COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown is disrupting the way that most businesses operate. Many companies have shifted focus from long-term to short-term to survive this unprecedented situation and returning back to normal will be a challenge for all involved.
One of the biggest challenges managers face is being able to manage and lead their staff from a distance. For employees, especially those furloughed, it can be difficult to remain engaged with their employer. Employees are a company’s most valuable asset and their skills and abilities will be vital to being able to succeed and thrive once the lockdown ends, therefore progression of staff at this time can only be an advantage.
Turning Factor can now offer a range of online courses, providing structured CPD for all levels of staff. Many courses are also suitable to support completion of accredited qualifications offered by major awarding bodies.
This course is FREE with the purchase of any Pathway.
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Short Courses
We have over 120 short courses (between 20-45 minutes in duration each), grouped into 18 business relevant CPD pathways.
Unique logins enable you to access your CPD through the ULZ via PC, Laptop and mobile devices. Learn at your own pace with 6 months access to each pathway, or 12 months access if you decide to study all subjects.
Get your coffee, get comfortable and join us next Thursday 28th May to hear from Andrea Hardiman of ‘All About The Message’ at our Coastal Connect morning. Book your place here
Adjusting to any crisis is tough – it’s a bit like being on a rollercoaster!
We all react differently and sometimes it’s difficult to know what to do for the best. I’ll be sharing some of my ‘mindset top tips’ that have helped me adapt during the lockdown.
I’ll also reveal the ‘marketing checklist’ I’ve been using for both for my marketing and my clients. From a ‘Start-Stop-Continue’ process to adopting a softer tone to marketing communications and connecting with existing customers, these are small steps to help you be ‘marketing ready’ for the future.
Andrea’s passion for marketing and her love of storytelling naturally led to a career in communication and where people are at the heart of her work.
Her mission is simple – to enable success and engage others through inspiring, creative marketing which successfully connects companies to their customers.
As an award-winning marketer and founder of Norwich Marketing company ‘All About The Message,’ she knows how to help companies effectively tell their story and create marketing that influences and engages with their customers.
Marketing strategy is what really makes her heart sing. She listens to a company, understands their market position, recognises their competitors and finally creates for them a unique marketing strategy, so their voice is heard.
There is no ‘marketing scattergun’ approach here. Through her 25 years marketing experience, with some global brands, Andrea understands how to fashion stand-out stories and construct realistic, fresh and straight-forward marketing strategies aimed at both new and existing customers.
A straw poll conducted by local solicitors Ashtons Legal suggests that only 13% of businesses have seen their revenue unaffected by the pandemic. Forty-three percent think it will take them between seven and 12 months to get their revenue back to normal levels while a further 20% believe it will take them over a year. The survey also revealed that 86% feel their businesses will be increasingly willing to allow regular home working when we enter the ‘new normal’ phase as the pandemic recedes.
The survey took place during a free ‘Returning to Work in a COVID19 era’ webinar hosted by employment lawyer Jessica Piper and HR consultant Lucy Pakes. The webinar was seen live by over 100 business people across the region and remains available online for others to view.
Ashtons HR Consulting also carried out a twitter poll the previous week on the issue of working from home, with an even higher result. Ninety-one percent of respondents felt that their business would continue with more home working in the future.
Ashtons is one of many professional services firms across the region that has continued to provide a full service to clients by making effective use of a range of video-conferencing technologies to suit the individuals’ needs and is using webinars to communicate with a wider commercial audience.
Jessica Piper comments: “Businesses are facing a wide variety of different challenges in providing their employees with a safe return to work but all those attending our webinar were asking questions that suggest they are committed to getting it right.”
Lucy Pakes from Ashtons HR Consulting adds: “We are also seeing an array of questions around the interaction between furlough leave, holiday pay and redundancy. Bringing people back to work in a cost-effective but compliant way at the time that best suits their business is currently a priority for most.”
Discover King’s Lynn, The King’s Lynn BID is this week launching a number of actions to help Town Centre businesses get ready to re-open their premises in the forthcoming months. Free signage for premises and webinars on risk assessment and becoming COVID-19 Safe are amongst the support being offered.
“To say that most town centre businesses are having a hard time at the moment would be an understatement,” says BID Manager Vicky Etheridge. “One of the roles of the BID is to support business, the Board and I are clear that we will do what we can to assist businesses with the process of re-opening. These are some of the short-term practical things that we can offer.”
The help being provided will be funded by a grant that the BID expects to receive from central Government in the coming weeks. The Minister for High Streets, Simon Clarke, announced a £6.1m resilience fund for BIDs in England on 1st May. The fund has been set up to assist BIDs with running costs and enable them to carry on their important role at this critical time. “We were really heartened to read the Minister’s words of support for BIDs, “says BID Chair, Sharon Edwards of Mapus-Smith & Lemmon. “As he said in his statement, BIDs have a unique role to play in championing town centres, supporting local business and leading the renewal of our high streets. We anticipate receiving around £10,000 from this fund and will be putting it all back into activities that support our levy payers.”
The BID is funded by an annual levy on businesses within a defined area of King’s Lynn town centre. This year’s levy bills for the period April 2020/21 are yet to be sent out in recognition of the difficulties that many businesses are facing. “We are working with the Borough Council to set a date to issue the bills and offer monthly payment plans. We recognise that many will not be able to pay this year and we have budgeted for that, without a BID there is no organisation or single voice that has the business community as its primary focus. The BID will be even more important to champion business needs and importance of a vibrant town centre as part of the recovery process. The Board and Vicky are really keen to hear business ideas about what recovery might look like and how the BID can best support them. We will be contacting levy payers about this shortly, in the meantime, do get in touch with Vicky.”
To find out more about the webinars, signage and other support available please contact Vicky Etheridge, BID Manager on 07387 752 226 or email; info@discoverkingslynn.com
As you start to return to work and your business gets up and running again we at Norfolk Fire and Rescue service just want to remind you about a few things you may not have considered to ensure you, your staff and your property are safe from fire.
Are you currently employing fewer staff than usual or have new temporary staff?
Is any part of your building unoccupied or locked up that people would normally have access to?
Has the way you check your fire alarm system, fire extinguishers or emergency lighting changed?
Do you currently have higher than normal stock or waste levels?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes then please review your fire risk assessment. We have attached a short leaflet with some advice on what to consider. If you have any queries or want some more advice please don’t hesitate to contact us (details below.) We hope you are doing everything you can to stay safe during this difficult time and thank you for your efforts to ensure the safety of your premises and staff. Fire Protection Department – Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service 0300 123 1669 hq@fire-norfolk.gov.uk
This week at Layrd Design we have reviewed the current government guidelines for implementing safe working and social distancing into the workplace.
We have produced the document below which explains how this could be achieved within a typical office space. The example space could still allow for approximately 76% of their employees to work from the office in some capacity.
Please download this free example guide to help with your space and contact us if you need help implementing any of the measured shown.
We hope you have all been keeping safe and I’m sure you are eager to dust off the clubs and hit the fairways again, following several weeks of lockdown and especially with warmer weather forecasted on the horizon.
We have completed a thorough review of the government guidelines and industry recommendations for dealing with “best practise” when golf courses can re-open; and are pleased to outline how we will adapt our golf club accordingly to allow you to return and reopen on Friday 15th May from 9am. Our main priority is ensuring safety measures can be maintained to ensure members and staff can return to Barnham Broom.
We have a number of things to consider and update you about, which are outlined below. We remind members and their guests to adhere to the Government’s guidelines and in particular follow social distancing and hand sanitisation.
Access & new temporary / short term measures
Our golf operations will be re-located temporarily to our Barford Suite, where we have car parking in close proximity, gated access directly to the courses, an abundance of outdoor areas and most importantly spacious surroundings. In this area we can offer the best social distancing layout to ensure you can check in safely, have a clear route to follow and still offer many of the usual items for sale you would find in the professional shop. Access will only be through the Barford Suite area as the other parts of Barnham Broom remain closed.
Additional safety measures adopted are listed below:
• Pre booking of tee times preferably using the online BRS system, you will not be able to just turn up to play. No shows may incur a green fee. • 10 days advance booking for members, 5 days for non-members • Respectfully requesting 2 tee times per week maximum booked, to allow availability for all • 2 ball play only and whilst always maintaining social distancing • Members should not arrive more than 20 minutes (Valley) and 30 minutes (Hill) prior to their tee time unless using the range. Numbers will be restricted using the practise areas, so you may have to wait in turn. • Footwear to be changed in the car park • Academy course will only be available for academy members and coaching • Increased sanitiser availability around check in touch points • Hire items will be pre-sanitised prior to use • Course furniture removed where appropriate, requests to not touch flagsticks, hole cups, hand rails and bells • We strongly recommend you bring your own personal sanitiser or anti-bacterial wipes
Social distancing & self-isolating when high risk
At all times we will be encouraging social distancing measures to be followed, on and off the golf courses, we strongly urge all members and their guests to follow this practise. Should you be in a high risk category and have been asked by the NHS to self-isolate, we will suspend membership on the production of an applicable letter.
Membership subscriptions
For those on annual memberships, credits, by way of gift vouchers will be given to use against guest green fees, rentals or range – for the loss of play in April, by way of a goodwill gesture. For expired annual members, this credit will only be offered once membership is renewed.
Direct debits re-commence from mid-May in line with the course re-opening, new season tariffs will be applied from Mid-June.
Should your membership have expired since shut down, prompt payment will ensure access to the courses can be provided. You will receive your renewal notification this week via Club V1 e mail. Please make your payment via online banking, using your full name as the reference or by credit or debit card on your next return to play.
As you are aware we have had no revenue during this period of shutdown, so we would be very grateful for your membership payments to be made promptly.
Booking tee times and next steps
Finally, we will re-open the BRS tee sheets for both courses on Wednesday 13th May at 3pm to ensure fairness and availability to all members. Please note pre bookings have been removed and all competitions cancelled for the time being. For now you can book up to 10 days in advance and should book no more than 2 tee times per week as a reminder, until the demand levels out. Please call as usual if you do not have access to the online system, after 3pm tomorrow. Due to the expected demand, please do try and use the online booking system, as our phones may get very busy. 24 hours later at 3pm on Thursday 14th May we will open any visitor availability, but this will be limited for 5 day advance booking only.
When you return, you will notice signage and direction to ensure we adhere to the new measures and most of all please observe the social distancing rules and ensure hand sanitisation is also followed.
We look forward to seeing you very soon and welcoming you back to Barnham Broom Golf Club and as a reminder, please park on the Barford Suite side to access the golf course.
LSI Architects has again achieved the ‘Gold-Achieving Excellence’ accreditation at Mind’s Workplace Wellbeing Awards.
The Practice placed 2nd overall from 103 organisations to take part in Mind’s second annual Workplace Wellbeing Index and 1st in the staff survey section, and was recognised with a Gold Award, evidencing our committment to achieving change within our workplace, for the third successive year.
HR Manager Katrina Parsons has also received the award for Wellbeing Lead, one of four employee recognition awards, which is Awarded to an employee who has had a positive impact in the course of their duties safeguarding mental health and wellbeing.
Mind’s Workplace Wellbeing Index is a benchmark of best policy and practice, celebrating the good work employers are doing to promote and support positive mental health, and providing key recommendations on the specific areas where there is room to improve.
Director Ben Goode said:
“We are extremely proud of our gold reaccreditation in the 2019/2020 Workplace Wellbeing Index.
We know that even before the current, difficult situation we all now find ourselves in that there are certain characteristics about the way architects work which can add to the likelihood that a mental health issue will occur. The trap of working longer hours and doing more for less in response to the challenges that the industry faces often results in higher staff turnover, poor health and a lack of long term investment in people’s development.
There is still a level of stigma attached to people suffering with poor mental health.
We are proud that the majority of the people who shared that they have experienced difficulties with their mental health have disclosed this to us so that they could access the support that they needed and that every one of our team felt that the practice encourages openness and discussion about mental health which has been an important objective of our work in this area.
We can take a great deal of confidence from the feedback in the MIND Workplace Wellbeing Index survey that when it comes to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our teams we are on the right track.
We also know, however, that we still have a lot more to do and the current situation we are all in is almost certainly going to give rise to more difficulties with their mental health. As a practice, however, we remain fully committed to continuing to improve how we support the mental health and wellbeing of our teams.”
Emma Mamo, Head of Workplace Wellbeing at Mind, said:
“Every employer depends on having a healthy and productive workforce – valued and supported employees are far more likely to deliver the best outcomes for your organisation. That’s why we’re delighted to recognise and celebrate employers making mental health a priority for their organisation through our Workplace Wellbeing Awards.
“This year, we’ve been overwhelmed to see so much good practice right across the board, from each and every one of the 103 diverse employers to take part. The Awards event provided an opportunity to recognise those forward-thinking employers who are at the cutting edge when it comes to investing in their staff wellbeing, and in turn getting the best outcomes for their business.”
Undaunted by COVID-19, regional law firm Ashtons Legal has continued with a strategic management change planned before the pandemic took hold, and appointed a new Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Ben Hallatt, who initially joined the firm in 2017 as a Business Manager for the firm’s Business Law Group, steps up to take on the role with immediate effect.
In a further senior change, Norwich-based Partner Tom Bailey takes over the helm of the regional Commercial Disputes team while also moving from employee to becoming an owner of the business.
Both Ben and Tom are relishing their new roles in spite of the challenges presented by the current difficult trading positions.
Ben comments: “Like almost all businesses, Ashtons has been forced to do things differently over the past couple of months. The challenge ahead is ensuring that we don’t go back to ‘business as usual’ as some sort of normality returns, but instead capitalise on the benefits that we are seeing from enhanced use of technology and agile working with a vastly reduced carbon footprint. I’m very much looking forward to working with all at Ashtons to make this happen.”
Tom adds: “Our Commercial Disputes team continues to thrive and I’m delighted to have been asked to lead such a talented team of lawyers. Through our use of technology and agile-working, focusing on our clients’ commercial needs in a uniquely challenging time has been seamless. Our readiness to match commercial objectives with bespoke pricing for our own fees – including through Escalate – has kept much-needed cash flowing into our clients’ businesses, something that has really set us apart.”
Ed O’Rourke, Ashtons’ CEO, says: “Ben has done a sterling job as a Business Manager for our Corporate and Commercial teams but what we now need is a firm-wide approach to continuous change and Ben has the right skill set to help us deliver that. I am very much looking forward to working with him to help steer the Ashtons ship into its next phase of development.”
Following the publication of detailed guidance from the Government on 12 May, the housing market in England has been given the green light to safely re-open operations under the next phase of coronavirus pandemic management.
Essential housing industry services
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has announced new guidelines covering every aspect of the sales and letting process which aim to enable people to move home safely. Estate agents, removal firms, conveyancing solicitors and surveyors have been detailed as among the essential housing industry services who can now resume their work.
Property plans on hold
According to the property portal Zoopla, since the end of March, 373,000 transactions have been on hold, and newly agreed sales down by 90%. The BBC have estimated that 450,000 buyers and renters have put their property plans on hold.
It is now lawful to visit estate agents, residential developer sale offices or show homes, to view residential properties for the purposes of buying or renting, and to move house.
Rachael Hughes, Hatch Brenner Residential Property Conveyancing Executive commented: “The Hatch Brenner conveyancing team has remained accessible whilst working from home in the first phase of lockdown. We now welcome the opportunity for transactions which have been stalled awaiting moving dates to progress to completion. We have clients who have been patiently waiting for this having finalised their property sale or purchase, but having not been able to arrange a moving date until now. We also expect to see new properties entering the housing market, with enquiries from people who have emerged from the initial lockdown period with plans to move house and alter their circumstances; for instance to include a garden, proximity to relatives, access to the countryside, or a spare room for a home office.
“As we have started seeing across the economy, this will be a ‘new normal’ with more virtual viewings, meetings and technology-driven transactions. We are well placed to offer this to our conveyancing clients.”
Covid-secure
It will be paramount for all related housing market businesses to follow the strict guidelines on operating a Covid-secure, safe working environment for their employees, clients and third parties and that the relevant risk assessments and social distancing practices are adhered to. Housing Secretary Mr Jenrick has stressed that guidance from Public Health England must continue to be followed; for example, anyone advised to self-isolate should continue to do so and not move home. The housing sector re-opening remains dependent on the coronavirus outbreak staying under control.
If you have any questions regarding your house moving plans at the current time, or if you would like a quote for conveyancing services in Norwich and Norfolk, please contact Rachael Hughes at rachaelhughes@hatchbrenner.co.uk, Conveyancing Executive Julie Palmer at juliepalmer@hatchbrenner.co.uk or call 01603 660 811.
Luxury hotel and venue The Norfolk Mead in Coltishall has announced the extension of their weekend takeaway Afternoon Teas until the end of June.
Available for collection or delivery within 15 miles of their Coltishall-base, the boxed up Afternoon Tea includes sandwiches, sausage rolls, scones and cakes as well as everything else you might need including homemade jam, clotted cream, tea bags and milk. You can also request additional wine or Prosecco.
Norfolk Mead owner James Holliday commented: “We have been absolutely blown away by the support for our takeaway Afternoon Teas since we launched them in early May. For the first two Saturdays we have completely sold out our allocated slots which is just fantastic and such a boost for our whole team. “As well as our loyal guests ordering their favourite treat, offering an affordable and safe Afternoon Tea at this time has captured the attention of local residents who may not have tried our high quality food offering before. We are delighted to be able to put our experience in delivering outside catering events into good use by adapting our usual Afternoon Tea offer into takeaway format. We can confidently stick within the new Covid-secure guidelines, and apply social distancing in the workplace and when arranging the collection and deliveries with our customers. “We are really proud of what we have put together, which reflects the attention to detail and quality we put into all our food. Being currently closed in line with the Government pandemic guidelines, the takeaway is a great way to continue doing what we love and to give our customers something special to look forward to and savour. Many customers have ordered the Afternoon Tea boxes for their self-isolating neighbours or relatives, for lockdown birthdays and anniversaries, as a treat for key workers, and we have even had groups order them separately and then eat together over video call.” The Afternoon Tea is priced at £15 per person, with £3 extra for delivery within 15 miles of Coltishall. Afternoon Teas can be ordered online, by email at info@norfolkmead.co.uk or call 01603 737 531. Whilst 16th May is full, there is remaining availability for Sunday 17th May, and the following weekends until the end of June. Reviews received for the takeaway Afternoon Teas include: “Ordered an afternoon tea for my mum and stepdad, as a surprise to cheer them up. My mum was so pleased with it, and said it’s one of the nicest afternoon teas she has had! My mum said the sandwiches were so fresh with delicious fillings and the cakes were amazing. Thanks Norfolk Mead, can’t recommend enough!” “Had a lovely surprise with our afternoon tea and wine ordered by my lovely daughter for mine and my partner’s birthday. The food is fantastic and would recommend it to anyone. Thank you so much everyone concerned.” “We would just like to say a very big thank you for providing us with afternoon tea today. We have just finished the last of it, and it was truly delicious! We are both key workers, and have been working very hard over the past several weeks and needed a little something different to pick us up a little. Oh my goodness, the afternoon tea sure supplied us with the tonic needed. That, with a beautiful day, took us back to memories of staying at your hotel, where we have stayed on several occasions despite being ‘only up the road’. We are now looking forward to when you are able to re-open, and we intend to spend a night with you, picking up the little boat for a river trip as well. Unfortunately, we shall be working next weekend, and so unable to take advantage of another afternoon tea, but you can rest assured, you will be seeing us again.” “Thank you for a scrumptious afternoon tea today – great way to celebrate our daughters birthday – sharing the tea virtually.” “Just had our afternoon tea and to say it was scrumptious would be doing it an injustice … it was out of this world, the taste of each item was a serenade to the taste buds. Will have to have another for my birthday at the end of May.” “Ordered one for my mum and step-dad who celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in lockdown this week. They said its absolutely beautiful! They LOVED it. Thank you.” “Norfolk Mead is one of my favourite places to visit. I had my baby shower there and also got married at Norfolk Mead so when I saw they were doing Afternoon Tea delivery during lockdown I was so happy! The afternoon tea was delivered to my home from a safe distance. It all looked and tasted delicious. There was so much to have from sandwiches, scones, cakes and included tea, coffee and a small bottle of milk. They even added the cream and jam. Thank you so much! Would order again.” “On 09/05/2020 we collected an afternoon tea to celebrate our daughters birthday which we shared virtually, once we had delivered it to family (you can have it delivered for a small extra charge). Ordering and payment were completed online. Collection was well organised and efficient (social distancing being maintained, as you remain in your car). The tea was scrumptious – well presented and packaged. Even tea, coffee and milk provided, we only had to boil the kettle. Thank you Norfolk Mead for enabling us to make a birthday a little more special during this challenging time. An excellent service.” “To celebrate our wedding anniversary we chose a takeaway afternoon tea from The Mead. It was gorgeous! Apart from the food being lovely as always, the detail including the little bottle of milk and menu on the box made it feel extra special. It was delivered with a smile … again, as always and helped to make our day. We discovered The Mead a year ago exactly and we will keep going back!”
It goes without saying that everyone has been impacted in some way by COVID-19, some personally, some professionally and for a lot people, both. Atkinson Moss has been no different and we are still very much trying to adjust to a new normal, I think the same can be said for a lot of businesses. During the first week of lockdown, it felt like everything would stop completely.
This was somewhat understandable, with our clients navigating through their new home working set up, ensuring their teams were fully functioning and understanding the support available from the government. So in those first few weeks of lockdown, we saw a massive decline in recruitment, however we still had plenty of candidates actively looking with a lot of questions around how the process would now work and whether employers would still be prepared to interview them.
These conversations were often quite fraught and included a few horror stories where previously issued job offers were retracted and in some cases the candidates had already left their previous company!
Interestingly, Atkinson Moss also made a job offer to a new starter just before the full impact of COVID-19 was clear. Seeing what was happening to our workflow and hearing what was happening in wider marketplace made us think long and hard about how to move forward. We were adamant about maintaining our ethics and principles in the face of adversity, the future will be different but it can still be bright. We believe hiring new talent is still key to the success and growth of our business – even in tough times.
This brings me on nicely to the introduction of Laura Ward. Laura officially joined us on 4th May 2020 and we are over the moon!
Laura has worked in recruitment for just over 8 years and specialises in Professional Office support. She will be working alongside Claire Pitt to support all our clients and candidates with Administration support/Secretarial staff, Personal Assistants, Executive Assistants, Customer service professional, receptionist and many more
Recruiting through this time has not come without its challenges though. Imagine your first day on the job is taking place in your living room! This isn’t your average onboarding experience., Instead of walking into a new office, you are sitting on your sofa, juggling Zoom calls and Microsoft teams!
Atkinson Moss have had to rise to this challenge and so far so good! I have to admit, I can’t take the credit for this, Graham has risen to this challenge, embraced remote onboarding and has done a fabulous job.
We are so pleased that we have been able to onboard Laura and cannot wait for our team at Atkinson Moss to be together again.
Next week you can hear from Laura herself about how she is finding working for a new business whilst on lockdown.