 March 2023. From this date, all businesses will need to declare goods through the Customs Declaration Service (CDS). . .
CDS has been developed over a number of years in consultation with the border industry and will provide a more secure and stable platform that has the capacity and capability to grow in line with the government‘s ambitious trade plans.
The move to one system for all imports and exports will also deliver savings for the taxpayer“.
If you haven’t already, register for CDS. This is done using the Government Gateway. Those of you using PIVA will already be registered.
What can you do to prepare?
Familiarise yourselves with CDS, which sees the SAD C88 document sent to its final resting place. CDS guidance
Find out what additional information is required to submit declarations in CDS. Access CDS
If you use an Agent to submit your declarations you should check what their plans are to get CDS ready. You will need to give them the relevant access to CDS and agree a revised instruction and checking process
If you submit declarations using a third party software provider then make sure that you engage with them so that you can update your systems
You might like to try the Trader Dress Rehearsal Service, with the assistance of your software provider. This lets you test your readiness and submit different declaration scenarios in a simulated Customs Declaration Service. Dress rehearsal service
Subscribe to some of the free online courses. Trade academy
Acronyms:
CHIEF: Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight
We are thrilled to announce that we are working with Fulcare, a supplier of wholesale cleaning products in the UK. Having been established in early 20 years ago, Fulcare have been working hard in recent times to spruce up and update their website and online presence more broadly.
Working in the cleaning and wholesale market makes Fulcare a business to business (B2B) company and therefore the search intent and user behaviour varies from what you might expect from a standard business to consumer (B2C) website and therefore there are some key and unique considerations to take into account.
We are working with their marketing, branding, design and development teams across a number of areas to help improve the search engine optimisation (SEO) of their website.
Website Crawling
Key factor when it comes to SEO, we are working through the Fulcare site to ensure everything from an SEO perspective from meta data to broken links is cleaned up and totally optimised.
Many sites and brands across every online industry neglect some basic key factors including meta data and page titles and thus, we are working through the Fulcare site making the necessary fixes and improvements.
Website Speed
A website can look as good as you like and can offer the best products in any industry.
However, if any website simply does not load quickly, properly and effectively for users, people entering the site will leave and will be unlikely to come back. Worse still, any drop off customers are likely to navigate to a direct competitor with better site speed. We are therefore working with Fulcare’s development team on the loading and page speed of their website.
Content and Guides
Another key to a successful SEO strategy and implemented campaign is the need for well researched and well optimised website content. Without any good and well optimised content on a website there will be less for Google and other search engines to crawl, read and understand and rank. Thus, we are working across a comprehensive content strategy with the team at Fulcare.
Online PR and Backlinks
Backlinks in SEO are a key tenet. We are working on a range of opportunities with the team at Fulcare to reach out to publications and websites of relevance and interest to secure some much-needed PR for the brand. We are also working to remove spammy and toxic links in the backlink profile of Fulcare, having acquired them naturally (as all sites do) over time.
In this week’s episode of Impromptu Business Chat, Mark and James respond to a listener suggestion to chat about the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence in business, particularly to review the hidden meanings within business communications. As usual, they provide 3 top tips, and along the way they take inspiration from FT’s podcast ‘Tech Tonic’, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, and hit US comedy Friends!
We would love to hear your feedback on the podcast, or if there are topics you would like us to cover or re-visit! Contact us on podcasts@larking-gowen.co.uk
If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. Whilst you are there, we would really appreciate a 5* review, as this helps other people find our podcast!
You can also catch up on all our past series on our website here.
The Maids Head Hotel has linked up with a new supplier, Wilkinson’s of Norwich. Wilkinson’s, which has been in business in the city for 46 years, is supplying loose leaf teas to the hotel, with a special Maids Head Blend in production.
Ten of Wilkinson’s teas from Breakfast Blend, to Gunpowder Green, Cornucopia and Decaffeinated Ceylon are a special feature of the Maids Head’s popular Afternoon Tea, which is served from 12noon to 5pm.
Debbie Harris, Owner/Director of Wilkinson’s for the last 13 years said: “We were honoured to be asked to supply the stunning Maids Head Hotel, with its long history of providing hospitality in the city. We have chosen 10 teas to cover all tastes, ranging from Breakfast Blend to a gentle Chamomile.”
“We are also excited to be working with Sam Masters, the Food Services Manager, on developing a special blend for the hotel. The Maids Head is a wonderful location to sit and relax over Afternoon Tea and enjoy one of our special loose leaf teas.”
Christine Malcolm, General Manger, the Maids Head Hotel said: “We work with local suppliers acroiss all aspects of the business and are very pleased to have established a close relationship with Debbie and her team at Wilkinson’s. I am a particular fan of their Early Grey tea and look forward to tasting the new Maids Head Blend.”
Wilkinson’s teas available at the Maids Head Hotel are as follows: Breakfast Blend, Earl Grey, Darjeeling, Peppermint, Gunpowder Green, Rooibos, Chamomile, Cornucopia, Peach and Decaffeinated Ceylon.
We are extremely excited and proud to be named as finalists for the SBID International Design Awards 2021 in the Retail Design Category for our interior design project at Taank Optometrists.
This project was very exciting to work on and it is great to see all of the hard work being recognised and rewarded. We are up against some very pretigious companies and votes count towards the final award so we would be very grateful if you had a few moments to vote for us.
The biggest issue I am currently hearing from employers is the acute shortage of qualified, experienced accountants and how hard it is proving to retain and attract them. There seem to be increasing incidences of competitors poaching staff, sometimes even before they are qualified, and upward pressure on salaries. Strategies to improve retention rates of high-potential team members once they qualify, and to increase success in attracting experienced hires, are more important than ever.
Although 2020 saw the largest annual fall in UK GDP for 300 years, 2021 is showing a very rapid bounce-back with the Bank of England expecting the highest rate of economic growth for 70 years, what they have described as being like a ‘coiled spring’. The greatest challenges many businesses now face no longer revolve around sales, revenue and cashflow, but are limitations on the supply-side; ramping up dormant supply chains, reopening premises, and most of all ensuring that they have enough human capital to take advantage of surging customer demand.
When I ask the employers that I work with what their biggest HR headache is they invariably talk about retention of qualified, experienced staff. Recruitment to fill entry-level positions still seems relatively easy at the moment, with greater numbers and higher calibre of school-leaver and graduate applicants than ever before. The difficulty is hanging onto team members that the organisation has already invested in during initial years of technical training and learning the ropes of their business.
It is not just high-flying future leadership prospects this issue relates to. Hard-grafting, reliable team workers are just as hard to retain, and just as sorely missed if they leave. In recent weeks I have been involved in many conversations with clients discussing ways to improve staff retention and it seems to be a minefield of possible strategies, including:
Financial and non-financial elements of employment packages
Self-selected perks and benefits
Flexible working practices
Periodical sabbaticals
Reduced hierarchy
Streamlined bureaucracy
Regular internal communications
Recognition and praise
Buddies from a similar level and mentors from a senior level
Rapid responsibility and autonomy
Early and open career conversations
Clear vertical, horizontal or diagonal progression routes
Robust skills development pathways
Establishing resonant organisational mission and values
At First Intuition we are seeing more and more employers of accountants recognising the huge value of the clear progression and learning plans that most trainees have while they are studying for their qualifications. Many are now coming to realise that replicating that same level of clarity and structure in their team members’ post-qualification development pathways is a great way to demonstrate how far their career ambitions can be fulfilled without the need to look for another employer.
It is clear that attracting and retaining qualified accountants is an issue felt throughout the industry. To delve deeper into the topic we will be hosting a forum on Wednesday 8th September 2021. The session will be joined by a panel of expert speakers who will give their advice on how to keep staff engaged and loyal when they qualify, plus how to be as appealing as possible to experienced candidates in the marketplace looking for their next role. Register to join the forum here.
The Employer Training Incentive Programme (ETIP) now extended so SMEs in all sectors can apply for training grants!
This programme is part of Norfolk County Council’s Bringing Employment and Skills Together initiative and now allows all types of businesses that are self-employed, small, medium or micro businesses to apply for funding to train their teams. The size of the up-front grant has changed as well, increasing from 50% to 75% to help employers retain and upskill their staff.
Training can cover a huge range of courses – just so long as is it supporting your business to grow, develop or diversify or help you upskill staff and retain jobs. From digital marketing to drone training, employers are getting involved and booking training for their teams. The training can be:
accredited with a qualification attached (this can be up to and including a level 3) or non-accredited courses;
whole courses or modules
mandatory or optional subjects
The training can be delivered face-to-face, online only or blended learning – it is up to you, though we need you to start your training by June 2022. You can pick the courses that best suit your business and tell us about them on the easy to complete application form.
You can also choose your own training provider – all we ask is that they are UK-based and preferably local!
The grant will fund up to 75% of training costs and there is a maximum award of £1500 per registered business. You’ll need to pay 25% of the course costs up front to your training provider and we will now pay the remaining 75% to your training provider. Remember not to book any training before you have completed your application form and had it approved as we can’t pay for any pre-booked courses.
The first thing you need to do is check out our website https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/etip for more information or email us at etip@norfolk.gov.uk with your contact details and where you are based. Our dedicated team will be in touch. They can support you by talking through your business needs, assisting you to find training or simply helping you complete an application form. Once that application is approved you can go ahead and book your training.
If you are an existing ETIP grant holder and want to get in touch about the scheme changes, again, contact us at etip@norfolk.gov.uk and we’ll be happy to talk it through with you.
So, if you are looking to use training as a way to attract or upskill new staff or simply looking to develop your present team, get in touch today and we’ll do what we can to see how the Employer Training Incentive Programme can help your business.