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Completing a new office for a leading East Anglian law firm, we are proud to be celebrating another success at Bluespace. Spending time in the picturesque countryside surrounding Bury St Edmunds, our team enjoyed creating an enlivening working environment for the well-established local business.

Requesting a comfortable environment which would be well received by both staff and clients, our designers got to work using an inviting colour scheme that made for a nice contrast to the exposed wooden ceiling beams.

Ultimately, we wanted to create a space that people would look forward to spending time in, finding inspiration in the contemporary look and feel of the various areas. Using a selection of furnishings from our sister company, Office Furniture Scene, we are confident that we’ve fulfilled the client brief.    

At the launch of the new office, Leonard Newcome, Leonard Newcombe, the Head of Facilities at Ashtons Legal, described how: “The project to convert this old barn into an exciting office space was a long one, but totally worth it. We couldn’t have achieved this without the help of Bluespace, who helped not only design and fit out this new office but with our recent Cambridge office refit too. Our staff are happy, the surroundings are outstanding, and our clients are impressed”.

We have thoroughly enjoyed working with compliance experts, Robert Quinn Consulting, over the last few months. The company has a presence in both the UK and US and specialises in compliance and regulatory help for asset managers, fund managers and more. Being compliant is key to any regulated business and Robert Quinn have positioned themselves as a friendly, professional and experienced team that covers bodies such as the FCA, SEC, NFA and more.

What we have done for them

Keyword Analysis

As SEO specialists, our role is to help sites improve their rankings and search positions on Google. We always start a campaign with what are the main focus keywords that you are looking to target. This involved speaking to the client and getting some feedback. Since we have done a lot of work in the insurance and loans sector, we assumed that they would want to target similar keywords. However, with a more corporate focus on asset management, fund managers and hedge funds, the keywords had to be more focused in this direction and also more general keywords such as compliance consultants and regulatory experts were included.

Our role is to then incorporate these keywords into the site naturally, whether it is the homepage or creating specific landing pages to target each keyword – which will include characteristics, the service that they provide and a clear contact form.

Site Optimisation

To ensure the site is fully optimised for Google, we ensure that every meta-title, description, heading, image, internal link is fully optimised, with the help of tools such as Screaming Frog and SEMrush.

In addition, we ensure that there is a fully functioning sitemap and no broken links or crawl errors that will affect the indexing of the website.

Link Building

A good SEO campaign always incorporates link building into the mix, which relates to having good links pointing to your site. To consolidate the position of regulation and compliance, we have performed outreach to secure links on news, finance and business driven websites. In addition, we have been creative by writing articles on very specific questions that people might be looking for, such as:

• How to become FCA authorised
• What happens if you are not compliant
• Which industries are not regulated

With a clear link back to Robert Quinn, not only does it strengthen the domain but also lead to enquiries from potential customers.

We currently have 10 target keywords on page 1 and around 30 keywords on pages 2-4 of Google. We will continue with our clean up and linking efforts and aim to have secured top positions by Q2 this year.

We were delighted to welcome Fiona Ryder, President of the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, as our guest speaker for the Women’s Leadership Programme Sponsors’ Dinner on Wednesday 30thJanuary.

As one of only two women to ever hold the office of President at the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, in her inaugural speech Fiona expressed her desire to promote the modernisation of corporate culture and boardrooms to ensure better economic outcomes. As a real champion of initiatives that effect positive change for our region, the award-winning entrepreneur, mother of three and prominent business leader was an inspiring guest.

We also took the opportunity to interview Fiona and share more about her career progression, her new role as president of the Chamber and her ambitions to help businesses recognise where they may be limiting their economic growth by conscious or unconscious bias.

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I started my first company at the age of 26 and I’ve since grown several successful businesses including The Cube Group of Companies, an in-store audio visual and marketing business for high street retailers, which I sold for a seven-figure sum to a plc in 2006. Many local people will be familiar with my role as the founding Managing Director of Mustard TV. Being involved from the start meant developing the local TV station from scratch, including writing the winning bid to secure the licence from Ofcom.

I’m currently the Managing Director of TCD Media, a broadcast and digital production company based in Norfolk. Alongside this, I hold a range of Non-Executive Director positions including the Ipswich Building Society and the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce. I’m a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Honorary Treasurer of the Royal Television Society (East).

2. Why did you agree to speak at the Women’s Leadership Programme event in January?

I know it can be hard to deal with prejudice and negative stereotypes of women in the workplace, whether it is conscious or unconscious bias in a culture where women are still largely the ones to take career breaks while raising a family. The next generation of female leaders need to be empowered to take their rightful positions. I hope that by sharing some of my own experiences, I will be able to help embolden and motivate more women to progress up the career ladder.

3. What are the biggest challenges facing female professionals in our region?

We still face a gender imbalance within the senior management teams and boards of our region’s organisations. In fact we are approximately seven years behind the FTSE 350 in terms of gender diversity on boards. There are so many positive business benefits to boards which are gender balanced and I want to encourage meritocracies, where people are selected as business leaders based on their merit, whatever their gender or background.

4. What do you think stops female professionals from aspiring to progress to senior management or board level roles?

Women can unintentionally hold themselves back from progressing up the career ladder because of a tendency to be more modest about their achievements. As a result they are not always as good at putting themselves forward for promotions. They need to have the confidence to go for it and not simply hope that hard work will get them noticed.

5. How do you think training programmes, like the Women’s Leadership Programme, can address these challenges?

The Women’s Leadership Programme helps women to address the factors which might be consciously or unconsciously holding them back. It will give them the tools and confidence to succeed at higher levels. It also makes employers more aware of the issues faced by women and helps them to understand how they can explore their talent pipeline and look to overcome any barriers which may be preventing inclusive progression.

6. How do you think the Women’s Leadership Programme will make a difference to individual participants?

It will really help the delegates to enhance their confidence as well as developing their leadership skills. It will give them the support they need to take the next step in their career, build their courage, networks and help them to understand and counteract any ingrained negative stereotypes.   

7. How do you think the Women’s Leadership Programme will make a difference to participating organisations?

The organisations showing the commitment to supporting their aspiring female talent to progress are also helping to create role models within their organisation and the wider region. The Women’s Leadership Programme is developing a network of like-minded professionals who will help to inspire and support each other. By participating, organisations will also help to evolve cultures and reduce the stereotypes which can hold women back.

8. How is the Norfolk Chamber promoting the development of leaders and talent in our region?

As only the second female President of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, I’m championing the need for cultural innovation in businesses. The key is to aspire for balance in our board rooms and senior management teams. I want to highlight, support and promote the women already in leadership positions and help businesses to understand and recognise where they may be limiting their economic growth by conscious or unconscious bias.

For more information regarding our Women’s Leadership Programme please visit: https://womeninleadership.prs.uk.com/ or contact Lucy Plumb on 01223 666455

Following the success of our campaign with their sister company, Trovex, we were approached by Focus Washrooms to help them rank better organically online for a range of keywords relating to commercial washrooms and bathrooms in the UK. Whether it is a shopping centre, school, hospital, there is an opportunity for providing a number of hygienic basins, toilets and cubicles for the general public to use.

The result of ranking higher on Google for Focus Washrooms can achieve greater brand awareness, new client acquisition and significant growth for the company, especially for keywords such as commercial washrooms. 

How We Approached The Campaign

Keyword Research

We started by sitting down with the client with the head offices in both Hatfield and Norfolk. We selected around 30 key terms to target on Google, so we can optimise accordingly for when people type these words or phrases in. Some of the words were very technical, including cladding, encapsulated doors and panelling and not something that our team had exposure to previously. 

We took this list of keywords and then integrated them naturally into the website, with some on existing pages and creating specific new landing pages for others. Ideally, to rank a keyword on Google, it needs to be present somewhere, and if mentioned in the meta-title and URL, this is best practice.

Site Clean-Up

In the first month, we carried out a thorough site clean up of all pages on the website. This included meta-titles, meta descriptions, h1 headings, image alt text, internal linking, sitemap optimisation and removing crawl errors and broken links. We accessed this information using tools like Screaming Frog and SEMrush which are both paid for – and they give you analysis of every page on the website and suggestions accordingly.

Link-Building

Still key to the Google search algorithm is having good quality links pointing to your website. This strengthens your domain and shows that you are being recommended by other sources around the web. We have reached out to different news sites and websites relating to health and business to show that Focus Washrooms is relevant in the industry. Over time, we need to ramp this up with more interviews, press releases and useful guides on their site that will naturally acquire good links.

Whilst it is still early days, we are very excited about this campaign and look forward to seeing positive results!

A resolution is a decision to do something differently to bring about positive change. Usually they tend to take more of a personal nature, whether that’s to exercise more or eat healthier (you can view the swan’s own resolutions here), but it can also be important to think about it from a business perspective.

As we plan for the year ahead it’s a good time to reflect on progress, plan how we want to grow our businesses and set goals. Many of us focus on improving efficiency, reducing costs, increasing employee engagement or want to expand our knowledge and skillset (one on the list for Indigo Swan).

In order to help us achieve our targets it’s essential to review our development regularly. As we enter the second month of 2019 many of us will be wanting to make sure we are on track to reach our ‘business resolutions’ and find ways to ensure that by the end of the year we accomplish our objectives.

If improving efficiency or reducing costs feature on your plan, then an energy health check has the potential to benefit your business. Reviewing your utility usage has never been more convenient and there are many simple energy saving solutions which can help you to reduce your energy usage. Let us help you to identify those areas which would be of greatest value to your business.

Philippa Bindley, Head of Customer Experience at Norfolk Chamber:

“We hadn’t looked at our energy spends for some time and we’d heard great things about Indigo Swan, so we asked them to run an energy health check to help us get a better understanding of how rates are calculated. The whole process was very easy and straight forward. We were given a friendly, dedicated account manager who was able to answer our questions quickly and efficiently. Not only did the health check save us money but we were also given some useful insights into how the energy market works. We only rent part of our building so it’s excellent to be able to take control of our spending.”

Do you know if your energy contracts and spends are in good order? Are your contracts coming to an end and you want to make sure you are on the most competitive rates? Or are you fixed into your energy contract until later this year, but still want to make sure you are with the best supplier for your needs when they end?

It won’t cost you a penny and we only need a few details from you to get started. We can then benchmark your consumption against the typical and best in class consumption based on national data giving you an instant idea of potential energy and cost savings.

Our energy health check includes:

• An audit of your current contract terms
• A review your energy consumption
• A review your current energy spends
• Detailed checks to make sure all your relevant agreements are correct and contracted
• A discussion around your company’s long-term energy strategy

We offer lots of tools and knowhow at Indigo Swan to help people make better business decisions about their energy. Get in touch on 01603625522 or email hello@indigoswan.co.uk to find out more about how we could help benefit your business.

For more information on our free energy health check service here.

Exclusive offer for Chamber members

Indigo Swan have been a member of the Norfolk Chamber for years and appreciate the opportunities for networking and collaboration that the membership brings.

As a Chamber member, you can receive £500 of free products to help with your energy management. You can choose from a range of products to suit your business size, and your energy goals

You can find out more about Chamber Energy scheme here.

We can advise you on how to spend the £500, but the choice is yours! Give us a call on 01603625522 or email hello@indigoswan.co.uk if you want to discuss further.

As it has been well publicised in the press, times are tough. Well-established operators are taking the decision to close shops, leaving landlords in potentially tricky positions. In Norwich, high profile operators such as Toys R Us and Jamie’s Italian have taken decisions to close their doors.  With some tenants looking to leave, landlords need to know their rights.

If a tenant wants to vacate their property during their lease term, then this is normally done in one of three ways.  

• Insolvency. This is a big topic and one that I am able to advise on, but so much will depend on the specific details of any case. Unfortunately, the reality is that if a tenant has entered insolvency proceedings there is little a landlord can do.
• Break Clauses. Break Clauses are common in modern commercial leases and enable a tenant to terminate their lease early.  Notice requirements in Break Clauses are important and missing a deadline by even a day can render a Break notice unenforceable. Most Break Clauses are conditional; if these conditions are fulfilled then the tenant may vacate. Note that any ‘pre-break liabilities’ remain and a landlord will still have the right to pursue the tenant for these. The most common conditions are:
  • The tenant having complied with the terms of the lease (such as repairing covenants) 
  • Not less than 6 months’ notice must be given
  • Tenant must be up to date with their rent. 
• Assignment. Most leases contain the right for a tenant to assign (transfer) their lease to a new tenant, but in most cases the landlord’s consent is needed.  A landlord must act reasonably in considering a consent application, which involves carrying out due diligence on the proposed new tenant to make sure that they are of a financial position to comply with the terms of the lease. Leases often contain rights for a landlord to request rent deposits or further guarantees as a condition of the landlord’s consent to assign, albeit there are obligations on the landlords to behave reasonably in considering an application – and reasons must be given if consent is to be withheld.  

As re-letting property has become harder in recent months, it is important that a landlord knows their rights and takes appropriate action.