Surprise your employees with a Kindness Corporate Box delivered through their letterbox as a little something to make them smile for £10 including delivery using the code KIND. Choose 3 handcrafted chocolate bars and add a postcard with a personalised message. Get in touch with Matt Legon or via https://lnkd.in/gaP5H6w
Safepoint, in partnership with Pathfindr, have today launched a device to help staff safely return to work in the coming weeks and months. The Safepoint Distancing Assistant helps staff maintain physical distancing by alerting them when they’re standing too close.
The team at Safepoint said “Practicing safe physical distancing can be difficult. We know we need to stay at least 2 metres away from other people to slow the spread of Coronavirus, but it’s tricky, especially when at work.”
The device can be worn on a lanyard or clipped onto clothing. When a device comes within two metres of another device it emits a clear, audible or vibrating alert.
The Safepoint Distancing Assistant is available to buy now from the Safepoint website
Charity information campaign voiced by Stephen Fry and Martin Shaw
Two of Norfolk’s most famous residents; actor, comedian and writer, Stephen Fry and actor, Martin Shaw, have joined forces to help Norfolk and Waveney cancer charity, Big C, create a new television and radio campaign to ensure those affected by cancer during the Coronavirus pandemic are aware of, and can access, vital support.
The pair, who have generously donated their time to the campaign, have provided voiceovers to provide information and signposting to Big C services. The advertisements will be aired on ITV, The Beach, North Norfolk Radio and Radio Norwich 99.9fm from May 12th.
Stephen Fry voices the radio advertisement. He said, “So pleased to be able to support a local charity doing so much good. It’s vital of course to do what we can to lessen the impact of the Coronavirus, but that doesn’t mean we should forget others who are stricken with other illnesses and in need of our support too.”
Martin Shaw voices the television advertisement said, “Thanks to Big C people living with cancer, can still access the support they need during this time of crisis. It’s a valuable service worth supporting – and they couldn’t do this without donations from the public, which is why I was delighted to help.”
Every year more than 8,000 people in Norfolk will be told they have cancer and many more will be living with the effects every day.
Dr Chris Bushby, Chief Executive at Big C, said, “The key message of our new broadcast campaign is that “We are still here to support you” and having Stephen and Martin on board helps enormously to instil that message. Many thanks to them for their generosity.
“At Big C, we have been supporting local people affected by cancer for 40 years and our team cares passionately about those who use our services. They are working tirelessly to provide valuable support and information for those at home coping with cancer and the additional challenges of the Coronavirus situation. This is a very difficult set of circumstances to deal with, but having the appropriate support makes an important difference. We want people to know they can rely on us throughout lockdown and beyond.”
Big C has a range of services designed to support those affected by cancer during the Coronavirus pandemic which include:
Anyone affected by cancer in Norfolk and Waveney can access the following support by calling Big C free on 0800 092 7640
View Big C’s Coronavirus support advertisement here https://youtu.be/T077fQQRpfQ
Like many other charities, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Big C has experienced a significant drop in income, with shops closed and spring and summer fundraising events postponed.
If you can support Big C, donations are gratefully welcomed at fundraise.big-c.co.uk
The Layrd Design Survey looking into the best ways in which to improve our working lives, in order to promote better mental and physical health post Covid-19 is still LIVE.
Please use the link below to fill out the survey. It will only take you a few minutes but could make a big difference.
Why not try to improve our workplace environments, instead of simply picking up where we left off?
https://surveyhero.com/c/374b093d
At Layrd Design we are offering a FREE space planning consultation to all business owners requiring help to ensure their workspace is ready to re-integrate employees.
Below sets out our 7 KEY STEPS to take: 1. LAYOUT ADJUSTMENTS Workstations can be reorganised to allow for social distancing measures to be met and provide increased circulation space. 2. DIVIDING SCREENS Specification and installation of desktop screens and various surrounds. Options are available to maintain company branding and office culture. 3. FURNITURE OPTIONS Flexible and adaptable furniture options specified to suit your requirements. 4. AGILE & FLEXIBLE WORKING Redesign of workspace to allow for an increase in agile and remote workers. 5. MEETING/SOCIAL AREAS Planning of space and furniture to allow for social distancing measures to be adhered to in both meeting rooms and social spaces 6. COMMUNICATION Audio and visual systems reviewed and enhanced to allow for greater connection and efficiency with virtual employees and clients. 7. ENVIRONMENT Air quality reviewed and tested to ensure air contamination is reduced and air quality is increased throughout open plan offices. Contact us for more information on how we can help you and book your FREE space planning consultation. Tel: 01223 952992 Email: info@layrddesign.co.uk Web: www.layrddesign.co.uk Layrd Design Let’s make this work.
In the UK a surprisingly sad statistic shows that 1 in 20 children under the age of 16 will experience the death of one or both parents. Why then, do so many young parents feel they do not need a Will? The problem is lack of information around the facts of what could (and does) happen.
My experience has shown that the general misconception is that ‘everything will sort itself out’, yet the facts are……. without a Will they won’t!
The most important consideration to make is who will be responsible for caring for your child if one or both parents are no longer alive, these are called Guardians! And the ONLY way to legally appoint guardians is by stating it in a Will.
Without a Will, your child/children’s guardians will be decided by the state. In extreme cases the courts could grant ‘parental responsibility’ to a local authority! A simple Will stating guardianship stops this and makes it clear to all your family and friends what your wishes are.
When deciding who you would want to be the guardian to your child/children should the worst happen, you need to consider a couple of things. The top priority is that the guardians will look after the children as you would have raised them. For this reason, consider which of your family members or friends share the same values as you. Also consider whether they are ‘able’ to care for your children. Grandparents may seem like the obvious choice, but you must consider how looking after young children will impact them, also remember, they will be guardians until the chid/children are 18. Will they be able to cope as years go on?
I also recommend nominating a reserve guardian, in case your first choice is unable to act. Although you can (and should) change your Will as circumstances change, I often see the ‘change Will’ task slip down the to-do list and often never get done (probably you if your reading this).
If you have or are expecting a child, I cannot stress enough the importance of writing your Will to nominate guardianship. Not only that, a Will can save your estate and beneficiaries LOTS of money and clear up any uncertainties that arise if you were to pass away.
My first child is due early June, so I am finally able to practice what I preach! I am passionate about the fact that young people need to be educated about the importance of needing a Will, Wills are NOT just for when you get older.
If you have any questions or need any advice regarding your Will or this article, please get in touch. I offer FREE consultations as I believe everyone should be educated about the importance of a Will. My approach is honest, bespoke to your needs and most importantly, relaxed.
ocann@orcawillwriters.co.uk | www.orcawillwriters.co.uk | 01603 98 1971
With many people being encouraged back to the office in the coming weeks and months I have looked into what is available to help make sharing desks and workspaces more practical, both during the current crisis and as longer term solution to personal stationary storage.
Check out the latest Layrd Design blog here
We hope you find this helpful and if you require more info of trade prices please contact us
01223 952992
info@layrddesign.co.uk
We would like to thank all of you who have supported Break in the past and who are interested in how we are responding to the current crisis caused by Covid-19. We would like to reassure you that we are prioritising supporting all the young people that are in our care. We are reconfiguring our practices so that we can do this as safely as we can whilst still meeting the needs of each young person.
Naturally, there are many challenges to this but our staff have been amazing and are coming up with constant ideas and adaptations to our practice. Unfortunately, alongside this incredible response, we are faced with a vast reduction in our income due to having to close our charity shops and cancel our fundraising events which may have an impact on our future viability.
Although we are confident that, over time, we will be able to overcome this, we would really appreciate any help you can provide – whether it is a donation or volunteering. Please donate on out Just Giving page if you can www.justgiving.com/break%20 and know that every penny will go to supporting a very vulnerable young person at this extremely challenging time in their development. Break is a Registered Charity, no 286650
Having proven that the TaxAssist Accountants concept can be successfully replicated in the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Australia, TaxAssist is now offering Area Representative and single-unit franchise rights to selected states in the USA.
Karl Sandall, Group Chief Executive Director, says: “After years of careful research and planning, I am pleased to advise that we have completed the formation of TaxAssist Direct USA Inc. This has been a long-held wish of mine personally and always the company’s long-term aim, with our successful franchise model offering massive potential.”
The shareholders are The TaxAssist Direct Group Ltd (85%), Hal and Jamie Gross (7.5%), and Mike and Penny Melling (7.5%).
Hal Gross, based in New Jersey, holds the role of President, with Mike Melling as Director. Karl Sandall, Phil Sullivan and John Chambers, (who are all Directors of The TaxAssist Direct Group in the UK) will also act as Directors for TaxAssist Direct USA Inc.
Hal is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with extensive experience in risk, audit and regulatory leadership roles at major global financial institutions including most recently at UBS’ Investment Bank and Citi, where he held senior positions in the Corporate and Investment Banking operational risk teams. Earlier in his career Hal also held management roles in American Express audit after starting his career in public accounting at Main Hurdman (KPMG).
“Hal recognised the huge opportunity that TaxAssist Accountants would offer to develop and grow accounting and advisory services for small businesses in the USA,” explains Karl, “and with a strong corporate and financial background, in Hal, we saw the ideal candidate to partner with, to launch, build and mature the TaxAssist Accountants brand across the US through the Area Representative model.”
Mike Melling has had a 35-year career as a senior financial services executive in the UK, USA and Asia for American Express, GE Capital and Marsh & McLennan including board-level roles for subsidiary companies. He also served as UK President for operational consultancy Alexander Proudfoot Company serving large and mid-capitalisation businesses.
As well as having extensive international business experience, Mike is also a successful TaxAssist Accountants franchisee in the UK, having purchased a large single location practice resale for £1m in 2012, followed by a further resale purchase in 2015.
Karl explains: “Mike brings with him a huge amount of energy, experience and expertise. He will be able to share best practice, having successfully invested in staff, technology and client acquisition to build his practice up to a 20-person team serving nearly 2,000 small businesses, Directors and individual clients from seven TaxAssist shops and offices.”
TaxAssist is expecting a surge of interest in franchising in the USA during and post the coronavirus pandemic, as people re-think their lives.
“These are unprecedented times for everyone, but we have a very sound business model, and our services have never been in more demand, as people look to their accountant for advice and guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic, hence our confidence in continuing with our plans to launch the franchise in the USA.
“Our business model is going to appeal to CPA-qualified accountants working in industry, individuals with a strong financial services or banking background, as well as those that already own an accounting practice they wish to develop as part of a global brand. We are looking for people who are capable of setting themselves up in business, but see the value in the brand, training, support and systems that investing in a franchise with TaxAssist Accountants brings.”
David Paulson, Senior Vice President, Franchise Development, will be seconded to New Jersey later this year, where the USA Support Centre will be based. David is working behind the scenes with the TaxAssist International Team and investors to do as much preparation as possible in readiness for the official launch which will take place at the 2020 International Franchise Online Expo on May 28-30.
Anyone interested in finding out more about franchise opportunities in the USA should visit www.taxassistfranchise.com for more information.
The global TaxAssist network supports more than 265 franchised areas with 425 shops and offices, servicing more than 86,000 small businesses and self-employed individuals. Global annual billings are in excess of £56m.
We are looking for a bright and committed developer to join our Norwich team. Due to Covid-19 this will initially be home-based, with office working to resume when the situation improves.
This is a fantastic opportunity to join a fast growing company with a role that offers real flexibility and potential. Many of our existing clients work with frameworks and CMS systems such as WordPress and Shopify, but we are keen to move towards more modern solutions such as JAMstack and headless CMS. This will be a core part of this position.
The successful applicant will have most or all of the following:
Proven working experience with frameworks and systems such as React/Gatsby/Netlify In-depth knowledge of modern HTML/CSS Strong familiarity with PHP and Javascript Experience building responsive HTML emails from provided designs Experience with hosting companies and server management Knowledge of SEO principles Problem-solving skills, debugging and cross-browser testing In addition, they will be hard working, curious, have a positive attitude, and be keen to help other members of the team.
Working at Blink
Founded in 2011, Blink is a digital agency based in Norwich, Norfolk. We are a small but extremely ambitious team that has delivered extremely successful projects across a wide range of sectors. We work extremely hard to provide a positive and supportive environment, and there are numerous benefits to working with us, including:
4 day working week (Monday – Thursday, 9am-6pm) Flexible working opportunities Profit share (available after six months) City centre location Breakout space with table tennis, standing desks etc Office showers Selection of office dogs Careful attention to career growth and development For some of our employee reviews, see https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Overview/Working-at-Blink-SEO-EI_IE3314924.11,20.htm
Benefits:
Work from home opportunities Bonus scheme Profit sharing/share options Flexible working hours Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Salary: £25,000.00 to £30,000.00 /year
Liftshare, the UK’s largest lift sharing platform, surveyed 500 of its members and discovered that almost half (48%) of them will be changing the way they travel to work after the lockdown lifts.
Here is a breakdown of how people’s commuting patterns may change based on our survey’s results (graphs on page two):
• WFH to increase by 552% • Cycling to increase by 71% • Walking to increase by 8% • Lift sharing to fall by 6% • Train travel to decrease by 36% • Bus travel to decrease by 30% • Driving alone to decrease by 20%*
*Environmental impact: If travel were to change in the way that this survey suggests then the 20% reduction in car alone commuters would save 1 million tonnes of CO2/year.
In order to better understand the results, we also asked people to give us written feedback about their desired future commute, which proved rather illuminating. Here is a small sample of the hundreds of responses we received:
“I hope to cycle to a local office three miles away one day a week, work from home another day and if needed commute to the main office one day a week.”
“This lockdown has proved that we can work from home and I will only go to the office for certain meetings, where closer interaction is needed. On those occasions, I will drive my car.”
“I will commute by car, as the bus only runs once an hour where I live, also not keen to use public transport due to Covid-19.”
“Ideally I would like to work from home but being realistic, I will not be able to do that full-time when lockdown is lifted. Therefore, I would like to lift share with others. It is interesting to see that pollution levels have dropped since the lockdown began due to less traffic on the roads. I would like to continue to do my bit for the environment as well as save myself and like-minded people money.”
“Liftshare due to long commute – reduce costs, better for the environment and it makes the journey less boring”
“A bicycle ride along empty country roads because it is zero emissions and I can get fit and improve my mental health.”
“Walk, I hate the environmental impact of driving, particularly alone, but currently have no other option. Also find it very tiring.”
The survey results clearly indicate that Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdown have had a significant impact on people’s plans for commuting in the future. Over the past few weeks, Liftshare has been helping organisations to prepare for the return of the workforce using its innovative technology. Liftshare’s Smart Mobility Scoping tool gives organisations a strategic overview of their staff’s commuter routes, and Liftshare has also created a tool to help advise employees on the best routes to work in relation to social distancing. For more information about Liftshare, this survey and/or how we are helping businesses prepare for the return of the workforce, please contact media@liftshare.com
We are pleased to announce that MHA Larking Gowen has acted for the shareholders of Ortoo Technologies (“Ortoo”) on the sale of the company to The Key Support Services Limited (“The Key”) despite the added complexities brought by COVID-19 to corporate transactions.
Ortoo Technologies are a software development company focussed on the educational sector having developed the software: Govenorhub. The Key are a group engaged in professional support to the educational sector providing the latest up to date information to all key stakeholders in schools.
Chris Kenyon, Chief Executive Officer, The Key said “The GovernorHub team has built the best platform available for governors to collaborate and support schools. GovernorHub deeply compliments our mission to give schools leaders the tools and knowledge to act at their point of need. After several months of discussions, we are thrilled to welcome Neil, James and team to the Key.”
MHA Larking Gowen, Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors is an independent partnership and one of the UK’s Top 40 accountancy firms. The firm has been working with Ortoo Technologies as their accountants since the business was launched in 2012.
MHA Larking Gowen has been working with Ortoo Technologies as their accountants since the business was launched in 2012.
Jack Minns, Corporate Finance Director at MHA Larking Gowen said: “It was really satisfying to have helped a long-standing client of the firm achieve their goals and still complete to timescales despite the uncertainty brought by the COVID19 lockdown. I am sure that Ortoo will continue to grow and progress as part of The Key.”
Speaking about the process during lockdown, Alex Robinson, shareholder and Director of Ortoo Techolosites Limited said: “Lockdown started right in the middle of the due diligence process. We were concerned that this might delay things, but everyone switched seamlessly to remote working.
The advice and responsiveness just continued as normal, delivered via video and phone calls. The experts were all still available to us as and when needed.
Jack and the team at MHA Larking Gowen were extremely helpful and proactive. They could anticipate many of the questions that arose during the due diligence process and they were able to bring experts into the conversation on matters such as tax and valuation.
We were delighted to conclude the deal within the timescale and cost that was estimated, despite a few complexities on the way. Our only disappointment was that lockdown meant our celebration with the MHA Larking Gowen team and other advisers took place via video and not in person, but our thanks were sincere!”
Photo – Lockdown meant celebrations with the team took place via video and not in person!