Member Blog

The UK’s export market is booming. The latest figures show that for May 2017, total trade exports were £29.4bn, an increase of £2.9bn compared with the previous month and a rise of £5.9bn from May 2016. In total, exports were up 23% for Q1 2017 compared to Q1 2016 – a sum total of £86.9bn for the quarter.

Regardless of Brexit worries, the scenario is booming for both large and small companies. So if you’re looking for ways to increase your marketing power overseas, here’s how to do it.

Know Your Customer

“You may feel you know this already, but have you researched and talked to ‘sweet spot’ customers in new markets?” asks Graham O’Rourke, CEO of Aphix Software, which has offices in the UK, Ireland and Spain. “Are they the same profile of customer as the UK? Do they have the same challenges or additional ones? Having a clear view of this is key.”

Before starting any international marketing, you need to develop a strategy, O’Rourke adds. “By that I mean challenge your assumptions.”

This includes investigating differences in the market structure. “To assume the market is the same is a common mistake,” O’Rourke warns. “Often the supply chain – how customers buy, who they buy from and who they trust to help – are all subtly yet importantly different from market to market.”

Also, talk to non-competing companies in a similar sector to the one you operate in, who have successfully entered that overseas market. “We did this when investigating the Spanish market and made a decision not to go ahead with a large launch based on our original strategy,” O’Rourke says. “The advice of peers was invaluable in this case.”

Tailor your online marketing

The simplest way to sell internationally is over the internet, but getting the balance right is essential. “Be inclusive to all markets,” says Avril Twomey, marketing manager at Glenilen Farm in Cork, Ireland. “Don’t alienate any market. Run specific bespoke campaigns by geo-targeting specific and relevant areas in the export market – and be sure to have the language skills necessary to follow up enquiries.”

Having the resources in place to manage this is key. “Prospects need a rapid and informed response. They may seek clarification, follow-up emails and telephone communications or live comms on other channels like LinkedIn, Twitter or online chat.”

Once this is sorted, it’s important to have the right tech systems in place. “How do you capture new leads? What’s the lead source [for instance, Google, Bing, Facebook], and what did the customer search for?” says O’Rourke. If you can keep sales and marketing working closely together to answer these questions, you’ll continue to refine and improve your success online – especially the last point. “What did converting customers search for? That knowledge is key,” he adds.

Set up abroad when the time is right 

“You have to evaluate the pros and cons of setting up in the host country,” says marketing lecturer and art exporter Clare Ferguson-Walker. “If you’ve established a market and you know your exporting costs are at a certain level, it could end up being far more cost-effective to set up a production line in a foreign country and cut out huge shipping costs. You can also turn things round more quickly, improving your service and reducing delivery times.” This is particularly helpful if products are bulky or difficult to transport.

“As a B2B company, I believe that when you’re committed to a country, you should be there. The only question is when”

Graham O’Rourke, CEO, Aphix Software

Bon Bon Buddies has its main base in Blackwood, South Wales, and markets branded confectionery for the likes of Disney, Warner Bros and Universal from offices in Düsseldorf, Lille, and Łódź in Poland. “The EU market is very important to us,” says MD Justin Thomas. “But at the same time, we’re now looking further afield to the Middle East and China, where we’ve achieved £1m of sales in a short period of time and have ambitious growth plans.”

For Thomas, stepping up incrementally is key. The company moved into its new markets one by one. The French office covers Belgium; Germany covers Austria and Switzerland; and Poland reaches Ukraine, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

For a service industry, the cost benefits of establishing yourself in the host country might seem less compelling. But, as Graham O’Rourke points out: “As a B2B company, I believe that when you’re committed to a country, you should be there. The only question is when. I’d always advocate that the CEO or head of sales is directly involved in the initial market research and that must include being in the country for a time.”

This enables you to build a personal rapport with your first customers or partners, he says. “And it’s these reference customers that’ll help you accelerate your early growth.”

Supply chains are key  As overseas exporting increases, so does the need to ensure supply chains are not only in place but agile and fit for purpose. It’s vital to study each link in the chain carefully and isolate areas that can be improved or where costs can be reduced .

“Glenilen Farm produces yogurt, which has a relatively short shelf-life,” says Avril Twomey, “so supply-chain management is one of the most important factors for our business when we consider export.

“We get no second chances when it comes to a listing with a major supermarket. You must have the right architecture in place so you can supply product on time, within the systems outlined by the respective retailer.”

Top tips for marketing internationally

• Build your brand by being geographically distinctive. Can you highlight your locale to appeal to foreign markets – are you based in the Lake District, Cornwall, the Highlands? Do you sell something that is unique? Highlight it.
• Understand cultural differences and adapt your approach and marketing materials appropriately.
• Visit trade shows, both as a visitor in order to network and to have a stall yourself to display your wares.

Disruptive businesses make a big splash in the media, but how does the thinking behind them come about? We look at the key rules of disruptive business thinking.

The word ‘disruptive’ used to refer to poor behaviour in the classroom, or the impact of strikes on the railway. But the tag is now far more likely to be linked to new types of business, where market value often outweighs investment and costs. Both Uber and Airbnb entered the already crowded markets of minicabs and holiday lets, but their rethinking of the entire model was what saw them race to the top at a pace traditional businesses could only dream of.

The media can’t get enough of them, and their business growth was largely driven by digital-native millennials who had the technology. Both are now large enough to commission television ad campaigns and PR drives to mop up the older generations.

So how can other start-ups in diverse sectors use this model to dominate (or at least radically change) the marketplace?

1. Find the gap in the market

Finding the gap may require mentally dismantling your target market and rethinking it from scratch. How would you start if you were the first one into the market, or what can you do that no one else can? Uber has as many detractors as fans (as is often the case with disruptive models), but there’s no denying it does away with the lottery of knowing which cab company to ring for the fastest and cheapest journey.

“Disruptive ideas come from having an attitude to challenge and push to improve established ways of doing things,” says Jas Bagniewski, CEO of innovative mattress retailer Eve Sleep. “I think if you try to improve every aspect of an industry, becoming disruptive is inevitable.

“When we started, we looked at how we could improve every aspect of the traditional mattress-buying experience. That way of buying – going into a showroom and lying down awkwardly for 10 minutes – is broken. We offer a better experience for customers because you can buy online quickly and easily, we offer next-day free delivery and you have 100 nights to try the product. By selling direct to customers, we can also offer a premium product for a better price.”

2. Be a true original

The first thing any business will need to do is ape the old Apple slogan of ‘think different’. It may be a business-speak cliché to speak of thinking outside the box, but disruptive entrepreneurs need to do little else in the initial stage of their start-up. Without that spark and a USP, their business is just another ‘me-too’ company that could simply get lost among the competition.

True disruptive thinkers and entrepreneurs are few and far between. So great ways to disrupt often come from teams of thinkers coming together to create a business, or outside experts being brought in to rethink a market. You want the kind of idea that makes people wish they’d thought of it.

“I think if you try to improve every aspect of an industry, becoming disruptive is inevitable” Jas Bagniewski, CEO, Eve Sleep 3. Solve a problem

“Ours was a consumer problem rather than a gap in the market,” says Tom Cavill, co-founder of property investment business Bricklane.com.

“We started with the problem that we and many friends had, then worked hard on an innovative solution. Before Bricklane.com, you either had to scrape together a huge deposit and invest all you had with a mortgage, or you were shut out of the market. We allow you to own a stake in a property [with others], whatever your situation.

“We feel we’re disrupting several markets: we allow first-time buyers to keep up with the market as they save and allow those who can’t or don’t want to buy to receive the financial benefits of ownership. Renters living in our homes also get better service and stability than is average in the market.”

4. Don’t forget the small print

It’s easy to see disruptive thinkers and doers as the anarchists of the business world, but none of them would get anywhere without considering the legal or ethical implications of their new ways of thinking and working.

If you’re testing the boundaries, you can be sure lawyers will want to as well, especially when people start putting large valuations on your business. Make sure the way you wish to operate complies the law and financial regulations because small slip-ups can be costly. If your app is bumped from app stores for minor violations, you could be set back by months.

5. Think about time efficiency

Millennials drive the market for disruptive business and famously want everything done now, whether it’s their food delivered or their finances sorted.

Airbnb took a concept that was only accessible on obscure community pages and brought it to the fore, saving hours of searching and competing with hotels along the way. If you can reduce complex tasks to a couple of clicks, you could be on to something.

“We’re disrupting the automotive retail space by consolidating the customer journey of buying a used car,” says Maximilian Vollenbroich, co-founder of Carspring.co.uk, a business that allows you to search for the car you want, find financing and arrange delivery of your pre-checked motor all in one hit. “Whereas a consumer would have to do transactions with multiple parties – from the dealer, financier, insurance and warranty provider and breakdown cover – at different places and times, we enable them to sort this all in one place.”

Disruptive businesses make a big splash in the media, but how does the thinking behind them come about? We look at the key rules of disruptive business thinking.

The word ‘disruptive’ used to refer to poor behaviour in the classroom, or the impact of strikes on the railway. But the tag is now far more likely to be linked to new types of business, where market value often outweighs investment and costs. Both Uber and Airbnb entered the already crowded markets of minicabs and holiday lets, but their rethinking of the entire model was what saw them race to the top at a pace traditional businesses could only dream of.

The media can’t get enough of them, and their business growth was largely driven by digital-native millennials who had the technology. Both are now large enough to commission television ad campaigns and PR drives to mop up the older generations.

So how can other start-ups in diverse sectors use this model to dominate (or at least radically change) the marketplace?

1. Find the gap in the market

Finding the gap may require mentally dismantling your target market and rethinking it from scratch. How would you start if you were the first one into the market, or what can you do that no one else can? Uber has as many detractors as fans (as is often the case with disruptive models), but there’s no denying it does away with the lottery of knowing which cab company to ring for the fastest and cheapest journey.

“Disruptive ideas come from having an attitude to challenge and push to improve established ways of doing things,” says Jas Bagniewski, CEO of innovative mattress retailer Eve Sleep. “I think if you try to improve every aspect of an industry, becoming disruptive is inevitable.

“When we started, we looked at how we could improve every aspect of the traditional mattress-buying experience. That way of buying – going into a showroom and lying down awkwardly for 10 minutes – is broken. We offer a better experience for customers because you can buy online quickly and easily, we offer next-day free delivery and you have 100 nights to try the product. By selling direct to customers, we can also offer a premium product for a better price.”

2. Be a true original

The first thing any business will need to do is ape the old Apple slogan of ‘think different’. It may be a business-speak cliché to speak of thinking outside the box, but disruptive entrepreneurs need to do little else in the initial stage of their start-up. Without that spark and a USP, their business is just another ‘me-too’ company that could simply get lost among the competition.

True disruptive thinkers and entrepreneurs are few and far between. So great ways to disrupt often come from teams of thinkers coming together to create a business, or outside experts being brought in to rethink a market. You want the kind of idea that makes people wish they’d thought of it.

“I think if you try to improve every aspect of an industry, becoming disruptive is inevitable” Jas Bagniewski, CEO, Eve Sleep 3. Solve a problem

“Ours was a consumer problem rather than a gap in the market,” says Tom Cavill, co-founder of property investment business Bricklane.com.

“We started with the problem that we and many friends had, then worked hard on an innovative solution. Before Bricklane.com, you either had to scrape together a huge deposit and invest all you had with a mortgage, or you were shut out of the market. We allow you to own a stake in a property [with others], whatever your situation.

“We feel we’re disrupting several markets: we allow first-time buyers to keep up with the market as they save and allow those who can’t or don’t want to buy to receive the financial benefits of ownership. Renters living in our homes also get better service and stability than is average in the market.”

4. Don’t forget the small print

It’s easy to see disruptive thinkers and doers as the anarchists of the business world, but none of them would get anywhere without considering the legal or ethical implications of their new ways of thinking and working.

If you’re testing the boundaries, you can be sure lawyers will want to as well, especially when people start putting large valuations on your business. Make sure the way you wish to operate complies the law and financial regulations because small slip-ups can be costly. If your app is bumped from app stores for minor violations, you could be set back by months.

5. Think about time efficiency

Millennials drive the market for disruptive business and famously want everything done now, whether it’s their food delivered or their finances sorted.

Airbnb took a concept that was only accessible on obscure community pages and brought it to the fore, saving hours of searching and competing with hotels along the way. If you can reduce complex tasks to a couple of clicks, you could be on to something.

“We’re disrupting the automotive retail space by consolidating the customer journey of buying a used car,” says Maximilian Vollenbroich, co-founder of Carspring.co.uk, a business that allows you to search for the car you want, find financing and arrange delivery of your pre-checked motor all in one hit. “Whereas a consumer would have to do transactions with multiple parties – from the dealer, financier, insurance and warranty provider and breakdown cover – at different places and times, we enable them to sort this all in one place.”

This week, the Supreme Court ruled that employment tribunal fees are unlawful. Government figures showed that 79% less cases were brought over a period of three years and the expectation is that the number of claims could rise significantly with the abolition of fees. It is absolutely and fundamentally important that more people have access to justice but amongst employers, there may be some anxiety about the news.

But the best approach to employment tribunals is always to steadfastly work to avoid them.

There are costs associated with tribunals. Financial, yes, but also human costs. For either side, it must be hugely daunting to address a tribunal, even with the support of experienced, expert, and supportive employment lawyers. And indeed, there is the damage to reputation, both within and outside the company.

For an employee relationship to end up in court is the ultimate breakdown, the last resort, and one that companies should seek to avoid.

And companies can do this through developing positive employee practices, exemplified through clear, transparent, and fair policies and procedures.  Through developing an empowering and supportive culture, where feedback isn’t just sought but given too. Where choices are given, where opportunities to influence are offered, and where there is no fear nor stigma associated with honest views; where complaints as well as compliments are actively encouraged. Through developing great managers who are able to engage with their employees, to develop their direct reports, and to identify issues or concerns and address these. Through effective and inspiring leadership, which sets the standard for the organisation, clarifying the expectations – in no uncertain terms – of what will and won’t be tolerated.

Of course, even with this in place, there are times when relationships can still fail and robust and clear procedures are needed to address this along with the expert knowledge of an employment lawyer.

But minimising the risk of tribunals has to be the best approach. Because nobody – employer nor employee – ever enters into a relationship hoping it will fail, expecting it to result in litigation. Which is why the company focus must always be on working to ensure that an employee tribunal will not occur through positive, proactive, and committed employee engagement, clear practices, great management, positive leadership, and a supportive organisational culture.

Communication   You may envision communicating with a software developer to be quite difficult, due to their nature of sitting behind a computer screen by themselves for hours on end, however in our experience that couldn’t be more wrong.    Our developers are extremely passionate about producing great software. Their communication skills are strong as they work closely with our clients and their users to learn, explore, teach, problem solve and help them make the right decisions. They are innovative, creative, extremely detailed and intelligent people that have a curiosity and love for learning. Due to their analytical mind, they evaluate all aspects of every situation, making them brilliant at solving all sorts of problems.    Normal rules apply when communicating with a developer. Find out a bit about them and build rapport like you would with anyone else, according to the characteristics of each individual. They’re just as diverse as everyone else, and in our experience extremely fun people that love making jokes, their burgers, music and beer! Although developers aren’t hesitant to communicate, they do tend to prefer emailing and other online forms of communication rather than face to face or phone.   Team work   Developers are good team members who work alongside designers, other developers and clients to regularly discuss work and manage feedback. Developers like to meet regularly to share progress. At Naked Element we hold daily stand-ups to discuss progress, what we are doing today, what we did yesterday and any barriers in the way. A stand-up meeting is simply a meeting that attendees participate while standing. The discomfort of standing for long periods is intended to keep the meetings short and informative. Stand ups ensures all members of the team are on the same page and working cohesively. Also developers need to know ‘why’, why does the client want this feature? Why do they want it done this way? Why does it need to be done by tomorrow?   Help them do their job   In order to help developers do their job both happily and to the best of their ability, it’s important to provide clear software requirements, or be open about where the boundaries are if allowing for some creative licence.    Providing requirements   It’s good to provide open requirements so developers can learn as they go, only getting into the detail at the last responsible minute. However, a Project Manager or Development Lead should ensure that client requirements are not too open, to prevent misinterpretation. Although key features of the system should be instructed, developers are creative people and they know what works and what doesn’t, allow them to play with software they’re interested in and show you ideas.   Functionality comes first, design second. If you have a clear idea about how something should look, provide examples or explain this upfront. Every task is drilled down so there are often over a hundred lines of requirements. For example a simple requirement ‘As a Sales person I want to log a new sale on my system’ can be broken down to help the developer understand better…   As a Sales person I want to:

• Search for a client to which the sale relates
• Search by company name, contact name, account reference number
• Select a client from the search results list
• Record the product name, sales value, quantity and color
• Select a delivery address and date
• Take a payment 
• Submit the details to the fulfillment department
• Print a copy for my records
• Etc.

Don’t believe the bad press about developers being nerds! After all, Nerds are just Geeks without a social life and all our developers have social lives and isn’t it cool to be a Geek these days? Do not be afraid to talk to them, get to know what makes them tick and enjoy the benefits it brings to your software development project.   Now you know a bit about our developers, learn a bit more about how they do it.

It’s been a busy few months for as we’ve been out and about gathering business views for the development of our new economic strategy for Norfolk and Suffolk. We’ve held events across both counties, with key sector groups and today saw 75 local authority representatives come together to discuss topics including skills, infrastructure, business support, trade and export and much more. Thanks to all of you who have come along to one of our sessions or filled in our online survey – our strategy team is compiling all of the feedback and the strategy is now being drafted ahead of publication in the autumn. You can find out more on our website at https://www.newanglia.co.uk/developing-new-economic-strategy/

Failed deadline? Compassion, isn’t that letting yourself off the hook?

So welcome again to my blog. Firstly, just to say a big ‘well done’ to everyone that took part in activities for Mental Health Week in May. It was great to see the work that is being done to raise the profile of mental health issues and let’s keep this on the agenda for 2017.

Apologies for anyone who was interested to hear my thoughts on coping with exam pressure. The phrase of ‘I think I missed the boat’ comes to mind but I do hope that you checked out BBC Bitesize, which provides practical and supportive information for young people via their website.

The topic for my blog this month is ‘How do you cope with situations where you don’t meet deadlines, or perform below expectation?’ Do you criticise yourself, perhaps even saying that you have failed or are in fact a failure, or do you adopt a more compassionate approach to yourself?

“Compassion“, I hear you say, “isn’t that just letting yourself off the hook and condoning poor performance?” Believe it or not, it isn’t! As a therapist, I routinely incorporate compassion focused techniques into my work when it becomes apparent that self-criticism, high expectation of self or others or difficulties coping with emotions are part of what maintains a client’s distress. Therapy sessions help clients to understand and develop the skills of compassion, helping them to develop a more compassionate way of talking to themselves and acting when life is tough and doesn’t go to plan.

For me, the first step is to help clients to recognise their tendency to having self-critical thoughts. What situations trigger them and what do they say? I often refer to this as the ‘monster’ or ‘poisoned parrot’ that sits on your shoulder giving you a running commentary of your faults and things to be afraid of. How does this monster sound? How do you feel when you listen to it? How do you respond to it? Does your monster remind you of events or people in your life that have been critical or not particularly nurturing? The reality is yes, that our past life experiences and social relationships will have affected our brains and our ability to be compassionate towards ourselves and others. 

So can we change things? Yes, with a desire to want to, hard work and perseverance. It involves understanding what it means to be compassionate and developing some of the qualities of compassion such as empathy, sympathy, forgiveness, acceptance and tolerance, developing feelings of warmth and taking responsibility for our actions.

Compassion focused therapy involves many stages but a useful tool, that I often use with clients, is to consider the idea of a compassionate image.  If you could develop a compassionate image, of someone or something that is non-judgemental, warm, wise and has strength, that you could relate to when life is tough, what would this look like? Would they be male, female or even an animal? How would they sound? How would they talk to you and relate to you? If they could hear you being critical of yourself what would they say?

Remember a truly compassionate image or friend is kind and understanding, not dismissive or critical, but also tells you how it is. They help you to acknowledge when you have not achieved things, consider why this is so and help you to take actions to improve your situation. They recognise that we are humans and as such behave as humans, having emotions and making mistakes. They recognise that whilst it’s human instinct to sometimes want to avoid difficult situations, they know that this only makes things worse and they motivate us not only to take action, but also to take responsibility for our actions. 

In learning to be compassionate to ourselves we might also want to look at how compassionate we are to others in our life. How do you respond to others when they are in distress, make mistakes or perform badly?  How might your new compassionate image respond to others if they were guiding you?  

As a therapist and mother with teenagers, I don’t profess to be compassionate all of the time, far from it! But what I do know is that learning to be kind and compassionate to ourselves and others can only be a good thing; it improves our mental health and is therefore something worth investing time in.  

  If you are in interested in learning to be less critical of yourself and others then please contact me at my website www.feelwelltherapy.co.uk . For more general information on compassion then you might be also interested to look at the Compassionate Mind foundations here .

For now, have a good summer.

Michelle.  

On Monday 19th June, our Junior Software Developer, and I attended the inaugural Norfolk Cyber Security Cluster meeting. The cluster has been set up by David Higgins, an award winning Cyber Security consultant, to encourage cyber security knowledge, skills and capabilities for businesses within Norfolk. We heard from three different speakers taking us through the risks, what’s going on inside the mind of a hacker, and the one that I found most fascinating being Telephone System Network Security Consideration, known as the “forgotten backdoor into your computer network.” When I think of Cyber Crime I think of phishing, ransomware and things such as credit card fraud. Well actually the biggest one that I’m sure we all are aware of isn’t necessarily at the forefront of our mind when protecting our data is your telephone system. It’s also greater than credit card fraud too. Paul Marriott from Eastern voice and data talked us through: “It is believed that telephone fraud is costing in excess of £1.5 billion a year.” What’s making your business vulnerable to telephone hacking?

• Leaving your security access passwords in default mode, eg. “0000”. Did you even known you had a security access password? If you didn’t then you need to change your password from
• default – and sooner rather than later.
• Routers can be incorrectly installed
• Leaving open vulnerable ports
• Major network providing installing fibre lines but haven’t actually locked down your router

Soft targets – These are users with high staff turnover. Information isn’t communicated and passed down between new members of staff meaning telephone information can be unknown to many employees. The steps to take to prevent telephone hacking:

• Select your supplier carefully – do your research! You can find reliable suppliers on crown commercial website
• Review your current setup
• Set up call barring
• Passwords regularly changed
• Deploy pin access
• Find out if you have fraud protection on your lines and find out why if you don’t?
• Look at your phone bill to see what’s going on! You would look at your card bill, wouldn’t you?

TIP: Be careful of telephone numbers beginning with “079”, you can incur connection charges for around a minimum of £20.00 before any conversations take place. Some people are using these numbers to call you and enquire, asking you to phone back. To ensure maximum security:

• Gamma Horizon Clouse Base System

The most secure phone system, a cloud based solution will provide high level security at network level, ensuring abnormal activity can be detected and stopped.

• Secure SIP (session integration protocol)

A different type of channel (phone line) and is more secure. There are plenty of points to take away from this to prevent your company from phone fraud. If anything, I really suggest you make sure security password isn’t on default, and to find out if you have fraud protection on your lines! David’s next event will take place on Monday 17th July on the topic of “GDPR – Compliance for SME’s & Security for Cloud Computing.” Click the below link for details: https://www.norfolkcyber.net/cluster-meetings/gdpr-compliance-for-smes-security-for-cloud-computing-34161081715/

Another Summer comes and the annual Lunch on the Green event took place at Clapham & Collinge Solicitors on Wednesday 12th July 2017. The event was sponsored by Break, an amazing local charity of ours, who provide a range of residential and community based services for vulnerable young people and families across East Anglia. Lunch on the green is such a fab event from start to finish, from being greeted with a cupcake by the helpful and happy faces of Clapham & Collinge, to walking on the red carpet with a glass of wine in your hand. It was great to see some familiar faces such as Lorna from Thrive, Chris from GGS, Michael and Aaron from All Is Flux and of course the lovely Jill from The Space. We also enjoyed talking to The Norfolk & Norwich Association for The Blind (NNAB), hearing about the innovative events they are arranging to raise funds for local blind children. There were lots and lots going on including some pretend money for a game of roulette, a shakespeare quiz by the lovely Sheringham Theatre, spinning the wheel on The Feed‘s stand for some Kettle Chips and discounts and lots of opportunities to win hampers and champagne. It was really cool to see a lot of Tech being used at the event. We took along with us Jacek Lipinski, a sixth form student with us this week for his work experience. Jacek is studying coding and has an interest in tech and software, so it was great to see him getting involved on Sim-fly‘s flying experience and having a close up look at Barclays 3D Printer. When also taking part in Face 2 Face Finance‘s counting money in the piggy jar, rather than writing our names down, we were refreshed to see they had their ipads at the ready, and an email sent to us to confirm our guess! It was also really cool to see Customised UK with their super big smart TV.  Overall we enjoyed a catch up with some great people, making some meaningful new connections, seeing a cool lamborghini, lots of entertainment, delicious food and sunshine, a fantastic day organised by Clapham & Collinge.

Pure brought together forty leaders and CEOs from charitable organisations across the Eastern region for its annual Charity Leaders Forum in Cambridge.

The forum, held on 21 June at the Holiday Inn in Impington, is organised by Pure to provide senior charity leaders with the chance to come together, network, discuss key issues and hear from expert speakers.

Host David Culley, Associate Director at Pure, led discussions on defining and maintaining a clear employer culture. He was joined by guest speakers Judith Coplowe and John Stanton of PEM who looked at data protection regulation changes and the impact these could have on planning for fundraising. Vin Pandha of Lloyds Bank also advised on fraud guidance and protection techniques and David Beeney from Breaking the Silence shared his experience of mental health in the workplace and looked at positive strategies for creating stigma free environments.

David Culley said: “I’d like to thank all our guest speakers who took the time to take part in this forum and share their expertise. At Pure, we regularly work with charities across the region to support them with recruitment needs, as well as helping to raise funds for the many fantastic organisations in our communities. We know that as a leader of a charitable organisation there can be limited opportunities for networking with peers and for developing skills which are beneficial to the organisation. That’s why we decided to develop this dedicated forum to bring the region’s CEOs and charity leaders together to benefit from shared experiences and guest expertise.”

The session was free to attend, but donations were requested for the nominated charity of STARS, a children’s bereavement support service based in Cambridge. The event raised over £800 which will fund counselling sessions for local children supported by the charity.

For more information about future Charity Leaders Forums contact David Culley at Pure on 01223 209888. 

More than 35 HR professionals from Suffolk attended an Employment Law seminar hosted by professional recruitment specialists Pure and law firm Birkett Long.  

Pure and Birkett Long have been working together to host regular employment law seminars in the region for over four years. The two firms provide free, informative sessions to help local employers stay up to date with the often fast moving and increasingly complicated field of employment and recruitment law.

The latest breakfast seminar, held on Wednesday 5 July at the Suffolk Food Hall in Wherstead, included an overview of the latest updates in employment law and outcomes of most recent HR related legal cases. This was followed by a workshop which covered practical case studies about Employment Law.  

Paul Sheldrake, senior manager at Pure, said: “Our aim is to make these sessions as valuable as possible to anyone in HR, helping to ensure their organisation remains a great place to work. The feedback we had from delegates was that the event was informative and engaging, and that the workshops provided a great forum to discuss issues with others working in the industry as well as gaining expert advice.”

The event was free to attend with voluntary donations collected for the Ipswich charity Lighthouse Women’s Aid. The session raised over £90 for the organisation, which supports women and children affected by domestic abuse, with more pledges still being received.

Pure and Birkett Long will be holding further HR employment law seminars in the Eastern region in 2017. For more information, contact Paul Sheldrake on paul.sheldrake@prs.uk.com

As the sun comes out, annual leave requests tend to flood in with employees planning trips abroad, staycations and childcare during the school holidays. Are you concerned that this could lead to a drop in productivity? Or that results and outcomes won’t be achieved? We can help you to find short-term candidates to fill any gaps and keep everything flowing smoothly. If you’ve never thought about using a temp before, here’s just some of the business benefits they can bring. 

Experience at short notice

Short-term contracts are not just for administrative roles, we can provide temporary candidates for senior and specialist positions within the fields of Accountancy, Financial Services, Human Resources, IT, Marketing and Office Support. The temps we place are highly-experienced, skilled employees. In many cases they have chosen to work on short-term contract or interim basis as a way of providing themselves with a more flexible career option.

Fresh perspectives

Bringing new talent into an organisation often brings fresh perspectives. This is just as relevant for temporary employees and in some cases even more so. Temporary candidates are likely to have worked across many different organisations, both in the same industry and outside of it. They may have experience and knowledge of different systems or processes which could work far better and introduce innovative ideas you may not even have considered.

Strategic skill sets

If there are specific short-term projects taking place during the time you are looking to cover absences, you can look for temps with the relevant skills and experience to handle these. This could help you to bring in additional experience you may not already have in house. It can also help to inspire existing employees who will be able to learn from them and develop new skills. 

Increased morale

Some employers may be concerned that bringing a short-term ‘stranger’ into an organisation may have a negative impact on the rest of the team. However, our experience shows that temporary employees bring new ideas and an added enthusiasm which can be a boost to the entire team. Team members will also feel reassured that there will be an extra pair of hands to support them and that any additional workload will not all fall to them.

Smooth transitions

Temporary placements can be arranged to include handover time with the person they will be filling in for, both before and after the person returns to the business. This makes the transition period much smoother for all involved.

We’ll help make sure you get the right fit

Whether it is temporary or permanent placements, we pride ourselves on finding the right person for the role and for the organisation. If appropriate, we arrange for the candidate to experience a four-hour working interview in the organisation. This gives both you and the candidate the chance to review cultural fit and skills needed. If for any reason you didn’t think the candidate was suitable, you wouldn’t be charged for this time.

Longer term options

Once you have found a temporary employee, you may appreciate them so much you don’t want to let them go! It provides an extended interview in which you can see how they work, the results they achieve and how they fit in with the team. This puts you in the best position to know if you would like to offer them a permanent role, if there is one available now or in the future. However, remember that it will depend on what the temp is looking for as to whether this is of interest to them. If they’ve chosen to work on a temporary basis to increase flexibility then a permanent position may not appeal to them. Instead they will hopefully become ambassadors for your organisation, sharing their experience of working for you amongst what is likely to be an extensive network of contacts, helping you to attract future talent.

We’ll support you through the process

If you’ve never recruited on a temporary basis before, it may seem like a daunting process. Our expert consultants will guide you through everything, from administration through to understanding the regulations around short-term contracts. For more information, get in touch with one of our offices.