Put simply, hard coatings are specially formulated materials which are applied to plastic substrates in liquid form and cured usually using heat or UV energy. They can be applied using many different methods such as spray, flow, roll or dip coating.
Hard coatings offer plastic materials greater abrasion resistance, giving very strong and versatile material such as Polycarbonate a harder surface, enabling the material to be used in a wider variety of applications.
Such coatings also offer increased chemical resistance to plastic materials, which generally are easily damaged by harsh chemicals.
Other properties can be included within hard coatings such as UV resistance, Anti-Microbial properties and Anti-Glare.
The level of abrasion and chemical resistance can vary depending on the hard coatings formulation. Some coatings offer a lower abrasion resistance but in doing so offer an extended life under external weathering conditions.
Hard coatings can be applied to many substrates such as Polycarbonate, PMMA, PET, PVC and PETg in sheet form or mouldings.
Hard coatings can also be applied to some printed (digital and screen) or painted surfaces.
At Peerless we use UV technology to cure our coatings.
Our brand is Peeraguard and we currently offer the below coatings:
· Peeraguard Clear Coating – Our most popular coating, high abrasion/chemical resistance, with a high gloss finish.
· Peeraguard Optical Coating – All of the properties offered by Peeraguard Clear but with superior optical quality.
Whilst we digitise more of our everyday communications, the idea of face to face networking can be daunting. As technology becomes ever smarter and efficient at ensuring we’re connected all the time, it’s odd that actually making a real connection with a real person strikes fear into the heart of many. Not that there is anything wrong with connecting online, in fact such digital connections have impressive power to nurture and grow businesses (the irony of this being posted online is not lost on us). However,ahead of our attendance at the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce B2B event, we reflect on the benefits of unplugging how we connect once in a while. So here are our ‘5 Benefits to Face to Face Networking’…
1) Being Human
As with so many things, sometimes it’s not what you do, but how you do it…or in this case, say it. All too often messages shared online can be lost in translation. Unless you are a real Hemmingway of the web, messages shared in person tend to incorporate voice, body language, facial expressions and add much greater depth to what is being said. In turn this depth is communicated in your brand and how your business is perceived by others as more interesting, more genuine…and more human.
2) Escape the Online Vacuum
Digital marketing and the use of social media have been transformative tools in business interaction. However for most of us, business does not only exist in a vast online universe, it has to come back down to earth, with physical interactions important to get right. By networking face to face you are able to show off your personality that could otherwise struggle to breathe in the online vacuum and develop the communication skills key to business growth. As a result, face to face networking goes hand in hand with a joined up online & offline approach to networking, marketing and even general communications.
3) No Time Like the Present
During a conversation, you can tailor your message to an individual or group and receive feedback immediately. What you say to one person or group, may be very different to how you engage with another. Often within digital marketing, such as emails and social media, the same message can go out to everyone, whereas when you are face to face with potential clients and collaborators, you can tailor your message. You are able to respond to the feedback, be it verbal or indeed non-verbal in real-time. Not only does this make discussions faster, but often results in those involved feeling more valued too.
4) Real Becomes Digital
Once you have used the character of face to face networking to your advantage by showing off your glowing personality, communicating a deeper brand identity and perhaps shovelling warm pastries and coffee into your face…get digital. You’ve broken the ice and made a connection or two, and can add to your online profiles to continue the conversation online. There is the added benefit of bringing together the greater intimacy achieved in a face to face introductions with the ease of further communication online, nurturing your new contact even if you do not see them again in person.
5) Concrete Connections
Like. Retweet. Share. Repeat.
Sound familiar? Often this can be the level at which online engagement remains, and it can be handy. However people we meet and form bonds with in person will reliably yield working relationships with greater longevity and robustness to stand the test of time. It can also be hard to hear a genuine voice in an online sea of likes, thumbs up and tags that would drown out even the most booming voice. Why only fight for a quantity of attention online, when you can have the quality face to face attention that could put you ahead of competition who don’t unplug from time to time?
So there you have it our ‘5 Benefits of Face to Face Networking’, we hoped you enjoyed reading & we will see you at B2B!
Today is Time to Talk day, a day which aims to get people talking about mental health. And employers have a crucial role to play in destigmatising mental health issues.
But they can only do this by creating workplaces, where it is ‘safe’ to talk. Where it’s ok to not be ok.
There are some fundamental building blocks needed to create this environment and perhaps first of all is leadership. Leaders set the tone for an organisation so they need to be talking about mental health and setting the standards for the organisation. They need to normalise mental health through their leadership and provide the strategic direction for the delivery of activities to support mental wellbeing.
The manager is key too and I have written about the role of managers in supporting mental health in the workplace. Managers are in a great position to be able to identify signs and offer support but to do this, they need to have clarity about their role in supporting mental health in the workplace, understand the signs and symptoms to look out for, and feel confident to have conversations about mental health.
Communications are vital too and the employer needs to proactively share what is available and use language which normalises mental health. This, however, can be undermined by the dialogue which is taking place in the workplace – whilst a company may offer counselling, an individual’s willingness to access such support will be minimised if derogatory language is tolerated in the working environment. This needs to be challenged, but also, employees need to have access to mental health awareness training which gives them the insight and understanding needed.
Employers also need to consider their policies and procedures – are they giving opportunity for conversation or are they too directive? By having HR processes – such as 121s – which give equal opportunity for manager and employee to speak will help to build an ongoing conversation.
The organisation can also demonstrate that this is a safe place to talk by making commitments – to Mindful Employer, or to Time to Change, or indeed through their own organisational values. This is a loud and clear sign that the employer supports its people talking about their mental health.
And companies also need to think about what else they can offer – where they can signpost and guide an employee for support, to occupational health or talking therapies, for example. Because once an employee starts to talk, an employer needs to be ready.
People need to feel empowered to talk about their mental health. And employers have a great opportunity to support them to do this.
In today’s workplace, the transactional employee/employer relationship is – rightly – becoming a thing of the past. Companies are recognising that they cannot expect motivation and satisfaction through financial incentives alone. People need to feel engaged, connected, empowered – and in doing so, be motivated to deliver – more, often, – for an employer.
To increase motivation and satisfaction, employers need to develop and deliver targeted and relevant activities that engage and thus motivate and satisfy, including at key employment points, such as during recruitment, onboarding, and development. These engagement activities are absolutely essential for companies to deliver their business objectives – it is through involved and satisfied people that organisations will thrive.
And as well as employee engagement, companies also have an opportunity to connect with potential and past employees – and bring business benefits in doing so.
There is huge scope for employers to connect with potential employees through their external communications and engagement activities – and this may be long before a potential employee even considers a role with the organisation. The way that companies present themselves, through their external communications activities, through their charitable and community support, will have a significant impact on how they are perceived. As well as considering what external engagement activities they should deliver – be it media relations, social media, sponsorship, for example – companies also need to be mindful of the key messages they are sharing across their communications. Employers need to put their very ethos, their purpose, and above all, their values at the heart of their communications and engagement activities in an open and consistent way. Because these messages are what people will connect with – and which will ultimately attract applicants who share similar beliefs.
It is these activities – combined with the advocacy of existing motivated and satisfied employees who are benefiting from positive and proactive internal engagement and communications – which will help a company to become an employer of choice. And which will create that pull to a company which is perceived as a ‘great place to work.’
There is also opportunity to engage those who have left the organisation positively. The way that companies manage the ‘ending’ with those who are moving on is vital because these ex-employees also become advocates – or otherwise – for the organisation. And so, companies need to make an employee feel valued throughout the leaving process – with recognition and appreciation, and engagement through, for example, truly effective and two-way exit interviews (the name of which, in itself, is rather disengaging). How a resigning or retiring employee is treated at this key time is crucial as it can colour their whole view of the organisation – and how they speak about the employer afterwards.
And once an individual is no longer an employee, a company can still keep them engaged through an ‘alumni’ scheme. This could include keeping them updated on progress through sharing the company newsletter, or through an annual Christmas or birthday card. This approach will help an ex-employee to feel valued for the contribution that they made, and still feel connected to the company – ‘part of the family’. A company which takes this approach will benefit from hugely powerful advocates within the community who will be in a position to influence others to want to work for that organisation. And, it may also encourage the ex-employee to return should an appropriate opportunity arise.
Employee engagement is crucial to business success as it is through people that objectives and performance are delivered. And more far-reaching engagement can also bring enormous benefits, not least around who wants to work with and for an organisation. A company which looks at these wider engagement activities can truly become an employer of choice.
To discover more about engagement, engage with us [email protected]
The answer we were all waiting for? Raspberry Ripple.
Maybe it was the tempting twist of colour, perhaps the combination of flavours, we’re not sure…but the number one flavour of Norfolk B2B 2018 was indeed, raspberry ripple. Visitors ate up our quirky take on the flavours of Image Display and Graphics. Creative design, events, project management and exhibition build all featured on the menu as we used a vibrant custom light-box, floor graphics and bespoke counter to serve up our key services. That’s not all that exhibitors and visitors had a taste for, with a definitive air of creativity & diversity across the event. Attracting over 100 exhibitors, with opportunities to network, learn new skills and forge meaningful connections, Norfolk B2B serves as a great introduction to the benefits of live events.
Speaking with Mark Shields of the EDP, we highlighted the impressive creativity on show, with Iain Cosham, managing director of Image Display & Graphics sharing that ‘this year we’ve helped more people to be a bit more interactive – just because it’s a B2B event doesn’t mean it can’t be fun and entertaining’. Attending the B2B exhibition since the early 1990s, we have certainly seen an evolution in how businesses approach their events, even on a more intimate scale. From VR to themed putting greens, more businesses are considering how to create an experience that immerses visitors and position that all-important ‘interesting angle’ that sets them apart from the crowd.
It’s exciting to see the local business community buying into the value of events, beginning to cultivate their own strategies, experiences and aspirations. Nova Fairbank, public affairs manager at the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce also spoke with Mark Shields of the EDP. Sharing a wider theme shared across events success stories like Norfolk B2B, Ms Fairbank said the next event will be ‘even bigger and better’. Exhibitions and live events continue to grow as one of the most successful marketing platforms in the world, with local iterations like Norfolk B2B the ideal entrée. If you and your business have developed a taste for events there is a whole buffet of opportunities out there, you just need to let us know – what’s your flavour?
thepensioncounter.com; an insight into early stage business
Chadwick’s Daniel Harvey takes us through his experience of launching a start-up technology business: thepensioncounter.com
It is important to keep learning in business. Norfolk has some of the UK’s most innovative and ambitious small businesses. Here we look at an example of the lessons and highs that come from running a project from the ground up.
Daniel Harvey is the Special Projects lead at UEA-based advisory firm Chadwicks. Joining as a graduate trainee in January 2014, he founded thepensioncounter.com. the following year when he saw a need to help payroll bureaux, accountants and employers comply with workplace pension reforms.
Here Daniel shares the highs and lows of building a business to meet a new market.
How did the project start?
“I was helping one of our corporate clients with their pension scheme. I soon realised how tricky the new legislation [workplace pension reform] was making the whole process of managing a company pension scheme. We like to think inventively here at Chadwicks; my idea was to simplify the processes that go on behind setting up your company pension scheme. Our aim was to make the whole thing a lot easier for everyone involved.”
“It was one of my first projects working at Chadwicks. The company is a bit different, we encourage and back innovative ideas. As a graduate, leading the project was an opportunity I do not think I would have got anywhere else. It was partly what attracted me to work here.”
What was one of your highlights on the project?
“There are many highs when setting out on a project like thepensioncounter, especially as I was given a lot of responsibility right out of the gate.”
“I would have to say my biggest highlight was Sage tweeting about our webinar. Sage is a giant multinational company with 14,000 employees with a large user base from which to promote us. Something as simple as that tweet was a great source of pride. We had worked hard and to be recognised by a multinational company such as Sage was a landmark moment.”
What have you learned most from your time working on the project?
“At Chadwicks we consider ourselves a learning organisation. We strive to keep learning new stuff and developing new skills regardless of what it is. We really champion our relationships with our clients and I think thepensioncounter was a lesson in the importance of developing meaningful relationships.”
“One of thepensioncounter’s USPs was its process. It was hassle free and required minimal engagement from businesses to streamline the process of auto enrolment. As a result we were hindered in actually connecting with the businesses we were targeting. This lack of direct contact made it harder for us to maximise the potential of the relationships we were building.”
“I think it was a very positive learning project. These are experiences that I think have made me a better advisor and a better strategist going forward.”
Summary
Daniel will be speaking about his experiences at Chadwicks Insight Masterclass on Wednesday 14th November where the theme will be early stage investing. Daniel will be joined by innovation specialist Dr Clive Edmonds, founder of Scienta Group and Saffron Myhill-Hunt who, as innovation funding manager at the Low Carbon Innovation Fund, brings her practical experience of investing in early stage businesses.
Volkswagen confirm manufacturing of the VW Beetle will cease in 2019.
Since the beginning of production, the Volkswagen Beetle has been world renowned for its ergonomic design, curved body and round headlights. Following a decline in sales, Volkswagen have confirmed that manufacturing of the Beetle will cease in 2019 after the release of two special edition models.
These are the celebrationary Edition Models. Image obtained from VW Media.
These 3rd generation coupe and convertible bugs will be released in two brand new hues, beige and blue, in addition to the standard colour collection.
‘The people’s car’ has become iconic within its 70 years of production despite its Nazi roots. Sales peaked in the 1960’s when it became the biggest selling foreign car on the US market- a response to the 1968 Disney movie ‘The Love Bug’ featuring the autonomous and loveable ‘Herbie’.
The love bug Herbie takes on the racing competition.
The Beetle has only gone through two full redesigns during its lifetime, yet the original shape embodies the essence and true character of this Bug. The value of the first-generation Beetle is expected to increase, especially if they have original features like the split screen.
The firm’s chief US executive Hinrich Woebcken captured fanatics devastation of the news in his comment “The loss of the Beetle will evoke a host of emotions from the Beetle’s many devoted fans.” However, he then sparked hope when he revealed “I would never say never” to resurrecting the Beetle again. Enthusiasts around the world are wondering the same thing -Is this truly the end for the Volkswagen Beetle?
The priority for Volkswagen at the moment is to concentrate on developing, manufacturing and producing electric vehicles in an attempt to fulfil their green initiative.
We cannot know for sure if this is the end of the Beetle, but we can admire its quirky charm.
Please share what your favourite memories of the VW Beetle is on our Social Media pages: @Chatsbrook.
For more information on our products and services, contact 01603 733500 or email [email protected] today.
We were approached by Westcountry Estate Planning to help maximise their rankings on Google for a number of key terms relating to later life solutions including estate planning, funeral plans, family trusts and property protection trusts. With a new site built on Wix.com, we were asked to help optimise the site from head-to-toe and ensure that can be found on search engines, specifically in the South-West of England in areas such as Cornwall, Devon, Truro and Plymouth.
Cleaning up the site
Using a popular SEO tool called Screaming Frog, we were able to crawl every page on the website and ensure that everything was optimised to include key terms, specifically in the:
h tags/titles
meta titles
meta descriptions
meta keywords (removed)
internal links
The idea is to have one specific page for every main keyword you want to target and not overlap with several pages. Your homepage is always your strongest page so we used this to focus the keyword ‘estate planning’ and then having separate landing pages for things like will writing, funeral plans, trusts etc
New Steps
Once the site is optimised on a basic level, we then have to look at bulking it up in terms of content and links. Naturally, a site with very good content and a lot of good links is going to outrank a site that does not. Slowly but surely, we are ramping up the content that we are adding to the site in the form of useful guides and typical questions that people would ask relating to later life planning. The links we acquire must come from relevant sources, either in the local area, or relating to senior living – hence we have reached out to news sites in the South-West of England and sites that really talk about senior life, hence we have already approached another partner at Perfect Funeral Plans.
Conversion Optimisation
SEO is a process and it takes time not only to rank on Google (3-6 months) but also time to get everything on board for the client. Ideally, we will need to make some subtle changes to the existing content and make additions to improve conversions. Common techniques include adding a phone number and email address on the top of every page and adding clear contact forms so an enquiry is just one click away.
Combined with good rankings on Google and a good user experience to get conversions, we are on track to making this campaign a real success.
There are likely to be many reasons and scenarios as to why you miss calls. Perhaps you have insufficient staff but can’t justify recruiting anyone else or much of your day is spent in meetings. You don’t have back up during peak holiday times or when an employee is off sick. Maybe there is a problem with the phone line itself.
Whatever it is, have you considered what image this may be portraying to the outside world? How your prospects and customer may feel when they can’t reach you and how this could have a very negative impact on your business?
Your customers shoes…
When a call is missed, there will be one of three things that your caller is experiencing…whilst reading through these it’s worth thinking about a time when you needed to reach someone you wanted to do business with.
1. They call, the call rings out before they hang up 2. They call, the line is engaged, or they are put on hold for a long period of time before hanging up 3. They get your voicemail option
Regardless of the scenario that your customer is faced with, it’s frustrating. In most cases, they are calling you to either find out more about your product/service or to discuss a purchase they have already made.
Calling for the first time
When someone is calling you for the first time and is unable to get through, it just looks like their call is unimportant to you and that, should they eventually place their order and there is a problem, they will have issues getting this resolved.
Existing customers
If they are an existing customer wanting to discuss their purchase, missing their call will leave them feeling neglected and a little helpless particularly if their call is already relating to an issue that they need to get resolved.
It’s worth remembering at this point that people will shout a lot more about a bad experience than they will a good one. Social media and our impulsive review culture is fantastic for generating sales but can also be your biggest enemy.
First impressions count…
Using a call answering service such as Pocket Receptionist will significantly improve your reputation almost overnight and even if your caller’s issue can’t be resolved on that first call, they have been acknowledged – that makes a massive difference and shows that you value them!
In order to get working on the website of our client Trovex, we had to spend some time getting familiar with the services they offer and the general get to know the general tone of their company so that we could reflect this in their content and meta-data. This is always a vital part of working with any company as we want any content on their site to appeal to their target audience.
Trovex provides superior hygienic surfaces and systems for walls, ceilings, doorsets and washrooms. All the while, their solutions work to enhance the hygiene and functionality in healthcare, leisure, hospitality and commercial environments.
Trovex’s client base was very impressive, including the NHS, and they have many years of experience. As a digital marketing company, some of these terms are very specific so we had to take time to develop an undetstanding of the product and how we could target them effectively on Google. Our keyword research and approach is moving away from very specific projects to more general times such as commercial washrooms, bathroom suppliers and hospital refurbishments.
Meta-Data
In SEO, one of the most important things to get right is the meta-date of a website. This includes meta-descriptions, meta-title and alt-text on images. In these are not all correctly optimised it can seriously damage the websites ranking potential. In fact, good optimisation of keywords in the meta-titles can be the difference between ranking on the first couple of pages and the last few pages.
We ran a standard health check on the Trovex website. From this, it became clear that each page was missing a meta-description and the images present on the site did not feature an alt-text. Therefore, we made it our priority to getting working on writing these up and adding them in across the entire site and all of its 111 pages.
Crawl Errors and Response Codes
If you want a website to rank well on a search engine, then you will need to turn your attention to the health of the websites to identify whether there are any crawl errors or broken response codes which might affect it. These are broken links on the website, broken pages and any links that are redirecting to others – but by cleaning everything up, you enable a much smoother indexing of the website.
The initial results for Trovex in the first month are extremely positive. Once the site has been fully fixed from a health check perspective, we then need to scale our SEO activity through useful content relating to hygience and bathrooms and generating links from strong, trusted resouces in the health and business sector.
Over the last few weeks this column has looked at the various stages of a marketing strategy. It’s gone from building awareness with your prospects to being found at the research or comparison stages through to the actual point of all this marketing effort: the conversion, or sale. We have looked briefly at some really big subjects and mentioned products in passing that really do need explaining more thoroughly. It is true that the devil is in the detail – there truly aren’t shortcuts to success. Marketing a business needs to be a well planned and thought-out affair, and to avoid it also being cripplingly expensive, a business must be able to understand which product might give the needed outcome. It becomes even more tricky when you factor in the chaos that is people. People are active on social media in the evening, looking at purchases on a desktop computer during their lunch hour, and searching on their mobile phone while walking the high street. Getting people (or potential customers) to your business can be like herding cats. Your potential customers are all over the place: gone are the days when ads in the Yellow Pages and local newspapers covered all bases, now your customers can be anywhere and looking for you at any time of day. Advertising success for a business now comes from understanding all of the platforms, methods and routes to your market. Over the next couple of weeks we will look at the individual tools you can use in a little more detail. We will have a look at display and brand building advertising, websites, PPC, SEO and social media in a little more detail. Each week we will take a different group of products and highlight their strengths, the best way to use them and if you are interested we will point you to some useful content on our website for more help. If you want to get started, and build the basis for a good marketing strategy you can start looking at an overview of marketing tools and purchase funnels.
FKGB Accounting was named after its founders, Farley Kaye and Gary Bloch. An accountancy firm originating from London, England, the company has moved to Tel Aviv in Israel to assist individuals and companies who are trading in both countries. With Israel having a fast moving tech, research and development and pharmaceutical industry, there is huge scope for companies to work with FKGB.
We were approached by the client to help their website rank in Israel (google.co.il) for UK accountants in Israel. So if you are an Israeli company and looking for specific accountants with a knowledge and understanding of the UK, FKGB would be the right fit for you. This can relate to companies or individuals too and how it affects their trusts, inheritance and finances too.
Updating their website
FKGB have just launched a new website and when doing this, you need to do a full SEO check to ensure that you do not lose any of your rankings. Several anomalies can occur including missing meta-data, descriptions, crawl errors and broken pages which emerge as a result of new URLs and pages being changes. This was the first priority for the SEO work we did, going through every single page and making sure that it is optimised. We also went through over 100 images on the website and added alt-text which Google looks for to read the image more effectively. Other additions included the generation of a new sitemap, robots txt file and settings on Yoast SEO.
Next steps
As we continue with SEO with FKGB over the next few months, we have to position FKGB as the one-stop shop and the ‘go-to’ place for UK accountants in Israel. This will be achieved through the additional of regular content (one news or article per week) and the acquisition of relevant links from Israeli-based news and finance websites – with relationships already sparked with the likes of Arutz Sheva and The Jerusalem Post.
Elsewhere, we need to ensure that the search results are not just in English but Hebrew too – so we have suggested the addition of landing pages written in Hebrew so that we can cover all our bases.
In the first month, we did not only maintain the strong search results but also lifted them significantly as FKGB ranks number 1 in Israel for ‘British Accountants’ – we will therefore scale our strategy to incorporate other keywords too.