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Barclays launches package of business support to help small businesses in Bury

Barclays is providing a bespoke support programme to local businesses to help the UK’s economic recovery. Focusing first in Bury, one of Barclays’ Rebuilding Thriving Local Economies (RTLE) pilot areas, the package offers support to boost growth for local businesses.

The RTLE initiative will provide a range of support to businesses and communities, as Barclays engages with leaders across government, the business community and the education sector to provide practical skills at a local level.
As its first step this year, the RTLE initiative is offering a package of support to businesses in Bury, which includes access to the following programmes:

· The Back to Business Programme, created in partnership with Cambridge Judge Business School, is a free, bespoke online toolkit for businesses with over 15 hours’ worth of content, developed especially for small-to-medium sized enterprises. Participants will be able to learn how to assess the health of a business, how to manage cash flow, and how to create a resilience plan for their firm.
· For business owners looking to grow or finance new business lines, the Funding Readiness programme is designed to explain the funding options available to entrepreneurs and provide the skills and knowledge needed to fund business growth.

Bury is one of four pilot areas in the Barclays Rebuilding Thriving Local Economies initiative. RTLE focuses on understanding needs and opportunities on the ground in pilot sites in different parts of the country: Bury (a metropolitan borough), Kilmarnock (a smaller UK town), Taunton Deane (a rural community) and Great Yarmouth (a coastal town). The Barclays support for business initiatives will be available for up to 1,000 individual businesses across each programme, with firms in RTLE pilot areas encouraged to sign up first.

Andrew Horner, Head of SME at Barclays in the North West, said: “Now more than ever, it’s imperative that we support business growth across the country. We’ve seen the impact of the pandemic on small and medium-sized businesses and now is the time to provide important skills, mentoring and funding advice so that we can support local economies to recover and thrive.”

Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, Leader of Bury Council, said: “Our partnership with Barclays through this initiative is incredibly important for our immediate recovery from Covid and our long term ambitions for Bury. As a Council, we know how vital small and medium-sized businesses are to our economy and local communities. This additional support from Barclays will therefore greatly complement the plans we have at the Council to deliver the strongest possible recovery for local businesses.“

The Thriving Local Economies initiative was initially launched in Bury in 2018, however, as the pandemic has brought new challenges, the initiative has shifted focus to identify how local economies can recover from the effects of Covid and how Barclays can support them in doing so.

The business programmes are the first in a series of packages of support to be announced throughout the year in Bury, which will further aid local businesses, provide access to skills and training and boost the aspiration and confidence of young people in the local community.

Businesses wishing to access the Back to Business or Funding Readiness programmes should visit: labs.barclays/capital-enterprise and https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/executive-education/barclays/barclays-back-to-business-programme/ .

KOMI Group hits top 10 list of most successful social video publishers in the UK

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KOMI Group – the Manchester headquartered social media, marketing and licensing company – has been named as one of the UK’s top 10 most successful social video publishers by Tubular which is the measurement standard for online video, and is widely cited by the global industry and press for the very latest in video insights, trends and strategy.

KOMI sat in ninth place in the Tubular Awards 2021 with an average of 55 million monthly unique viewers across Facebook and YouTube last year. For the first time, Tubular ranked companies by unique viewers, not just views. KOMI was the youngest firm named in the UK list which was topped by the BBC. Others in the top 10 included Endemol Shine Group, the Daily Mail and Channel 4.

Andrew Trotman – MD of KOMI – said: “2020 was an unprecedented year of growth for us so being recognised by such an important and respected organisation is testament to the creativity, strategic thinking and hard work of our teams. We see this as recognition of our efforts and it’s a fantastic achievement for such a young business to be listed alongside some the country’s most powerful media companies.”

KOMI Group firm is a three divisional agency business consisting of dedicated social media, marketing, and licensing teams. It was founded in 2016 and is led by Andrew Trotman and Ryan Williams. Over the past four years, its team of content creators, analysts and video producers have made and then distributed video content and viral campaign adverts for international brands such as BBC Films, O2, Universal, Bud Light and Disney.

Content has been shared across its Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts including It’s Gone Viral, which is dedicated to relatable, informative and educational content; as well as Go Fetch, a platform for dog lovers to connect with one another; Happiest, which focusses on bringing the most entertaining and uplifting content and real life stories; and Ultimate which is all about sharing fascinating and clever DIY, crafts and hacks followers can do at home.

The last year has seen the company reach other various milestones including launching Ark Media – its new licensing arm, delivering over six billion views across its portfolio of pages, relocating its HQ to Beehive Mill in Ancoats, reporting its highest ever NewsWhip results, acquiring social media brand Happiest Media Ltd and appointing Urban Splash’s Sam Lenehan as its new non-exec director.

In December 2020, the company delivered two Facebook Lives which ranked number one and number two in the most viewed Live videos for that week. One was for the website gofetchstuff.com, which achieved 1.3m views on It’s Gone Viral, and the other was a live Santa’s grotto which saw children speaking to Father Christmas about their Christmas lists – it gathered 1.5m views.

Aberla announces new chairman

North-West based energy and utility infrastructure specialist, Aberla Group, has announced the appointment of Ben Whawell, the former chief financial officer of Stobart Group, as non-executive chairman with effect from January 2021.

Mike Fletcher will step down from his current position as Aberla’s chairman to allocate more time to focus on his new business venture, multi-family investment office Arete Capital Partners, and to devote more time to his chairman position at AIM listed Energy plc.

Mike has been chairman of Aberla since 2015, where the company’s annual turnover has grown from start up to a £15m enterprise employing 47 people. Mike will continue to serve as a non-executive director.

Mike Fletcher commented, “I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve achieved at Aberla over the last five years. I’ve enjoyed my time as chairman supporting the ambitions of Paul and our management team and seeing the business flourish.

Ben Whawell is well known to me and was identified early on as someone who brings a wealth of operational experience and drive, I’m delighted that we have managed to secure his services. I look forward to working with Ben and the rest of the Board to delivering our next phase of growth.”

Ben Whawell brings over 16 years’ service in the energy industry and previous roles include 10 years as chief financial officer of Stobart Group and 4 years as chief executive officer of Stobart’s Energy division.

During his time with Stobart, Ben was part of the team which led the improvement in the Group’s share price from £1.30 to £3.00, raised £250m in equity and increased the Energy divisions’ EBITDA by 165% from £9.1m to £24.2m.

His success as a leader was recognised across industry, as Whawell was awarded the North West Finance Director of the Year Award on three occasions, in 2009, 2012 and 2013, and the Large Company Finance Director of the Year Award in 2012, which speaks to the quality of his work and his pedigree.

Ben Whawell, Aberla’s new non-exec chairman said, “I am delighted to have been offered the opportunity to become chairman of Aberla. I greatly value the support already shown to me by the Board, and I look forward to working with them.

Aberla has enjoyed superb levels of growth in recent times, and they have the ingredients and the processes in place to be an industry leader. I look forward to being part of their journey.”

Ben will provide Aberla with valuable knowledge and skills in developing strategy and evaluating business opportunities, alongside a strong understanding of the energy sector. His proven track record of strong and dedicated leadership will help take Aberla to the next level.

Paul McCarren, CEO at Aberla said, “We’re really looking forward to Ben joining us and to working with him over the coming months and years. We have ambitious plans and are looking to continuously evolve the business. Having someone of Ben’s calibre and expertise will have immediate benefits.

I’d also like to thank Mike for his commitment to Aberla over the past five years and the role he’s played in developing the organisation.”

The Aberla Group incorporates Aberla Energy, Aberla Utilities and Aberla M&E, and operates across the UK. With the Group head office in Warrington and an M&E office in Manchester, the business has investor backing from Praetura Group Ltd and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

Hill Dickinson’s national corporate team exceeds £2.5bn deal value in record 2020 performance

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Leading commercial law firm Hill Dickinson has reported on the successful completion of corporate transactions in 2020 with an aggregate transaction value worth over £2.6 billion.

The transaction value represents an increase of £1 billion on 2019 figures, having advised on more than 150 completed deals in 2020, almost double the number of transactions it completed in 2019.

This performance ranks Hill Dickinson as the second most active legal adviser in the North West in the highly regarded Experian 2020 annual league table, published on 29 January 2021, and the firm’s Corporate and Banking team across all UK offices in 20th place nationally

The 150 completed transactions spanned a wide range of sectors, markets and jurisdictions.

Notable highlights include:

LEVELLING-UP COMMITMENTS, DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND SKILLS SUPPORT TOP BUDGET WISH LIST FOR NORTH WEST BUSINESSES

Business leaders in the North West are calling for next month’s Budget to prioritise commitments to level up the region, increase support for digital transformation, and provide incentives for employers to invest in skills development and talent attraction.

These are the top asks reported in a survey of the region’s leading mid-market businesses, carried out by Grant Thornton UK LLP earlier this month.

Despite the ongoing challenges posed by COVID-19, business sentiment in the North West was largely positive, with more than 40% of respondents very optimistic about revenue growth over the remainder of the year, and 48% at least somewhat optimistic.

This corresponded with overall confidence on the outlook for the UK economy with four in 10 business leaders feeling very positive about the outlook for the country in the months ahead.

There was some inter-regional variation on which COVID-19 support measures would be most helpful to extend. Business leaders in the Liverpool City Region (LCR) called for the COVID-19 Corporate Financing Facility to continue, with 46% citing it as the most important, compared to just a third of respondents nationally. One in four Greater Manchester-based businesses want the Chancellor to extend the business rates holiday as a priority. This was also cited as a key support measure by 30% of LCR respondents.

In a list of longer-term policies aimed at eliciting structural change, almost a third (29%) of North West leaders want Rishi Sunak to unveil tangible commitments to levelling up, with more devolution and investment in the region.
Other top priorities differed slightly between the North West’s two largest city-regions. Businesses in the Liverpool City Region called for more support and incentives to encourage businesses to invest in skills and training.
The report found this was the overwhelming priority with 40% of businesses demanding the Budget to deliver in this area.
In Greater Manchester, support for businesses to adopt and benefit from digital transformation was flagged as a major priority, with 27% of businesses citing it as vital.

Carl Williams, North West Managing Partner at Grant Thornton said: “It’s unsurprising to see widespread calls for an extension to the business rates holiday. The North West has been particularly hard hit by restrictions placed on retail and leisure businesses. The Chancellor must continue to support them properly as we approach what we all hope is the end of lockdown.

“The overall sense of optimism amid mid-market business leaders is gratifying and tallies with our experience of advising clients during the pandemic. Across the board, they have demonstrated remarkable resilience, innovation, and spirit in the face of unprecedented challenge. It’s now time for a Budget which rewards this: with tangible financial commitments to the devolution agenda; and support for businesses to invest in the new skills, re-training, and digital ways of working which will be key for sustainable businesses and rewarding careers.”

4 Essential Time-Saving Tips For Small Business Owners

Time is money, and unfortunately, there never seems to be enough of it. That can be a real problem when you’re trying to get your small business off the ground. There are things you can do about this, though.

If you’re worried that you don’t have enough time to juggle everything right now, you might want to consider some of these tips. When implemented, they could potentially save you hours in the working week, freeing you up to tackle other tasks requiring your attention. At the very least, they’re worth giving a try.

Prioritise Employee Wellbeing

Whether you’re trying to save time or not, employee wellbeing is something you should always prioritise. You can’t make a business successful all your own, and it’s important to value the people who help make it big.

You can do this in many ways, from allowing greater flexibility in the workday to providing rewards for hard work and continued support. Essentially, you want to ensure that they have an excellent work-life balance where they enjoy the time spent at their job and are able to focus while doing it.

If you manage this, you’ll find that your employees are generally more productive, which means that more work gets completed during the day. Naturally, that helps save time because it lightens the workload and ensures you’re always ahead of the competition.

Outsource Where Necessary

To succeed, you don’t have to do everything yourself. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help, whether that means delegating tasks to employees or to others outside of the business.

Outsourcing is a common practice, with leaders hiring various companies to tackle jobs they don’t have the expertise to handle themselves. While this obviously costs money, it can actually be more cost-effective in the long run as you’re hiring people who can do what they’re assigned at an exceptional level.

Areas you might want to consider outsourcing include health and safety, web development, and digital marketing. The latter is of particular importance, as hiring professionals to handle things like search engine optimisation can make a significant difference to your online presence. You won’t have to sacrifice hours worrying about the kind of essential questions posed by Insight Success because you’ll have experts dealing with them for you. Instead, you can just focus on the tasks that require your attention while another company takes care of pulling you up the rankings.

Automate More Tasks

Automating everything might not be ideal for the growing number of people struggling to find jobs. However, delegating specific tasks to computers rather than human employees can undoubtedly save you a lot of time, and eliminate the risk of human error too.

Obviously, there are various jobs that are better done by you or your employees, rather than automated software. However, there’s no reason why some administration and accounting tasks have to be your responsibility when a computer is naturally better suited to them. By leaving them in automated hands, you avoid the hassle of data entry, allowing you to turn your attention to something that requires more thought power.

Switch To Cloud Computing

There’s a lot of debate over whether it’s better to use physical servers or cloud computing. Some side with the former as they fear that the cloud isn’t secure enough, what with it being online. Many, however, are beginning to realise all the benefits that come from the latter. Not only is it more flexible and cost-effective than physical servers, but it can be a huge time saver too.

This is because cloud computing doesn’t experience the same level of downtime as it’s not susceptible to physical degradation. Standard servers deteriorate over time, becoming slower and malfunctioning more year after year. In the moment, you don’t tend to realise how much of an impact this has on productivity, but it’s a different matter in hindsight.

By switching to the cloud, you can avoid a lot of that downtime, allowing you to complete tasks without any unnecessary distractions. What’s more, an online server means that access to essential documents and services isn’t restricted to the office, so employees are better able to work from home. If that’s where they’re most productive, that’s where you want them to be, so the cloud can be a huge help with that too.

Even if you’re only saving tiny bits of time here and there, it can still build up into something quite significant. Applying these tips may well make a considerable difference to your working week, and after seeing how much more you get done, it could change how your business functions forever. That might sound too good to be true, but until you try these changes out for yourself, you won’t know whether they’re the real deal or not.

Greater Manchester manufacturing boost as Made Smarter programme achieves government backing to continue

A pilot programme which has helped hundreds of Greater Manchester manufacturers access technology and digital tools to boost productivity, growth and create jobs, is to continue as part of a £8M government rollout.

The Made Smarter North West initiative becomes part of the government’s Made Smarter Adoption programme, which now expands into the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the West Midlands regions.

It means hundreds of more manufacturers in Greater Manchester will be able to learn how digital transformation can help them recover, grow, and create resilience.

Donna Edwards, Made Smarter’s North West Adoption Director, said: “I am delighted that the Government has continued to support the North West Adoption programme.

“Over the last two years we have worked tirelessly to drive digital technology usage among SME makers across the North West with significant success.

“The programme has proven the value technology can bring to the manufacturing sector. We have helped hundreds of North West makers start their digital journey by providing them with specialist advice to help them select the right approach, level of investment and tools for their business.

“With the additional funding, we are able to continue reaching out to the region’s SME manufacturers to connect them to the tools that will make an everyday difference to their businesses.”

Since it was launched two years ago, the North West technology adoption pilot has engaged with more than 350 businesses in Greater Manchester to help them introduce digital tools and technologies to boost productivity and growth, and navigate the impact of Covid-19.

More than 150 manufacturers have received intensive support including expert, impartial technology advice, digital transformation workshops to help manufacturers take their first steps to transform their business, a leadership programme, and funded digital technology internships.

Businesses have secured £885,000 matched funding for 47 projects, leveraging £2.2M of private sector investment.

The technology adoption projects are forecast to deliver an additional £33M in gross value added (GVA) for the Greater Manchester economy over the next three years, create 198 new jobs, and upskill 464 existing roles.

Juergen Maier, Co-Chair of Made Smarter UK and Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (GM LEP) board member, said: “The continuation of the Made Smarter Adoption pilot is fantastic news for manufacturers across Greater Manchester and the wider North West, as well as the new regions its benefits will spread to through this roll-out. The programme has already had an enormous impact, transforming businesses while bringing wider benefits for the environment and the economy.

“In Greater Manchester, Made Smarter is a key part of a broader strategy being led by the Graphene, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Alliance (GAMMA). We want the city-region’s manufacturing sector to be world-leading, and increased innovation and productivity are crucial to that ambition.

“Businesses that embrace digital tools will become more resilient, sustainable and productive, creating new jobs and opportunities and helping to drive our post-Covid economic recovery.”

The success of the North West Adoption programme will be celebrated at a free-to-access virtual conference, Made Smarter: The journey to digital manufacturing, on Wednesday, March 10.

Curated by manufacturers for manufacturers, the conference features an impressive line-up of industry heavyweights who will showcase the ‘why?’, ‘what?’ and ‘how?’ of digital manufacturing, including: Juergen Maier, Chair of the Digital Catapult and co-Chair of the Made Smarter Commission; Stephen Phipson, the Chief Executive of Make UK, the manufacturers’ organisation; Andrea Hough, Managing Director of ATEC Engineering Solutions; and Glyn Jones, Service Delivery Director at BAE Systems and Chair of the Made Smarter Pilot Steering Group.

They will be joined by a host of SME manufacturers sharing real-life stories of their experience of the North West Adoption programme including world leading puppet-makers MacKinnon and Saunders based in Altrincham and clothing manufacturer Creative Apparel, based in Stockport. Others include: Fabricon Design (Ashton Under Lyne), Arden Dies (Stockport), Bindatex (Bolton), Crystal Doors (Rochdale), and Starlight Bedrooms (Bolton).

Money Tips for First-Time Entrepreneurs

 

According to a study cited by Small Business Trends, around 82% of business failures can be attributed to poor cash management. This highlights just how crucial it is for first-time entrepreneurs to not just be well versed in managing people and operations, but also in making sound financial decisions. With that in mind, here are four money tips that every new business owner should know:

Start with proper planning

Most of the time, startups are not able to bounce back from financial challenges because they don’t have a clear business plan. If you want your business to be a success, it only makes sense to have a thorough and well thought of plan that outlines how you intend to realise your business idea. Business First details how the chances of getting funds is way higher for startups that have a clear business plan.

The same report notes how 36% of businesses that do curate business plans receive investment capital, 36% obtain bank loans, while 64% successfully turn their ideas into profitable organisations. On the other hand, only 18% of startups without a business plan get loan approval, 18% get capital funding, and only 40% actually succeed.

Get the right funding

These days, more and more organisations geared towards helping specific kinds of entrepreneurs are on the rise. For instance, there is Fund Her North, an investment collective that aims to invest in female-founded organisations across the North of England. Another example of such a collective is the CRACK IT Challenges, which supports businesses that work with educational organisations to solve business and scientific challenges.

Apart from tapping organisations like these, you would also want to connect with angel investors and venture capitalists. There are many ways this can be done. You can join angel investor networks or directly contact venture capitalists. To increase your chances of getting funding from these kinds of investors, polish your “elevator pitch” and improve your pitch deck. This way, you’ll be able to effectively pique their interests and get good funding for your startup. Remember, there’s even the possibility of raising capital through side hustles like teaching English with these online TEFL courses.

Don’t forget yourself

For many, having a business is a lifelong dream. And this fact, in combination with the great responsibility a business entails, makes it all too easy for new entrepreneurs to neglect their own wellbeing. Indeed, EQi points out that self-employed workers, in particular, are often left behind when it comes to retirement savings because many don’t set up a private pension. This can put you at risk in the future, so it is important to take the time to set up a Self-Invested Personal Pension on top of short-term savings for emergencies and slow months for your business.

This way, you can rest easy knowing you have a cushion. Aside from focusing on your financial wellbeing, it would also be a good idea to take steps that will ensure you are physically, mentally, and emotionally well. Financial stress can be especially taxing, so make sure to exercise, meditate, sleep well, and eat a balanced diet. When you are in tip-top shape, you will be a much more effective leader for the business you are trying to build. A9C661AE 8B12 4716 A91E 4F06A804BEBF 300x190 1

Have up-to-date accounting records

Most of the time, budding businesses operate with limited resources. This means that every single penny should be efficiently utilised. To ensure that every expense is worthwhile, make it a habit to keep up-to-date accounting records. An updated record-keeping system can help you track expenses, debts, and creditors. It could even help you easily apply for additional funding, as well as save time and accountancy costs.

In most cases, businesses could take a few years to get to that point where they can have a chance at making profits. Unsurprisingly, those years require funds and resources. To make sure that your business is able to get to that point, do have a solid plan, connect with the right organisations and people that can fund your business, don’t forget about yourself, and keep up-to-date records.

Code Computerlove announces Jones as joint MD in senior management reshuffle

Manchester-based digital product studio Code Computerlove has announced Rob Jones as joint Managing Director, alongside other senior level promotions, as Louis Georgiou takes a more active role at parent company MediaCom North and focuses on Code’s new consultancy services.

Rob, who has been with the agency for more than 13 years, was previously Client Services Director. He will now oversee the delivery of Code’s core products and services, while Louis focuses on the agency’s burgeoning Agile coaching and organisational design and transformation division. Louis will also be nurturing group-wide client relationships at MediaCom North where he forms part of their leadership team.

In the restructure, Gemma Handley has also been promoted to Commercial Director, while Claire Kerley has moved up to Delivery Director.

With 75 staff, Code Computerlove ranks as one of the leading digital product studios in the UK specialising in design, technology, product delivery, business strategy and coaching. Clients include Hillarys, BBC, JCT-600, AO.com, Sky Gaming and Manchester Airport. It was founded in 1999 by current CEO Tony Foggett, Louis Georgiou and Wini Tse, and became part of the Mediacom North group of businesses in 2016.

Louis Georgiou, Co-managing Director, said: “The role of our studio has evolved in recent years to meet the fast-changing needs of client partners. Not only do ambitious businesses come to us for the design and engineering of better digital experiences, but increasingly for coaching and consultancy where we support tech leaders with organisational change, agile transformation processes and helping them to create a culture that optimises effectiveness.

“Rob is highly experienced in helping clients to achieve their digital ambitions and has been an invaluable member of the senior leadership team engendering our continued growth. It will be a pleasure to continue to work alongside him in his new role.

“While 2020 was challenging for all, it has put our services front and centre for many businesses looking to accelerate the value we can achieve from their digital experiences and to operate with agility and speed. We’re in a great position to drive growth for Code this year and to continue to build on the successful changes we’ve implemented as a result of the pandemic.

“Our success has always been through our brilliant people and the exceptional talent we have within the studio, and I’m delighted to announce these promotions.”

Rob added: “To have the opportunity to work alongside Louis to lead Code into its next phase of growth is incredibly exciting and I look forward to delivering a refreshed focus on the development and delivery of digital products supported by such an exceptional team.

“We have the capability and vision to make real our ambition to be the partner of choice for digital products and services businesses, that will enhance our reputation as one of the best, and most fun, digital product studios to work with in the UK.”

AO appoints Director of Enterprise Platforms

Electricals retailer, AO announces today that Jasmin Allott has joined the business as Director of Enterprise Platforms and ERP.

In the newly created role, Jasmin will work closely with the retailer’s 300 strong, in-house tech team to deliver digital transformation across the AO Group, including the implementation of a Global ERP.

Discussing the new role, Jasmin said: “I couldn’t resist the opportunity to join a business at such a pivotal time in its journey. I’ve been impressed with AO’s journey to date, I am excited to help as we move forward into this next chapter.”

The appointment comes as the retailer looks to cement the shift to online shopping it has experienced over the last year. Jasmin’s role showcases a step change for the business as it continues to invest, transform, and align its systems to set it up for future growth.

AO’s Director of Group IT, Carl Phillips, said: “We are thrilled Jasmin has agreed to join the AO team and at such an exciting time for the business. Over the last 12months, customers have experienced a better way to shop for electricals and with Jasmin’s wealth of experience, we look forward to continuing to drive innovation through our tech team.”

As AO seeks to continue the increased demand for buying electricals online, it is recruiting further roles across its business. From supply chain to technology to marketing, all the roles help its customers get what they need, when they need it.