Member Blog

Longstanding client of Tudor Lodge Consultants, ABC Estates, a leading estate agency based in Greater London have recently undergone a full website revamp and refurbishment. As estate agents in London, it is important for ABC Estates to have an up to date and fresh brand and website.

Working with the design, development and search engine optimisation (SEO) teams at Tudor Lodge Consultants, ABC Estate’s old and outdated website has been brought into the future with updates and improvements to many aspects of the website including:

• Structure
• Design
• Imagery
• Functionality
• Performance
• Targets
• SEO strategy

The main aim of the ABC Estates website update and improvement is to bring the website in line with many competing sites online which have improved functionality as well as modern and fresh-looking designs.

The Importance of an Update

All website owners and businesses find it hard in one way or another to make the decision to finally upgrade their website. It is a process which can cost quite a bit of money and requires a lot of attention to detail, time and effort to make the final product better than the current website.

In most cases, the current website will perform well, but will not be up to scratch and will not be on par with often aggressive competitors, particularly as in the case of an industry such as property and estate agencies.

Improving a website in every way, including but not limited to the above-mentioned improvements can improve websites and businesses in various ways such as:

• Improved look, design and feel
• Better user and customer journeys and experiences on site
• Improved website speed
• Benner functionality
• Better online positioning and rankings (for SEO)

Important Considerations When Looking to Update a Website

There is no true ‘wrong and right’ reasons to improve and update a website. There is no such thing as a perfect website and thus, there really is no perfect time to update a website. However, there are some common reasons as to why companies, brands and businesses do update their websites when and how they do:

• Outdated look and design of a website
• Bad user journeys
• Slow performing website
• Website not built on a friendly content management system (CMS)
• Website not performing online with regards to SEO positioning
• Required functionality and features not present

Subject to the above as well as any other reason there may be, a degree of planning and then subsequent implementation by the right people with the right skillsets is needed to ensure the website in question gets updated properly and efficiently.

We are delighted to be working with Tieta, an outsourced customer service agency which has seen huge surges of growth during covid-19. If you do not have a customer service capacity in-house, are just a small team or want to work with some professional agents, Tieta is the perfect solution. With a specialist team in Oxfordshire, you can outsource your customer services to Tieta which will include general customer services, dialler management, concierge services, complaints management, refunds and more.

Tieta have hired Tudor Lodge Digital to maximise their online presence on Google through search engine optimisation (SEO) and below we explain the process and how we have approached this campaign.

What We Are Doing For Tieta Keywords

We start every campaign by speaking to the client and compiling a list of around 20-30 target keywords which we want to rank for on Google, Bing and other search engines (although Google is our main focus). 

For Tieta, ‘outsourced customer services’ is the main keyword but there are lots of other niche and long tail keyword opportunities that can add value such as ‘customer services for financial products’ or ‘customer services for eCommerce.’ The company has recently been acting as a customer support service for covid testing units and fit-to-fly testing companies – and now we can go and create a new landing page to target this phrase. Even if there are just a few searches for this per month, an enquiry could be very valuable and is certainly worth pursuing. 

Content

Our next task is to take the target keywords and integrate them into the website, usually through individual landing pages which clearly say what the company offers, where they can get in touch and find out more. This is just not 500-800 words about customer services, but rather the benefits, what is included, the pricing and Tieta’s contact details. Initially, we are creating around a dozen new landing pages for the client, but we expect this to grow over time.

Technical

Making sure the Tieta website is technically fit for SEO is of paramount importance. We began by checking and optimising every meta-title, meta-description, heading, broken link, image, internal links and more. As always, making sure that we had a good XML sitemap in place and registering this to Google to come and index the website.

Linkd Building

To build up the Tieta domain, we have reached out to various sites and acquired a number of strong links, relevant to their proposition. Hence, we have acquired links from news, startup, business and finance websites to create relevancy, distributing these evenly across the homepage, landing pages and guides.

We are very excited about the early stages of the Tieta SEO campaign and we have already seen a few quick wins enter paged 1 and 2 of Google.

However, we anticipate up to 6 months to see the full effects of our campaign and look forward to seeing the results and Tieta grow from strength-to-strength.

This is a very open question. When it comes to any professional service such as Accountants, Solicitors, Estate Agency, or Skilled services such as Engineering or Manufacturing we all know we get what we pay for.

This is exactly the same for IT Support. The better the IT support, and the greater the knowledge, the more it costs because the value to the client is higher.

This does not mean that you have to pay a fortune to get good IT support, and we have written a guide (Download it here) that can help you chose the right IT support for your business, and actually explains that you should be wary of all IT Support companies, including us.

You have different styles of IT support in the main. One is your traditional “Break/Fix” IT Support. This works on the client calling the IT support when something doesn’t work or is not working, needs changing, etc, and The IT company charges an Hourly rate for fixing/changing it. It is a reactive way of doing things. It can be cheaper because if you don’t make a phone call for 3 months, you are not paying for any support. However, if something needs fixing you can be paying anything from £50 – £100 per hour to get it fixed. Most of these style IT companies do not have any SLAs or response times in place. This means it can take hours to fix the problem, or that it takes them days to actually ring you back.

The second one, and the one being adopted around the world more and more, is Managed IT Services. These are services that come with a recurring Monthly payment. That monthly payment will get you a level of support, leasing of technology, cybersecurity tools, Monitoring. The IT support company will be PROACTIVELY looking after your IT.

As IT and technology has become more important to business, IT Support has changed and so are the costs and the way we look at those costs.

When looking at the Reactive nature of the ‘Break/fix’ IT Support, there are multiple factors to look at which makes looking for a cost a challenge. As we said earlier, you may not pay anything for 3 months, however, if there is an issue you can suddenly be paying £800 per day for support. But what is the cost of downtime? There is no reason for the IT Company in this scenario to fix an issue quickly, as you are paying for their time when they are working for you. You are unlikely to have been given any advice on business tools such as Backups, Endpoint protection, cloud storage, etc. SO if there was a problem, and your server was down for a day what would that look like? Based on a business with a turnover of £1million pounds, 10 employees, working 40 hours per week you could be looking at a cost of lost revenue of £3846.40 if your server was down for a day. Add to that the It support working on that problem for 8 hours and it costing you £680. You then have the cost of those 10 employees not being able to work, which is £1153.85 if they all earn £30k per year. Then add to that the cost of them doing the Data Entry and catching up, which will take twice as long so that’s another £2307.70. So the total amount of cost on one day’s downtime is £7987.95, not allowing for any hardware required. This does not allow for the damage to your reputation or lost orders which again can be £000’s. So your IT support for 3 months has cost you a grand total of £226.66 per month, or £20.61 per device, but the real cost per month is £2662.65.

That’s a lot of money and a lot of information, so if you want to go and get a cuppa and have a lie-down, please do before reading on.

When looking at the cost of a Managed IT Support, they will have a cost per device, per user. This cost will vary between each company depending on location, their specialist area (if they are aligned with Cyber Essentials, or Cyber Security Experts etc), and if they are running different levels of cover.

For the purpose of being fair, we will say that the same end-user business has opted to take our fully managed service. That’s a total cost for support and security tools of £790 per month. Plus they will have recommended a backup solution for £300 per month. That’s a total cost of £1090 per month. Because they are being proactive and monitoring the devices, they see that there is some unwanted activity on the server and contact you. They say they need some time on the server to look into the issue. The issue is looked into and a plan put together with you to rectify the issue. There is some hardware involved and sometimes installing new hardware (normally seen as a project which carries an extra cost, but again depends on the IT Support Company) so there is an extra 2 hours work on top. Adding another £170. So that three months Support has cost £3440, or £1146.66 per month. More than half of the ‘break/fix’ IT Support company, and without the loss of reputation or larger Hardware costs.

This is the same if there was a cyberattack, as it is likely the Managed IT Service company is monitoring all devices and has good Endpoint protection in place, as well as a backup solution if your data was not accessible.

Managed IT Service Companies, work with their clients to make their IT work at all times and to provide solutions, and a platform for the business to grow. This is because it is not a cost, it is an investment into the business.

For information on how Uptech can work with you, contact us to arrange a 15-minute consultation. 

GIFs or Graphics Interchange Formats if you want to be technical, are essentially a series of images that quickly scroll through, giving the illusion of motion. They’re becoming increasingly common in email marketing campaigns, with a recent Litmus Survey showing over 50% of companies now use GIFs on a semi-regular basis. 

GIF’s draw attention

The movement of a GIF can be enough to draw a recipient’s attention to the desired area. Unlike videos, which can be a little overwhelming in an email, GIFs are a great way to make sure recipients head straight for the most important part of an email – typically this would be your call to action or a product you’re promoting. If you’re showcasing a product that has moving parts, a GIF can be the perfect way to demonstrate how it works.

Show more

GIFS are a fantastic way to show more of what you do without the need for a lengthy email. Keep your body text short and to the point to let the GIF speak for itself – perfect for scrolling through products or showcasing services. Another application is to show variations of the same product, a recipient might not be attracted to a certain colour, so by utilising the movement of a GIF you could use it to scroll through different colour options. By showing off the different versions recipients are more likely to see one they like and engage.

Walk-throughs

Another brilliant way to utilise the movement of a GIF is by using it to walk recipients through an aspect of your product or business. It could be that you’ve rolled out a new-look website and need to let them know about some functionality changes, or perhaps you’re just offering a little behind-the-scenes look at processes – either way, GIFs can be used very effectively here.

They’re fun!

Let’s be honest, GIFs are just way more fun than a static picture! By including an eye-catching GIF in your email you’re showing recipients your fun side, just imagine their happy face as they open your email to be greeted by a GIF. They don’t have to be funny to be fun, something as simple as an animated drink being poured can be fun enough. By adding personality you’re helping recipients connect with your business on an emotional level, something that encourages brand loyalty.

The golden GIF rules

If you’re going to include them in emails there are a few golden GIF rules you should be aware of before you do.

Firstly, not all browsers support GIFs and in this instance will only display the first image. You should, therefore, always ensure the first image is the most important one (and one you would be happy for recipients to only see).

Secondly, they should be used tastefully and not tacky i.e. no big flashing images or rapid scrolling that will likely induce nausea and headaches! GIFs should complement the body text of your email as opposed to drawing attention away from it, so try to avoid anything too over-the-top and flashy.

Thirdly, you should use GIFs sparingly. We’ve all heard the saying “too much of a good thing”, while GIFs are fun and can be used to help you stand out, you also don’t want to overdo it. Not only will an email crammed full of GIFs draw away from your reason for emailing, but it will also likely result in your email going straight in the bin. Use them every now and then to keep things fresh and engaging.

Finally, bear in mind file size, as some GIFs can be large. The larger the file the slower the load time of your email, something that results in recipients clicking off and finding another, quicker to load, email to read.

Where to get them from

The safest option in terms of copyright is to create your own, speak to our design team about your ideas and we will help you to make them a reality.   

More Email Marketing Blog Posts can be found on the Smart Messenger Email Marketing webiste

Nowadays, marketing online is all about achieving consumer confidence in a product or service using one of the most effective tools-influencer content. The enforced mobility, physical distancing, and other health protocols make people rely more on the internet to perform their daily activities. The health crisis opens more opportunities for online activities for people and organisations. More people use their mobile devices today, consuming more content every day. And blogs are now one of the most influential digital resources when making purchases. Blogs are one of the top trustworthy sources of information online.

Making full use of blogs and bloggers

Given that blogs are now a highly reliable source of information that can influence decisions to purchase, you, as a digital marketer should make use of them. Like many companies, you can explore a blogger outreach strategy. It sounds simple, but it can be a complex process. However, when correctly implemented, you stand to gain more. Simply put, you do business with bloggers, particularly the social influencers who can create authentic, genuine content to promote your brand, service, or product.

But, unless you have a team that understands the mechanics of blogger outreach, it is more efficient to work with a blogger outreach expert like Ocere so you can maximise the results.

Why work with a blogger outreach service?

It’s challenging to find the right bloggers and influencers to work with you. A blogger outreach service has experience in the field and will find the bloggers who will match your requirements. You need bloggers who will use their influence and trust to benefit your business.

There are several steps to take before you can build a list of suitable bloggers. You need to identify the blogs, contact the blog site owners, and determine the price of the campaign. Next, you need to develop a campaign strategy. Upon implementation, you must analyse the results. This step requires knowledge and lots of time.

By using a blogger outreach service, you access a campaign strategist who will choose the right influencers, manage your campaign and deliver your desired results.

What blogger outreach can do for your business?

You can choose different ways to partner with bloggers. Your strategist can execute it as fittingly as possible according to your goals and your brand. You can use them as brand ambassadors. Your brand and the blogger can develop a symbiotic partnership, where the blogger will act as your voice, influencing consumers by speaking passionately about your product or service.

Use a select number of the right influencers when you have an event or product launch. Working with such influencers will allow more people to hear the news from various sources. It’s a great way to be present everywhere, giving the impression that your product is the next best thing to have.

You can also use bloggers for targeted campaigns by selecting bloggers that identify with a unique market segment. You can develop specific campaigns for the bloggers’ loyal audience, positioning your brand or product as the best choice for the particular niche.

Using a blogger outreach service offers many benefits to your business. Choose the right one that fits your goals, with the expertise, creativity and credentials to match. ​

The Covid pandemic has been tough on many businesses; one of the consequences of the economic turmoil of the past 12 months has been a significant increase in the number of new businesses starting up.

In 2020, around 85,000 more new businesses were registered than in 2019 in the UK; that is an increase of more than 12%.  This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.  Many individuals found their existing jobs either furloughed for long periods of time or disappearing completely.  With fewer employers recruiting – and with furloughed employees finding themselves stuck at home with time on their hands – many of those new start-ups have resulted from necessity.

But not all.  One thing the pandemic has made us all do is re-examine our lives.  The realisation that life, and our lifestyles, are more fragile than we thought has made many re-evaluate the jobs we are doing, and what we want for the future. 

More control over our own destinies and a better work/life balance often come top in surveys of people’s priorities, and owning your own business is often seen as a way of achieving those goals.

Whether you have been forced into setting up your own business because you have lost your job, you are doing it because your life goals have changed, or it’s just something you have always wanted to do, the self-employment path is full of pitfalls. 

According to the Office for National Statistics, 80% of new businesses fail in their first year.  Yet there are ways to significantly improve those odds; here are ten tips to help you avoid becoming one of those failure statistics.

1. Be clear on your goals

Knowing exactly what you want to achieve from your new business will help you stay focussed on making it a success.  Is it a lifestyle business, designed to give you a better work/life balance?  Are you setting up something which will provide a long-term income for your family, and which you will aim to pass on to the next generation?  Are you aiming to build something really big, or keep it small and perfectly formed?  What is your exit strategy – will you simply close it down when you retire, or do you have a five year plan to sell the business?  Each of these objectives will require a different approach as you get your new enterprise up and running.

2. Know your market

Too many people start new businesses without a clear idea of what the market opportunity really is, and what competition they are likely to face.  Research the market thoroughly to ensure that what you are planning to offer genuinely meets a need.  Know what is important to your audience – not just in product terms, but in other ways such as ethically.  You need to build a brand which is true to what you do, relevant to your audience, and differentiating.

3. Get the structure right

Setting up as a sole trader is the simplest model, but that won’t be right for everyone.  If you are going into business with someone else, is a partnership model right for you?  Should you be forming a company, offering you protection from liability (but also requiring higher levels of regulatory compliance)?  If your start-up is going to involve a lot of R&D, then you might want to benefit from tax relief on that expenditure – but you can only do so with the right business structure.  There are many things to consider, and expert advice is key.

4. Cashflow is king

This is a cliché for a reason: most businesses ultimately fail because they run out of cash.  How you finance the start-up, decisions about whether to buy or lease capital items, credit-checking clients are all vital.  Monitoring cashflow should be one of your top priorities.

5. Collect every debt

A key part of keeping tabs on cashflow is ensuring you are being paid.  Many new entrepreneurs are reticent when it comes to asking for payment, afraid of upsetting new and much-needed clients.  In actual fact, most clients will respect you more if they see that they are being asked to value what you do.  It’s too easy to let debts linger until they become a real problem.

6. To VAT or not to VAT

The UK has a relatively high threshold at which businesses have to register for VAT, and for many start-ups it therefore becomes optional.  Some shy away from registering because they fear it is too complicated, but especially for business-to-business enterprises, it can be worth registering voluntarily (although often less so for companies selling direct to consumers).

7. Get your compliance set up at the outset

You would be surprised how many new businesses get to the end of year one and find that their record-keeping is inadequate to do what they have to do to file accounts.  The days of shoeboxes stuffed full of receipts have gone; with the advent of Making Tax Digital, it’s a no-brainer to set up your day to day accounting on a cloud accounting platform like Xero from day one.  This will keep your bookkeeping in order, and it has the bonus of being able to grow with your business, so you won’t have to migrate from one system to another in the future.

8. Consider where you operate

This has been the year of working form home, and many small businesses can be effectively run from a home office.  But that won’t be right for everyone, and not just for logistical reasons: if your aim is a better work/life balance, will basing your whole working life in your home achieve that?  There are many options, from shared working spaces to low-cost and expandable start-up units.

9. Employing people

Many small businesses get going with just the founder, but if you are successful, the chances are you will need to start employing people before long.  That means having processes in places for payroll, auto-enrolment pensions, HR policies, and so on.  The consequences of getting this wrong can be very serious, so if you think you will need to take on staff, get these things in place early on.

10. Take advice

When you start your own business, it’s all new to you, but pretty much every problem you are likely to face has been faced by many before you.  So don’t be afraid to take advice from wherever you can find it – the Chamber of Commerce, specialist start-up advice agencies, business advisors such as Lovewell Blake, forums on social media – the list goes on.  You don’t have to do it on your own.

If you would like to speak to one of our advisers, contact us here.

A year on from the first lockdown and a large number of workers are still working remotely under the Government guidelines. With teams working remotely it can be increasingly difficult to spot the signs that a worker is suffering with stress or nearing a point of burnout. According to the Mental Health Foundation 74% of UK adults have felt so stressed at some point over the last year they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope. The following points help identity the warning signs, enabling you to take action and provide support as required.

1. Ensure they are taking breaks

With teams working remotely it’s harder for managers to identity if staff are working through lunches. It can be tempting for a worker to eat at their desk and continue with tasks rather than taking a break. Managers should encourage the team to continue taking breaks whilst working from home and remind them of the importance of these breaks. Taking a break away from work and the screen is proven to improve productivity following the break.

2. Regular calls

Having regular communication with workers is not only important for their wellbeing and the flow of communication, it also allows managers to assess workload and help a worker delegate tasks if required. These calls also allow the manager to spot any differences in the worker’s characteristics which could be a sign of stress or low mood.

3. Encourage staff to take holiday

Whilst annual leave cannot currently be used for trips abroad or weekends away it’s still important for workers to take a break away from work to rest and relax. Managers should look to encourage staff to be booking holiday to help avoid burnout. This will also help prevent a build-up of holiday impacting staffing levels and business operations once the economy and borders open up again.

4. Monitor workload / working hours

The lines between work and home life can easily become blurred whilst working from home. Workers may stay logged on later as they no longer have their commute, evening routines or social plans prompting them to leave the office. You may be able to spot if an increase in working hours through increased levels of overtime, or maybe the time of day which emails are being sent or documents are saved.

5. Signpost to support  

Lockdown and adapting to working from home has been difficult for many for a number of reasons. Look to provide information signposting staff to where they can access support, such as their GP or NHS wellbeing services. Aim to create a working environment where workers feel able to speak about any concerns they may have. It may be that you look to implement a wellbeing or mental health policy so workers know how to get support should they need it.

With the threat of an impending mental health pandemic impacting the nation as a result of lockdown restrictions it is important, now more than ever, to take a pro-active approach with regards to workers’ health and wellbeing. Following the tips above will help ensure your workforce stay well and continue to be productive in the coming months.

If you require assistance with managing workers and their health and wellbeing, including drafting policies or training line managers then please get in touch with the HR consultancy team on 01603 663300.

As we at PlantGrow know, soil health is vital to protecting the environment. We’ve teamed up with Derek from @fiveminutegardener to show you the simple steps you can take in your garden to help reduce carbon emissions.

“I work in a busy finance job which can often be very stressful, so getting to stop off at the allotment either before or after a day in the office really helps to give my mind that little bit of a break and lets me unwind. Over the past year my son has really taken to gardening and now at two (and three quarters), he sees going up to the allotment as a real treat. Until I bought a house with my wife, we had gone many years without a garden of our own. Having a lawn that needed to be cut gave me 45 minutes to switch off from all of life’s worries. From that point, I was hooked on gardening. I then learnt to grow food that is not only better for my family than shop bought produce, but better for the environment too.   For this reason, I believe it is so important to grow organically and to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible. By growing organically, you can truly benefit your plants simply by looking after the soil. The idea is to try and give nature a helping hand to do exactly what it wants to do. An estimated 45% of waste sent to landfill in the UK is compostable, and when it begins to decompose it will release methane gas which is over 85 times worse for the environment than carbon dioxide (CO2). If the same items were correctly composted down, we could avoid any carbon being released into the air and lock it into the soil. We can fix a lot of our climate change problems by locking down more carbon into the soil.   Climate change is largely impacted by having too much carbon in the atmosphere. 40% of the CO2 is pulled in by plants as part of the photosynthesis process and is pushed through to the soil to feed the micro-organisms that in turn feed the plants and create topsoil. A thin layer of compost can bring more carbon into the soil each year. Combine this with no-dig methods, mulching, use of green manures and growing more trees can not only slow down climate change but it can reverse it. If it sounds too simple, that’s because it is: we can all support the regenerative loop of life.”

Derek’s simple steps to using your garden to help the environment

Watch Derek and his son explain how you can play your part in reversing climate change. If your soil is healthy, it can pull in three times as much carbon into the ground. There are two easy things that Derek recommends to help keep your soil healthy and help the environment.

Use the no dig method to lock carbon into your soil

The no dig method is exactly what it sounds like – don’t dig or till your soil! When you do, it releases carbon back into the air and disturbs the micro-organisms so undoes all your hard work of making your soil healthy. It also reduces weeds, so it’s a win-win! If you do get weed growth, you can control them with shallow hoeing, hand weeding and mulching.

Compost your food waste

Composting your food waste is so easy to do if you have room for a composter in your garden. You can compost your grass cuttings and any other materials that will break down (like certain types of cardboard), and within a couple of months you’ll be able to use that compost over your raised beds. It will feed the soil and lock in the carbon to help reverse climate change.

Boris Johnson has announced a potential lockdown roadmap for England regarding the easing of lockdown restrictions. We know what this means for us as individuals, but what should you be doing if you are a business owner?

The lockdown roadmap will allow a slow and steady easing of restrictions, with the hopes of all UK businesses to eventually reopen in 2021. Companies are therefore preparing to open their doors to customers again, ensuring they understand all of the necessary precautions and are aware of which dates are applicable to their industry. 

This roadmap indicates estimated dates in which we may expect to have some restrictions being eased. The dates suggested are preliminary and are subject to change in line with the developments of the virus and the data collected over the coming weeks and months.

From 12th April, a large list of businesses will be allowed to reopen. This includes all retail, personal care premises such as hairdressers and nail salons, outdoor hospitality with no ‘substantial meal’ requirements and no curfew, domestic overnight stays in self-contained accommodation (for those in the same household only), indoor leisure such as gyms and spas (not including saunas and steam rooms), outdoor attractions such as zoos, theme parks and drive-in cinemas, and libraries and community centres.

From 17th May, other areas of businesses will begin to operate again. This includes indoor hospitality with table-ordering services and no curfew, indoor entertainment and attractions such as cinemas, museums and theatres, remaining outdoor entertainment such as performances, organised indoor adult sport such as badminton, and remaining accommodation such as hotels, hostels and B&Bs. At this time, international travel will be subject for review.

From 21st June, there will no longer be any legal limits on social contact or life events, meaning that all remaining closed settings (including nightclubs and large theatre performances) can be reopened.

These steps, of course, are subject to the vaccine deployment programme continuing successfully, along with evidence to support the effectiveness of the vaccines. Another determining factor is the rates of infection, providing that they do not risk hospitalisation at a level that will put too much pressure on the NHS. New variants will also be monitored as they risk fundamentally changing the government’s assessment of possible lockdown lifting.

Details on the future of the government furlough scheme for both businesses and workers have not yet been clarified, however we are expecting more on furlough updates in the coming weeks.

If your business is preparing to reopen, ensure that you have completed the following:

• Un-furlough staff
• Cancel any out-of-office messages, such as phone and email
• Reinstate essential services, such as waste removal
• Ensure you have adequate stock of hand soap, hand sanitiser and paper towels
• If not, make sure to purchase consumables (paper towel, facial tissues, bin bags, hand sanitiser, wipes, gloves, PPE equipment etc)
• Arrange contract cleaners
• Ensure you have adequate floor signage, such as 2m markings
• Wall and message signs
• If your business premises gets busy, you may want to install barriers for customers for safe queuing and social distancing
• Separation screens for areas where social distancing isn’t possible
• Check heating utilities such as gas and electricity
• Reinstate your Emergency Action Plan. This is in place should someone an employee develop coronavirus symptoms

It is important to note that, even with lockdown restrictions easing, businesses and individuals must still adhere to social distancing and regular hand washing to help prevent the spread of infection. Laws on social distancing still remain throughout, up until the government officially announces otherwise.

For a complete list of lockdown roadmap details, please consult the gov.uk’s article, and a full list of working safely during coronavirus can be found here. This is once again subject to change, and guidance will be updated accordingly.

The law surrounding VAT on gift cards changed recently to align legislation with the EU. That’s why we’ve put together everything you need to know about selling gift cards and/or vouchers as a business.

Hearing of this legislation change, one of our clients posed an interesting question. This client owns a very lovely bookshop in Norfolk and they wanted to start selling gift cards. The question asked was whether VAT must be declared at the point of sale of the gift cards, or once they have been redeemed for goods.

On the face of it, this seems like an easy question to answer because books are zero-rated, meaning VAT wouldn’t need to be declared at any point. It isn’t quite as simple as that though, because it isn’t just books that are sold in the bookshop. There is also a vast array of book-related items on offer such as bookmarks and bookends, as well as merchandise such as mugs and bags.

This is where it gets a little more complicated. Many of the non-book items aren’t zero-rated, so VAT must be paid on them. The question remains then, does our client need to declare VAT on the sale of gift cards or at the point where the goods are redeemed?

In this instance, the answer is that VAT only needs to be declared on VAT chargeable products at the point they are redeemed with the gift card. We advised and supported our client through the process of rolling out gift cards so that now, she is selling them comfortably and compliantly.

However, if you, the reader, approached us about gift cards, we might give you a very different answer. This is the point of this blog, to highlight that the rules vary depending on your business and the products you sell.

The point at which VAT is declared for gift cards depends on whether it’s a single or multipurpose gift card. A single purpose gift card is one that allows the holder to receive goods or services of one type which are subject to just one rate of VAT. With these types of gift card, VAT is paid at the point of sale, not when it is redeemed.

Multipurpose gift cards are exactly the opposite. These are used when your business is selling a variety of products that don’t all fall under the same rate of VAT. When using these gift cards, VAT is paid once the goods are redeemed.

If, for example, you own a company that delivers one type of service, everything you do will be subject to the same rate of VAT. You would, therefore, be issuing single purpose gift cards, meaning VAT would be declared at the point of sale.

If, on the other hand, you own a general goods shop selling an array of different products from vegetables to toiletries, you would be issuing multipurpose gift cards and VAT would be paid at the point the gift card is redeemed. The appropriate rate of VAT would be charged on a product-by-product basis. Why someone would use a gift card to purchase vegetables or toiletries is a question for another blog.

It is worth pointing out that it isn’t always as simple as this though. Different rules apply when gift cards are sold at discounted rates. Matters are complicated further when one business sells gift cards that can be redeemed at other establishments. In these cases, more specific advice is necessary.

With the way things are right now, we’re all looking long and hard at our outgoing expenses and what they bring to our businesses. The Coronavirus pandemic has had a brutal impact on businesses of all sizes while we wait for things to bounce back, and it’s made every single decision with a price tag attached to it a lot more difficult. Is this really essential? Is this something we can do ourselves? Is there a way we can do this without spending any money?

With so many free translation software tools available, it might be tempting to cut corners and avoid using budget on a professional service, but there are plenty of reasons why this is an investment you will not regret. Here are just a few.

You Are Paying For Professionalism

This may sound a little obvious, but when we’re paying for a service, of course we have certain expectations. We expect a level of expertise that we don’t have ourselves. We expect to be kept updated on every stage of the process should we find it necessary. We are also paying for speed and efficiency, and these are some of the most important things that a good translation service will offer.

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This isn’t a situation where you feed a block of text into a processor and get immediate results of uncertain quality. A professional translation service will be able to offer a quick turnaround, but they will not do so at the expense of the quality of their work. Any business owner knows that the balance between speed and quality is the hallmark of a service worth paying for.

You Are Paying For A Guarantee Of Accuracy

We are fully aware that there are free translation software options out there. While we might be comfortable using a quick free search to translate a menu, or to remind ourselves what a foreign movie’s original title means, you need a lot more expertise if you require translation for business purposes.

You need a stamp of authority, and a good translation service will offer you a legally verified translation. Certified translation services help both parties rest easy knowing that nothing has been overlooked and no mistakes have been made. London Translations can offer certified translations for a range of documents from business and legal to passports and driver’s licenses.

You Are Paying For Native Speakers

With all due respect to the language skills you may have, if you’re not a native speaker, there will always be something that you will miss. Think about the English language and all its double-meanings, eccentricities and nuances that must be an absolute nightmare for people from other countries to get their head around. Language is about more than a word’s meaning, it’s about phrasing, tone and style. A native speaker will be able to get far more out of what they are given than just what’s on the page. Say you’re looking to translate Italian into English, there are several Italian words that don’t really translate!

If your online business is not taking advantage of live chat software, you are missing out on gaining new visitors, converting traffic, and building a solid trustworthy reputation. Here is a more detailed look at how live chat software can benefit your business.

Live Chat Enhances the Customer Support Experience

The most successful online businesses provide excellent customer support. By being on hand to answer questions and solve issues quickly, companies can ensure customer satisfaction. In turn, that leads to repeat customers and higher revenue. Customers typically prefer live chat over other communication options because they can get questions answered immediately instead of having to send an email and not knowing how long it will take to get a response.

Furthermore, live chat reduces repetition for your customers. No one wants to have to repeat again and again the issues they have been having, but that is typical of normal customer support methods. But with live chat software, customer service agents can read archived details of the customer’s issue to speed up the process.

Some Business Can Use Live Chat to Enhance Their Products or Services

Live chat is not just beneficial for customer support reasons. Some businesses are able to adopt live chat as part of their products and services. For example, online live casinos enable players to play games like live blackjack or roulette in real-time with actual dealers. By including live chat features, live casinos allow players to interact with the dealers in real-time for a much more immersive and enjoyable gaming experience.

Live Chat Can Increase Sales and Conversions

Providing excellent customer service is a great way of backhandedly making sales, but a live chat function also enables you to increase sales and conversions directly. According to the American Marketing Association, B2B companies that use live chat software see an average 20% conversion increase. Furthermore, according to eMarketer, 35% of people who use live chat end up making a purchase. Live chat is basically like having a ready-made sales assistant continually on standby, so it is no wonder live chat software is increasingly being used by online businesses of all types.

Live Chat Can Contribute Toward Increasing Average Order Values

Live chat cannot only help your business to increase sales. It can also help to increase the value of each sale. Because live chat enables customers to talk about their needs, you can recommend similar products and services better and cross-sell to increase the average order value. For example, if a customer makes use of live chat to talk through their needs for purchasing a new laptop, you could sell the customer not only the right laptop but also accessories like a carry case and a portable disc drive.

Live Chat Enables You to Reduce Customer Support Costs

Traditionally, customer support services are expensive. Call centre staff can handle both phone and email requests, but they can only handle one customer issue at a time. On the other hand, live chat software enables customer service agents to engage with up to six simultaneous chats. By being able to handle more customers, you can reduce your customer support costs.

Live Chat Enables You to Build Trust with Your Customers

People are naturally sceptical about buying things online from companies they do not know. But a live chat function can drastically alter how customers feel about a platform. With live chat, customers are able to have immediate chats to find out more about your company and its products or services. By having access to a customer agent in the same way as a customer would in a brick-and-mortar shop, visitors to your website will have more trust in your company and they are more likely to convert into customers.