Member Blog

All businesses and all websites go through a redesign at one point or another. There is never a perfect time to redesign or a perfect time to launch the redesign when you have it, but it is an important part of all websites and businesses. We have recently worked with the design team at Keren’s Nursery, who are an Ofsted Outstanding rated nursery in London, with 3 branches.

With a new site and design and a website that performs better than ever, there are a number of lessons to be learnt from a redesign.

Think About Your Audience

It may sound obvious but it is something often overlooked. Every website and business will have a different audience. Even for websites in the same industry, it is likely their key audience and clientele will be slightly different from that of their competitors. Thus, it is crucial to understand what your audience want when it comes to things like:

• Imagery
• Colour schemes
• Site features
• Services offered
• Information presented

Website Performance

One of the most overlooked elements of any website is how it performs. For example, a slow website is much more likely to cause potential customers and clients to leave and not come back.

Therefore, think about the speed and performance upon interaction of your website. There are some technical and sometimes complicated things to think about here but there are also some simple things you can do to improve the overall speed, performance and day to day running of your website:

• Enable browser caching
• Make your website mobile friendly
• Avoid using large image and media files
• Try to avoid using JavaScript (JS)
• Use a search engine-friendly content management system (CMS)

What Are You Writing About?

Content research is a fundamental part of any website and marketing campaign. After all, you need to speak to your audience and customers in a way your competitors do not. Therefore, make sire to spend the time undertaking the necessary content research so that whatever you write on your website is relevant and of interest to your audience as well as any audience of your competitors. Also, make sure all your content is optimised for search engine optimisation (SEO). Bear in mind that SEO-optimised content does not need to have a whole bunch of keywords forced and stuffed into the content.

What Does Your Website Do?

This may seem obvious but is easy to forget. For example, if your website is selling physical items, it will be important that the checkout process is seamless and adding items to a basket should be fast and easy. In the case of a service, data capture and utilisation are likely to be very important. You will need to ensure that users who contact you and your company can be effectively filtered and leads followed up for a potential sale.

When it comes to the imagery and any visuals, these are very important however, make sure that they do not obstruct or get in the way of the core features of the website.

When it comes to search engine optimisation (SEO), there are a number of ‘ranking factors,’ basic online practices and factors which ae accepted by marketers, Google and other search engines to help your website rank and be found that bit better online. Accepted and well-known factors include the likes of good, well researched and useful content on websites, maintaining a fast website (with regards to loading speeds) and using a logical or brand-related web domain.

However, there are some differences and considerations that are specific to particular industries and types of websites. Google specifically refer to ‘your money your life’ for example which, as the name suggests, covers websites in niches that may influence and affect people’s money and their life.

Common examples include healthcare, medicine, loans and insurance, money-related services (such as transferring money abroad) and even mental health (source: GlobMed).

There are various key reasons as to why these industries are singled out in this way over others. In the case of money-related services and offerings, like loans and the direct provision or brokering of personal or commercial finance, bad decisions in these areas may lead to financial ruin for people who fall foul.

In the past and in the UK (before 2014) there were numerous nefarious companies who exploited Google’s algorithm and were able to rank for certain types of loans. This led to people being provided loans by loan sharks and less than reputable companies.

In the case of health, wellness and medicine, the implications of bad information or less than accurate information being disseminated online, the implications can, again, be huge. For example, in the case of diagnoses or understanding a particular disease, illness, syndrome or otherwise, the wrong information, in the worst cases can prove life threatening.

When it comes to health and medicine, only reputable sites, including the likes of the NHS in the UK and the CDC in the USA as well as other sites with clear and reputable medical credentials should be read and taken into account.

Google and other search engines understand this and with the very premise of any search engine (including Google, Yahoo, Bing, Baidu, Yandex and others) being the delivery of accurate and helpful information, this is a key tenet to their business and what they do. Therefore, search engines (and in recent times social media outlets) work very hard to ensure their algorithms weed out the bad and inaccurate information, rather promoting the accurate and legitimate information.

The importance of your money your life is getting ever greater, with more people and companies than ever able to publish more than ever over a huge number of platforms including social media networks, blogs and websites and other internet forums.

There’s no doubt that every consumer wants to know whether or not the smartphone handset they have decided to get is going to be the best value for them. Today, there are tons of different mobile phone handsets available with something for everybody whether you’re looking for a basic handset you can use to keep in touch with friends or want the latest handset on the market. If you want to save money on your next mobile phone handset and want to make your phone-buying process more environmentally-friendly, you might be thinking about investing in a refurbished handset rather than buying brand-new.

What Happens During Refurbishment?

If you are considering buying a refurbished mobile phone handset, it’s important to be aware of what goes on during the refurbishment process. This involves returning a used smartphone to either a manufacturer or a repair shop who will fix any major or minor issues with the handset. Once the refurbishment process is complete, the phone will once again be able to function as a new phone would. For the best results, it’s worth only opting for smartphones that have been refurbished to a high standard by professional, manufacturer-approved technicians.

There are several different types of refurbished phones available. If you want a cheaper deal, you could go for a phone that has some cosmetic signs of wear and tear like small scratches and scuffs on the body, or if you want a phone that looks and feels brand-new, go for a handset that has been refurbished to a higher standard, including all cosmetic issues dealt with. As long as you choose a phone that has been refurbished by a professional and is covered with a warranty, there should be nothing to worry about. So, what are some of the best reasons to purchase refurbished for your next smartphone handset?

Save Money

Buying a refurbished phone allows you to save money in many different ways. Perhaps you have always wanted to get a high-end smartphone but cannot justify paying a lot of money for one upfront or don’t want to be tied into a long smartphone contract for the next two years. In this case, buying refurbished can certainly help you save. You can get high-end, new smartphone models at a fraction of the price that you would normally pay for them brand new. And, since many refurbished phones are for sale to purchase outright, you will have more freedom over how you choose to pay for the usage.

You can look for cheap SIM only deals that will help you save money on the minutes, data and texts that you use on a month-to-month basis. Lebara’s cheap sim only deals are available on a thirty-day rolling basis with no obligation to stick around for any longer, allowing you to be flexible when it comes to how much you pay for your phone monthly and easily change how much you pay for based on what you need at any given time. In addition, Lebara offer international minutes included with all plans and there is no credit check required to sign up, making it ideal for customers with poor credit who might struggle to get other options.

Like-New Phone

As long as you do your research and purchase a smartphone that has been refurbished to a high standard by the manufacturer or an approved seller, you will have a smartphone that functions and looks like a brand-new phone. While there might be some small differences such as unbranded packaging or alternative charging cables, the phone itself will appear new and you will definitely still get that new-phone feeling when you take it out of the box and set it up, at a fraction of the price that you would actually pay for a brand-new handset.

Better for the Environment

If you are concerned about the environment and want to make more eco-conscious choices with your future purchases, buying your next handset refurbished is the way forward. Refurbished handsets are much better for the environment, not least because they are giving used handsets a new lease of life and preventing them from going into landfill. Dumped smartphones have a nasty effect on the environment, so the more that this is prevented, the better. Buying a refurbished smartphone handset is one of the most environmentally friendly steps that you can take these days when buying new tech. Refurbished handsets reduce the demand for brand-new smartphones, which in turn helps to keep the damage to the environment caused by factories down.  

Quality-Certified

As long as you choose to purchase your smartphone from a manufacturer or an approved retailer who has a good reputation for refurbishing phones to a high standard, you can be sure of the quality that you are going to get. A smartphone that is refurbished to a high standard will be repaired in a way that means that it can work just as well as you would expect a new and unopened smartphone handset would. A good manufacturer or retailer who refurbishes phones will put them through a wide range of different quality checks before listing for sale to ensure that the quality of the phone is perfect and that there are no problems.

Warranties and Guarantees

While you can purchase a second-hand smartphone from a friend or on Facebook Marketplace, the issue here is that if something goes wrong with your handset in the future, you don’t have many options to consider unless you are paying for additional gadget insurance. On the other hand, many refurbished smartphone handsets will be covered by a warranty for the first few months or even years, which is provided by the manufacturer or retailer. With this, you have the peace of mind that if something goes wrong with your refurbished phone you will easily be able to have it repaired or even replaced if necessary, for no additional charge.

Refurbished Phones Work Well

Many people out there mistakenly believe that a refurbished smartphone handset is unlikely to function as well as a brand-new phone. However, this is not always the case. In addition, many refurbished handsets are not phones that have had serious issues in the past, but often phones that people have decided to get rid of because they are upgrading to a new one and have no use for the old handset that is usually working quite well aside from some general signs of wear and tear. But even if you do buy a handset that once had serious problems, you can rest assured that it will have been refurbished to a very high standard and any issues will have been fully repaired so that there is no trace of them left and the phone is restored to a like-new standard. While some cheaper refurbished phones might have a few scratches or scuffs on the body, this is usually the only sign that it has ever been used before, and you can usually easily hide these with a protective case.

If you want to save money and be kinder to the environment with your next smartphone purchase, there are plenty of reasons to consider investing in a refurbished handset instead of buying your next phone brand-new.

Maximising profitability should always be a top priority but, as the COVID-19 recovery continues, it’s more important than ever to retain as much revenue as possible. Outsourcing gives every business an opportunity to reduce costs and increase productivity, regardless of what industry you operate in. To find out how outsourcing can work for your business, take a look at these top tips now:

1. Conduct a Time Audit

Before you decide which processes to outsource, carry out an in-house time audit. This will give you the chance to see which workflows are taking up the most time and, therefore, which processes it will be most cost-effective to outsource.

By asking staff to record their actions using time management software, you’ll find it easy to access the data you need. As well as being able to identify the most time-consuming workflows, the information you gather will also enable you to determine if employees are routinely undertaking tasks that are outside their remit. If so, you’ll be able to ensure workflows are distributed more evenly to make the best use of your in-house talent.

2. Search for Specialist Services

Some business processes require more expertise than others, which is why it can be a good choice to outsource them. When it comes to tax and accounting, for example, there are a variety of compliance and regulatory issues you need to be aware of. Furthermore, your company’s financial management has a major impact on your tax liability and, therefore, your profits. By outsourcing to a specialist provider, you can ensure you’re operating in accordance with the relevant regulations and gain fiscal advantages.

With payroll outsourcing services, you benefit from the expertise of experienced personnel, as well as being able to reduce the workload of your in-house team. In addition to this, choosing a reputable service provider gives you the opportunity to access bespoke advice when you need it. If you want to restructure your company or refine your expenses policy, for example, you can access all the help you need from one specialist service provider.

3. Look for Long-Term Partners

When you outsource some of your business processes, it can be most advantageous to work with service providers on a long-term basis. This gives them an opportunity to get to know your company, and perhaps your staff. By doing so, they’ll be able to deliver increased value and align their work to your commercial goals.

Even if you only need to use a service on a sporadic or ad hoc basis, being able to work with the same service provider or team gives you the consistency required to maximise the benefits that outsourcing can offer.

4. Negotiate Flexible Contracts

If you’re going to outsource any of your workflows, be sure to negotiate flexible contracts when it’s possible to do so. Some service providers might try and tie you in to long-term contracts from the outset, which could be damaging if things don’t work out as you’d hoped. By retaining some flexibility, you can ensure that the services provided match your expectations and deliver genuine value. With a rolling contract, for example, you can cancel at any time, which means you can keep your options open and switch to a different service provider if you need to.

Reduce Operating Costs with Outsourcing

When you outsource some aspects of your business, you can significantly reduce your operating costs and boost your productivity. By supplementing your in-house team with outsourced services, you can achieve greater efficiency and productivity. In turn, this can increase your profitability and maximise the success of your company.  

Agile working is where companies offer their employees a variety of work settings to choose from, including working from home. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that most office workers can do this very successfully. So why, now that things are beginning to return to normality, are some businesses insisting their staff come back into the office full time?

For years, an employee’s productivity has been measured by the amount of time they spend sitting at a desk in an office. Then along came the pandemic. All of a sudden many of us were suddenly being asked to do our jobs from our homes, something previously often accompanied by sarcastic air quotes (oh, she’s “working from home” today).

Thankfully, this has shown us that employees can be trusted to do their work from home – in fact, many people are more productive without the drudgery of a daily commute and being stuck in an office all day. And even small companies managed to get the technology sorted fairly quickly and inexpensively. But many organisations are still telling us they now want all their staff back on-site full time – something which could actually cause more damage to their businesses than they realise.

Here are some of the reasons that, if you can, you should be offering some working from home and/or agile working options to all your office-based staff. (Don’t forget that employees who’ve worked for you for 26 weeks or more have a statutory right to ask for flexible working arrangements like home working – and you have to seriously consider these requests.)

Your people will be happier and more productive

Working from home can make staff more productive. There are generally fewer interruptions at home than in an office environment, so they get more done. They take less time off sick or on holiday. Often they work longer hours, especially if they’re saving time by not having to commute. And because they feel trusted, and that they have a greater degree of control over their own workloads, they feel more loyalty towards their employer. As James Loduca, director of global inclusion and diversity at Twitter, puts it: ‘Work from anywhere is a tool to deepen, not reduce, trust across teams.’

All of this improves employee engagement – and engaged employees do their best work, every day, wherever they are.

You’ll get better-qualified candidates applying for work

If you offer people the option to work from home or elsewhere, you get access to a much larger pool of people – because geographical boundaries no longer apply. You’ll also attract the best calibre of candidates. That’s because as agile working becomes the norm, people won’t even bother applying for jobs at organisations that won’t let them work the way they want to. According to a 2020 poll by the BBC, 50 of the UK’s biggest employers have no plans to return all staff to the office full-time in the near future. So businesses who don’t consider offering agile working are going to struggle to recruit the best talent in the job market.

It’ll save you money on office costs

Less people on site means you can save money on office space and supplies, rent, utility bills and so on. When people do come into the office, you can introduce hot-desking and provide more breakout spaces for collaborative working, rather than sticking with a traditional one-desk-per-employee model. Downsizing will also help you reduce your company’s carbon footprint – another thing that potential employees look for in a company before deciding whether to apply for a post.

You can expand your business

Employees working from home are often more likely to be willing to work flexible hours, for example, evenings or weekends. This could be useful if you want to work across different time zones, or just extend your opening hours.

How to get home working right as an employer

So now you know why offering agile working is a must for modern businesses. But it’s not just a case of immediately telling your staff they don’t need to come into the office tomorrow. Here are some ways to make sure you get agile working right for everyone involved.

• Have a policy: Every business has different needs, so deciding who does and doesn’t need to be in the office is likely to come down to individuals. But you should still have some kind of agile-working policy in place so everyone knows what the boundaries are. This will also help if you then ask line managers to decide whether their employees can work flexibly – some people are naturally anti-working from home, which can lead to teams being treated differently. A policy should help stop this from happening.
• Offer training: Managers are likely to need training on how to manage employees who aren’t in the office all the time – for example, how to check their people are performing without depending on the amount of hours they’ve worked. And staff will need training on how to manage their work-life balance – flexible working can blur the boundaries around working hours and sickness time which can impact negatively on employees’ health. So you’ll need to make sure everyone knows what’s expected of them. Encouraging open conversation is a must.
• Keep the lines of communication open: Make sure your home workers don’t feel like you’ve forgotten about them. Get regular video meetings in place – the pandemic’s shown us that the technology works (mostly). You’ll need to make sure everyone knows how to use the tech to stay in touch as well. Getting teams together for a face-to-face once a week or month (as long as that’s practical) is a good idea too.
• Don’t forget your health and safety requirements. You have the same health and safety responsibilities for home workers as you do for those in the office. That includes risk assessments for office set-ups and making sure you maintain any electrical equipment you give them (like laptops). The Health & Safety Executive has some good advice about this on their website.

Working away from the office isn’t for everyone – even if they can do it, some people simply prefer going to a workplace every day. But it certainly doesn’t decrease productivity and should no longer be seen as a soft option or, worse still, an excuse for ‘skiving off’. If you’re able to offer your employees some degree of flexibility in this area you absolutely should – otherwise you could find yourself struggling to recruit and retain the talent you need to run a successful business.

Need some help?

Feel free to contact us if you’d like some help or advice about recruiting and training remote workers.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is increasingly important for businesses, with more businesses than ever vying for the top spots online. Amongst all the marketing channels out there, from pay-per-click (PPC) to social media marketing, there are strengths and weaknesses to be found.

SEO though, is a longer term marketing strategy employed by businesses, brands and companies all over the world, aiming to rank for the highest spots on Google Search.

Within SEO there are various considerations in each case and unlike traditional marketing techniques and channels like billboard, radio and TV, there is no ‘template’ or ‘one size fits all’ approach when it comes to SEO. It is as much an art as a science. Crucial to understand is the differentiation between service-based SEO and e-commerce, or online retail.

Thus, there are some specific considerations for e-commerce, applying to an e-commerce online store selling anything from pet joint supplements (like Wuffes) to beds and furniture to health cleanses and much more besides.

Whilst some of these considerations are important for all other SEO, they are either unique to e-commerce or that extra bit more important.

Site Speed – Website speed is something that should be at the forefront of your mind with any website, covering anything. However, in the case of e-commerce, it is one of the most important considerations and one that you should account for early on.

If a user comes to a website that is slow, they are far more likely to leave and never come back. On the other hand, if the website in question is quick and responsive, a purchase and return visits and purchases are more likely to be made, due to a superior website user experience.

Simple, Clean Design – The aim of an e-commerce website is simple: get users in, make sales. If the design of a website trying to achieve this is over-complicated and too complex, users will lose track of what they are trying to do and will drop off the site. More concerningly, they will associate the website, company and brand with a confusing and difficult user experience, making them less likely to return.

With regards to SEO, a clean design means that various complications like cluttered website source code and excessively many large files, like images and iframes are removed from the equation, making for a much better user journey, something search engines look favourably upon.

Clear Product Descriptions – As an e-commerce website and thus, an online store, your products are everything and are at the heart and soul of your entire business model. If it is not made abundantly clear to users and prospective customers what a product is, the relevant information about it and any required and detailed information, users will not be inclined to purchase from your online store over a competitor’s.

SEO-wise, having clear product descriptions will help users that extra bit more, something Google make clear is a key ranking factor when ranking and placing websites online.

As I brushed my teeth whilst simultaneously scrolling through my emails and absent-mindedly pondering what I needed to add to my shopping list that day, I was struck by the absence of gaps in my day.

In the past, I have worn my ability to multi-task like a badge of honour. Why do one task when you can do two or three at once? Why leave any precious time unaccounted for during the day? I’m going to squeeze those 24 hours, 1,440 minutes, 86,400 seconds for everything I possibly can .

And as life has been ‘ramping up’ again, I’ve noticed that those gaps in between have gotten smaller and smaller. Those leisurely lockdown walks sped up, those early morning meditations getting briefer, those pauses in between ‘things’ fading away.

There is little blank space.

And this mental health awareness week, I am once again reminded of the importance and power of leaving some blank space. Because we’re not best served by always ‘doing’.

Including in how we work. One of the things I often talk about in resilience sessions is the importance of having prep and recovery times, gaps in our day to reset and recharge, like a battery pack. Yet so often our schedule blurs into one with little opportunity to take a pause and catch our breath.

This may be something that has been exasperated too by the pandemic. Whilst technology can empower – and indeed it has – it can also create challenges. Do Zoom and Teams make it too easy to fill our diaries up back-to-back? Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.

But, it’s not just within our calendar where we have scope to make space. The use of silence within conversations – meetings, 121s, workshops – can be extraordinarily powerful. That’s often where the thinking happens, in the gaps in between.  Only, so often silence can make us feel uncomfortable and we rush to fill it.

And yet, magic can happen in that silence, and in those gaps in our day, if we just let them be. Not only can they be restorative and help us to get some much-needed respite, they can also be places where thoughts and ideas develop and grow, unfettered by clutter and noise. Out of a pause came the bud of an idea for The Engaging People Company, and from nothingness came the writing project that has been the accompaniment to my life in lockdown. I’m not sure they would have happened if I’d worked really hard at coming up with them.

Of course, the temptation to fill the gaps can be overwhelming – we are all so busy after all. But stopping and embracing those pauses can be hugely beneficial, and significantly so for our wellbeing: letting those spaces be will actually make us feel better, and will allow us to be more effective. And perhaps my five-year-old daughter said it best when I mused on what task to do next when a gap in my day opened up recently. Her advice? “Rest.”

Thought Leadership

Rapid growth of home broadband has changed all of our lives and has had a transformative impact on the entertainment we consume. Netflix, which started life as a home DVD rental company, realised that with speeds continuing to get faster they could empower people to stream directly onto their screens.

Now, Netflix is an industry giant. By the end of 2020, it had a total of 200 million subscribers, enormous revenue numbers and more than 500 new TV shows and movies preparing to launch.

Also known as ‘Over The Top’ services, PWC predicts a surge in revenues in the space – from $46.4 billion in 2019 to $86.8 billion in 2024. In parallel, global data consumption is also predicted to rise significantly in that period, from 1.9 quadrillion megabytes to 4.9 quadrillion megabytes.

This explosive growth wouldn’t be possible without robust broadband infrastructure, which is why CityFibre is working to bring full fibre technology to towns and cities across the UK, including across the East of England region.

Full fibre networks, unlike many of the copper-based ‘fibre broadband’ services available, use 100% fibre optic cables to carry data at light speed all the way from the home to the connection point. This gives users speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps for upload and download, near limitless bandwidth and connectivity users can depend on. 

These networks won’t just make streaming TV and movies easier. According to a report, the UK video games market generated £7 billion in 2020, driven by increased use due to the pandemic. Of that, some £4.55 billion was spent on software and a staggering 85% was on digital rather than physical boxed games.

That goes some way to understanding Sony’s decision to launch two versions of its next-gen PlayStation 5 console, one with a disc drive and one without. With the latter, that means games must be downloaded via the internet – and with games getting bigger, that puts enormous strain on digital infrastructure, unless you have gigabit-speeds powered by full fibre.

Of course, it’s not just within the home that full fibre can make a colossal difference. With events back on the horizon, organisers are looking to grab attention in an increasingly competitive landscape and full fibre has a part to play in that.

One example is a partnership between Vodafone and Wasps rugby club, where they used 5G – underpinned by full fibre – to transform the fan experience at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry (which benefits from a connection to CityFibre’s network). For fans in #5Gamechanger seats, they were able to use a smartphone to livestream footage from 360° cameras around the pitch and enjoy an augmented reality experience at half-time.

And further innovations are underway, like the 5G Festival project in Brighton which aims to stream live music gigs to audiences across the globe by integrating 5G into venues in the city.

Again, none of these experiences would be possible without full fibre. With technology driving so much change in the entertainment landscape, it’s vital that the East of England has a digital infrastructure which supports the innovations we know are coming – and the ones we’re yet to discover.

To find out more about CityFibre and our work across the East of England and to register your interest in services, click here.

ENDS

Tudor Lodge is excited to launch Pheabs, a US-based site that is offering a range of loan options, purely for the American market. With our strength in implementing SEO for financial services in the UK (including Lending Expert and Get Indemnity), we have jumped at the opportunity to explore the US market, which is more than 10 times the size of that in the UK. However, to rank on Google’s search results in a different country comes with different practices and below we share the process we have taken and how our rankings have started to pick up in the last few months.

Setting up for the US Technically 

We set up Pheabs using a wordpress site, which is typically our most popular choice for any CMS. The dream would be to use raw HTML code, but this would be a slower process to add and make changes, meanwhile, wordpress makes life easy to add and change content and there are a number of SEO tools for meta-data, redirections and site speed.

We choose to use a hosting provider based in the US, so that the site appears to be based in America and can rank effectively within the local area, rather than use a server based in the UK or in Asia.

We also changed the settings on WordPress to US-eng, to highlight that the site is targeting the US region. Plus, we confirmed the location on Google Search Console as American – so that all elements point to telling Google that it is a US-based site, targeted US search results.

In addition, we have a US partner that we work with and have placed their address in Florida on the footer of the site, contact page, terms and conditions and privacy policy, with a company phone number, again, confirming our location.

Use of American Language

The language used for an American site is going to be different to the UK. Not only are the spellings of some words going to include ‘z’ instead of ‘s’ – it is also the keywords and phrases that you target. Using SEMrush is a perfect opportunity to find out the right keywords and phrases to target, using their Keyword Magic Tool, and also using the platform to look at competitors in the space and what they rank for too.

Content and Link-Building

With content, we need to have a clear structure of Home, About Us, FAQs, Blog and Contact Us and around a dozen landing pages highlighting the key products that Pheabs offers. We regularly add guides and blogs ranging from 500-1000 words answering key questions about loans and in the industry and providing statistics where possible. With link building, we are looking for a majority of US-based websites, again to show that this is the region we are targeting.

Within the first 6 months, we only ranked for the brand name of Pheabs and a handful of specific keywords. There was a sudden turning point and we have started to rank for more and more keywords on a daily basis, reaching page 1,2,3 and 4 for some large keywords including payday loans near me. It is a slow process and we do not expect strong results to manifest until at least 12 months. Until then, it is more content and links to help grow the site!

Here at Scale Up New Anglia, we continue to offer an extensive and varied events programme which is fully funded by the ERDF and is provided to you at no direct cost to you or your business.

As part of our Scale Up journey we provide a gateway to a number of Pathways and these can be both internal through our Silver to Gold or Mastermind programmes, or externally with companies such as Goldman Sachs, Innovate UK Edge and Tech Nation to name a few!

During the national ‘Scale Up’ week which commences 17th May we are hosting, short 1 to 2 hour events with 10 different Pathways.  This will allow our members to meet the Pathway Programme Managers and advocates of their programmes to understand and ask questions to find out which Pathway is best for their business. Here at Scale Up New Anglia we understand that one of the biggest challenges you face when growing your business, is getting the correct information and support to assist you on your journey, and by providing these events we will hopefully help you gain some insight. If you have any initial questions on what pathway may be best for you, please contact [email protected] or [email protected] and they will help guide you to the correct path.

For a full list of all our upcoming events from the New Anglia Growth Hub and Scale Up New Anglia please visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/new-anglia-growth-hub-12863347510

Recently we have also created a LinkedIn group, where we not only advertise our events but want to create an online community where discussions can take place on good practices or challenges you have come across during your scaling and growth experiences.  To join our group please click here https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13785419/

The Scale Up New Anglia Team

Monday 17th May is a red-letter day for the entire hospitality sector; it is the day when, finally, restaurants, pubs and cafes can throw open their doors and welcome customers back inside.  Whilst those businesses with usable outside space have been partially open for a few weeks now, for most 17th May marks the return to business after many bleak months of closure.

It is a time for celebration, but it is also a period which is rich with pitfalls.  Just as the hospitality sector gets going again, it will be hit with  problems ranging from deferred VAT payments becoming due, bounce-back loans needing repayment, and a reported shortage of staff – not to mention a lingering feeling of fear and uncertainty amongst a significant portion of the population about leaving their homes after all this time.

Fortunately, there are few things that hospitality businesses can do to maximise their chances of an effective return.  Here are five top tips to help make that ‘Grand Re-opening’ a success.

1. Don’t expect things to revert immediately to how they were pre-Covid

Hospitality might be about to fully re-open, but the past year has had a profound effect on people’s behaviour, and it’s unlikely that they will be switching back to their pre-Covid normality anytime soon – if at all.  So the hospitality industry is going to have to adapt. 

That could mean the continuation of new business which has emerged during the pandemic, such as takeaway deliveries and dine-at-home collection menus, and it could also be a huge opportunity for new ventures such as street food vans and pop-ups.  The only certain thing is that life after Covid will never fully return to how it was pre-pandemic.

2. Put together a business plan for your re-opening

Treat the grand re-opening as if you were starting a new business.  You will need a marketing plan to tell your customers that you are trading again.  You will need a training plan to ensure your workforce is ready to return to work and pick up where they left off a year ago (and in many cases, hospitality businesses will need to recruit new staff when they re-open).  You will need a financial plan to cover the cost of restocking, any refurbishment which is necessary, marketing, an so on. 

Don’t assume that your business will operate exactly as it did pre-Covid from day one.  Effectively you are opening a new business, so you need to plan properly or you will encounter all the pitfalls facing any start-up.

3. Ensure you are taking advantage of discretionary local support

The measures being taken by local authorities to help hospitality businesses reopen vary widely from area to area, so it’s important to check that you are taking full advantage of what is on offer.  Some councils are offering cash grants to help cover the cost of enhancing outside areas, others have specific grants for eat-in establishments, takeaways and even market stalls.

In many cases these have to be applied for, so you won’t receive them automatically.  Organisations such as the BID, the Chamber of Commerce and even local tourism bodies are all offering advice on what is available. 

4. Take advantage of national initiatives

As the furlough scheme starts to wind down, the temptation is to think that the end of lockdown means the end of the kind of national support schemes which have been lifelines for many hospitality businesses over the past 12 months.

In actual fact, there is still help available.  Unincorporated business owners can take advantage of the fourth and fifth tranches of the Self-Employed income Support Scheme (SEISS), which covers the periods February to April and May to July respectively.

Meanwhile, hospitality businesses will receive a 100% discount on their business rates until the end of June, and then a two-thirds discount right through until 31st March 2022.  The VAT rate on hospitality businesses will remain at its current 5% rate until the end of September, and will then move to an interim rate of 12.5%.  It won’t return to its full rate of 20% until April 2022.

If you plan to invest in refurbishing your business for the grand reopening, you may be eligible to take advantage of the new ‘Super Deduction’ tax relief introduced by the Chancellor in his March Budget.

Finally, don’t forget that hospitality and leisure businesses are entitled to a £18,000 Restart Grant to help them with the costs of re-opening.  If you haven’t yet received this, visit your local council’s website to apply.

5. Stay Covid safe

The 17th May opening mandates continued social distancing measures, but these look like they could be relaxed further in June.  While the temptation may be to remove any vestiges of distancing, mask-wearing and other Covid precautions as soon as possible to give the impression that normality has returned, you need to be aware that for many people, it is going to take some time for confidence to return after more than a year of lockdowns.

Even amongst those who have had both vaccine shots, many will want to know that it is safe to venture out to restaurants and pubs.  Visible safety measures – even when they are no longer mandated by law – will help to build this confidence, and reassure customers that you are doing everything you can to keep them safe.

To speak to one of our advisers, contact us here https://www.lovewell-blake.co.uk/contact

Life today is looking a little different to how it did a year ago. As restrictions ease, we can now look forward to resuming the things that we once took for granted.  Seeing friends. Meeting indoors. Heading out to work.

Because in the next few weeks and months, more and more people will be once again embarking upon the commute, the tea round, in person meetings.

And yet, whilst we talk about going ‘back’ it’s not a case of just picking up where people left their desks before the onset of lockdown.

A year of working from home has impacted upon people significantly and will undoubtedly have changed attitudes and aspirations to how we work. And so, as companies start to throw open their doors once more, it’s so important they take steps to support and empower their employees as they head back into the workplace.

And there are four key things to think about:

1. What do you think?

At any time – but especially now – it is important to understand employees’ views and how they feel: what their concerns are and what their needs are. And, right now, what they’d like to retain from the last year –  and what they will be glad to see the back of. Asking staff questions – in surveys, in forums, in virtual workshops – not only allows us to gain vital insight into attitudes and perceptions at this key turning point, it also shows people that they are valued, that their opinions matter.  

And, not just asking questions now: companies need to keep these conversations going because the way that people feel will change as the return to the workplace becomes more embedded.

1. Shape plans together

People need to feel that things are happening with them and not to them. And so, engaging people in shaping plans and actions as the return to the workplace take place is important. Companies should empower staff to come up with ideas and improvements that respond to the needs of the workforce in this post Covid world. Because by giving people accountability and a genuine role in shaping the future, satisfaction will increase and ownership of any changes will be engendered.

1. Welcome back

This isn’t just business as usual. The return to the workplace marks a significant milestone which, for some, will feel like starting again. It’s important to create a welcome back that is supportive and appreciative, recognising the efforts of staff during the turbulent period preceding it.  Organisations should think about any activities or interventions to integrate people back into the workplace – and crucially, communicate these. And, the focus should be on people, not just task.

1. Wellbeing

This has been a difficult period, in varying ways, for all of us. And now more than ever, it is vital that companies and their leaders look out for staff wellbeing, offering support and recognising that for some people, returning to the workplace will pose a challenge. Keep talking about wellbeing, and placing importance on it, including, by leaders who role model wellbeing.

Want to know more about engaging people back into the workplace? Please get in touch: Get In Touch | The Engaging People Company (engaging-people.co.uk)