Member News

Hope for Tomorrow is a charity dedicated to reducing many of the stresses and strains associated with cancer care by bringing it closer to patients. We build, own and maintain mobile cancer care units. The units are able to travel into the heart of communities to deliver cancer care closer to where it is needed, rather than patients having to make long and stressful journeys before and after their treatment. Currently, Hope for Tomorrow have 15 mobile cancer care units and 13 nurses support vehicles, provided as part of a unique partnership with NHS trusts throughout England. Now we’re launching a brand new unit, named Jewel, and we’d like to invite you to the launch. Jewel will enable cancer treatments to be delivered closer to patients in Great Yarmouth. Named “Jewel” after the American biologist, cancer researcher, distinguished professor, and top university administrator, Jewel Plummer Cobb. Jewel’s name was selected by employees of the pharmaceutical company, Bristol Myers Squibb – who generously funded the unit. Hope for Tomorrow are officially launching this wonderful new unit on Thursday 29th September at the Louise Hamilton Centre in the James Paget University Hospital, Great Yarmouth, NR31 6LA. We would love it if you would join us between 11:30am and 1:30pm to celebrate and learn a little bit more about Jewel.  

With the day of the forthcoming funeral of Her Majesty The Queen having been officially allocated as a Bank Holiday, many employers and employees might be left wondering what their entitlements and obligations are. At MAD-HR, we’ve been taking a look at some of the inevitable questions which may arise for both leaders and staff. Does the declaration of the funeral day bank holiday mean I am obliged to give all staff the day off? Not necessarily. It depends very much what your contracts dictate in terms of bank holiday entitlement. For example, your employee contracts may specifically refer to a set number of public holidays, and/or the requirement for staff to take days such as those covering the festive period, as holiday. What’s important is to clarify the expectation and entitlement to staff as soon as possible. Bear in mind that over and above any ‘legal obligation’, you may feel it is the appropriate thing to allow staff to take this significant day as an addition to their typical allocation. One of my employees wants to take the day after the funeral off, to allow them to attend the event in person, and return the following day. I’m a small business and really can’t afford for them to be non-productive for a second consecutive day. How do I manage this conversation? We have already been made aware of similar scenarios playing out for employers, for example, where staff have wanted to travel to London to pay their respects and have asked for additional time off unpaid. It would be sensible to have a 121 conversation with the individual and understand where they are coming from and what impact this might have on their current workload. If it is at all possible for them to do so, perhaps you can request that they take this from their available holiday days. Do also check how their absence will impact other staff, as you won’t want to cause unrest throughout your team. What if an employee would ordinarily have Monday off, how do they recover that holiday? This is will be down to the individual’s contract with you, and what is already in place over bank holiday Mondays throughout the year. Ordinarily, that person might be entitled to take their ‘off day’ on an alternative day. I feel under pressure from my staff to close down until after the funeral. How should I handle that with my team? We understand how employers can end up feeling pressurised into making significant changes at such a time. It would be far better to communicate with your staff why you have chosen to remain open, what leniency or changes you will implement in the coming days, and at the same time to ensure you reinforce how much you are compassionate and respectful of the way employers might be feeling. Read the full article here.

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, a period of national mourning commenced with the announcement and will continue until the end of the day of the State Funeral, which is to take place at Westminster Abbey at 11am on Monday 19th September 2022.  King Charles III has confirmed that this will be a bank holiday. During this time, the Government has issued guidance and outlined principles for the public, organisations and businesses for observing the mourning period, including information on ceremonial events in central London.  This was published Friday 9^th September. It is acknowledged that mourning is very personal, and so the guidance advises that individuals, families, communities, and organisations may want to mark Her Majesty’s passing in their own way. There is no expectation on the public or organisations to observe specific behaviours during the mourning period. The guidance can be found here. Further guidance The best source of information is the Government website. In addition, it is expected that your own Local Authority will also be updating their own websites on local arrangements, including any events they may organise which might impact on your business or local travel. The Royal Household will set out arrangements for Lying-in-State and the State Funeral. Businesses are encouraged to follow further updates on the Government website. and the Royal Website. MAD-HR statement As a team, we will now be acknowledging The Queen’s passing in the days ahead, and, given the expectation of national observances, we will keep all clients informed of any temporary disruption to our working pattern.  You can read our full statement here. Photo credit: MAD-HR

If you can barely remember the last time you got your employment contracts or handbook checked over, you’re not alone. These types of reviews are often towards the bottom of the list of a business owner’s priorities; however, it is nevertheless important. In fact, contracts and handbooks should be reviewed at least once every couple of years to ensure compliance. Why is this so important? With recent changes to legislation including the April changes, Right to Work checks and the ongoing obligations in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, maintaining your HR documentation allows you to tackle any issues proactively, helping you stay up to date, compliant and one step ahead of the competition. How confident are you that your documents are accurate, legal or fit for purpose?

Receive a FREE health check on your employment contract & handbook

As a loyal subscriber to our newsletter, we would like to offer you a free health check review. Simply fill out a few details in our form and upload your current contract and handbook, and we will respond once a consultant has analysed your documents. It only takes a few minutes to complete, however, our FREE health check review may prove invaluable when it comes to keeping your business compliant. Submit your document here Image provided by MAD-HR

London, UK – CTS, the UK’s cloud and managed IT partner shaped for law, is pleased to announce the acquisition of leading iManage Partner, Tiger Eye. This exciting development furthers CTS’ vision of becoming the digital transformation partner for law firms, expanding its product portfolio to offer integrated application and platform support within a high quality service model aimed at delivering a new level of fee earner productivity. This acquisition strengthens CTS’ knowledge and heritage in the business and practice of law, enabling them to better transform the user experience and operational success of their legal clients. Tiger Eye is renowned for the team’s iManage knowledge and technical expertise, implementing, managing and optimising the iManage document management system (DMS), a key application used by 78% of UK Top 200 law firms. Delivering a uniquely broad range of iManage solutions and services, Tiger Eye offer technical support, out-of-the-box solutions, training, consultancy, custom development services, and much more to iManage users across the globe. Over the years CTS has achieved double-digit growth, and its partnerships with the world’s leading legal software and services vendors has been central to this success. By closer aligning Tiger Eye’s application specialism with CTS’ IT platform management expertise, CTS aims to uniquely add value at the application layer by delivering an integrated platform and application support model, ultimately driving fee earner productivity. “Our clients have emphasised the disjoint between platform and application services expertise. As a sector specialist we are uniquely positioned to bridge the gap. This is our first exciting step into the application services space, as we continue to shape our strategy to support clients on their digital transformation journey” said Nigel Wright, CEO of CTS. “We warmly welcome our new Tiger Eye colleagues, and the specialist knowledge they bring. As a leading and well-established iManage Partner, they have built a strong reputation in the legal technology community founded on integrity, technical expertise and quality delivery. Their focus on delivering high rates of client satisfaction perfectly complements our own. We look forward to meeting many of Tiger Eye’s clients at the upcoming iManage ConnectLive conference next month.” Dave Wilson, Managing Director of Tiger Eye said “Since we launched in 2005, collaboration and teamwork have been at the heart of Tiger Eye. We’re confident that, in CTS, we have found a business that values our signature collaborative ethos, and one that is passionate about the long-term success of both our business and our clients.” Geoff Hornsby, General Manager, EMEA for iManage added “We would like to congratulate CTS and our long-standing partners, Tiger Eye, on this news. This is an exciting development for iManage clients and we’re confident they will greatly value the benefits of this innovative new integrated approach between platform and application specialist.” Moving forward, Tiger Eye will continue to operate independently, keeping in place its experienced senior management team who will remain with the business to support the transition.    

Greater Anglia is informing passengers that rail strikes due to be held on Thursday 15 and Saturday 17 September have been suspended following the death of Her Majesty The Queen. The train company will now be able to run all services, including Stansted Express services, on Thursday and Saturday as there will be no industrial action by the RMT or ASLEF. The RMT announced yesterday (Thursday 8 September) that they were suspending their two strikes planned for Thursday 15 and Saturday 17 September, while train drivers’ union ASLEF said their strike due to take place on Thursday 15 September was being postponed. Greater Anglia managing director Jamie Burles said: “Greater Anglia will be playing its part along with the rest of the rail industry in helping the nation pay their respects to Her Majesty The Queen. “We are pleased the trade unions have taken this step so that we can run our train service as normal on Thursday and Saturday. Paying tribute to Her Majesty The Queen, Jamie Burles said: “Her Majesty has served our country with dedication and loyalty and she will be missed by everyone, including all of us at Greater Anglia. “We were fortunate and privileged to welcome her on our network on many occasions.” Greater Anglia will update its website and social media with any further updates from unions about strike dates. Image credits Greater Anglia

Norwich has a problem with in-work poverty – too many people who live and work in Norwich are unable to earn a wage which meets the cost of living. As an employer you can be part of the solution and become a Living Wage Employer. It is not only the right thing to do, it also makes perfect business sense. After you become accredited as a Living Wage Employer we would also strongly encourage you to join Norwich’s growing Living Wage movement and Action Group, where you can support our mission to make Norwich a city where every employee earns a wage that meets the cost of living. If that’s of interest to you, please contact Josephine Linton of the Living Wage Foundation here: Josephine.Linton@livingwage.org.uk Why pay it? Here’s what employers who pay the real Living Wage have to say:

• 95% of employers say their business has benefited
• 86% say paying it has improved the reputation of the business
• 75% say it has increased motivation and retention rates of employees

What is it? The real Living Wage is voluntarily paid by employers, set at a rate to ensure employees earn enough to meet the cost of living. The real Living Wage currently stands at £9.90 across most of the UK and £11.05 in London. Who else pays it? There are now 58 Real Living Wage accredited employers in Norwich – we want to triple the number of employers paying the real Living Wage to 150 by 2025. Some of the employers already paying the real Living Wage in Norwich include: Find out more and become an accredited Living Wage Employer https://www.livingwage.org.uk/good-for-business Image provided by Future Radio

Grants to support innovation projects and plans for growth are available to businesses in Norfolk and Suffolk via New Anglia Growth Hub. The Growth Through Innovation Fund offers grants of between £1,000 and £25,000 to help invest in innovation, research, and development and these can cover up to 50% of the total eligible costs for your project. Companies from a wide range of sectors have already benefitted from this fund and you can find out more here Businesses can also apply for funding of between £1,000 and £25,000 from the Small Grant Scheme. These grants usually cover up to 20% of your total project costs and you can find out how to apply here.  For more information about the free, impartial business support available from the Growth Hub, call 0300 333 6536 or email info@newangliagrowthhub.co.uk Image provided by New Anglia Growth Hub

Award winning wealth managers Chadwicks has appointed two Associate Directors. Radostina Dencheva and James Bacon joined the firm as Graduate Trainees having each completed a Masters degree at the UEA and are now Chartered advisers. Director Richard Ross said ‘this represents an important milestone in our development. James and Radi have done some fantastic work in enhancing our proposition and supporting the development of our staff. Their promotion lays the foundations for the next stage of our evolution. It is also a great validation of our policy of investing in talented young people’. Radostina, who was recognised as one of the Top 35 Next Generation Advisers by Citywire earlier in the year, is an economics graduate and a Chartered Wealth Manager and is particularly interested in socially responsible investing. James has a MSc in Investment and Financial Management, is a Chartered Financial Planner and likes to focus on portfolio construction and financial planning. Chadwicks is proud of its record in developing its staff, as Richard Ross said ‘ the deal is that if you’re working here you’re learning – and we will support, encourage and cajole you to become better qualified.’ Photo credit: Charlotte Beach

Norfolk has been successful in securing £49.55m of funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) and today papers have been published which outline how the money will be spent to improve the county’s bus services and facilities over the next three years. Norfolk received the sixth highest allocation in the country and the funding consists of £30.9m of capital funding and £18.6m of revenue funding. The plans outline 17 new measures across the county which give buses priority on the roads. These include new bus lanes in Norwich, King’s Lynn and Great Yarmouth and redesigned junctions across the county.   New or improved travel hubs are proposed for Sheringham, Cromer, Diss and Hunstanton which will provide better waiting areas with real-time information to help to give passengers a better experience as well as being integrated with walking and cycling facilities. There will also be a county-wide review of bus stops with upgrades to improve access for people with disabilities, to provide more real-time information and a programme of works to reduce delays to buses. Approximately £12 million of the funding will be spent on providing new or expanded bus routes and increased service frequencies on key routes, including more evening and weekend services. The detail of these routes will be worked up with bus operators and using feedback from residents, elected members and parish councils over the coming months. The final element of the plan is to reduce fares, particularly for those under 25 who will receive a 20% discount, and in targeted areas where flat fares schemes will be piloted starting with Great Yarmouth.   Cllr Martin Wilby, Cabinet Member for Highways, Infrastructure and Transport, said: “This is a robust plan which was developed with operators and influenced by feedback from more than 1500 Norfolk residents who took part in a recent consultation. More services and increased frequencies are key to enabling people to travel around the county by public transport and so it’s good to see that a significant amount of the funding will be used for this. The planned changes to infrastructure will reduce delays which will ensure an efficient and reliable service for passengers.”  Linda McCord, Independent Chair of the Norfolk Enhanced Partnership and who works for the passenger representative body Transport Focus said; “Securing this money is a major boost for travel across Norfolk as improving bus services across the county is vital in improving rural mobility. Our Enhanced Partnership has already delivered a number of improvements including a new single ticket for use across all operators, a marketing campaign to encourage more people to use the bus, and a single customer charter for all operators – so I’m very excited to see this plan of improvements delivered over the next three years.”  Image owned by Norfolk County Council

Hi and welcome to our weekly newsletter, which aims to share our knowledge at Bigfork in creating successful websites. If you haven’t already subscribed to the Web Insights newsletter then please click the ‘Join the Conversation’ button at the end.

How to write a website design brief Writing a website design brief is an essential first step towards creating your new site.

Here we look at what your brief should cover, what your agency needs to know and the crucial questions to answer before you start.

A website design brief is simply a document that sets out what you want from your website design project.

It deals with areas including what the site will cover, how it will work, how you’ll update it and how people will find it.

A website design brief helps to focus your thinking on what you really need from your web design, so you don’t waste time and resources later on.

Your brief also helps your web design agency understand what you want, resolve any questions and give you an accurate cost.

The better the brief, the smoother the project – and the better the end result.

Want to get started straight away?

Download your free website brief PDF template

Your aims

These days, every firm is expected to have a website of some sort. But beyond that, why do you need a new one? What aims do you want to achieve?

Specifically, do you want to increase sales and leads, target new customers or promote new products and services? Do you want to build your brand’s profile or offer people a better source of information?

Or is it more about polishing up the design, improving performance, smoothing the user experience or making the site easier to update?

Take an honest look at your existing website – or ask your customers, if you can. What do you like and dislike about it? What is working well, and what needs to change?

Business background

A website is a commercial tool – whether you’re using it to sell online, generate enquiries or just build your brand. So your agency needs to understand how your new website will fit with the rest of your business.

In your website design brief, sum up your company history, your products and customers, your markets, your strengths or weaknesses and your future plans.

What is your position within your marketplace? Are you a best-value option, a premium choice – or somewhere in between?

Do you have a marketing plan already? If so, let your agency know what part your new website will play in it.

Competitors

Your website will be going toe-to-toe with your competitors – most obviously on Google’s search results page.

Therefore, your brief needs to include a review of competitors’ sites. Who are they? What are they doing well – and not so well? What opportunities does that open up for you?

Creative brief

As part of your website design brief, explain exactly what you like about other people’s sites – for example, the design, the functionality, the user journey. This helps your web design agency understand exactly what you’re looking for.

Visitors and traffic

Your brief should profile your existing and future customers. Who do you want to visit your website? How do people normally buy from you? Who are your ideal new customers, and what would they want from your site?

Then there’s the question of how visitors will find you. Will you aim for a first-page listing on Google, or direct traffic with pay-per-click (PPC) ads? What part will social media and email play? And what about offline channels like print advertising and events?

Structure and content

Now, think about what pages your website might need. Your agency will be able to help you here, but it’s good to have a basic idea.

For a smaller site, you can just list the pages. For larger sites, you might want to draw a ‘family tree’ style diagram (known as a ‘site map’), showing sections and links within the site.

Think about the content each page will feature. Remember, it doesn’t have to be just text – you can include images, video, documents, maps and more. Aim to give your users what is most helpful to them.

Detail in your brief what content you will be providing and what you need the web design agency to supply. If you need copy to be written then the agency knows they need to quote for this.

Download your free website briefing template

Technical aspects

Do you already have hosting and a domain name? If not, you’ll need to set them up. Your agency can do this for you, or work with your existing provider if you have one.

For ecommerce sites, your agency will need to know what platform you prefer (if any), what products you want to offer, what functions you want and the arrangements for payment and shipping.

Your new website will probably need a Content Management System (CMS) so that you will be able to manage most of your website content inhouse. If you have a preferred CMS then add it to your brief, however it may be better to ask what CMS the agency would recommend and why.

A site is a long-term commitment, not a one-off project – so what maintenance and support will you need? This could include updating content and features, security tweaks or just general help and advice. Ask your agency what they can offer.

Budget

How much do you want to spend? This is a bit like saying ‘How long is a piece of string?’ But your agency needs to have some idea of your budget, so they can tailor their proposal.

With websites, you get what you pay for. Think of your site as an asset that you’re investing in, not just a cost. It will be a central part of your sales and marketing effort for many years to come.

Timescale

If you have a timescale, let your agency know up front. A large site can take several months to develop, particularly for a smaller team – so don’t expect them to work miracles.

Download your free website brief PDF template

This sample document is the ideal website brief document that asks all the right questions for you to complete and send out to your list of web design agencies.

Ready to turn your website design brief into reality?

We can translate your website design brief into a beautifully designed, fully functioning website. And if you don’t yet have a brief, we can help you develop one. Find out moreabout our approach to website design, or get in touch.

Mark Ellaway, Bigfork

PS – You can find more great successful website insights on the Bigfork website.

Images provided by Bigfork

Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO is welcoming 26 new trainees across its offices in Cambridge, Ipswich and Norwich, with 600 joining nationwide. The trainees will be a combination of school leaver apprentices and university graduates, 11 will join BDO’s Cambridge office, 11 will join the firm’s office in Ipswich, with four based in Norwich. The majority of the trainees will join the firm’s audit practice. Most of the new trainees will have the opportunity to undertake a level-7 apprenticeship programme, resulting in a qualification equivalent to a master’s degree. This year, the firm has also hired over 50 industrial placement students to join BDO for 12 months between their second and third year of university, as well as 70 summer interns. As part of its commitment to increasing diversity in the profession, BDO also runs targeted insight programmes aimed at school or college students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and university students from a black heritage. Applications for the firm’s 2023 graduate and school leaver apprentice programmes will open later this month, with more than 700 positions available nationwide and 30 based across East Anglia. Peter Harrup, Head of BDO in East Anglia, said: “We’re delighted to welcome this year’s intake of trainees from a wide range of backgrounds, whether that’s school leavers, or university graduates, as well as interns and placement students. East Anglia is home to some of the country’s brightest talent and we’re investing significantly as a firm to provide the career opportunities and pathways that enable young people from all walks of life to access a vibrant and exciting profession, such as accountancy. “The education of young people has undoubtedly been severely disrupted in the last few years, with both school leavers and graduates having to navigate learning and examinations in very challenging circumstances. Each and every one of them should be extremely proud of their achievements and we look forward to supporting them on what will hopefully be a long and successful career journey at BDO.” More information about BDO’s programmes and 2022 positions can be found here: https://www.bdoearlyincareer.co.uk/ Image provided by BDO