Our latest Blog post explores the Riverlane Office design in more detail and explores the key design features we integrated to transform this space. “This month, Layrd Design is delighted to share details of its latest interior design project for an innovative quantum computing firm based in the heart of Cambridge. The development for Riverlane saw Layrd Design supply a complete interior design package – along with project management services – for a 500m sq office in Cambridge city centre…” Read the full article here
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.
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.
It is Captain Fawcett’s great pleasure to introduce Maharajah, a most noble Signature Series ‘Eau de Parfum’ created in collaboration with The Jodhpur Company. Redolent of India’s princely opulence, aromatic smoke rising in balmy air, masala chai’s warm essence and the perfumed crush of bright petals. A tantalising, voluptuous fragrance conjuring the luxurious heat of enchanted Indian nights. The Captain’s Master Blender has woven heady rose with peppery spice, rich musk, beguiling cedar & leather studded with dazzling citrus top notes. In truth, a simply magnificent new Eau de Parfum has been created for your delectation and delight. Maharajah Eau de Parfum is the perfect complement to companion items in the Maharajah range: a fragrant Moustache Wax, Beard Oil and Beard Balm. To be released 18th August www.captainfawcett.com/collections/the-jodhpur-company-maharajah-signature-series
THE TALE OF THE CAPTAIN AND THE MAHARAJAH
Hurrying through the London rain, Captain Fawcett was delighted to spy a familiar Rolls Royce parked outside his Club. It belonged to none other than his dear chum the Maharajah, a man of exquisite taste. Alas, his friend’s mood was a trifle glum. ‘I am delighted to be here for the cricket,’ he said, ‘yet I am consumed with yearning for the ravishing colours of my own sovereign state.’ ‘I have just the remedy!’ exclaimed Fawcett flourishing a glass phial. The fragrant perfumes therein yielded an astonishing harmony of aromatics. Evocative of myths and men, entwined with a thousand years of memory, it was indeed the signature scent of the Maharajah’s beloved homeland. ‘Fawcett, you are simply extraordinary!’ cried his old chum, spirits immediately revived. ‘I know,’ replied Fawcett, modestly. All Hail the Hirsute.
Norfolk-based renewable heating firm, Finn Geotherm, is has appointed five new staff as part of its ongoing expansion, following the award of a multi-million pound contract to install a series of heat pump projects in the public sector.
The new starters have joined the installation and quotation teams, bolstering Finn Geotherm’s capabilities for specifying and installing new heat pump projects for both commercial and domestic customers.
Joining the team are:
Jamie Moore – electrician, responsible for installing and commissioning heat pump systems. Jamie joins with seven years’ experience as an electrician working in factory maintenance.
Sam Groves – trainee electrician, working alongside Finn Geotherm’s experienced team. Sam joins from College, having completed a Level 3 diploma.
Ross Brown – multi-skilled engineer, responsible for installing heat pumps. Ross has a background in offshore electrical and mechanical engineering and has spent the past six years installing Combined Heat & Power (CHP) systems.
Jeremy Dowsing – electrician, responsible for installing and commissioning heat pump systems. Having spent 32 years in the RAF as an aircraft avionics engineer, Jeremy was looking for a change and keen to join the renewable sector.
Jude Duguay – quotations assistant, working alongside the heat loss surveyor and supporting the quotations team in assessing potential heat pump projects.
Established in 2006, Finn Geotherm is one of the UK’s most experienced heat pump installers. The new starters will work alongside the existing team to deliver a series of significant new heat pump projects across East Anglia and further afield, as well as working on Finn Geotherm’s other new and existing installations.
Guy Ransom, commercial director at Finn Geotherm, said: “We are delighted to welcome these new starters to join our growing business. This is a great time to become part of this exciting and dynamic industry. Renewable heating is playing an increasingly important part in cutting the country’s carbon emissions and with these new appointments, we are looking forward to continuing to roll out heat pump technology to more homes and businesses.”
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.
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.
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 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
In this week’s episode of Impromptu Business Chat, James and Mark chat about the multiple benefits for businesses encouraging their teams to embrace cycling and similar activities.
As usual they provide 3 top tips, and along the way they make reference to the UK government’s Cycle to Work Scheme, Amsterdam’s cycling culture, foxes, badgers and Katie Melua!
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.
First Intuition, the award-winning accountancy training provider, is now offering a bespoke apprentice recruitment service to assist employers in their search for the best talent. With an extensive network and 10+ years of expertise in training accountants, First Intuition will consult, advertise, screen, and advise potential candidates. The service is free and available upon request to businesses recruiting accountancy apprentices who will study with First Intuition.
The expert team will set up an initial discussion to establish what role(s) employers are looking to be filled. The team will then handle advertising the role to First Intuition’s bank of candidates and networks, as well as screen all applicants to present the best. Lastly, the team will advise on the recommended learner journey for the chosen candidate(s) and provide resources to support the apprentice(s) into the workplace.
Apprentice Recruitment Service:
1. Initial consultation
Whether it’s one vacancy or a wider intake of multiple apprentices, First Intuition will ensure we select suitable candidates that are well suited to the role and organisation. That way you can focus your time on interviewing candidates who have a good chance of filling your vacancy.
The initial discussion will explore the role(s), what criteria you would like to set in terms of academic achievement, personal specification, transferable skills and discuss the appropriate programme(s).
2. Advertise the role
We will then list the vacancy on the National Apprenticeship Service website for as long as required to get the necessary responses and reach out to candidates who have reached out to First Intuition directly.
3. Screen the applicants
We will check over each application, rejecting any that are unsuitable. Any that we think fit your criteria will be sent across to you for consideration. Once a shortlist has been drawn up, we will put you in contact with the candidates for you to interview/screen.
4. Advice on next steps
We will continue to support you with advice on interviews, funding, eligibility and training programme options for your shortlist/new candidates. This includes our range of pre-start resources which are free for you to share with your new apprentices to help them prepare for and settle into their role with you.
Apprenticeships offer a significant opportunity for both employers and apprentices. We believe an apprenticeship offers a real alternative to the standard routes of work or higher education. We work with them and their employers to develop their individual technical and all-round skills that help businesses to thrive and grow. Apprenticeship funding is available for both large and small employers with First Intuition.