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This week’s course highlight is our Abseil Escape Training. Businesses that use Man Up/VNA forklifts and other equipment that is operated at height have a duty of care to ensure that all employees can escape from height when they are using these types of machinery. Our half day Abseil Escape training course will give operators the know-how and confidence they require to return to the ground safely. To book this course or any other course in our range, please call us on +44 (0)1508 578844 or email enquiries@shieldhealthandsafety.co.uk

Asset Based Lending for Your Business.

Our work ethic means that we put clients at the heart of everything we do. We work methodically to listen and understand your priorities. We have the financial expertise and product range you need to take your business to the next level.

Take a look at just a few of the vehicles and assets we have financed … 

Land Rover Defender  –  QUICK SERVICE: With the support of Chatsbrook one private client was able to purchase the 2015 Land Rover Defender. From the offset, we were able to tailor a Hire Purchase (HP) agreement with a balloon to keep his monthly payments at a lower, fixed price. Chatsbrook understands that time is precious, using our services means that you will not have to search for finance independently- we take out the hard work for you and make it simpler! For this client, the process from signing paperwork to pay-out took only two days-leaving the client plenty of time to enjoy his new vehicle! 

Class Combine Harvester –  INDEPENDENT: During lockdown, we have been able to support a local, family-run business to upgrade their fleet and purchase a Claas Combine Harvester Lexion 420. Being an independent broker means that we are not tied to any one lender. Due to this, we were able to approach multiple lending institutions and source the most competitive finance arrangement to suit their circumstances. As an open, honest, transparent and fair intermediary, we make a commitment to our clients to locate the most appropriate finance so that they can continue conserving cashflow whilst focusing on what matters most. 

Kramer KT357 Telehandler – DIVERSE RANGE OF PRODUCTS: With facilities such as Seasonal Payment Plans, Refinance and Hire Purchase, our specialists are able to accommodate the changing needs of agricultural businesses using our alternative methods of finance. One local chicken farmer approached Chatsbrook requiring a versatile telehandler for material handling purposes. Using our expertise, we were able to advise as to the best course of action to suit their budget and business, enabling the client to invest in an integral piece of equipment! 

Kubota KX80 Excavator -SAVE ON UPFRONT COSTS: Reduce the upfront cost associated with expanding your business fleet! The labour-saving strength and efficiency of excavators such this Kubota KX80, has helped TWO local construction firms to keep productive and remain buoyant. Instead of purchasing outright, they chose to conserve cashflow by spreading costs into low, monthly payments- ensuring the financial wellbeing of both their companies!

Massey Ferguson 6480 -CUSTOMER FOCUSED: Our reputation is built on our personal approach and long-lasting relationship with customers which is why Chatsbrook is the funder of choice. A repeat client approached us wishing to purchase the popular Massey Ferguson’ 6480. As we have perfected a service based on a solid foundation of trust & transparency, we were able to provide clear and unbiased asset funding solutions.

Whether personal or business, asset or vehicle, we provide YOU with a personal route to finance. Get in touch with our team on 01603 733500, or email us direct at info@chatsbrook.co.uk

The Importance of Working Together As a Team

Modern business moves at a lightning pace, thanks to constant improvements in technology and best practices. However, despite these breakneck commercial advancements, one area of business that has not changed over decades, and can have a huge impact on productivity, mental health and ultimately profits, is how your team works and communicates together on a daily basis.

Never more so than during a global pandemic. Whilst there has been extensive homeworking, which has had advantages and disadvantages, people still want and need people and face to face communication.

The benefit of in person communication is that building of informal rapport, getting to know each other not only on a personal basis but working styles. Even with the wonderful advances with Zoom and Teams it is still easy to miss some nuances or subtleties that can lead to misunderstandings.

I think many people can probably think of instances over the last year or so when things might have been polarised, or not dealt with due to lack of personal contact.

In the same way one bad apple can spoil the barrel, if you have one department or team that isn’t running as smoothly, constantly have a breakdown in communications or understanding, it can have a detrimental effect to the overall business.

Companies who have teams that understand and embrace working together as a cohesive and engaged collective are often a lot happier in their work life. It’s acknowledged that there is a fundamental connection between how people feel in a work environment and how successful a business is.

In short happy teams = better performance.

However, poor teamwork and a lack of communication is not a terminal problem, it can be easily resolved with some constructive and engaging bonding team experiences. It is widely accepted that if colleagues engage in a team building /bonding experiences together outside of the office, personal and professional benefits will greatly outweigh the negatives.

Look at any championship winning sports team, it is not always about having the best players, often it is about have a group of people who work for and with each other to achieve the result. Think of England’s football team in Euro 2021, they did have a few superstars, but more than that, what they had was a determination to work hard as a unit and develop an understanding of everyone’s strengths and weaknesses and fill in any gaps as a collective.  It was that mentality and approach that got them to the final. They may not have won but what at team.

Team building experiences enable those members of a team who may not interact with each other on a daily basis the chance to spend time building up a working relationship, that can be transplanted back into the working environment. Large events (over 500 people) where multiple departments or social groups are mixed together, helps to give everyone a chance to work with and develop a togetherness that may not come naturally during the working day for logistical reasons.

Of course that said, there are some industries such as healthcare, retail and manufacturing where taking an entire team out of the workspace for a day event is not practical or feasible. This doesn’t mean that they can’t increase their togetherness and productivity as a team. By taking the time to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the colleagues around them and build up a better picture of how working together as one can make the daily work balance run much smoother, those companies will find that productivity and workplace organisation will naturally increase.

Modern businesses cannot afford to ignore the benefits of having a team that works together, and works together well. Having colleagues who build and maintain mutually beneficial working relationships,  can only serve to increase the effectiveness of the business, which in turn will increase productivity and ultimately profits.

Let Huxley Events help you www.huxleyevents.com 01953 308386 – we look forward to hearing from you.

Charities should be checking their insurance policies after it emerged that some organisations could be missing out on business interruption cover payments totalling tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds as a result of the lockdown, according to a leading charity finance specialist.

Stef Smith, charities manager at chartered accountants Lovewell Blake, says that many charities risk missing out on insurance pay-outs because they don’t realise that business interruption cover may apply to some of their activities.

The issue is particularly relevant where charity shops were forced to close through the Covid lockdown, or where other activity based income – such as hiring out facilities to other organisations – was not possible because of coronavirus restrictions.

“I am aware of business interruption insurance payments ranging from £5,000 to £300,000 made to charities operating in our region,” said Mrs Smith.

“It’s unlikely that many charities would be eligible for amounts at the top end of this scale, but for organisations which have seen their trading income hit by the pandemic, claiming on insurance policies which they have been paying premiums for could make a big difference at a time when traditional fundraising has been very difficult.”

“Following the changes surrounding business interruption claims, I would urge every charity to check their insurance policies to see whether they include business interruption cover, and if so, to speak to their broker or insurance to identify if a claim is possible..”

Such cover will not provide protection against the decline in traditional fundraising activity, but it could pay out when other activities (such as charity shops) have been interrupted by lockdown, or rental income has been lost due to the pandemic.

“Each policy is different, and it will be a case of checking what is an isn’t covered,” said Mrs Smith.

Mrs Smith also urged charities not to take no for an answer if they believe they should be covered, and to pursue through their broker if appropriate.  This follows examples of insurance companies attempting to claim that business interruption insurance does not cover a global pandemic – a claim which was rejected by the Supreme Court in a test case heard in January.

“Charities’ incomes have been hard-hit by the pandemic, just as demand for their services has in many cases peaked,” said Mrs Smith.  “If they have been paying insurance premiums over the years, it is important that they ensure that they make a claim if they are entitled to do so – their beneficiaries are the ones who will ultimately lose out if they don’t.” 

The Charities Commission reports that there are 3,536 charities registered as working in Norfolk, and 3,188 in Suffolk.

If you want to, build your brand, engage customers and drive sales email marketing is the most efficient way to do it.

Whether your potential customers are using a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer, you can put your content in front of them. If the content is engaging, tailored to their interests and inspires action, the results will speak for themselves.

So why don’t all businesses use email marketing? Many decision-makers think it’s too expensive for them.

But that’s simply not true. The truth is that for £10+vat per month, you can launch brilliant email marketing campaigns that bring you great results using Smart Messenger.

Over on our Smart Messenger blog post ‘How much does email marketing cost?‘ we’re helping readers to discover more about email marketing, the costs involved and the benefits of using our service.

You’ll find all the details about our three plan levels in our in-depth article, but to give you a summary, this is what you need to know.

• Every Smart Messenger plan comes with a dedicated account manager who you can call on for help and advice at any time.
• On the Lite plan, you get 1,000 email credits pcm to send to unlimited contacts, which goes up to 2,000 on Standard and 5,000 on the Pro plan.
• Our ‘Drag & Drop’ editor makes creating
• Use custom fields on all plans to make your email marketing personal and targeted for different segments of your audience to enhance engagement.
• Drill down into your data thanks to real-time reporting. This insight allows you to disseminate what content is working and what you need to change. In addition, on the Standard plan, you get Google Analytics integration.
• Set up automated email marketing programmes with our Standard and Pro plans.
• Need to send more? Extra emails are not expensive, calculate the total cost with our handy Smart Messenger calculator.

If you’d like to learn more, head over to our detailed blog or feel free to call us on 01603 858250 or email communicate@smartmessenger.co.uk for a demo.

The team at Tudor Lodge Consultants is excited to announce that we are working with the innovative and exciting team at LuxiGaming. Having created a truly unique product for console gamer sin the form of a beanbag for gamers, LuxiGaming are growing as a business and online. Thus, they approached us to help them work on their online presence and visibility.

Working with the branding, development and content teams at LuxiGaming, we are working with a n exciting and hardworking team, looking to build a truly unique brand in the USA.

There are some unique challenges and considerations when it comes to a new product, which doesn’t necessarily exist in its original form. However, LuxiGaming are already making progress into the gaming market.

What We Are Doing for LuxiGaming

With a product that is not yet mainstream, some of the initial search engine optimisation (SEO) work does differ in the case of LuxiGaming, because their closest competitors’ products are simply not the same. However, as with all good SEO, it is key to consider the intent of users and customers and thus, we have been working hard with the team at LuxiGaming to understand and tap into the relevant customer and user-bases.

Keyword and Industry Research – The first port of call for all successful SEO campaigns, understanding what your desired customers are looking for online is key to future success. We are therefore looking into the relevant rankings of the relevant competitors of LuxiGaming as well as around keywords and search terms of the highest degrees of relevance to the product offerings LuxiGaming have to offer.

Technical SEO – The initial portion of a successful SEO campaign requires the website in question to be as perfect as possible from a technical point of view. What this means in practice is that the website is as easy as possible for search engines to crawl [read and understand for the purposes of search rankings] and that there are no technical errors throughout the website in any way, shape or form, for example broken links or crawl errors.

Website Content and Offerings – Key to the success of any website, whether selling products or services is clear and relevant communication of what is on offer. Moreover, content for any website needs to be optimised for SEO, in a modern sense. Gone are the days of keyword stuffing and trying to get certain phrases into content for the sake of it. Nowadays, clear and effective communication as well as covering the necessary topics are fundamental to SEO success and this should be apparent in all and any content.

We are looking forward to continuing the growth of LuxiGaming online and being a part of their success in the months and years to come.