Results are in: Take a look at a breakdown of the results from our Member Survey Page 7 Spotlight on: Meet Professor Cara Aitchison, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of St Mark & St John Page 22 History in the making: Our 6th and final installment on Chamber history from local historian Chris Robinson Pages 26-27 December 2013 How advances in technology will change the way you market your business. P.16-17 In This Month’s Issue: The rise of digital SPONSORED BY PLYMOUTH COMMUNITY HOMES
Transcript
Results are in: Take a look at a breakdown of the results from
our Member SurveyPage 7
Spotlight on: Meet Professor Cara Aitchison, Vice-Chancellor and
Chief Executive of the University of St Mark & St JohnPage 22
History in the making:Our 6th and final installment on Chamber history
from local historian Chris RobinsonPages 26-27
December 2013
How advances in technology will change the way you market your business. P.16-17
In This Month’s Issue:
The rise of digital
SponSored by Plymouth Community homes
At Real Fusion we believe that understanding
a client’s requirements is the key to building a
successful working relationship.
Based at Tamar Science Park, we specialise in the
design and implementation of online and offline
media, covering every aspect of the marketing
mix as part of a fully-integrated strategy.
We’re passionate about helping businesses to
flourish and engaging our clients in the creative
process of fulfilling a brief. It would be a pleasure
When printed, Chamberlink is on recycled paper made from 80% de-inked post-consumer waste and 20% mill broke, meeting the requirements set by Government bodies for recycled content papers.
Plymouth Chamber Of Commerce
Contents:Social Enterprise Festival Success Plymouth’s Social Enterprise Festival 2013 was one of the biggest in the UK Page 6 How Secure is your Cloud? BlueScreen IT talk us through Cloud Security Page 8 Congratulations! A number of Chamber members received recognition in the City & Waterfront Awards Page 9
Sculpture trail set to Make Waves Plymouth’s Making Waves project reaches another milestone Page 11
Get behind eCommerce for retail successAdrian Saunders from DV8 Media shines the light on eCommerce Page 12
Membership changes We’ve listened to feedback and will be making some changes to Chamber membership Page 15
Advancing Practices How Bright Solicitors are utilising technology to improve their service offerPages 18-19
Transactions that can come back and bite you Lisa Thomas from Neville & Co talks us through things to remember when it comes to dealing with insolvency Page 21
Events DiaryYour at a glance guide to Chamber events and training for the next month or so Page 30
Designed by Real Fusion | www.realfusion.co.uk
3
6
11
7
18
31
21
We’ve long known of the enduring attraction of reading ChamberLink and this goes to prove it.
Pictured is a highly valued mascot, and member of the CF Systems customer service team, relaxing by the pool on a recent team-building trip to Corfu. It seems they work them hard at CF Systems.
Who’s reading Chamberlink this month?
As we reach the end of the Chamber 200th anniversary year, it seems fitting to look back at what has been an incredible and fast moving 12 months, both for Plymouth and the Chamber.
It is hard to believe that in the past year alone Plymouth has begun planning for the Mayflower 400 celebrations (with the Chamber leading a delegation to Plymouth Massachusetts), achieved Social Enterprise City status, significantly improved our marketing under the banner of Britain’s Ocean City, seen a number of announcements for major plans for developments at Home Park, Sutton Harbour, the Pavilions and the Civic Centre, reviewed our Local Economic Strategy, started exploring the feasibility of a cruise line berth in Millbay, put out a tender for a free city centre wi-fi concession, won a major bid into the Regional Growth Fund and developed the City Deal proposition to support accelerated economic growth. I even got to meet David Cameron in No 10 along with the Leader of the Council, Oliver Colvile MP and Gary Streeter, MP to talk about many of these good things, all of which the Chamber is involved in to varying degrees.
To top off this year’s successes I’m extremely pleased to announce that the Plymouth Chamber has passed the stringent assessment to become a fully accredited member of the British Chambers of Commerce. This major achievement is a great testament to the Chamber team and Board, details of which and what it means for you as a Chamber member are given on p.25.
These successes are against a background of the media profiling the doom and gloom of energy price hikes, HS2 debates, severe weather warnings, wasted public sector money and the poor state of the economy. It seems to me that while these factors do indeed impact adversely upon local businesses the majority of our members take these in their stride and are positioning themselves well by just getting on running their businesses well, with quite a number starting to report signs of significant growth. We have much to be proud of and we should not forget that we have great internal strength which can be built upon and expanded to make Plymouth THE place to do business.
In October we carried out a Member survey, asking Chamber members what issues are affecting them and how they currently rate the services they receive from us at the Chamber. We reveal the results of the survey on p.7. I’d like to thank all members who participated in this survey which will help to ensure that your membership of the Chamber continues to provide tangible benefits for your business. The feedback we’ve received from the survey has been invaluable and we will be following up with each participant on the comments made.
Looking ahead to 2014 the New Year will bring a number of changes to the Chamber and our members. These include a number of improvements to Chamber membership and its associated benefits which will be more closely geared to the size of business. Our business support helpline is also undergoing a redevelopment, so please look out for details of the various changes which will come into force in the New Year.
I’d like to thank everyone who has been involved in celebrating our 200th Anniversary with us over the past year. Here’s to the next 200 years for Plymouth businesses and Plymouth Chamber of Commerce. All that’s left for me to say is, I hope you have a successful December, a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
DAVID PARLBY’S VIEW
CHAMberLInK IS SponSored by
5
Looking back on a successful year
dAVId pArLbyCeo, plymouth Chamber
MEMBERS’ NEwS In BRIEf
Cuda Drinks sponsor awardsnew Chamber members Cuda drinks Co. were one of the proud new sponsors of the best bar none Awards held in plymouth in october. Cuda drinks sponsored the award for best Student Venue – representatives presented local category winner bAC bar with their award during the event.
Moorland Garden win best restaurant accoladeMoorland Garden Hotel has been named best restaurant in the South West at the Taste of the West 2013 Awards ceremony. The Moorland Garden Hotel fought off competition from 30 establishments to be crowned in the ‘best of the best’ final heats, having already been awarded Gold in July.
Lesley shortlisted for Employee of the year awardLesley Allinson, operations Manager at the Chamber was shortlisted for the employee of the year Award in the Western Morning news business awards. We’d like to congratulate Lesley for being shortlisted.
Respect Festival returnsplymouth respect Festival was this year hosted by plymouth University on 12th and 13th october and organised by plymouth and devon racial equality Council. The new collaboration was hoped to open up a range of innovative developments to breathe new life into the festival.
Star of BBC’s ‘The Apprentice’ visits City College PlymouthMelody Hossaini, candidate on bbC’s The Apprentice 2011 and founder of social enterprise organisation, Inspirengage International visited City College plymouth as part of Global entrepreneurship Week and plymouth Social enterprise Week. Melody’s visit was planned to contribute to the promotion of entrepreneurship with students at the College.
Plymouth’s Social Enterprise Festival 2013 was one of the biggest in the UK
Adrian Vinken, Chair of Plymouth Culture Board explains how Plymouth can optimise the opportunity for 2020.
Plymouth celebrated becoming one of the very first Social Enterprise Cities in the country by ensuring the city’s third annual Social Enterprise Festival – which took place from November 16-23 – was the biggest yet.
Following the success of last year’s festival, the 2013 week-long event proved to be one of the biggest festivals of social enterprise ever held in the UK, with more than 18 events taking place over eight days attracting hundreds of people.
Recently named as one of the first Social Enterprise Cities in the country, Plymouth was recognised by Social Enterprise UK for its impressive amount of social enterprise business activity across the city.
There are about 150 businesses in Plymouth operating as a social enterprise. These dynamic social enterprises employ up to 7,000 people, generating £500 million of income for Plymouth.
Plymouth’s Social Enterprise Festival is organised every year by the Plymouth Social Enterprise Network (PSEN), a business network with more than 100 members including 70 social enterprises in the city.
Gareth Hart, chairman of Plymouth Social Enterprise Network, said: “We were delighted to stage our third annual festival of social enterprise right here in Plymouth, the national heartland of social enterprise. It was another fantastic success and very well supported.
“The festival has grown from a modest one day event in 2011 to this year’s jam-packed series of events spread over eight days with conferences, debates, receptions, talks and even a pub quiz.”
The festival began with a two-day workshop event on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 November to more fully explain the concept of social enterprise before officially launching on Monday 18 November.
Events went on throughout the week until Saturday November 23 including workshops, talks, lunches, and presentations with the highlight of the week being the Social Enterprise City Trade Fair and Conference at Plymouth University on Thursday 21 November.
Other engaging events which happened during the week included a lunch with a star of BBC’s The Apprentice, joint events with Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, a pub quiz and funding and finance workshops at Devonport Guildhall.
Ed Whitelaw, a lead developer with the Devonport-based social enterprise The Real Ideas Organisation (RIO), coordinated the festival. He said: “The theme of this year’s festival was all about public engagement, and making more people aware of what a social enterprise actually is.
“People in the business sector already know the positive benefits of social enterprise and how they are changing lives for the better, but we want to build on that and make social enterprises more consciously part of everyday life.”
For more information about Plymouth’s Social Enterprise Network and to see photos from festival events, visit www.socentcity.com.
Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the departure of the Mayflower is a huge opportunity for Plymouth to mark itself as a ‘must see’ destination for US tourists. Adrian Vinken talks us through the groundwork and vision for 2020 and why this celebration must be an international effort.
At November’s Crunchy Breakfast we heard from Adrian Vinken, Chair of Plymouth Culture Board who talked us through the momentum and enthusiasm behind the Mayflower 400 celebrations.
Adrian started by saying: “It’s easy to underestimate how important the Mayflower departure is to Plymouth. It’s about what it symbolises to Americans. The original journey of the English pilgrims, who were fleeing religious persecution and searching for freedom were the founding seeds of the future spirit of America. Every child in the US learns the story of the pilgrimage journey and how the Mayflower carried the seeds of the soul of America. 2020 gives us the opportunity for our Plymouth to recognise how important this journey was and capitalise on it.”
Throughout his speech Adrian also emphasised the need for Plymouth to become the obvious point of pilgrimage for Americans when they visit the UK.
Adrian confirmed that a strong relationship with Plymouth Massachusetts has also begun, with support from Plymouth Chamber of Commerce a delegation from Plymouth, Devon visited the US city earlier this year, with
another delegation planned for spring next year. “This relationship”, Adrian explained, “is already proving fruitful, with City College Plymouth sharing education skills with Plymouth MA, and further ‘on the ground’ partnerships forming across the Atlantic.”
However Adrian argued that despite the strong relationships forming between the two Plymouth’s “2020 has to be a celebration that is supported by both the UK and US national governments, not city to city in order to celebrate the special relationship fully.”
Rounding up the plans for the Mayflower 400 celebrations Adrian said “The culture board is working towards a genuine trans-Atlantic partnership and have a vision that on the 6th September 2020 the US President will stand on the Hoe and make a declaration to the world to celebrate the special relationship between the two nations. Our aim for the celebrations is also to collaborate on a joint armed forces celebration, recognising the strong partnership work that the US and UK forces have carried out throughout history.”
Adrian recognised that there is still work to be done to deliver these visions. Destination Plymouth is already working on this, partnering with Plymouth MA’s destination organisation to get this right both in the UK and US. A leadership body for the celebrations is in place with the structure being formalised to make 2020 as big as possible for Plymouth.
NEwS CRuNCHy BREAkFAST6
NEwS 7
How secure is your Cloud?Over the past few years it has
become the trend to migrate your business’s data and information systems from on-premise in-house platforms to 3rd party service providers in the Cloud. For those who have been part of this migration, you will have all enjoyed the advantages of lower risk, predictable budgets and scalable architecture, but the often over looked aspect of this type of solution is security.
Data protection is now becoming one of the biggest single risks to a business outside of a natural disaster or market change, with companies receiving crippling fines in relation to what are very simple breaches in data security. In todays business there is a craving for information, to feed this businesses are collecting more data than ever from a wide range of sources and storing it for longer periods of time.
With this move to the Cloud, the increased complexities of data protection, how do you migrate whilst staying secure and compliant?
For those who have migrated what are the challenges now faced in ensuring security and compliance?
These challenges are far too often overlooked by businesses and as the adoption of this architecture matures, businesses are starting to raise these questions and look for answers.
In the same way the Cloud is not a one size fits all, there isn’t a single solution for all business’s to achieve a secure, compliant Cloud. A starting point is a clear understanding of the business requirements matched against the capabilities of the technology and solutions available; from this we can derive any shortfall.
This understanding of the technology needs to go beyond the perimeter, when we had our
information inside our boundary; it was simple to understand where it was, who had access and when it was backed up. The Cloud has encouraged a mentality of outsourced responsibility, your data is inside their perimeter so it is their responsibly. The reality is somewhat different; the data remains your responsibility, whether inside or outside your perimeter, when we look at data protection the owner of the data holds all of the risk associated with the type of data stored.
Getting full visibility of how your Cloud provider works is paramount to ensuring a secure solution. When we ask our customers who use Cloud services if their data is backed up, they are normally surprised to find out that their Cloud provider has no off-line back
up, cannot provide past snap-shots of data and has no resiliency outside of a single cabinet in a data centre.
To find out how secure your Cloud is you should start by contacting your providers and investigating how well they are protecting your business. To learn more about securing and protecting your business Bluescreen IT are specialist’s in end to end solutions from desktop to data centre.
BlueScreen IT talk us through Cloud security
NEwS 8
New City Base and Recruits for Growing Devon Solicitors FirmLeading Devon law firm, Beers LLP, is growing its commercial practice with a move across Plymouth and the appointment of two key legal professionals.
The full-service law firm has recently relocated its Plymouth team from its former premises in Parkway Court to the ground floor of North Quay House in Sutton Harbour, marking a significant development for the growing law firm.
Managing Partner Michael Hasler said: “Moving to Sutton Harbour improves our profile in Plymouth, provides easy access to the courts and positions us in the heart of the business sector. It’s exactly where we need to be.”
In addition to the office move, Beers has also taken on two key recruits to bolster its legal offering to the commercial market.
Julian Parry has joined the firm as a Partner in the employment team, having spent the last nine years in the employment practice of a highly regarded London law firm. He will be developing the employment law practice focusing on employers, delivering practical and commercial advice and training to businesses and HR teams.
The firm also welcomes Gary Eddleston-Haynes who joins as a litigation solicitor. Gary, who qualified as a solicitor in 1995, specialises in commercial dispute resolution, including property and financial matters.
A new business set to help the city’s residents improve their job hunting skills, opened its doors on Bretonside earlier this month.
Mego, an innovative new employment centre, helps the unemployed, the underemployed, and those looking for a new job, to find work that plays to their strengths and skills.
Mego employment centres have been specifically designed to meet the needs of today’s job seekers who are looking for employment in a fiercely competitive environment. There may be around 2000 job vacancies in the city but with 25 times the number of people competing for these jobs, the odds of getting hired are slim.
There is a need for people to take a completely new approach to job hunting and Mego has been created to provide personalised help and support that will improve people’s employability, and make them stand out from the crowd.
Service users will not only be assessed and supported to look for work that plays to their strengths and skills, but also coached to overcome confidence issues and then shown how to produce outstanding CVs, covering letters and personal profiles. Once candidates have refined their own brands Mego will then help to promote them to the city’s employers and help them get hired.
Chris Leonard, Managing Director, Mego Employment Centres said: “Our research showed that people want to talk to employment experts face-to-face, so we chose to open an outlet in Plymouth and not only provide our clients with the physical retail presence they need, but also contribute to the on-going regeneration of the City.”
Anyone wanting to know more about Mego can pop into the Employment Centre at 55-57 Bretonside, call 01752 421122 or visit www.mego.org.uk
MEMBERS’ NEwS In BRIEfCornwall College Business Training Awards sponsor announcedA major global organisation is championing business development in the region by lending its support to an awards event recognising dedication to training. Silicon Valley bank, which has offices throughout America and the globe, has become main sponsor of the excellence in business Training awards 2014, hosted by Cornwall College business.
New site for Financial ConsultancyASTUTe Money, formerly positive Solutions (Financial Services) Ltd has launched a new website outlining its services. Led by darren Fisher, founding partner of Astute Money the new website marks the new phase for the financial consultancy. View the site here: http://www.astutemoney.co.uk/
Imagine celebrate 2nd BirthdayoFFICe And STATIonery suppliers, Imagine, is celebrating its 2nd birthday this year. Founded by Martin Luck, Imagine is going from strength to strength.
Apt Awards announces changes to their Board: apt Awards have recently announced some changes to their board. With two resignations, John Hamblin, from the position of Chair and board member Chris Sampson. Mike Farmer has been announced as the new Chair, with apt Awards recruiting for new board members.
Expanding agency looks forward to creative challenges: Two key appointments and a number of high profile contract wins means that real Fusion Creative is enjoying another period of growth as it celebrates its fourth year in business. The plymouth-based web, design and marketing company has now added an enhanced public relations package to its portfolio of client services.
Stem Group celebrates 8th birthday: Stem Group, a leading business technology, IT support & Services provider for the South West celebrated its 8th birthday on 7th october. Having grown from just 2 employees to 18 the group has gone from strength to strength adding high profile South West Companies such as brittany Ferries and the national Marine Aquarium to their expanding client list.
Developers welcome energy regeneration scheme to Plymouth Enterprise Park. regional businesses relying on large quantities of power will benefit from a standby power generation system due to be built at the new plymouth enterprise park. developers London and devonshire Trust have confirmed that a contract has been signed with Fulcrum power Generation Ltd to lease one acre of land at the new commercial park in ernesettle.
NEwS
New centre to help unemployed
Congratulations!In October there was a buzz across Plymouth’s retail sector as businesses met for the Herald
City Centre & Waterfront awards ceremony, with more than 300 businesses present at the
event, held at the Holiday Inn.
The awards, which were held by the Herald, in association with Plymouth City Centre Company and Plymouth, Britain’s Ocean City celebrated the success of local businesses. Nominated and voted for by members of the public, the awards recognised
a number of business categories including Best Event, Best After Dark Venue, Best Fine Dining, Best Café or Coffee Ship, Best Customer Service and Best Local Produce Champion.
Among the winners were a number of Chamber members including
The Tanners, The Original Pasty House, Foot Solutions, Plymouth Gin, The National Marine Aquarium and Rockets and Rascals. We’d like to congratulate all of our Members and other local businesses who were recognised at the awards.
Chris Leonard, Md of Mego employment and plymouth College of Art student Aaron Hocking inspect the shop branding in advance of the business launch.
Find us on Facebook & Twitter: Search for Achievement Training
FurtherGo
Meet the Futureof your Business
Employers... Have you heard about Traineeships?
Want the workforce you always dreamed of?
Tired of recruiting the wrong kind of staff? Make a real difference by giving the young people in your area the skills they need! Start getting ready now!Call Achievement Training on:
01752 202 266
NEwS
Sculpture trail set to Make Waves in the city
Plymouth Software to build new Android App for The National Trust for Scotland
Plymouth’s innovative Making Waves project has reached another milestone, with the grand unveiling of the very first sculpture to be part of the tourist trail set to grace the streets of the city next spring.
The sunfish sculpture, which was made by local firm Manuplas, is being sponsored by the National Marine Aquarium and was unveiled in a waterfront spot just outside the popular attraction this October. Featuring a stunning underwater-themed design by award-winning artist Lisa Traxler, the sculpture will now be catching the eyes of residents and visitors throughout the winter months.
The full trail, which is set for launch next spring, will consist of around 20 vibrant sculptures in key locations across the city, all individually sponsored by local firms. Both local residents and visitors to Britain’s Ocean City will be able to explore the trail using QR (quick response) codes. These two-dimensional codes carry large amounts of data in a square of black and white dots, easily read by all mobile phones with cameras and software installed.
Each sculpture will feature a unique code, which when scanned will provide users with a raft of interesting information about the sculpture, including the artist responsible for each individual design, and details on the company providing sponsorship. The technology behind the codes is being provided by local firm Crunch Creative, who also designed the project’s eye-catching website. Adding to the website and printed trail map next year will also be an interactive online map, also being designed by Crunch Creative, which will direct visitors to all the sunfish locations whilst providing in-depth information about each individual sculpture and highlighting points of interest in the area.
Amy Cooper, Project Manager for Making Waves, commented: “It was fantastic to see the first of our sculptures unveiled, and we’re now really looking forward to working alongside the team at Crunch Creative, our artists and sponsors to complete the trail. The use of the QR codes is really going to help bring the project to life for everyone who follows the trail, with a wealth of additional information available at just the swipe of your smart phone.”
Local company, Plymouth Software, has been selected to build a new version of the National Trust for Scotland’s Trust Trails mobile application for Android devices.
Following the success of Trust Trails for iPhone,
which Plymouth Software built earlier this year, the National Trust for Scotland began considering an Android equivalent. With a majority share of the mobile device market, Android was the next logical step for this exciting app.
Colan Mehaffey, Digital Manager, National Trust for Scotland said: “We wanted to bring the engaging
experience of Trust Trails to our members and visitors with Android smartphones. We’re delighted to be working with Plymouth Software again to build on the previous project’s success.”
The project is scheduled to begin in the new year, with the first release to the Google Play Store scheduled for summer 2014.
Plymouth Software provides software consultancy, design and development services to deliver mobile applications to a range of organisations in a variety of sectors.
For more information visit www.plymouthsoftware.com
MEMBERS’ NEwS In BRIEf
L-R: Jane Cullen (Business Partner, Plymouth University) Patrick Knight (Economy and employment manager, Plymouth City Council) Lesley Allinson (Operations Manager, Plymouth Chamber) Nina Sarlaka (Vice Principle, City College Plymouth) David Gibson (Managing Director, National Marine Aquarium) Bob Harrison (Employer Account Manager, National Apprenticeship Service) Amy Cooper (Making Waves Project Manager) at the unveiling of the first Sunfish sculpture at National Marine Aquarium.
Viridor Recycle with Bandvulc Viridor, part of the FTSe 250 pennon Group has entered into a tyre supply and management agreement with bandvulc Tyre Contracts (bTC), the management division of the bandvulc Group. each tyre recycled by bandvulc saves the environment 68 litres of oil, 44kg of rubber compound and 182.24Kg of Co2.
Roll of honour recognition for apprentice recruitment: Securi-Guard has joined a special industry roll of honour after taking on two apprentices as part of a major national recruitment drive launched by Skills for Security.
Chamber receives award for Health at work: plymouth Chamber of Commerce was rewarded a platinum Health @ Work award at an awards ceremony in october for its commitment to meeting health and wellbeing pledges.
Radio Plymouth adopts woolly Monkey at wild Futures Monkey Sanctuary: radio plymouth has joined Wild Futures’ troop and adopted the woolly monkey, oliver, at The Monkey Sanctuary. oliver is nine years old and lives in a group with four other woolly monkeys.
New appointment for Outset Finance: outset Finance has appointed paul Green as its new business Finance Advisor. paul spent seven years with a high street bank as a business manager, working closely with his portfolio of SMe clients. paul replaces Gregg Harding, who has joined the Cornwall-based Get Set for Growth programme, which is being delivered by outset’s parent company, yTKo Group.
CHICkS Chief Exec received Third Excellence Award: elanor Hoskin, Chief executive of devon based charity, CHICKS has been recognised as a ‘rising Chief executive’ at the Third Sector excellence awards in London. Congratulations to elanor for receiving this national award for the charity sector.
Find us on Facebook & Twitter: Search for Achievement Training
FurtherGo
Meet the Futureof your Business
Employers... Have you heard about Traineeships?
Want the workforce you always dreamed of?
Tired of recruiting the wrong kind of staff? Make a real difference by giving the young people in your area the skills they need! Start getting ready now!Call Achievement Training on:
01752 202 266
11
FEATuRES
Get behind eCommerce for retail success
Work doesn’t get in the way for south west IT experts
CF Systems, which provides IT support for businesses throughout the region from its base in Redruth, put 12 of its staff on a plane to the Greek island of Corfu for a busy weekend of team-building exercises.
During the weekend, the company continued to offer a full suite of out-of-hours support to customers with trained operatives remaining constantly available—albeit with temperatures outside at around 25C and with screen-breaks taken at the poolside.
In a military-style operation, the CF Systems team had arranged with their Corfu hotel’s management to be able to set up a virtual IT support service desk where they could provide normal monitoring and support, deal with support requests and perform routine maintenance on clients’ computing and telephone infrastructures.
The set up was made possible using voice over internet (VoIP) technology through the hotel’s IT infrastructure, which had itself been installed by CF Systems through an existing customer relationship. The IT centre was continually manned throughout the weekend with staff using a rota to take charge.
Also in military style—one of the highlights of the team building activities was a large-scale paintball combat exercise that saw computer technicians and administrative staff take to the battlefield alongside senior management, including company directors.
Darren Dixon, CF Systems’ technical director, said: “It was no mean feat to make this weekend work as well as it did. There was never going to be any interruption of service and we made sure we offered complete transparency to clients so that they knew what we were doing and we maintained a technical presence at our head offices in Redruth.
“It was a good experience to put the team through its paces in terms of mobilising the office and everyone was required to do a little more thinking outside of the box—something we pride ourselves on at CF Systems.
“The management took the decision to hold the exercise in Corfu as recognition of the hard work that the team has done in the past year and to ensure that they continue to operate to the high level that our clients have come to expect. We were pleased that it also gave us the chance to demonstrate the capabilities of remote IT support.”
The argument for selling online is already won. With the market expected to reach £221bn by 2016 and 66% of UK adults buying goods or services over the internet, a strong eCommerce offer today will ensure greater future market share.
Most clients approach us knowing what they will sell/are selling online, who they can sell to and how their website should look and feel. There are many eCommerce platforms available if it’s an ‘online shop’ you’re looking for, including standard eCommerce features such as basic catalogue management, on-site marketing tools, Search Engine Optimisation etc. However, if you’re serious about online retail, a ‘shop front’ is not enough.
If you know you will be offering 20,000 product lines from 150 suppliers, how will you manage that effectively? Do you require full inventory management, with automatic alerts set per product so you know when bestselling items reach low stock levels and that you’re
not holding excess stock of less popular goods? How valuable is that level of product management to your business?
It is time to think about a wide-reaching, process-driven solution to your overall business model.
This means a software solution that integrates with your online sales as well as your showroom/counter, telephone orders, email transactions, eBay, Amazon and all other sales channels. Think about Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) features, rather than a simple ‘online shop’.
ERP features give your business an integrated real-time view of processes, such as order processing/fulfilment, detailed inventory features with purchase ordering and returns management, tied together by a common database for records including customers.
Organisation-focussed features will support your sales team when they log in, giving each sales agent a unique experience; which quotes need following up, which orders are being processed, how much commission they have earned and
their all-important conversion rate. What improvements would you
see in conversions if you gave your team the tools to view their own personal sales, pipeline and enquiries in direct relation to commission payments and earnings potential?
This approach ensures a stronger set of tools and greater control for business owners; real time stock values, profitability reporting that can be viewed overall, per supplier, per product, per order, stock level alerts triggered on a per-item basis.
For 10 years we have worked with online retailers to develop software into systems that make businesses agile, planning every step from order acquisition through to order fulfilment and replenishment, approaching eCommerce systems to complement business strategy and creating major efficiencies. Implementation of the right solutions has seen client revenue grow significantly, while cost of sales is tightly controlled, resulting in greater profits.
For a greater insight, contact dv8media on 01752 547 007
Adrian Saunders, Director, DV8 Media
A South West IT firm took its staff to Corfu on a team-building weekend—and continued to
operate a seamless out-of-hours remote support service for its customers.
‘Diving on the Edge’ event to be held in Plymouth: A fascinating one day conference for recreational divers was held in november, hosted by plymouth based medical charity, ddrC Healthcare. Speakers included devon based TV presenter and marine biologist Monty Halls and technical diver & associate professor Simon Mitchell.
T.H. March forms new company: T.H. March & Co. Limited, one of the largest insurance brokers in the south west, has expanded its financial services offering by forming a brand new company, T.H. March Financial planning Limited. The new company will offer investment, pension and wealth management advice and will be headed up by Chartered Financial planner Steven Clemence.
Securi-Guard lands major Council contract: Securi-Guard continues to consolidate its position as one of the prime choices for fire and security solutions across the region following the award of a major contract from plymouth City Council. The Council has placed all its fire and security requirements for more than 100 properties and schools in the hands of the plymouth based company for a two year agreement.
New Tenant for Tamar Science Park: The South West Academic Health Science network has moved into its new plymouth office at Tamar Science park. South West Health Innovation AHSn is a network of 18 core member health organisations and universities in plymouth and exeter working together to reduce health inequalities by identifying and spreading best practice across South West counties.
One stop shop for animals launched: A new start up business has launched a revolutionary social network. The first being a one stop shop for animal related topics. The new venture, run by plymouth based Aloud Allowed, will be working with other South West businesses and is hoping to grow and take on 30 staff, including 6 apprentices once the company grows. For more information visit: www.aloudallowed.com
City Council helps to create an energy co-operative: plymouth City Council has helped to launch the plymouth energy Community aimed to save residents money on energy bills. The free service identifies the best deals and presents members with a variety of energy bill offers to choose from. More information can be found at www.plymouthenergycommunity.com
MEMBERS’ NEwS In BRIEf
12
How to save money on vehicle spend
ADVICE
The Vehicle Save Group operated by local businessman Jim Howard comprises two businesses offering complementary daily rentals and contract hire & leasing at branches in Plymouth, Exeter and Taunton. The official franchisee of UK’s leading car and van rental company Europcar in the South West peninsula, Jim also owns independent Vehicle Save Contract Hire & Leasing offering a bespoke service to SME’s across the region.
Jim says “Vehicle spend is the highest within a company after employees’ salary, make sure you look at the whole cost of leasing a vehicle to really help drive your business forward”
Unfortunately many organisations make decisions based mainly on cost. Although many employers are aware of some of the cost implications of acquiring vehicles, they often fail to address one of the most important questions – “are the vehicles fit for purpose?” If they aren’t, they won’t be used effectively and organisations may be left with a few costly “white elephants” sitting in the car park, or pay costly termination charges.
Jim advises “A key mistake when looking to acquire new vehicles is to start by considering the make, model and list price of the vehicle. The best practice approach would be to work in collaboration with the managers, drivers and key personnel to identify the vehicle need, its role/operational requirements, Hr objectives and take a stepped approach to identify the most suitable vehicle for your purpose.”
“When looking to lease a car, look at the whole life costs (WLC) not just the price that you’ll pay monthly. A car may seem good value, but when you look at the cost of running it with servicing and maintenance it may actually be costing you more than you think. We define WLC as including monthly rental, disallowed VAT, Class 1A national Insurance, fuel and Lease rental restriction. Using the WLC basis ensures all costs associated with running the vehicle are considered.
Fuel economy is also a good indicator to look at. diesel is usually the winner on miles per galled (MpG) but not always.
A Chef in Your Kitchen: Stephen Barratt of Bistro One With the advent of Plymouth 2013 suddenly becoming a “chain-restaurant heaven” it became necessary to look at this phenomenon and act accordingly! Many restaurants, bars and hotels have certainly achieved this and are to be much-admired with a better understanding of local quality dishes now appearing on menus.
The use of social media, newsletters and instant pictures combined with the viewing of an inordinate amount of TV cooking programmes have enabled progression and experimenting with new ideas and the like. As a Wine and Food Writer as well as a Restaurateur I have always had more than “one string to my bow” and have over the years tried to incorporate these skills into other realms.
One of my more esoteric “bolt-ons” to offer a fun-packed 5 to 9 day Wine Holiday to Rioja, Loire, Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy and the like – mainly using the professional skills of the excellent drivers from Plymouth City Coach and the brilliant Brittany Ferries
we have over the years visited many wine districts getting right into the heart of wine locations with (often) wild locations and splendid lunches in the vineyards. All this plus the opportunity to purchase sensational wines from the Bdegas and winery proprietors on-site!
Another, yet completely different mini-business I have incorporated into Bistro One is Stephen Barrett is a Chef in Your Kitchen – a customised quality Food and Wine experience in the comfort of your home or chosen location. Over the past twelve months we have provided some amazing Lunches and Suppers in Plymouth, Tavistock and South Hams. We simply open negotiations, visit the premises, advise on setting up the event and provide absolutely top-notch dishes to suit the client’s wishes. One such recent event allows us to offer some amazing Plymouth Seafood, Dartmoor Red Deer, Three little Devon desserts and wonderful West Country Cheese. All this was accompanied with some exquisite wines carefully chosen to compliment the lovely West Country dishes.
SCANHERE
PLYMOUTH
FIND OUT MORE BY CONTACTING US :
TELEPHONE: 0845 004 0400
www.parkhurst-hill.co.uk
MORE THAN JUST ACCOUNTANTS
Isn’t self storage fantastic! After slow growth in the late 1980’s, a surge in the early 2000’s and a natural slow down and consolidation during the recessionary period it is still being used more and more by almost every kind of business. It has even survived the recent Government imposition of VAT – the truth is we couldn’t shout as loudly as the pasty makers but thankfully most of our customers were able to reclaim the extra!
Today you can rent a secure space for your business for as short or as long as you like. Units are secure, often have controlled and monitored access with recording CCTV and the rental charge includes virtually everything. Transparency is the key word in our industry now and you are guaranteed an honest and fair service wherever you see the “Self Storage Association” logo.
Give us a call if you ever need anything 0800 907 907 9 or check us out at Quickstore.co.uk
Safe & Secure
Membership changesWe’d like to thank all of our members who responded to our membership survey earlier this year. following the results
received we will be introducing changes to our membership bandings, which will take effect from 1st January 2014.
We are still working out the details but the headlines are:1. We’ve listened to the comments
received from micro businesses in relation to last year’s increase in their membership fee and have amended our membership bandings in response to this. This will mean a lower annual fee for our smaller member businesses.
2. Using the feedback and comments from the survey we are also altering the benefits which we offer to each banding of our membership to better meet your needs. This will include, for all members, free attendance at 12 events a year. One of these will be a new event designed specially to give members direct contact with the CEO of the Chamber who will give updates on Chamber and City activities.
3. We will also be offering, for the first time, the opportunity for members to upgrade their membership package so that even the smallest business can obtain the benefits that would normally only apply to the largest businesses.
The changes to membership structure and pricing will be communicated to all members in January 2014. For many this will be well in advance of the annual renewal date of membership. Along with the information on the changes to our membership structure you will also receive a benefit grid, to help you track the benefits available for your membership banding. If you have any questions regarding membership or the introduction of the new membership bandings please contact our membership team on 01752 220471.
Congratulations to Martyn from Demon Pressure Washers who won 2 tickets to the Chamber Christmas Ball for completing the Member survey
NEwS 15
The rise of digital marketing
Historically offline media (print, radio and TV) were the favoured options for marketing a business, with budget restrictions hindering the activity and profile you could build. Now however, with digital and mobile marketing being easily accessible and budget friendly there’s an opportunity for small businesses to compete at a higher level than ever before to increase brand awareness and reach.
More people than ever are online, with ofcom stats revealing that over a quarter of adults and almost half of teenagers now own a smartphone in the UK. ofcom also revealed in their Communications Market report that the rapid growth of smartphones is changing the way many of us interact with each other, with over 81% having their mobile switched on all the time, accessing social networks, web content and email on a regular basis.
digital platforms offer the chance for you, as a business to do something new, innovative and exciting with your marketing messages. Social platforms give you the opportunity to build an online relationship with your customers, being a friendly voice and source of useful information to encourage repeat purchases of your product or service. new developments in technology and digital platforms also offer more insight into your audience, giving you the opportunity to better
With the rapid growth and popularity of digital, online and
new technologies the marketing landscape has completely
transformed within the last decade. The rise of digital marketing
popularity is presenting a wide arena of opportunities and risks
for businesses, but how do you decide what’s right and wrong
for your business in the ever growing digital world?
Want to improve your digital marketing and social media skills? Check out our upcoming training courses at www.plymouth-chamber.co.uk
FEATuRES16
The rise of digital marketingunderstand the wants, needs and interests of your target market. but what do you do with these developments to make them work for you?
A recent article in The Marketer Magazine revealed that “research conducted by pbSmart essentials found that SMe’s are increasingly abandoning traditional marketing channels in favour of mobile and online, with 22% of those surveyed revealing they no longer do any offline marketing.” our recent member survey backs this data up, with 97% of respondents telling us that they use social media to promote their business.
A number of major retailers, including Tesco and Amazon have developed digital product offerings to enhance their data capture, gaining the ever valuable customer data and insights needed to compete in our digital environment. once you’ve got valuable data about your customers you can use it to target specific campaigns, gauge the gap for new products or services and focus on making your brand stand well ahead of the rest.
being online does have it pitfalls however, and many high profile brands with experienced marketing teams have discovered just how mistakes and negative news can be amplified online. once you decide to publish content online about your business it can’t be taken
back or covered up, so a strategy and process for deciding what to publish, when and how to deal with feedback, whether positive or negative, is imperative to ensure your business reputation doesn’t suffer online.
The temptation to ‘get online’ for many businesses can prove a minefield of confusion, costs and increased workload. It’s important to understand why you want to be online before you make a decision to go ahead with a particular platform to market your product or service. Too often we make decisions to steam ahead down a particular route because we think we ‘should’ rather than considering our target market and where might be the best place online to engage with them effectively.
being online gives your business the opportunity to start up a two way conversation between the customer and yourself in a meaningful way for the first time, giving your messages directly to the consumer without the middle man of traditional marketing methods. despite this advantage it does also mean that once you open this dialogue your consumers will continue the conversation without you and this may include negative comments. When online you will have to make a decision for your business on which conversations to engage in and which to leave to the consumer.
As Jonathan perelman, Vp of Agency Strategy & Industry development at buzzfeed said earlier this year: “The key to successful digital activity is creating appropriate content for the various online channels you use. Content may be King, but distribution is Queen and she wears the trousers!”
The most favoured way to approach digital marketing is in a staggered and strategic approach. Take time to consider the objectives of your business and who your target audience is before you commit to a digital marketing strategy. Just because a competitor is online and using a particular platform doesn’t mean it will be right for you and your business. Quality over quantity is a rule to live by when utilising digital media for your business, it’s much better to focus on one or two platforms and use them effectively than try to utilise every available platform and not have time to keep content up to date or respond to consumer queries. It’s also important to remember that despite the temptation to cut marketing spend when times are tight, a mix of online and offline spend alongside the free to use social media platforms is the best way to ensure widespread brand awareness for your business.
Amanda Bishop ACIMMarketing and Communications ManagerPlymouth Chamber of Commerce
17
18 FEATuRES THE GREEN COLuMN
what’s it like to make an App?I know what it’s like for me, as a software developer, creating an app for
a client – but what is it like for a non-technical person who wants one
made for them?
I’m not talking about the weeks, months and sometimes years of researching, thinking and planning prior to deciding that making an app is a good idea for your business. I’m focusing on what happens after the decision has been made.
I asked one of my clients, Tracey Allison of www.noahsharbour.com who authored ‘The Spelling Café’ iPad app and associated children’s book Noah’s Harbour for her thoughts. Tracey has gone through the process and can answer from experience.
First of all I asked her what advice she would give to someone thinking about developing an app.
“Your app represents an investment of your time, money and brand and it is vital that you optimise every aspect to ensure the best user experience.”
Then I asked what difference having an app has made to her commercially.
“The Spelling Cafe has become a major platform in driving traffic to my website, thereby increasing exposure and credibility of my brand.”
Dave Kilroy, Application Insight
Changes in the air….. by Jackie young
Changes in attitudes may not always be as welcome as innovation in technology but the seeds of change can be very influential. As Plymouth has a growing reputation for green technologies this is something we should be heralding as a positive driver for the investment needed to guarantee success.
Luckily, Plymouth already has some innovative initiatives with this as an aim. For example the Green Economy Hub hosted by the Chamber will soon be asking what you see as the best way of promoting the city’s low carbon economy. Understanding the significance of Plymouth’s green technologies will be central to this research.
But, can we learn from others? Sometimes the inspiration to look at things in a different way can come from unexpected and uncomplicated sources. For me, this year’s holiday in southern Crete proved to be an eye opener.
My Cretan friends have never really shown much interest in the environment but they are very used to the technologies associated with solar power, sustainable production and the values of co-operatives. They don’t appear to get bogged down in debate and this, in turn, has supported some very obvious investments in the last few years.
Regardless of the Greek economy crisis, the island has seen the growth of some enormous solar farms with installations driven by the rising cost of energy, funding incentives from the EU and a very pragmatic belief in the use of natural resources; drivers they share with the UK.
Located in some very obvious locations and with few apparent restrictions, many of these farms become lost in the vast landscape but, close up, they are breath-taking examples of how new technologies are being used to enhance systems that have their roots in tradition and history.
But attitudes count here. When I asked “why now?” my Cretan friends said “Why not?”. To them the benefits were simple and clear.
So, perhaps we should take a leaf out of their book and use it to promote a greener future for Plymouth’s sustainable technologies. What do you think?
Advancing PracticesBright are a small commercial law firm headquartered in Plymouth. Created in September 2006 the business now employs 24 people and occupies recently refurbished offices in Studio 5-11.
The building benefits from significantly improved insulation to external walls and the roof and a much reduced carbon footprint due to an array of 90 photovoltaic panels.
So, a young and growing firm, modern offices and a logo that boasts the strapline; ‘modern legal thinking’.
It is no secret that the legal sector is undergoing real change with the marketplace opening up to new competition, the recession, financial crisis and austerity programme hitting revenues and an ever more technically literate and demanding public.
Law firms are often regarded as the dinosaurs of the professional services world but even in this sector change is upon us. Studio 5-11 benefits from excellent broadband connectivity, 20Mb/s on a 100Mb/s bearer – Bright are actually using 7Mb/s of that capacity. We have enthusiastically included social media within our marketing toolbox in addition to a website, e-mail and, to a much lesser degree, print.
The internet plays a significant role in our marketing….it is fast and cost effective. How else though could we drive the business forward by utilising technology and on-line connectivity?
The computer is central to the business with a fully automated practice management system with integrated accounts and time-recording facilities, quoting sites and the ability to let clients know how their matters are progressing from the comfort of their own homes at any time of night or day. This has now been taken much further with the introduction of voice recognition and digital dictation technology which will allow our solicitors to visit a client, dictate any resulting documentation via their mobile phone and for it to be ready for checking and printing by the time they get back to the office. These developments really do broaden the scope of ‘remote’ working as it would be entirely possible then for the car, whilst stationary of course, to become the office. A tablet, laptop or smartphone would allow dictation, checking and printing of documentation without the need to return to the office.
We are, therefore, very dependent on fast broadband and WiFi……but this is the future and these developments should allow us to deliver a better, faster and more cost effective service to our clients going forward. Of course an office will be needed for some considerable time to come yet although the potential for growing a business without requiring additional, and costly, physical accommodation space, is another potential benefit of fully adopting the digital age.
what’s it like to make an App?And finally, I asked what she enjoyed
the most about the process.“Without a doubt, it’s been the
contacts and working relationships. Doors have opened in areas that I would never have thought possible.”
Tracey didn’t tell me what she enjoyed the least – but I would hazard a guess the parts she enjoyed least were waiting for Apple to approve the app and the inevitable cost of development! The app launched in May and I’m working with Tracey again on a new version.
Richard Smith CEO Bright Solicitors
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any of the above. Visit www.applicationinsight.com or find us on Twitter: @App_Insight
19RECIPE COLuMN 19
Column Bakehouse Festive Spiced Buns
Enriched breads are a tradition of many festive periods. The addition of sugar, eggs and butter gives these buns sweetness, softness and richness while the spices, fruit, zest and peel give a wonderful taste and an aroma that is evocative of Christmas time, combined with the smell of baking bread and you have a gloriously welcoming aroma to fill your home.
Delicious served warm from the oven with butter or toasted the next day.Ingredients (Makes 8 large rolls)
• 500g Strong White Bread Flour
• 100g Raisins or Sultanas
• 50g mixed candied peel
• Zest from 1 lemon and 1 orange (optional)
• 1-2 teaspoons mixed spice or a mixture of cinnamon and mixed spice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 sachet of fast action dried yeast
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 180g milk (cold from fridge)
• 100g water (just boiled from kettle)
• 1 egg
• 20g Butter at room temperature
Glaze
• 1 tablespoon of caster sugar added to 2 tablespoons of boiling water
1. Mix the dry ingredients and yeast in a large bowl.2. Combine the milk, water and egg in a jug. Stir well.3. Pour the liquids into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly with your
hands to a sticky dough. 4. Cover the bowl with oiled clingfilm and allow to rest for 5 minutes.5. Using your hands squeeze the butter into the dough until evenly
distributed.6. Turn out onto a floured surface, flour your hands and press out into a
large rectangle. Stretch and fold the dough several times till you feel the structure improving. Vigorous kneading not necessary!
7. Cover the dough with the upturned bowl and rest for 5 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough another 2-3 times.
8. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and prove in a warm place for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
9. Turn out onto a floured surface, and using either your hands or a rolling pin spread out into a rectangle and sprinkle evenly with the sultanas/raisins, candied peel and zest.
10. Roll loosely into a long sausage shape then fold by thirds into a single package of dough.
11. Divide into 8 equal pieces and shape into balls. Place on a floured surface, cover with the oiled clingfilm to prevent drying and rest for 10 minutes.
12. Lightly flour the tops and press them flat with your hand. Transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment, allow room for them to expand. Cover again with the oiled clingfilm and prove for a further 20-30 minutes.
13. Bake in a preheated oven at 220°c for 15-25 mins, until risen, browned and baked through.
14. Remove to a wire rack, brush the tops with the glaze and allow to cool.
FEATuRES
“The font of whose choice?”The subject of font choice surfaced once again when Apple recently changed their main brand font to Helvetica Neue Ultra Light. Apple has used many favourite typefaces since 2002: Myriad, Lucida Grande, Helvetica Neue and Avenir. However, during the recent Beta releases of iOS 7, users soon let Apple know that their choice was just too ultra light for purpose on smaller devices and Apple subsequently relented on the design aspect, choosing to add a heavier weight to parts of their font interface.
According to Nick Warren, Design Director of N9 Design, “A brand needs room to use elements in design that both work in their environments and appeal to the right audience. This area was once the preserve of the ‘designer’ or more accurately, the ‘font snob’, but not anymore. Where most of us work on a Mac or a PC, we all have much choice of font, but which to use and why?” Like many of us, our choice of font really does provoke differing emotions: whimsical humour, or plain seriousness in either a professional or social context. And with so many choices out there, getting it wrong can have a dire effect.
Tim Legg, N9’s Senior Developer advocates a cautious approach, “Some organisations go to great lengths to create their own font, but consider also that not all fonts work ‘online’, where only a fraction are truly interpreted as intended; your computer actually decides what it thinks the font is in some cases!”
All designers are very aware that this has significant implications, so when looking at the font for your company or organisation, consider how it’s going to work in print, digitally, in Microsoft Word or otherwise. You might choose something different to make you stand out from the crowd, but be completely unsupported on most PC’s and therefore tricky to reproduce.
The ever-evolving digital arena has changed our working practices drastically, and this does now affect our font selection, surprisingly limiting our choices from our print-based history in some scenarios. Nick has some good advice for any organisation, “At N9, we often consider only web-safe fonts placed as part of a website’s code, so as always viewed as we wish, within an identity to ensure our client’s message is consistent across all media, putting the client back in control of what typeface they are – or like think they are!”
20
1 – With any approach you can replace your existing desktop computers with energy efficient ones and access your desktop and documents online.
2 – one method is to use a raspberry pi computer powered by the USb port on your monitor. This can cost as little as £150 including a suitable FullHd monitor.
3 – With the raspberry pi computer itself costing as little as £35 and measuring about the size of a small box of business cards you could even keep a couple as spares!
4 – As everything is accessed online it makes hotdesking a doddle and should the need arise, remote working just as easy as sitting in the office.
WHAT ABOUT YOUR OWN TIPS? If you’d like to share your advice here email [email protected]
Grant Phillips-Sewell. Training & Support Specialist for Brightology shares his top tips for reducing your energy usage and carbon footprint.
SMALL BuSINESS
Quite often, creditors’ owed money by the company will be aware of matters that we should look at and draw these to our attention. Some creditors have even been known to fund an investigation.
One of the first questions Directors of an insolvent business might ask is can they pay back the local small suppliers before they close the business? You can understand why – no one wants to let down someone they have dealt with locally.
There are lots of rules and regulations governing how companies should be run financially - especially if they are facing insolvency. A major issue for an insolvent business that is still running is deciding whom to pay. Do you pay who shouts the loudest or those local suppliers who have become friends, or perhaps let the money get paid into the bank account you have personally guaranteed?
The short answer is no. You shouldn’t be paying any creditors if you are insolvent. In paying one creditor over another you are committing a preference and when we get appointed as Liquidator or Administrator if there have been preferences
we can have these reversed. We will contact the preferred person and ask for the money back so it can go into the company’s funds to distribute to all the creditors equally.
We can look back at preferences made in the last two years if the person preferred was connected e.g. the directors loan or just six months for anyone else.
If it can be proven that the company had to make the payment to keep going then the Court will not make an Order asking the preferred money to be paid back to the Liquidator/Administrator. However if the preference was made to a connected party then it is presumed in law that this was a desire to prefer.
The misconceived defence often put to us if the money was repaid to the Directors is that the loaned money was for the benefit of the company to stave off insolvency or to help with cash flow. This does not work as a defence because it is the repayment of the money back to the Directors that is the key issue, not the amount, or original purpose of the loan.
Common preferences are committed when Directors pay themselves back their Directors loan.
Another preference that doesn’t always occur to Directors is when they pay back third party that they
have personally guaranteed – the usual suspect here is the bank. Directors may not appreciate (or perhaps they do) that they have preferred themselves in allowing the debt to be extinguished.
If it all starts to go wrong and a company becomes
insolvent and enters liquidation or administration
one of the matters that we have to do is investigate
the Directors conduct prior to our involvement
to see what happened and look for unusual
transactions that we might be able to reverse or
pursue the Directors for.
Transactions that can come back and bite you…
www.taxassist.co.uk/plymouth01752 551 888
Lisa Thomas, Licensed Insolvency Practitioner at neville & Co
Have you heard about reducing your energy usage and carbon footprint by using a “Hosted Desktop”, “Cloud” or “WebApp” solutions?
21
SPOTLIGHT ON: PROfESSOR CARA AITCHISOn, VICE-CHAnCELLOR AnD CHIEf ExECuTIVE, unIVERSITY Of ST MARk & ST JOHn.
My 25 year career has spanned teaching, research, consultancy and management in further and higher education. I’ve benefitted from gaining wide-ranging experience in 10 very different posts in London, Cheltenham, Bristol, Bedford and Edinburgh before coming to Plymouth.
I’ve also learned a great deal from working with a range of business partners in commissioned research as part of my job. These have included national public sector bodies and local authorities; third sector organisations such as national disability charities and local community trusts and commercial sector companies in the renewable energy sector through my economic impact research and expert witness work in tourism. My research and senior management roles have also offered opportunities to work with international partners in education and research across the globe. International travel has formed a significant part of my job for the last 20 years and has taken me from Vancouver Island to Tasmania, norway to brazil and many places in between.
I studied Geography at edinburgh University and managed to combine my interests in the outdoors, sport and travel by specialising in policy designed to deliver social inclusion and sustainable development through the leverage of leisure, culture, sport and tourism. I then took a postgraduate degree in recreation and Leisure practice, intending to set up an inclusive and sustainable outdoor centre in Scotland but got side-tracked into the world of education and research. My choice of discipline to study at university and my own outside interests have, I’m sure, helped me to build my multi-disciplinary research and multi-faceted career. I spent a period as a Visiting professor in Iran ten years ago and the resilience offered by my education and interests supported me enormously.
I think there are three overlapping sets of criteria that help people rise to the top of organisations. The first is working in a range
of organisations and places and with a variety of collaborative partners, as outlined above to provide the combination of knowledge, experience and confidence required to lead people and change. The second is having a professional support network which, over time, also offers friends who provide advice, good counsel and share a laugh. I’m grateful to a group of women across the UK, north American and Australian universities who, although all now retired, helped build my confidence to break through a number of glass ceilings. The third is having the willingness to move beyond your comfort zone; to say yes to those challenges that seem so daunting when asked or invited but from which we learn so much. I can still remember, as if it was yesterday, giving my first ever conference presentation to an audience in belfast 21 years ago.
At the end of the presentation a woman, who was very well respected in the field, invited me to join her and colleagues for lunch, offered constructive feedback and asked me to become an external examiner at her university. I quickly learned the value of experiencing different places, networking and stretching myself outside my comfort zone.
Spotlight on: Professor Cara Aitchison
PERSONALITIES22
PERSONALITIES
Built by ‘Honest John’ Pethick in 1813, the hotel has seen the people of Plymouth through two World Wars and holds a place close to the hearts of many local people. Since Jon Morcom and Walter Combstock completed a Management Buyout of the Duke of Cornwall Hotel 12 years ago they have continued to maintain traditions whilst implementing a rolling refurbishment programme including renovations to the prestigious tower suite.
Jon said: “The first tier of the Tower room was the first room we refurbished, however this year we’ve gone a step further to mark our 150th anniversary. The tower viewing room has been further improved, hosting ‘Tea at the Top’ events from May – September, selling out for all sessions. due to the fantastic feedback we had for this unique experience we plan to continue our ‘Tea at the Top’ packages for 2014. The Tower suite will also be further refurbished to add to the VIp experience.”
As well as refurbishing rooms, gaining a 2% mark up in their AA rating and maintaining its coveted AA rosette the duke of Cornwall has opened its doors with a range of different events to welcome local people and guests into the hotel to celebrate their anniversary. Anniversary celebration events included; • A Victorian dinner, with a Victorian themed menu• A traditional war-time tea dance with the Ken Cotton duo • behind the scenes tours of the hotel as part of plymouth History month
• big band night with Sharps & Flats 9 piece band• explorers ‘The Shackleton talks’ – paul davies, Chairman of the devon
and Cornwall polar Society focussed on Shackleton’s stay at ‘the duke’ before his adventures.
• 60s night with hit local band ‘not the beatles’ Jon said: “This year’s anniversary events have been a great success, and due
to this we’re looking to run a number of these events in 2014. I’d like to thank all who were involved in our events for making them such a success!”
Celebrating the history of the hotel has been key to the 150th celebrations, with a range of historical memorabilia on display in the Tower room throughout the year. These items will go on to be held and displayed at plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery. To commemorate its history a 56 page brochure has been commissioned by the duke of Cornwall for release in early 2014. Authored by local historian Chris robinson, the brochure will feature imagery, history and personal stories showing how the hotel has evolved over the past 150 years.
Jon continued: “This year has been an exciting one for us as a hotel, we’ve been keen to celebrate our landmark anniversary, whilst maintaining our position as plymouth’s premier independent hotel. Throughout our celebrations we’ve been fundraising for 3 local charities, and I’d like to thank the team, who have embraced our various 150th celebrations and all of those who have supported us throughout the year. The team were pivotal in choosing Jeremiah’s Journey, St Luke’s Hospice and Friends & Families of Special Children for our chosen charities this year and we hope to raise as much as possible for our charities before the new year.”
This year Plymouth’s Duke of Cornwall hotel has been celebrating its 150th anniversary with a variety of events, activities and changes designed to maintain its position as Plymouth’s premier independent hotel.
Duke of Cornwall 150th Celebrations
Walter in the original lift
The Tower suite
Celebrating 150 years
‘Not the Beatles’ perform‘Tea at the top’ cakes
23
The past couple of months have seen a number of members commit to support the Chamber via sponsorship of events and patronage. We’d like to take a moment to say thank you to the following businesses for their continued support.
Lloyds Banking Group continue to sponsor Crunchy BreakfastsHaving sponsored the Crunchy Breakfast events for the past 2 years, Lloyds has announced their continued sponsorship of our popular monthly networking breakfasts.
Steve Thompson, Senior Manager Commercial Plymouth & South Hams of Lloyds bank said: “As a long standing member of the Chamber, Lloyds Bank are delighted to continue to support this vibrant event in line with our continuing programme of support for SME’s businesses across Plymouth and the South Hams region.”
Mazing Tree renew Patronage Local IT specialists Mazing Tree have renewed their
Patronage of Plymouth Chamber, continuing to support the Chamber as our IT partner for the next 3 years.
National Marine Aquarium renew Patronage The National Marine Aquarium has renewed its Patronage of Plymouth Chamber for another 12 months. We’d like to thank Dr Dave Gibson, Managing Director of the National Marine Aquarium for his continued support of the Chamber and our aims.
GAIN renew Patronage The Growth Acceleration and Investment Network
(GAIN) came on board as a new Patron to the Chamber in June of this year. GAIN will be working closely with the Chamber to support entrepreneurship and business growth and to promote the city and wider region.
Thank you:NEwS
Left to right: david parlby, Ceo of plymouth Chamber and prof Julian beer, plymouth University
Left to right: david parlby, Ceo of plymouth Chamber with richard Smith and Steven Thompson of Lloyds banking Group
24
Gra
ds fo
r
Gro
wth
If you’re an SME with a six to nine month innovation project that would suit an ambitious graduate, Grads for Growth can help take the strain.
We’ll help you to recruit and define the role then offer a dedicated business development team, a significant project development fund and access to expert mentor support.
Get in touch today to find out how we can boost your business:
Email: [email protected] Telephone: 0845 600 3660 Find out more at: www.gradsforgrowth.co.uk
GREATCOMPANIESNEEDPEOPLE
BRILLIANT
DELIVERED IN: FUNDED BY: IN PARTNERSHIP WITH:
SOUTH WEST COMPETITIVENESSREGION
MANAGED BY:
DELIVERED IN: FUNDED BY: MANAGED BY:CORNWALL AND THE ISLES OF SCILLY
DELIVERED IN: FUNDED BY: IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MANAGED BY:
CORNWALL AND THE ISLES OF SCILLY
DELIVERED IN: FUNDED BY: MANAGED BY:CORNWALL AND THE ISLES OF SCILLY
BCC Update What is BCC accreditation?
The BCC accreditation system is designed to evaluate and improve the performance of local Chambers of Commerce. The system entitles those Chamber of Commerce that meet the standard to become a member of the BCC accredited network of Chambers of Commerce across the United Kingdom.
What are the benefits of BCC accreditation? Accreditation defines the quality standard for the operations of the
Chambers of Commerce who form the BCC network. Accreditation helps to identify and promote good practice. The standard differentiates accredited Chambers of Commerce who provide all the products and support services required by their business members to be successful, from non-accredited chambers and other local business organisations, who do not offer the same level of business support growth. Achieving Chamber Accreditation strengthens the position of Plymouth Chamber when it comes to lobbying, addressing business issues and offering further benefits to you, our members.
We’re pleased to announce that following a lengthy accreditation process Plymouth Chamber of Commerce has now been recognised as an accredited member of British Chambers of Commerce. During the accreditation process Plymouth Chamber was praised by BCC’s accreditation board for our performance and have been commended for our achievement in our first assessment.
NEwS 25
Throughout the Fifties the youthful voice of the Junior Chamber of Commerce was one of the loudest voices pleading for a convenient vehicular crossing of the river that separates the two most isolated counties in England. The idea was that this would improve links not just for Plymouth, but for Devon, Cornwall and the South West region as a whole.
Plymouth’s peripherality was seen to be a major stumbling block for potential investors, and, with the Dockyard in decline, the perceived wisdom was that investment from outside was the solution.
The Government acknowledged
this by handing out grants at the end of the war to persuade businesses to build new factories here, but those ‘inducements’ had stopped in 1948 – far short of what was needed, and in 1958 Plymouth found itself with another window of opportunity as it was awarded ‘Development Area Status.’
This was a significant step forward, more factories appeared and at the end of the year, a sensible piece of consolidation saw the Port of Plymouth Chamber of Commerce merge with the Plymouth Mercantile Association and the Devonport Mercantile Association to form the jointly incorporated Plymouth Chamber of Trade and Commerce.
The move sparked the relocation
of the Chamber’s base from Alton Terrace to Queen Anne Terrace, and that same summer, on 7 July 1959, work at last began on a Tamar Road crossing. Work also commenced on a new, and improved, road crossing of the city’s other main waterway, the Plym.
There was an air of optimism about, one that was consolidated two years later when the openings of both bridges were covered by the two new local news providers, the BBC’s South West at Six, and Westward Television: after long years of waiting Plymouth’s patience was at long last being rewarded, or so it seemed.
Confidence was high – and infectious: the following season
Plymouth Argyle came the closest they’ve ever come to reaching the top flight of English football, finishing fifth in the old Second Division (Championship) and in July, just weeks after the last game where Argyle lost to league champions Liverpool 3-2 at Home Park, Plymouth’s tallest building, the new Civic Centre, was opened by the Queen.
Dizzy heights indeed! Except that, before the end of the year another group of visitors from Liverpool had their trip to Plymouth cancelled by the Chamber, as, sadly, the prospect of the Beatles playing at the Chamber’s Annual Dinner Dance had generated insufficient ticket sales and so the event was pulled – what
a difference another few months would make!
As it transpired Plymouth’s Development Area status also came to an abrupt end and, after such a promising start to the decade things, locally, and nationally, started to go awry. Beatlemania and the British Beat boom may have sparked the swinging sixties into action and given the country a massive boost globally and domestically, but it also masked the economic reality of situation. Notwithstanding music sales the country was importing considerably more than it was exporting, the 1967 budget set the greatest deficit since the war – over £1,000 million, and in November the Government took the decision to
devalue the pound.This made it easier to export
goods and it put up prices of foreign imports, and sparked a vigorous I’m Backing Britain campaign: Bruce Forsyth even released a new I’m Backing Britain single ... but it didn’t sell very well and neither did the I’m Backing Britain t-shirts that had been printed in Portugal!
‘Good times are blowing our way,’ sang Brucie – but not down here. In explaining the Government’s move, Prime Minister Harold Wilson spoke of cuts in public spending and defence, and, the following year, in the wake of the earlier Beeching cuts, Plymouth’s connectivity suffered further as it lost its southern rail service from
Waterloo. Meanwhile the decline in the Dockyard continued.
The granting of Intermediate Area Status in 1969 did little to alleviate the local pain.
There was another problem too: while the opening up of new industrial trading estates across the city over the last few decades has introduced new blood to the area, most of it has been ‘branch plants’ – subsidiaries of larger companies.
And it’s not just in the manufacturing world, it’s in retail too, as the advent of chain stores has an inevitable draining effect on the local money-go-round.
As Neill Mitchell, a former Chamber CEO puts it: ‘Gone are the days when if Plymouth
wanted a railway, hotel, theatre, library, tramway or whatever – its merchants and venturers would themselves raise the necessary capital by joint-stock shareholdings or tontines etc. Rather, in recent times, Plymouth (in no way uniquely amongst UK cities) has had its begging bowl outstretched as part of a dependency culture in which ‘success’ has had to measured by the number of government deprivation/regeneration grant regimes awarded.’
But even that process highlights the bigger problem as Mitchell further noted when looking at the limited success of public regeneration bodies like the Plymouth Development Company:
SPECIAL FEATuRE26
Plymouth Chamber of Commerce: Bridging the decades
Bruce Forsyth even released a new I’m Backing Britain single ... but it didn’t sell very well and neither did the I’m Backing Britain t-shirts that had been printed in Portugal!
‘It served to reveal just how little other indigenous private sector entrepreneurship and wealth was surviving in the city to fill the vacuum.’
Certainly with the MOD’s divestment of major sites like the Royal Naval Hospital, the Royal William Yard, RNEC Manadon, RAF Mount Batten, Mount Wise, Seaton Barracks and so on, there have been plenty of opportunities on offer, but take up has been slow.
However there are signs of improvement: Plymouth is still peripheral – although modern technology makes that much less of a problem. The lack of an airport remains an issue; the City Centre’s disproportionately high retail footprint is unsustainable particularly with the growth of out of town and internet shopping, but as a lifestyle location and a holiday destination it is improving all the time.
With the best Theatre outside of London, the biggest seated entertainment venue west of Bristol, the impressive new Life Centre, the finest restaurant offer in the region, easy access to beaches and the moors, and probably the most moorings of any English seaport, Britain’s Ocean City has plenty of potential.
With the Royal William Yard fast becoming a significant destination, Devonport and Mount Wise enjoying massive makeovers – developments that will breathe new life into the city as a whole – and the City Centre and the Waterfront attaining Business Improvement District status, there are ample grounds for optimism. Couple with that the fact that Plymouth now has two universities, both of which are producing graduates who want to stay here and contribute to the life of the city: then add into that mix the fact that the Chamber is now operating from wholly owned premises – in Lockyer Street – for the first time, and has one eye firmly on 2020 and the 400th Anniversary of the Mayflower, then it
is safe to report that the Chamber is in as good a shape as it’s ever been and is very much looking forward to setting out on its third century.
27
Plymouth Chamber of Commerce: Bridging the decades
1
2
3
200 YEARS IN BUSINESS: The history of Plymouth Chamber is put under the spotlight again in a sixth instalment from local historian Chris Robinson.
1: The newly built Tamar Road Bridge in 1961
2: Cover of Bruce Forsyth’s I’m Backing Britain single
3: One of the many sites recently made available for redevelopment, the former storage enclave of South Yard – a site that had been requisitioned by the Admiralty in the 1950s. (pic: courtesy of Trevor Burrows)
On the 27nd September, The university of St Mark & St John
celebrated its award of university Title by hosting a high profile
event showcasing the university which attracted interest from
a wide range of stakeholders locally, regionally and nationally
including representatives from the wider business community.
The university of St Mark & St John Celebrates Award of university Title
The event focused on celebrating the 175 year heritage of the institution and new Vice-Chancellor Professor Cara Aitchison presented her vision for moving into a new and important phase of development within and beyond Plymouth. She highlighted that although the university may be best known for education and sport, it also has significant heritage in the full range of humanities and social sciences, and more recently, in health and well-being, arts and media, and business and management.
Professor Cara Aitchison said “It has been a great occasion, and the sun shone for us. My colleagues were absolutely outstanding, presenting showcases of their work, talents and commitment to our students. The day has illustrated our heritage, our history, but how we are also remaining true to our values. We are being innovative, creative, making major contributions to the economy, the student experience and developing lots of new and innovative approaches to education that will be of great benefit to Plymouth and the region more
generally. A huge thanks to our stakeholders for helping to make this such a memorable occasion”.
Celebrations continued on the 2nd October 2013 when the University held a Thanksgiving Service at St Andrews Minister Church in Plymouth to mark the award of university title and 175 years in education. This service also incorporated the official installation of the first Vice-Chancellor, Professor Cara Aitchison.
Vualto brings Online Video Solutions to Local BusinessesPlymouth-based Technology Company, Vualto have been developing large-scale Online Video solutions incorporating live and on-demand services for major broadcasters, including France Televisions. Having launched a series of successful National and International projects Vualto are now focusing on how offerings around Video Technology can help local business flourish.
It’s no secret that the place to be seen and heard nowadays is online and advances in live and on-demand streaming technologies make this increasingly plausible for many businesses, including SME’s. With services including ad-integration and pay-per-view there are even ways and means to use it as a tool to monetise products and solutions. From online clinics to AGM’s – there is no limit to the sorts of events that can be facilitated and never before has it been easier to close the gap between the South West and London.
Vualto provide webcasting services for the National Trust to stream their Annual General Meetings and have recently delivered the 2013 event, which saw just over 1000 viewers tune in to watch the stream online compared to a little under 300 in the room. The National Trust actively promoted this event from their Facebook and Twitter pages and even included an embedded version of the live stream in their Facebook news feed to make the event, and ultimately their cause, reach as far as possible.
Vualto are also about to commence a contract with Plymouth City Council to enable live online streaming of various Council and Committee meetings with a view to making processes and decisions within the Authority more publically
accessible to the people within the community for whom their decisions matter. This is a solution that Vualto provide to other Local Authorities and are pleased to be able to deliver it closer to home.
Lord Mayor, Vivien Pengelly with Prof. Cara Aitchison, Vice Chancellor and Chief Exec of the University of St Mark & St John
NEwS28
NEw MEMBERS: We’d like to welcome the following businesses who have recently joined Plymouth Chamber of Commerce:
29
Look who’s joined!NEw MEMBERS OF PLyMOuTH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
TW Management & Training Consultancy 07850 494961
Result Coach Ltd01752 770692www.resultcoach.co.uk
Mount Tamar School01752 365128www.mounttamar.org.uk
Attik Dance Limited01752 395134www.attik.org.uk
Applied Business Solutions01626 206290www.applieduk.com
Cuda Drinks Ltd01752 724111www.cudadrinks.co.uk
Elixel01752 395404www.elixel.co.uk
Yelverton Golf Club 01822 852824www.yelvertongolf.co.uk
Discover Folly07792 415724www.david-folley.co.uk
AWL Group0845 200 8518www.awlgrp.co.uk
Sarah Chapman Independent Celebrations 07870 763304www.celebrationceremonies-southwest.com
Conference packages from just £29.95 Per delegate*
If you’d like to find out more about how your membership can work harder for you, or want to find out more about the variety of member benefits available to you please contact the Membership Team on 01752 220471
TRAINING
ASSOCIATESfire safety consultancy
PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS - IS OUR BUSINESS
Fire Risk Assessments
Emergency Plans
Fire Strategy
Staff Training
ASSOCIATESfire safety consultancy
www.jtpassociates.co.uk
FIRE SAFETY
NEW: Phone Sales and Prospecting
The phone is a key tool for sales. Whether it’s used
to prospect for new customers or to build stronger
relationships with current customers. This day and
a half will provide you with an effective structure
with which to plan your calls in order to maximise
on outcomes.
Day 1: Thursday 28/11/2013
9.30am – 4.30pm,
Plymouth Chamber of Commerce
Day 2: Friday 29/11/2013
9.30am – 1pm,
Plymouth Chamber of Commerce
Meet the Chamber
Plymouth Chamber’s free bi-monthly networking
event that is designed to welcome new members,
update current members and explore the benefits of
Chamber membership with non-members.
Thursday 28/11/2013
5.30pm – 7pm,
University Technical College
FREE: Public Speaking – essential hints and tips
This workshop introduces you to speech preparation,
the delivery, preparing a presentation space and
managing your nerves. There will also be some
practical elements to assist your understanding of
the theory.
Friday 29/11/2013
9.30am – 11.30am,
Plymouth Chamber of Commerce
Crunchy Breakfast
Add some crunch to your day with our monthly
networking breakfast, sponsored by Lloyds Bank. This
month delegates will hear from Steve Scott of CSP
Coaching about the cost of stress.
Wednesday 04/12/2013
7.30am – 9.00am, Devonport Guildhall
Microsoft Word: Intermediate to ingenious!
Join us for this fast paced, hands on workshop using
some automated tools within Microsoft Word and
working with moderately complex documents.
Wednesday 04/12/2013
9.30am – 1pm, Plymouth Chamber of Commerce
Managing your Information with Microsoft Outlook
This is a fast paced, hands-on workshop using
Microsoft Outlook to work with emails, calendars,
contacts, notes and tasks.
Tuesday 10/12/2013
9.30am – 4.30pm, Plymouth Chamber of Commerce
Your view for 2014
Join us for this free member clinic to discuss your
views, concerns and ideas for Plymouth business in
2014 with Chamber CEO David Parlby.
Thursday 12/12/2013
10.30am - 12pm, Plymouth Chamber of Commerce
Plymouth Chamber Christmas Ball
Join us and celebrate Christmas with us at our black
tie Christmas Ball being held at the prestigious
Duke of Cornwall Hotel. This is certain to be full of
excitement, sparkle and entertainment.
Thursday 12/12/2013
7.30pm – 1am, Duke of Cornwall hotel
Small Business Network
Our free networking event for businesses with
25 employees or less.
Friday 13/12/2013, 12pm – 2pm, Zuzimo
Crunchy Breakfast
Add some crunch to your day with the popular
Crunchy Breakfast. Sponsored by Lloyds Bank, the
event features interesting presenters who tackle
topical city issues.
Wednesday 8/01/2014
7.30am – 9am, National Marine Aquarium
Project Management with Microsoft Project
Join us for this hands on workshop using Microsoft
Project to plan and manage any size project. This course
will provide you with skills in planning tasks, establishing
a critical path through your project, working with
resources and managing your project’s work.
Wednesday 08/01/2014, 9.30am – 4.30pm,
Plymouth Chamber of Commerce
TRAINING
NETWORKING
NETWORKING
NETWORKING
NETWORKING
SOLD OUT
NETWORKING
TRAINING
TRAINING
TRAINING
MEMBER CLINIC
EVENTS
wHAT’S ON: Your guide to Chamber events and training. find out more at www.plymouth-chamber.co.uk
30
LET’S TALk
The pros and cons of technology in maintaining strong business relationships
Tim: AgainstThe array of communication options in
today’s modern business environment can feel overwhelming. There can be little doubt that technology has opened up connectivity and access to information for business.
However, in a world saturated by electronic communication and social media I would suggest we may have become over-reliant on electronic communication as a means for building relationships.
I would suggest that most people worth nurturing relationships with - in the business environment - are already overloaded with information. Businesses need to understand relationships first and what kinds of relationships they need. It is time to ‘humanise’ this process and build real, conscious relationships for businesses to prosper.
There is a growing body of research which points to the negative impact of social media and technology on human behaviour at work. In a recent survey by the University of Salford, for the charity Anxiety UK, a quarter of those polled said they had faced difficulties in their relationships or workplace after becoming confrontational online. More than 60 per cent of people said they felt compelled to turn off electronic gadgets in order to have a break, with one in three of those surveyed saying they switched the devices off several times each day.
The impact of excessive electronic and social media centered communication should not be ignored. There is a business case for re-examining our business communication strategy and asking the question: are our people behaving as though technology is in control of them, instead of the other way round?’
Nikos: ForAnyone who understands how to build and maintain
successful business relationships will acknowledge that those relationships cannot be managed solely by 140 character Twitter exchanges. Even email, that has long been accepted as an integral part of business communications, is not a substitute for face-to-face engagement.
However the technology advances of the last fifteen years have certainly enabled us to better instigate and enrich business relationships, and to effectively organise our work lives. For instance, social channels allow us to connect with relevant contacts anywhere in the world that we never previously would have been aware of. Free and simple video technology such as Skype enables us to conduct face-to-face meetings anywhere in the world, allowing even small businesses to reach new markets and new partnership opportunities. Cloud hosting means we can securely access emails, documents and calendars from anywhere with an internet connection. These are just a few of a great many benefits.
Most of the negative issues associated with technology at work are born from deeper rooted issues such as time management, prioritisation, self-discipline and training. Like anything, there are opportunities and risks present, and it’s up to us to exploit the opportunities and mitigate against the risks. A common frustration involves maintaining a work/life balance in an ‘always on’ world. Discipline is the key to this, but new schools of thought such as ‘The Slow Web Movement’ are evolving to help develop alternative ways of managing our online lives.
The benefits are clear, but the trick is to control your technology, not vice versa.
NOT A MEMBER YET? Then you’re missing out! Find out why at www.plymouth-chamber.co.uk or call us on 01752 220471
