Content

Tudor Lodge Consultants is pleased to announce that we are working with Lending Expert (https://www.lendingexpert.co.uk/) The company helps find your eligibility for the cheapest loans, mortgages, credit cards and a whole range of credit products online. Lending Expert is looking to boost its website ranking on search engines and improve its overall existing SEO strategy, through the expertise of our white hat SEO specialists, maximising user experience and rankings on Google. 

What Work We Have Done

Working closely with a team of experienced developers, we updated their site to have SEO (search engine optimisation) at its core. By ensuring that all content throughout the site is new as well as being up-to-date for SEO and best online practices, we are helping Lending Expert slowly to achieve their goals.

The first port of call was to confirm the right keywords for Lending Experts and we concluded that long-tail keywords were the best option, given the huge competition from the likes of GoCompare, MoneySupermarket and Compare The Market.

Hence, finding keywords that are long-tail in nature and very specific, such as keywords that also include phrases such as London, bad credit, a specific loan amount, secured or unsecured. We believe that together we have a better chance of ranking top for these and they should also convert better.

Our next steps is to integrate these keywords into the landing pages, creating new landing pages in some cases or re-writing existing ones and including these keywords in the meta-titles, headings and content where possible.

A full technical fix-up of the site is key, looking at over 3,000 pages and guides and making sure everything is fixed head-to-toe including meta-titles, descriptions, headings, image alt-text, sitemaps, internal linking and more.

Plus, we continue to tidy up the link building profile by manually removing poor quality links from the Lending Expert site and replacing them with clean ones from news and financial authority websites.

We are currently in month one of the campaign and implementing a full fix-up of the website and we expect the rankings to slowly take shape, with a good algorithm update in the next 6 months to give the site and important boost.

As I read the email from my usual supermarket, the third I had received in as many weeks, it struck me that a month ago, I would probably have simply deleted it as irrelevant when it landed in my inbox. How times have changed, and with it, our thirst for knowledge.

They say knowledge is power and indeed, it can feel like it in these unprecedented times. The more access we have to relevant and factual information, the more able we are to make the right decisions and do the right things to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. And the more able we are to make a difference for society as a whole.

And so now, more than ever, organisations need to engage people through effective communications. As well as giving people the information they need – such as the Tesco CEO is doing in letting me know how can I pick up the food my family needs safely – we also need to take people with us, including on the journey that we all now find ourselves on.

So how can we engage people through our communications, keeping connected to our staff and customers, through this and beyond? Here are some key principles:

• Make it consistent: striking a balance between information overload and too few updates is important. We need to maintain regular channels of communication, and ensure that a communications void doesn’t open up between us and our staff and customers;
• Make it factual, clear, and accessible: we need to be really clear on the facts, particularly at a time when there is so much confusion, false messaging, myths and legends around. Through clarity – including and especially in language use – we can make our messages accessible to the widest possible audience – which is vital. We have a duty to not exclude anyone from the messages we are sharing;
• Be positive: we know that things are tough right now but it’s ok to be positive in our communications. We can be hopeful, which leads us onto…
• Reassure: people are desperate for reassurance and whilst we can’t and shouldn’t give false hope we can give reassurance around what we can and will do;
• Invite feedback and questions: people will want more information, and may have questions, and this is important as communications and engagement isn’t a one way street, it’s a two way dialogue. But – and this leads us on to…
• Be realistic: our customer service, and indeed other services – understandably – may be creaking at the seams. It’s ok to say so and manage expectations around response times;
• Be collaborative: our communications messages should at all times, and now more so than ever, have an equality to them. We are working together in partnership.

Perhaps though one of the most important qualities which comes through the best communications at this time is authenticity, the human touch. We are all going through something which is at turns confusing, scary, and upsetting. Sharing company messages with a human touch instantly allows us to connect to others: and we all need to feel connected, especially now.

May you stay safe and stay well at this time, knowing this too shall pass.

These last few months have seen innovation and adaptation on a grand scale. Who would have thought, in those hazy days B.C. (before Covid), back at the very start of the year, what changes we might see?

In just six months, companies have evolved in ways perhaps not previously conceived: who would have thought that getting whole or even partial workforces operating remotely might have been possible? Or moving a whole business online to allow it to continue to trade? Or hosting entire conferences on Zoom? Or diversifying a product to meet the needs of people and society: I’m thinking, for example, of those manufactures who switched up their production to deliver much needed ventilators.

Wherever we go, we can see evidence of this ability to adapt. The screens, the sanitiser, the signage, the posters, those brilliant domes that allow people to dine outside in pods.

And then there’s us as individuals. The mask-wearing, the distance-keeping, the virtual-socialising, the reaching-out with care and support. People have been doing incredible things during these last few months to support each other, delivering efforts that have made a difference for family, for neighbours, for communities.

What these last few months have reminded us is that people are amazing. Not just in our ability to respond and adapt to the slings and arrows that life has hurled at us, but in our capacity to withstand such like. We are innovative, we are resilient.

And yet, if we had been asked if we could do all the things we’ve done a year ago, even less, our answer, I suspect, might have been very different. ‘It’s not possible.’ ‘We can’t do that.’

But we can do that. Circumstance has forced us to be creative, to find solutions, to make changes – wholesale in some cases. And look at what we have achieved.

And so, when I think about what we take forward from this time, I fervently hope that it is self-belief. I hope that we have come to realise the true extent of our capacity and our abilities and that when we focus on our goal, we really can achieve it. I hope too that we come to see the barriers that might have held us back from pursuing new ways of working, of progressing, of developing are there to be removed.

Because one day this will be over and I hope that what is left behind is that belief in ourselves which will provide the catalyst for so much more creativity and innovation. As the saying goes: believe in yourself and you’ll be unstoppable.

Out of sight most definitely isn’t out of mind and with more and more staff working remotely, authentic, sensitive, and effective engagement by managers is vital. For many employees, working from home will be an extension of normal working patterns – whilst for others, it will turn everything they know about work completely upside down. And likewise whilst many will find the assimilation between home and work life easy, for others it will be a much trickier transition.

And so, we need to be attuned to our people’s needs and the external and internal factors which will be impacting upon them. This will be logistical things – such as balancing looking after children whilst juggling workload as well as emotional challenges: fear, worry, dread, sadness, all these feelings which this period in our lives keep throwing up. Here are some principles that can help us to stay connected and engage our people when we are working apart in this difficult time:

1. The first thing is person before task. However herculean our efforts might have been to maintain a level of service during this time, we cannot pretend that this is ‘business as usual.’ And so checking in with how people are feeling, how they’re doing, before conversations about the job in hand is vital. 2. Offer support. And with checking in it is important to know what support you can offer to someone who might be struggling either logistically or emotionally, whether that’s access to a helpline, or helping out on a task. 3. Give choice. We know that in all of our engagement activities, people respond to different methods and approaches. Although the conduits for communications open to us might have reduced somewhat, we can and should still give choices. Skype? Telephone? Zoom? 4. Manage expectations. We can do this through setting time aside for catch-ups, diarising these and sticking to them wherever possible. This will help to give some structure and focus for the employee, and maintain a level of normality in an ever changing sea of change. 5. Look for opportunities to connect. Wherever possible, keep the connection open between teams and with the organisation. Many people may find it isolating to be working remotely and so look for ways to remind people that they are part of something bigger – that they are not alone, even if physically they are. And, this could have a social element to it too – Zoom quiz anyone? 6. Show appreciation. And more of it. Let people know that they are doing a good job even if it’s what they would describe as ‘just my job.’ With distance and in a climate that can feel overtly negative, people need to hear messages of positive reinforcement more than ever. And, make this recognition authentic and frequent. 7. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, show trust. This should be a fundamental strand to our engagement with remote workers. Show people that you trust them to do their role through setting clear objectives, being available to offer support, then letting them get on with it. Indeed, a concern around being mistrusted may be even driven by the employees themselves, keen to demonstrate that they are still working hard in the unusual confines of their home. We absolutely need to let people know that we trust them as they settle into this new way of working.

The seeds we sow now with our people, in these terribly difficult circumstances we all find ourselves in, will blossom when life has reverted to some normality – whatever that might look like. And whilst distance might keep us remote from our staff, how we engage can in fact create closer connections.

Apprenticeships, you don’t need an apprenticeship strategy, you just hire a young person and sign them up to college – don’t you?

Well yes, you could adopt this approach, but I strongly recommend you don’t.  Would you be this flippant with purchasing a new piece of equipment for your business, I doubt it, so why would you take this approach with hiring an apprentice?

Hiring an apprentice is an investment and like any other business investment you would carry out due diligence, and the same approach needs to be applied to your apprenticeship programme. 

Grab yourself a blank sheet of paper and start by looking at:

 

* taken from the House of Commons Library, Briefing Paper Number 06113, 9th April 2020 – Apprenticeship Statistics by Niamh Foley

1. Apprenticeships must be aligned with the business strategy

Take a strategic view of your business needs for the future to enable you to identify the skills you require.

2. ‘Mind the Gap’

How can you prepare for the future if you don’t know where your current skill gaps are within your business? The results from carrying out a skills analysis will identify the training required to fill these gaps.

3. The integrated approach

Take a look at your existing training programmes and map these to the available apprenticeship standards. This will enable you to see which courses, you would normally have to pay for, can be replaced by using the apprenticeship standards whilst taking advantage of the apprenticeship levy.

If you don’t pay the apprenticeship levy, that’s ok, you will only need to pay 5% of the cost of the standard!

4. Finding the right training provider for your needs

Take the time to compile a broad range of questions for the training provider, having this information will enable you to assess if they will be able to meet your needs.

5. Communicate and engage your employees

Running apprenticeship programmes is a team effort, it is so important to make sure the support is there throughout the business, and it is key to engage your employees from the outset and keep them up to date with how things are going.

If you are keen to find out more about running an apprenticeship programme within your business, please feel free to contact Sue via the website or info@spottertalent.com

We are all coming to terms with the very real impact of the Covid pandemic with more cases in Norfolk and the third lockdown in place. Whilst much of the pandemic feels out of the control of individuals, there are legal provisions which individuals can make to protect their interests and wishes if circumstances arise in the future should they fall ill and be unable to make decisions for themselves. This is true for all ages including young people.

As reported in the Dereham Times, a 25 year old woman who had tested positive for coronavirus, went to sleep at home on December 31 2020 and woke up in intensive care on January 3 2021. In Private Client terms, this is referred to as a temporary loss of capacity. Other potential causes of loss of capacity can happen at any age including accidents and brain injury, mental health problems or drug addiction.

As explained by our Private Client Paralegal Rachel Frammingham, ideally young people should consider putting legal protections in place to protect against loss of capacity – including Lasting Powers of Attorney and a Will – whatever their age.

Do young people need LPAs?

The existence of a Lasting Powers of Attorney can appoint someone to make decisions for you in the event you are unable to make those decisions yourself. We can assist you in creating Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA).

Whilst they are traditionally considered for older individuals with capacity issues in later life including dementia, anyone over the age of eighteen is legally entitled to set up an LPA given they have full mental capacity at the time.

If an individual has registered LPAs in place, these kick in upon incapacity so the individual’s appointed Attorneys can act on their behalf whilst they are incapacitated:

1. for their health and welfare decisions (medicines, medical treatment); and

2. for their property and financial decisions if needed (more appropriate for the longer term where bills need paying etc.)

Then, in situations of temporary loss of capacity, after the individual regains capacity, for example after coming out of a coma, they can manage their affairs normally again.

The two types of LPA are independent of one another. Oftentimes, an individual may consider putting in place a Property and Financial Affairs LPA, whereas the Health and Welfare LPA is also very important – especially given the current pandemic.

Without an LPA, the Court of Protection exists to make decisions on financial or welfare matters and appoint Deputies to make required ongoing decisions for the incapacitated individual. This can, however, become a long-winded and expensive process. Creating your own LPA to a time schedule that suits you gives you the control.

Crucially, your LPA must be set up before you lose mental capacity – so if you are young and in good health, now could be a good time to consider appointing your Attorneys who you know well and trust to carry out your wishes should you ever lose capacity in the future.

Do young people need a Will?

It is important to have a legally valid Will at all ages, and many of our clients set up their Will at the same time as making an LPA. As with LPAs, you can make a Will from age 18 if you are of sound mind. A legally valid Will allows you to choose your own Executors and Beneficiaries rather than your possessions and financial assets automatically passing to those entitled under the Intestacy Rules whom you may not want to benefit. Particularly if you have had children, a Will can include a guardian clause naming your chosen legal guardians if you were to pass away.

If you have children under 18 and die without making a Will, although your estate/money will pass to your children under the Intestacy Rules, that child’s parent (whether you are still with them or not) would be the person to administer your estate and hold the money until the child is 18. We often act for clients who are no longer with their child’s other parent to make Wills appointing someone else (such as another member of their family) to act as executor and to look after the money until their child is old enough.

Rachel Frammingham is a Paralegal in the Hatch Brenner Solicitors Private Client team. Contact Rachel via rachelframmingham@hatchbrenner.co.uk or call 01603 660 811.

Read more: Can you help me write my will?

Reference: https://www.derehamtimes.co.uk/news/woman-25-three-days-unconscious-with-covid-6888924

It was just days before the coronavirus lockdown, at a local networking event where I met Lucy Whittaker, founder and lead trainer of Alpha Vesta CIC, and after listening to her journey from spending many years working as a frontline domestic abuse practitioner, partnered with her academic study and her very strong ethos that ‘we need to do more in order to reach people sooner before their lives often reach crisis point and they end up embroiled in the criminal justice system and social care arenas’, that I realised how little I knew and truly understood about domestic abuse, and especially the impact of domestic abuse within the workplace, and here is where my journey to fill that lack of knowledge started. 

I never realised how incredibly complex domestic abuse is.  Not all domestic abuse is characterised by patterns of coercive control, and some incidents of domestic abuse are characterised by underlying vulnerability and a toxic mix of unmet needs that occasionally spiral into some form of emotional abuse and violence.

Did you know that one in four women and one in six men will be affected by domestic abuse at some point during in their adult lifetime (HM Government, 2019) and the NSPCC have released a report this year estimating one in five children are growing up in a home where domestic abuse in occurring (NSPCC, 2020).

In a Home Office study released last year on the Social and Economic Costs of Domestic Abuse is estimated to be £66 billion per year with £14 billion of that as a direct cost to the economy in terms of lost economic output. 

High absenteeism, lateness, impact on mental health and wellbeing sit very prominently but studies have also shown that one in two victims of domestic abuse said their work colleagues were also affected, and one in ten will have to leave their job due to the abuse (Opinium Research commissioned by Vodafone, 2019) and broader patterns of poor career progression (KPMG, 2019), high recruitment costs, low staff morale and productivity have also emerged.

With one third of a working adult’s life being spent in work, employers are in a unique position to create a supportive workplace with a culture that encourages all health and wellbeing needs and to help break the silence around the domestic abuse issue.

With the funding Alpha Vesta have received from the Essex Police Fire and Crime Commissioner, the Essex Community Foundation and The National Lottery, Lucy has been able to deliver fully funded online awareness sessions and training workshops to put into action Alpha Vesta’s strong foundation and mission statement of ‘Breaking the cycle of domestic abuse through awareness, prevention and early interventions in the Workplace’.

For more information about the impact of domestic abuse in the workplace, please visit www.alphavesta.com

To book on one of Alpha Vesta’s events please visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/alpha-vesta-cic-30277303852

S Potter Talent Ltd working in collaboration with Alpha Vesta CIC.