Chamber Blog

The Chamber Business Awards 2018 are open for entries for businesses across the UK. With this in mind, Chamber member Full Mix Marketing are giving you their top tips for entering awards. 

1. Answer the question

This is the most common mistake business award entrants make. Rather than directly answering the question, they simply communicate what they are most proud of. Carefully read the criteria, identify the important qualities and make sure you specifically address them. Regardless of any other strengths you demonstrate, you will only be in the running if you first satisfy the key criteria. 

2. Keep it short and concise

Those vetting entries will likely begin by scan reading them, so summarise or use bullet points before elaborating further. Make appropriate use of the word limit but don’t pad. A punchy application is more likely to succeed than something that is long winded. Don’t use jargon or give excessive details about your product or industry. Those assessing may have little sector knowledge, so keep language simple and explain why key details are important by providing simple context. Only include supporting evidence that you actually refer to or is specifically requested.

3. Tell a story

Many awards are won by companies who have been on a ‘journey’. Winners are often those with the most compelling story which supports the award organisers objectives. Explain your inspiration, the steps you took and the impact. However, stick to the point and only include details which help build the narrative. Look at your entry as a whole and make sure it flows from start to finish. 

4. Find the pearl

Satisfying the criteria alone is rarely enough to win, so try to identify the factor or achievement which sets you apart. If you’re the first, best or most daring, make sure the reader knows. Statistics are a strong way to communicate success. Try to summarise your achievement with simple numbers and, depending on what’s stronger, talk in relative rather than actual terms. 150% growth is more impressive than a £50K increase!

5. Take your time

If it’s worth entering, do it well. Plan your submission and make sure you get someone outside your organisation to proof read it and listen to their comments. If there is scope for visual design, present your entry in a clear, professional and appealing way. 

Visit www.fullmixmarketing.co.uk

For more information on the Chamber Business Awards 2018, please click here.

The ‘Beast from the East’ covered the county in at least a foot of snow in some parts with Norfolk grinding to a standstill, literally on the roads, with train services and bus services being cancelled. This forced many schools and businesses to close their doors, as employees struggled to get to work with dangerous conditions or cancelled transportation.

Our Events Manager, Philippa Bindley explains how as a business we coped with the weather and what we learnt.

“Wednesday started at 6am for me, peering out on the window to see a white blanket of snow covering my garden and the roads, trying to work out if I could drive or walk in. At 7am once layered up with jumpers, skiing jacket, hat and wellies I ventured outside to check out the roads and walk the dog, and decided the only way forward was to brace the weather and walk to work.

“As a manager I was in contact with my staff and other managers while wading through snow to walk to work. Through hearing from staff about their roads and those who had attempted to drive to work and had to turn back, we decided the best way forward was to close the office, to avoid staff travelling in dangerous conditions and preventing the risk of them getting stuck on the roads or at work. For us, staff safety was paramount.

“As I turned round and walked home again the next thing on my mind was how are we going to make sure we were still able to provide a level of service to our customers?

So what did we do to ensure we provided good customer service?

“As a management team, we discussed what plans need to be put in place and worked from home.  

“First the basics – we started with informing our customers on social media and online that our offices were closed and diverted our calls to an appointed manager. We then encouraged staff to access emails using webmail to respond to anything urgent.

“We pre-emptively cancelled our training courses for the rest of the week, informed delegates and made sure they were aware by asking them to confirm they have received the emails and called them. Everyone was informed, meaning that no one turned up to a cancelled course because they haven’t seen an email.

“We also asked staff to cancel external meetings for the rest of the week to limit driving in case the weather continued (which it did).

“The International Department were able to process electronic export documentation through the online system they use at home, meaning that customers were able to get the vital documentation they needed for their goods. They processed at least 10 documents that day and were able to help customers with their enquiries by email.

“Even though this was a reduced service, we still ensured that we were still able to give our customers a level of service to enable them to continue their operations.

In hindsight – what would we have done differently?

“Always the optimist, I’m often caught saying ‘It will be fine’, however we could have taken the forecast/Met Office warnings at face value and put a plan in place, but the last thing any business wants to do is shut the office.

“We could have sent round the adverse weather policy to staff members to read so they understood what might need to happen.

“We will look to have a contingency plan in place, even though we might not have to use it for the next 6 years or so.

“We will be looking at software/IT to allow us to be mobile and for staff to work from outside the office as part of agile working. This will form part of our strategy to have a presence in local areas.

“We will be having a proper debrief with staff to learn what else we could have done, and it’s important we ask our employees how they felt we handled the situation.

“Could we have been more prepared? The answer is yes, we should have had a contingency plan in place, however we were able to react immediately (even with our CEO, Chris on holiday skiing in the French Alps) and still provide a service to our customers.”

We would like to hear how our members and Norfolk businesses coped with the snow. Did you remain open or have to shut up shop? Were you prepared? Comment below or email me at philippa.bindley@norfolkchamber.co.uk

Comprehensive employee workplace investigations are an effective risk management tool and are potentially critical to any defense by an employer in the event of potentially litigious proceedings. They are also important to ensure that possible transgressions are dealt with early and effective procedures are followed to limit liability and exposure.

1. Is the investigation essential?

In the case of low risk situations, it is often better to resolve matters informally without a formal investigation. Equally, don’t make the mistake of side-stepping the investigation process where the outcome of the incident(s) seems so obvious that further enquiries are not necessary. The employer may have a credible explanation or mitigating circumstances which might avoid the requirement for a full formal process.

2. Get the planning right

Certainly, any investigation process will be more efficient if there is a plan in place. It is imperative to consider the content of any allegations and to ensure that the process is fair and transparent. Any short-term action should be considered and discussed before the investigation commences.

3. Establishing the facts

The investigator should organise interviews, and gather and record any supporting evidence relevant to the proceedings. The seriousness of the events will determine the level of investigation required – however it should not be used as a tool to justify a pre-determined outcome. The investigator must be unbiased and should pursue appropriate lines of enquiry to determine the conclusion and make appropriate recommendations.

4. Producing the report

Following completion of the fact-finding processes, the investigator should assess the detail provided and make reliable, measured conclusions.

The report should be concise and objective. Please remember that any documents created during such a situation may be subject to disclosure in any legal proceedings in the future.

5. Next steps

If it is concluded that formal action is necessary with the possibility of disciplinary sanctions a separate disciplinary meeting will be required. Company disciplinary procedures must be followed.

After the investigation has concluded, it is good practice to follow up with the complainant in the case of grievance investigations to let them know that their allegations were taken seriously and considered.

If you have any questions regarding this issue, don’t hesitate to contact our Chamber Support Services: 01455 852037

Although there is no statutory requirement to include probationary periods in an employment contract, this process is recommended to monitor a new or newly promoted employee’s performance. There is no set period that a probation should be for and therefore it should be based on the seniority, skill set and performance required for the role. For example, a junior role may require a shorter probation period compared to a senior position, whereby the employee may need to prove their leadership and influencing skill, which may take longer.

What must managers be aware of?

Managers must effectively manage their employees’ performance through having regular performance reviews throughout their probation period. It is important for the employer to show that they took reasonable steps to appraise the employee on probation and made every effort to determine his suitability (Post Office v Mughal [1977] IRLR 178, [1977] ICR 763, EAT).

I have completed regular reviews but there’s still no improvement?

If an employee is unable to meet the required standard of performance, having provided relevant training and opportunity to achieve the standards required, the outcome may result in a dismissal due to an unsuccessful probation period. However, if at the end of the employee’s probationary period, you believe you have not given the employee the opportunity to improve or there are other mitigating circumstances that may have caused the employee to not achieve the required standard; then you may extend their probation by outlining areas for improvement but this should be a final resort. It is crucial that all probationary review meetings are documented in writing and saved on an employee’s file.

Employers must not extend an employee’s probation on more than one occasion as the tribunal would not see this as reasonable. This would be seen as allowing the poor performance for a prolonged period and deemed as acceptable.

It is important to note that employees under a probation period have the same rights as an employee with no probation period. However, it is the employer’s decision as to whether they differ the Terms outlined within their employment contracts during the probation period.

What are the potential claims that may arise if you are not following a robust probationary procedure?

In certain situations, two years’ length of service is not always required to claim automatic unfair dismissal. For example, dismissal in relation to pregnancy.

If an employer dismissed in breach of the employment contract, by failing to follow a contractual procedure or by not providing the correct notice period, it may lead to a wrongful dismissal claim.

If an employee believes they have been discriminated against, there is a possibility of a discrimination claim.

An employee within their probation can ‘whistleblow’ and raise their concerns about wrongdoing within the company with a risk to others and this will present a claim regardless of their length of service.

So you may ask, how can we stop the possibility of these claims arising?

Having a clear and robust policy and procedure in place would help tackle any potential claims from arising. Qdos can help you by providing a bespoke service to ensure your policies and procedures remain compliant. Please don’t hesitate to contact our Chamber Support Services for help: 01455 852037

A question that I have been wondering about for some time. You would you’re a health and safety person! Well, yes I suppose I am and proud of it! Back to my quandary.

It would appear that two companies were co-handed a record fine for inadequate fire safety (May 2017) after a fire broke out in an apartment building.

The property owners, along with an estates management company pleaded guilty to three offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and sentenced in a London Crown Court.

If we compare the highest health and safety fine recently handed out to Merlin Attractions for the ‘Smiler’ ride incident at Alton Towers last year of £5m, then this record fine of £250,000 is pocket change in comparison.

In this incident, 13 people were rescued, eight fire engines called and 60 firefighters were on hand to tackle the blaze.

Failings discovered

The London Fire Brigade inspectors discovered failings which included:

• A lack of an alarm or detection system inside the flats and communal areas.
• No fire risk assessment in place for the building.
• Doors to the individual flats provided inadequate protection to the escape routes.

The judge said both companies were aware of fire safety failings but reacted “by putting their heads in the sand” and described the building as an “accident waiting to happen.”

The fines are broken down as follows:

Property owners

• £80,000 for not carrying out a fire risk assessment
• £10,000 for not providing adequate fire detection
• £10,000 for failing to allow people to escape safely.

Estates Company

• £120,000 for not carrying out a fire risk assessment
• £15,000 for not providing adequate fire detection
• £15,000 for failing to allow people to escape safely.

London Fire Brigade were the enforcing authority in this case and were awarded full prosecution costs of £49,500. Their inspector is hoping that the size of the fine will send a strong message to other private landlords who ignore their responsibilities for fire safety.

Private landlords have duty of care.

If you are a private landlord, you have a duty to the safety of your tenants whether you provide a dwelling-house or a large commercial scale building occupied by businesses. With the latter, service level agreements will determine the level of responsibility for building protection, but domestic houses are the sole responsibility of the landlord.

Remember, you must install a smoke detector on each floor of your dwelling, provide a Carbon Monoxide alarm where you have a gas boiler, open-fire etc. and ensure the gas appliances are appropriately inspected by a Gas Safe Engineer at least annually or as advised.

Contact your Chamber Support Services advice line for information: 01455 852037

I wrote recently about the importance of negotiation as a management process, and indeed skill. If there’s another skill that today’s business leaders need to employ it’s the simple, but essential, art of listening.

I know you’ll forgive me if I set that against the, dangerously close to over used, phrase of ‘in today’s current climate’. It has to be said, because it’s true.

Let’s look at this from two view points. Firstly, that ‘current climate’ embraces (sorry – here come some more well used phrases) Brexit, the skills shortage and the volatile political environment. To do business in amongst all of that means you need as much knowledge as it’s possible to assimilate. How do you acquire that knowledge? Yep – you’re with me – you listen.

And you listen by engaging with your customers. What you hear will allow you to shape your strategy and plan your future. The very act of listening of course means there has to be a conversation; and that means ensuring that you open two way communication.

And you have to spread your net wider. The views of customers are vital, but so too are those of non – or potential – clients.

One of the biggest advantages of listening is that you’ll be able to address not only what you know but also, vitally, what you don’t already know. New knowledge is crucial.

Now let’s come at it from a second angle. And this is good news. We’ve never been better equipped to listen. The digital tools available to today’s managers and leaders make it more possible than ever to engage, communicate with and learn from our existing and future customers. We can target more precisely, talk more frequently and listen more attentively now than we ever could, even if we’d sent out a thousand researchers with clip boards every week.

Listen; to acquire the data on what people want. And then build strong, meaningful and relevant relationships.

So, then comes the litmus test. Do I ‘practise what I preach?’  To date my commercial career would prove that I can answer yes. Right now, five weeks or so into my role as CEO of the Chamber, I’m happy to say yes again. We’re stepping up engagement with members, so that we can listen to them more. What we’re hearing is being channelled into the strategy for the future. We’re enhancing our two way communications – with members and non members alike. That’s already flagging up some things we didn’t know, as well as confirming some we did.

It’s not entirely, or exclusively, about online or digital communication. Face to face interaction will never be totally replaced as the core of commerce. What it is about is opening all the channels to ensure that you listen, and hear, what people want. In that aforementioned current climate they’re driven to change their minds more often – and you need to keep up with that like never before.

I guess all that’s left for me to say at the moment is  – thanks for listening.

The UAE is often referred to as a regional hub with options for companies of all types and sizes with favourable ownership and tax structures. However, setting up here is not as simple as it is in the UK.

The BCB can assist with research into your set up options, but we suggest 5 key questions to ask when you are considering setting up in the UAE.

What will your company do? Company type and licence options available depend on the activity that your business will be conducting. There are many different options available depending on whether you are a services, manufacturing, or distribution company.

Where do you want to be? With 7 different emirates and more than 40 Free Zones to choose from, your location options are not just limited to Dubai or Abu Dhabi! Location could be key in connecting you to suppliers and clients in the most effective manner.

Onshore or off shore? Free Zones are well publicised in the UAE but they are not suitable for every business. You may be better setting up onshore so that you can do business with other onshore entities, including government departments and semi-government companies.

How many people will you employ? To set up a company in the UAE you must have a registered commercial address. Many Free Zones limit the number of employment visas a company can issue depending on the amount of square footage a company rents. On shore in Dubai, this can be a little more flexible, but office size and employee count are linked.

When do you want to start operating in the UAE? When setting up a company in the UAE, documentation requirements may hinder the process. In addition to UAE commercial documents, agreements and leases, additional paperwork may be requested from the UK branch of your company; securing a business licence can be a lengthy process. It is worth bearing this in mind if you are in discussions with a potential client and time is a factor.

If you have any questions or need clarifications, please ask.

Emma Kirkman, British Centres for Business

When it comes to living in the adult world, we sometimes need to take a step back and reflect on what we are doing/saying/teaching/treating – (delete the appropriate words) and think about how we can become better/more productive/efficient/worthy – (delete as needed).

So, let’s take a moment and reflect on how we work in our workplace.

Children go about their days with a purpose to ensure that they have an end goal in whatever they are doing. We can break this down into steps:

1. Decide which toy to play with
2. Make up a story in their heads
3. Play with toy and act out their story
4. Ask Mummy or Daddy if they saw what they did and seek approval
5. Use the feedback to learn, ask more questions ready for next time
6. Repeat exactly or change to suit the feedback given.

Does this make any sense? If not, lets break it down.

As an adult, we can put this into practice:

1. Decide on what we are going to do – what we are going to produce/provide, who are we going to meet/call/visit?
2. Plan on how we are going to do it – gain the appropriate contact details/material information etc.
3. Perform the action – make the product, speak with the person etc.
4. Reflect on that action – how did it go, what feedback did we receive, is there any approval?
5. Improve on it for next time – this is the review process of the whole process, what went right, what went wrong?
6. Repeat the process or change our process.

Can we use this analogy in health and safety? Of course we can.

1. Plan – think about the current situation, indicate what you want to achieve, how you will measure performances and provide contingency planning.
2. Do – assess your risks, organise the activities to help deliver the plan, provide the resources and communicate everything to your workers, implement the plan and instruct and/or supervise the workers.
3. Check – measure your performance. Have the plans been implemented suitably? Assess if your aims and objectives are being achieved through a good quality audit system.
4. Act – Learn from mistakes, accidents, incidents, ill-health, near misses, plus those from other organisations, revisit the plans, policy documents and risk assessments to ensure they are suitably updated.

This is known as the PDCA cycle of health and safety management and helps you achieve a balance between systems and behaviour aspects of management.

So, we can see that if we follow a logical step process, we can ensure that we are more productive, better informed, more approachable, better teachers/learners, more efficient and safer – don’t delete these, as they are all appropriate!

Have a Health & Safety question? Make the most of our advice line 01455 852037

With the apprenticeship levy in full swing it is important to note that apprenticeship contracts need to be such that they fall within the scope of the new rules on apprentices, rather than the old common-law rules which could land you in hot water!

Why, you might ask? Well, a recent tribunal ruling ended with the claimant being awarded £25,000! The claimant was an apprentice who had his four year apprenticeship brought to an abrupt end by reason of redundancy.  The case is Kinnear v Marley Eternit Ltd. Mr Kinnear was employed on a four year apprenticeship as a roofer/tiler. Approximately 18 months in to the apprenticeship he was made redundant.  He brought a claim for breach of contract and was successful. The Tribunal awarded 122 weeks’ pay for the remainder of the apprenticeship, plus damages.

Apprentices in Scotland – pretty much protected

That ruling came through the Scottish Tribunal where the rules for terminating apprentices early are strict and a dismissal would only be seen as fair if the apprentice was ‘untrainable’.  So apprentices in Scotland are pretty much protected and hold even greater rights than employees.

If, however, the case was heard in England or Wales the story would be different had the contract been drafted in line with the new rules for apprentices which we reported on in a previous article (see all articles Calls from the advice line – Apprentices and Apprenticeships and the Apprenticeship Levy).  That law allows apprentices to be treated in much the same as an employee which includes no rights to claim unfair dismissal below the two years’ service qualifying period.

We cannot stress enough the importance of getting the wording correct for contracts being issued to apprentices.  It literally could make or break you which is evident from the Kinnear case.  The maximum award for a breach of contract in Scotland is £25,000, it could therefore have been a lot more had the Tribunal limits not been restricted by the capping.  The award also included future loss of earnings; because of his age it was proving difficult for the claimant to get another apprenticeship to enable him to complete his training.

Please contact the advice line if you are considering employing an apprentice or already have an apprentice in your employment.  We can draft a water tight contract for you or indeed review the one that you currently have in place to ensure that you do not end up in the same predicament as the respondent in this case.

For any HR matters, please make the most of our ChamberHR support – www.chamberhr.co.uk / 01455 852037

The Shared Parental Leave Regulations came into force in December 2014 allowing parents to share the care of the child over the 52 week leave period following the birth/adoption.  SPL also saw the end of additional paternity leave.

Almost three years in and the SPL regulations are causing waves in the courts!  The reason behind this is enhanced payments during maternity leave when compared with shared parental leave pay during SPL.  The former is usually female whilst the latter is predominantly male.  When you throw all of this into the mix you end up with a recipe for sex discrimination!

So, why should a male on leave to care for his new born/adopted child receive less pay than a female doing exactly the same thing.  Well, the Tribunal in the case of Ali v Capita Customer Management Ltd [2017] ruled in favour of Mr Ali concluding that a female on maternity leave could be compared with a male on SPL; whilst the Tribunal in Hextall v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police [2016] ruled in favour of the police force concluding that the correct comparator for a man on SPL was a woman on SPL and not a woman on maternity leave.

Both cases have been appealed so it’s a case of watch this space for now!

In October 2016, the Scottish courts saw the first case test case in relation to SPL and pay in the case of Snell v Network Rail [2016]. Mr Snell was awarded £30,000 after network rail, whom both parents worked for, refused to pay Mr Snell the same amount of pay during SPL as his wife.  The court ruled that network rail’s policy was indirectly discriminatory against males.

These are just the first few cases on SPL and suspect they will not be the last.

If you are not sure about your policy on shared parental leave and pay and you don’t want to find yourself being a respondent in a case similar to the above, please make use of ChamberHR – www.chamberhr.co.uk / 01455 852037

A new era has started at the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce with Chris Sargisson taking over as the new Chief Executive. He speaks to Neil Perry about his plans for the future and how the organisation will grow in the years to come.

Technology and how we use it is evolving rapidly but Norfolk’s digital and mobile infrastructure needs to keep pace. Norfolk Chamber is keen to ensure that both our digital and mobile infrastructure are fit for purpose and that our business community is ready to take advantage of new technology developments as they evolve.

Greater mobile coverage is needed to provide better reliability. This includes erecting more mobile signal masts and creating a simplified planning process to gain the necessary permissions. Another simple solution to improve existing coverage would be to allow mobile roaming across the existing network providers.

Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber said: “Norfolk Chamber wants to ensure that our business community is able to take advantage of new technology developments as they evolve and one of those key areas is the rise in the mobile office and the need by more business people to do business on the move. To do this we need more investment in our mobile signal infrastructure and changes in how the service providers operate i.e. roaming signals.”

A network of providers ensures that the majority of Norfolk receives mobile signal coverage but no one provider can deliver a high percentage of overall signal coverage across the county.

At present the providers do not allow seamless roaming between their networks – so every business user, no matter which network provides their service, suffers from unreliable mobile signal coverage in Norfolk.

A recent British Chambers of Commerce survey showed that 83% of Norfolk business users experienced ‘not spots’, 43% had access to 4G, and more concerning, 11% of business users still only had access to 2G – voice calls only with no internet or data.

Neil Orford, President of Great Yarmouth Chamber Council and Partner at Lovewell Blake,said: “If we wish to be seen as a place to do business, we must continue to press for improvement in the service provided.”

Whilst approximately 86% of Norfolk has access to 24mbps, a recent British Chambers of Commerce survey, reported that the Norfolk business community still thought that Norfolk’s digital infrastructure was not yet totally fit for purpose.

Lynsey Sweales, a Norfolk Chamber Board Member and Director of Social B, said: “A reliable broadband connection is absolutely vital for all companies, yet 20% of Norfolk companies suffer from unreliable connections. The focus of the Government must be on providing businesses with sufficient and reliable broadband connections to enable to them to do business confidently.”

The British Chambers survey showed that with more reliable connections Norfolk businesses could do more. More than half of businesses (54%) said that if the reliability of their broadband connection was improved it would allow them to use more applications, particularly cloud-based services (24%), transfer of large files (16%), and remote server access for employees (14%).

Paul Grenyer, CEO atNorwich-based Naked Element,said: “My issue is with mobile signals when I am out and about in the county, which I do quite a bit because I like to go to see clients. Reception is very sporadic. I use the train because I like to work but the other day I went from Yarmouth to Norwich and I only had reception for 60 per cent of the time, which means that it is dead time. It is frustrating and it needs to improve.”

David Manning, Managing Director of MIGSOLV, which delivers The Gatehouse >You can read the Norfolk Voice magazine online.