Your new work space may be perfect (the delicious end of the kitchen table, the sunny corner of the living room or away from it all in the quiet loft room) … but your body may be feeling differently!
We know how important it is to stay mentally and physically healthy right now, and we would like to offer our fellow Norfolk Chamber members a discount on a selection of our ergonimical and innovative chairs. Our team comprises of health professionals with a wealth of expertise and experience, including: – Ergonomists, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Health and Safety consultants (we know our stuff).
If you are interested then drop us a line, or give us a call and we will whizz over the details!
We are delighted to announce that we are working with Aura Smart Air to help boost their visibility on search engines such as Google and Bing.
Aura Smart Air is a brand new invention designed to monitor and regulate air quality, with an easy-to-use app for shops, retailers, clinics and more.
Tudor Lodge was approached by Aura Smart Air to help rank for their brand name and make the most of an increased demand from covid-19.
Our Approach
The website has been built on Weebly and whilst we prefer custom-code or WordPress, we have had success ranking with Weebly in the past and were quick to add our SEO techniques to boost a site’s ranking including:
Meta-title optimisation
Meta-description optimisation
Image optimisation
Internal link optimisation
Sitemap optimisation
Robots txt optimisation
In addition, we have been acquiring natural links by putting out press releases on high quality sites relating to news, tech and more. By strengthening the domain, it will help Smart Aura Air rank quickly for their brand name and other keywords too – to be completed in phase 2 of the campaign.
We allow Google around 4 to 6 weeks to fully index the site and we aim to speed up the process via adding more content and generating quality links to the site.
In late March HMRC announced they would be offering support to self-employed businesses by way of a grant of up to 80% of your average earnings over the 2017, 2018 and 2019 tax years. This payment will be a single instalment covering three months and is capped at £7,500. It is also worth noting that this grant will be taxable.
At the time they estimated it might be mid-June before self-employed businesses received this grant, but the they have now updated their guidance and they seem to be ahead of schedule. This along with the Bounce Back Loans announced this week could be a welcome boost.
Visit the GOV.UK website here to check your eligibility to claim, using their online tool. You will need your UTR (which will be on any HMRC correspondence including your tax return) and your national insurance number.
Once completed you will know whether HMRC think you will qualify, and they will estimate a date when you can claim.
HMRC are not allowing agents to claim on your behalf, so it is really important you set up a government gateway now to allow a claim to be made as soon as possible, once you have taken the eligibility test it will prompt you to either log in or to set up government gateway access.
Action to take now:
Our People section of the MHA Larking Gowen website.
Here at The Black Swan, we are focused on providing a relaxing atmosphere for our customers. Whether it’s a drink with friends, fine dining with the family, a place to celebrate with loved ones, or somewhere to stay whilst exploring Norfolk, we have a spacious, yet cosy and unique location waiting for you.
We are situated just over six miles from Norwich city centre; a few minutes’ drive from the NDR and Norwich Airport, on the lovely village green at Horsham St. Faith. With plenty of off-road parking and both indoor and outdoor drinking and dining spaces, whether you’re out with the family or entertaining for business, The Black Swan is ideally situated.
If you seek a varied menu of interesting food coupled with a few drinks or are looking to meet friends and family for a birthday, anniversary, baby shower or a wedding reception, we can cater for you in our spacious bar, restaurant or function room.
Perhaps you run a small business or are a remote worker and looking for an agreeable spot to meet with your clients/ staff that is serviced and offers recommended food and drink? Here at The Black Swan we have a spacious business conference room available for use
For more information please visit https://www.blackswaninn.co.uk/. To make a reservation or enquire about our hospitality packages, please call us on 01603 897787 or email [email protected] for further details. We look forward to welcoming you here.
The regeneration project at Freebridge’s Hillington Square estate in King’s Lynn has won another award in the Design & Craftsmanship Awards last night inNorwich, winning jointly alongside East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices’ The Nook.
The award which was given in the new Civic and Community category waspresented to Freebridge Community Housing, Fielden + Mawson LLP – the architects currently working on the project, Mae – the architects involved in the original phases, Hemingway Design – design consultants on the project, Lovell Partnership – the construction firm who completed work on the first four stages, and Rossi Long Consulting Ltd and ALH, respectively the structural and mechanical & electrical engineers.
The Civic and Community category is supported by national charity Civic Voice, with the award seeking to recognise examples of high quality design and projects that make a positive contribution to the local area. As a winner of the award the regeneration project is now put forward to the Civic Voice National Design Awards in 2020.
Judges for the award were looking at “not just a well-designed successful end product, but also the community story and collaborative process which lies behind it”.
Tony Hall, Freebridge’s Chief Executive, said “We are delighted that the Hillington Square project has won another award, and are particularly pleased that it has won in a category that looked at the wider work of what we’ve achieved so far. In the next few weeks we’ll be confirming our plans in respect of the what we still need to do to complete the project and I look forward to seeing the work on the site start again next year.”
With companies adapting to a new way of working, making sure your workforce are working effectively has become a hot topic. Almost every industry is looking to new data science technologies as a way of optimising in the present and being prepared for the future.
An increasing reliance on data however, comes with an inevitable challenge. Despite increases in innovation, according to a report, employees working with data are still wasting 44% of their time each week due to unsuccessful tasks due to lack of collaboration between systems and employees, knowledge gaps and reluctance to change.
But what if you could remove that task-barrier and work data entry into your business processes so that it is already in one platform and nobody must go searching for it? This theory works particularly well in industries with field-based functions and multiple sites.
For example, a field-based technician entering customer data from site can quickly update service of a resolution who can then close tickets and automatically raise invoices for finance. The data collected along those points informs productivity, fix stats, SLA targets and accounting figures amongst other nuggets of information.
There are also other benefits to making sure your data, information and processes are contained in one place. Such as: security, removing human error and future proofing your business with one location for business truth. Data Management Software allows this to happen, using Data Processing within the software to retrieve, transform, classify and manipulate data.
The Tudor Lodge Consultants team is very happy to announce a brand new collaboration with MenoCare, helping the firm to boost its SEO rankings and overall online presence to a much wider audience so that more women can gain advice and help to restore their intimate health in the UK.
Who are MenoCare?
MenoCare, in partnership with The Regenerative Clinic, is made up of a team of world-renowned specialists dedicated to restoring women’s intimate health in a minimally invasive manner.
The aim, is to ensure that women do not have to suffer in silence with vaginal problems that if left untreated, could cause a hugely negative impact on their day to day life.
How we are helping MenoCare?
Site fix: as search engine optimisation experts, we know just how important it is to ensure meta descriptions and titles are of an adequate length, with relevant keywords, in order to help boost rankings.
Content writing: MenoCare in collaboration with The Regenerative Clinic, are leading experts in women’s intimate health. To reflect this to a broader audience, we have been working with MenoCare to put together informative guides on this subject area, building a reputation for the brand.
Keyword ranking: focusing on keyword research is important for helping MenoCare rank highly on SERPs, so we conducted thorough research on words that relate to their field of expertise.
On 13 October 2020, Microsoft will end support for Office 2010. This means any devices running the software after this date will put your business at risk. What does this mean for you?
Microsoft will no longer provide technical support, bug fixes or security fixes for Office 2010
You’ll no longer receive Office 2010 software updates
No further updates to support content will be provided and most online help content will be retired
Running outdated software not only makes your devices vulnerable, but it means you’re not taking advantage of modern software upgrades which could help the efficiency of your business. Although the software will still function, eventually you will see difficulties performing daily tasks.
What is the risk? With Microsoft no longer providing bug fixes or security patches, your devices could be vulnerable to attacks. Security updates help protect your PC from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Without these updates, attackers will be able to easily penetrate your devices. How do I upgrade? We’d strongly recommend upgrading to the latest software as soon as possible. Our technicians can look at the options available to you, and support you in transitioning between the software. If you’re a Breakwater client still running Office 2010, we’ll be in touch before the October 13 deadline. If not, get in touch to see how we can further support your business with our services. E: [email protected] T: 01603 709300 Visit our website
Although it may feel like it was only yesterday that you finalised your self-assessment tax return for the 2018/19 tax year, the uncertainty arising from the COVID-19 pandemic means there is more value than ever in supplying us with the information required to complete and file your 2019/20 tax return early; the potential benefits may include:
cashflow – if you have a tax liability, early calculation of what you owe should allow you more time to plan payment. If you are due a repayment from HMRC, this could be repaid to you more promptly following an early submission of the return. HMRC has announced extensions for the payments of some taxes as detailed in our blog here https://www.larking-gowen.co.uk/insights/blog-tax-payment-deferrals/.
tax planning – if your affairs have changed in the year, or you anticipate making key decisions that will affect your future, early completion of your tax return allows for consideration of planning opportunities that could mitigate the tax payable in the future and help manage the challenges ahead.
making time for you -taking a proactive approach in addressing your tax affairs well before the January deadline will allow you to focus on the things that matter the most to you and your business.
If you have any queries, or would like to discuss your self-assessment tax return or payments on account, please get in touch with your usual MHA Larking Gowen contact in the first instance or email:
In this current climate, Businesses are having to make business critical decisions to survive. These may include making employees redundant, leading to restructure of their workforce to ensure continuation of business performance.
Steadfast Training are the Prime Contractor for Skills Support for the Workforce/Redundancy (SSW) in New Anglia and can support these employers and employees (including those affected by redundancy) through FREE upskilling/training provision.
Working with a number of specialist training providers, we offer a wide range of courses across all sectors from short programmes to level 2 and level 3 qualifications. All of our training provision is currently offered remotely, using our online delivery model, consisting of a mix of tutor-led ‘virtual classroom’ workshops, short online course & video tutorials, followed by learner calls, providing 1-2-1 phone or digital (Zoom, Teams, FaceTime etc) support.
These courses include: Employability Skills, MS Office courses in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Customer Service Diplomas (Level 2) and ILM Level 3 Award in Management.
For more information on how we can support your business please email [email protected]
Somerset House is London’s working arts centre built on historic foundations around one of the most beautiful courtyards in Europe. Situated at the very heart of the capital, we are home to the UK’s largest and most exciting creative community and are overflowing with new ideas, young businesses and fresh perspectives.
The Challenge
The Challenge was to enhance their existing safety and security processes by empowering their security team and reception staff with a soft escalation system that they could use when required. Being in the heart of London, in a very public space, the team need to be prepared for all scenarios – and so our easy-to-implement and roll-out solution seemed ideal.
The Success
Fortunately, the team hasn’t had a live incident on site yet. However, our product was so easy to roll-out and implement that all staff had the software up and running within the first 24 hours of purchase. Using our simple how-to guides, they’ve implemented a process for testing their little green buttons alongside their regular fire alarm drills. Staff are happy and secure in the knowledge that their workplace is safer thanks to LGB.
Having worked in sales and sales management for most of my career, I know how the demand and expectation of a sales role can affect physical and mental health. The sales industry sometimes has a reputation for being fast-paced and stressful. I regularly worked evenings and weekends and would always be available for customers and my bosses, as did many of my colleagues. This is still common place for many with detrimental effects.
Employers must be focused on wellbeing to ensure employee health and efficiency are peaked at all times. Remember that your sales team are the face of your business. How they conduct themselves reflects directly on your brand. Do whatever you can to ensure your customers are presented with a happy employee.
Here are a few tips on how to assess your sales teams’ wellbeing needs:
My first tip is to communicate. It seems obvious but we often presume we know what our employees want but we haven’t actually asked them. So, ask and ask again so that your staff feel that their needs are being considered.
Another tip is to hold 1-2-1 wellbeing meetings. Once a month or quarter is fine but they will help you make sure your staff feel supported by you the manager, and the business.
Finally, consider appointing a wellbeing or mental health champion who can provide support to those suffering from mental health issues. They can support your wellbeing programme by letting your staff know they have someone to talk to, without being judged and in confidence.