Member Blog

Seeking export success beyond the EU: Add value with a Translation Strategy

UK businesses face uncertain times as they brace themselves for the economic implications of Brexit. But amongst the upheaval, there are opportunities to be had further afield as British exporters seek success outside of the relative comfort the EU has historically offered.

The total value of exports from the UK to non-EU countries rose by 17.3% to £43.8 billion in the second half of 2016, marking an ideal time for British businesses to perfect their international export strategies. To do this, assessing any cultural and linguistic barriers that stand between your goods or services and potential international customers is your first mission.

Key considerations when preparing for export:

·         Linguistic and Cultural Sensitivity

One of the key considerations underpinning any strong export strategy is linguistic and cultural sensitivity. An effective export strategy should seamlessly address any translation requirements, breaking them down into manageable chunks. After all, you wouldn’t launch a new product or service without backing it up with tailored marketing collateral designed to attract potential customers. The same is true when launching internationally, and a reliable translation provider will help you make the right linguistic decisions, taking you one leap closer to international growth.

·         Sustainability

Sustainability can be a tricky concept to quantify when gearing yourself up to an international launch. There will always be upfront costs to consider when preparing to export to a new market, but as far as your translation strategy is concerned, front-loading of costs is not recommended. Instead, identify key areas of your website, or product collateral that are most relevant pre-launch. As your sales begin to grow, look at increasing your visibility by translating new product descriptions, blogs or FAQ pages. Most importantly, consider how you will interact with your international customers as they contact you regarding delivery, products specs, pricing, invoicing and much more. Implementing long term solutions for translation of customer queries and website content will help you achieve sustainable grow.

So what can we take away from this? That with care, consideration and a good dose of courage, British exporters are experiencing real success outside of the EU. And there’s never been a better time to start prepping for success internationally.

Integro Languages is an established translation provider based in Norwich, UK. They offer a range of services designed to help business bridge the gap between their domestic and target markets, by offering high-quality translations and multilingual support packages to businesses seeking global growth.  

Because they are easy to clean, and come with a choice of finishes, blinds are an obvious choice for kitchen windows.

But… did you know that there is so much you can do with the humble blind? As well as being an essential requirement for keeping out the light and adding security and privacy, blinds can transform your kitchen and add stunning impact to your interior design scheme.

In today’s modern household, the kitchen is often the centre of the home. More new homes than ever are built with large open plan kitchen/dining rooms at their heart. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, whether we are doing simple household chores or entertaining family and friends, so when it comes to interior design for your kitchen, you want your decorating scheme to reflect your style and personality.

Kitchen blinds can play a very big part in helping you to achieve that. You don’t have to buy generic blinds; we will create bespoke blinds to suit you and your specific needs, allowing you to put your creative style into the heart of your home.

There are numerous types of blinds and hundreds of choices of fabrics and finishes, so much so that it can almost be overwhelming. So why not seek the expert opinion of our talented team at Norwich Sunblinds?

We can advise on the best type of blinds for your kitchen, perhaps even introduce a style of blind you didn’t even know existed and show you samples from the extensive range of fabrics and finishes, including flame-retardant, anti-bacterial and solar protective fabrics.

Norwich Sunblinds has been making beautiful blinds for over 35 years. In our Attleborough factory, we manufacture many styles of blind, from the simple roller blind to the technologically innovative Vision Blinds.

Before you think about fabrics, colours and finishes, there’s the small matter of what type of blind to go for, and it’s quite a list:

• Roman (Fold/concertina-like an accordion)

• Venetian (individual slats in wood or hard aluminium)

• Roller (simple and stylish, but with endless design possibilities)

• Pleated – ideal for awkward situations and shapes

• Vertical, woven wood, or panel blinds

• Blinds for Velux windows

• Vision Blinds – made from a revolutionary fabric, which alternates mesh and solid fabric panels, allowing complete control of light and privacy.

• Motorised blinds (oh no it’s not lazy, just perfect for those hard to reach places)

• Perfect fit blinds – fit snugly into the window or door recess & move with it.

• Hygiene ultra fresh – adds an antimicrobial coating that inhibits growth of odour, mould and mildew

• Blackout blinds

• & even Fly Screens

There is also, of course, your choice of curtains.

The range of fabrics to choose from at Norwich Sunblinds is extraordinary – we are not tied to any one supplier, so can order in from a range of UK fabric suppliers, from the contemporary to the traditional, or even from further afield if you have something specific in mind.

The fabrics can be chosen to match or contrast, and bring impact to your decorative scheme. You can even customise the Larths – the straight piece at the bottom of the blind (the weight), normally not seen but it can be contrasted to add an extra dimension to your blind, or you can add beading or a narrow braid.

Instead of using a larth you can choose a café rod, and you can shape the bottom of your blind or add fancy finials. Cord pulls are also available in different decorative colours.

Put this together with our knowledge, experience, and great customer service , and you can rest assured that the result will be a stunning set of blinds or curtains for your kitchen.

So give us a call on 01603 334085 or pop in and we can show you what we offer. If you prefer to make an appointment for us to call round and discuss your options and show you samples, click here.

Feedback from customers:

Vertical blind in the kitchen:

“I have always been pleased with the work done by Norwich Sunblinds and have been a customer of theirs for over 25 years. Cannot praise them enough. The fitter was clean in his work and fast & efficient.”

New white kitchen Venetian blind:

“Would highly recommend, great service and product. Helped to create a clean modern look in our kitchen, will be using them again when we re-fit the bathroom.”

Fitting and supply of automated roller blinds in the kitchen and garden room:

“First class service, lovely people, lovely product, felt reassured and trusted their advice/ knowledge.

Kitchen blind fitted. “Efficient – prompt service. Fitter noticed crease in blind and advised us to give it a week to see if it dropped out. He also took a photo of it in case we had to contact you again which we did. No qualms, in changing blind excellent service, would definitely use the firm again.”

Fitted and supplied kitchen blind:

“Always been pleased with the service. Have used this company for 32 yrs. Salesman is always polite, friendly and helpful. Would definitely recommend to friends and family.”

Install of blinds for kitchen and bathroom windows:

“Everyone – from my meeting with the lady in the showroom – Lesley / Julie? To Fiona – measure and to Garry – installer – were all very helpful, patient and professional. The two Sarahs in the storeroom and factory the same, and Elda. A very happy experience and I would recommend them to everyone.”

One new blind installed, another blind shortened. 

“We are delighted with our new kitchen blind. We found it difficult to choose from such a selection but your man was so helpful in every way and even suggested a perfect colouring, which delights us daily! Thank you!”

This article originally appeared on the Norwich Sunblinds website

Putting a robust disaster recovery strategy in place is a bit like going to the dentist. We all know it’s important, but not everyone’s good at doing it in practice. High stakes

Some organisations – especially big firms or those in highly regulated industries – have exemplary disaster recovery set-ups.

At the other end of the scale, an alarming number of small and medium organisations have little or nothing in place, either not having ‘got around to it’ yet or simply hoping a crisis will never strike them – a high stakes gamble.

Many others have put some measures in place, but are operating under a false sense of security and are not nearly as well-protected as they believe.

I’ll look in subsequent blog posts at ways to create an effective disaster recovery (DR) strategy and what to look for in suitable DR facilities. But first, I’ll focus on the basic matter of why we need to have one at all.

Business continuity

Fundamentally, of course, it’s all about business continuity. You need to ensure that, if a crisis should strike, you can continue operating with as little interruption as possible.

Any significant disruption, even for a relatively short period, could well mean lost orders and therefore lost revenue and profits.

Depending on when it strikes, just a few hours’ downtime could mean your staff and suppliers don’t get paid or customers invoiced. It could cause internal chaos that takes you a while to bounce back from – even when the external crisis is over. This could affect staff morale and distract you from your core business at a critical time.

It could mean a blow to your reputation if you’ve let customers down – and the harsh reality is that reputations are far easier and quicker to damage than to repair.

And, if the disruption lasts a significant period or entails a loss of business-critical data, it could be devastating – even fatal – for your organisation.

While the exact statistics vary, there’s general agreement that most businesses will experience data loss at some point. And, in cases of major loss, a great many of these organisations aren’t in business two years later.

The good news

The good news is that a comprehensive DR strategy can protect you from all of this, whatever the nature of your organisation. While some upheaval in a time of crisis is probably inevitable, it should mean you can continue to operate with minimal impact on your customers, staff, processes and reputation.

So, given this, why don’t all organisations have a solid solution in place?

I think part of the answer, aside from blind optimism, is that many organisations don’t take proper account of the full range of risks that face them.

You might think of the most obvious disasters, such as a fire or terrorist bomb at your premises, and conclude that the risks – because, perhaps, of where you’re based or your fire protection systems – are slim.

But the reality is that disasters come in many shapes and sizes and are often far less predictable than this.

Hidden dangers

You could be hit by a fire in your local telephone exchange or a power outage which affects the whole area.

It could be a crisis that strikes another company in your building or based next door – but which equally affects you by closing off access to your premises. This could be anything from a fire to an explosion, a building collapse or protest action. You can take care over the safety of your own business, but you can do little to control the safety of other firms.

If you can’t access your premises and that’s where your IT systems are based, aside from a period of downtime, that could seriously affect your data. It maybe that no-one will be able to get in to back up on schedule. You may also find that, because your systems were suddenly interrupted, some of your data is corrupt when the power comes back on or you regain access, meaning significant work still to be done to restore normality – not to mention any data you’ve lost

It also might not a physical disaster at all but an act of data theft or IT sabotage by a disaffected member of staff, an intruder or a hacker. Just look at the huge damage a bunch of teenage hackers caused to Talk Talk’s business in 2015.

False security

The other reason I believe many organisations are not well enough protected is the false sense of security which comes from having a partial solution in place – typically some kind of cloud data back-up.

If you’ve chosen a cloud route, do you truly know exactly where and how your data is being stored? How well is it protected there? How easy will it be to retrieve in an emergency?

What level of support will your cloud provider give you in a time of crisis? Have you practised under realistic crisis conditions to stress-test the service and ensure you can get back up and running in a smooth, reliable process?

Too important

It may be that the disaster recovery solution you have in place is exactly what you need. But it might not. And with no less than your organisation’s survival at stake, it’s too important a matter to leave to chance.

In a later post, I’ll look at how to devise the most effective DR strategy for your organisation.

My background is in lean manufacturing and supporting organisations on their growth journey. One of the most important aspects of that work is making sure that businesses have the right people in the right place at the right time.

It’s not just having the right people “at the top” that makes a business successful. It can be just as important to have the right personal assistant, administrator or payroll assistant in place. The right person in these roles can make the difference between a business running efficiently and lots of wasted time and effort.

However, as a small business, you might not be in a position to have someone in these roles on a permanent basis just yet. The cost of an additional full-time employee might be something of a luxury that you can’t quite afford. But having that extra pair of hands for a few hours a week could really free up your time to focus on growing the business.

So how do you get around that? A spot of flexible resourcing.

If you need additional skills or resource to support the growth of your business, we can help.

We’re offering small businesses the opportunity to benefit from some local, Norfolk talent. We have some fantastic people who specialise in short-term, part-time or flexible working. They have the skills to step into your organisation and really add value by developing your processes for improved efficiency, or simply get a few admin tasks off your desk. We can help organise your diary, plan events, and generally keep the business running smoothly.

The beauty of this as a solution? It’s a cost-effective way to get your house in order, without the commitment of recruitment costs, a regular wage, or all the other things that come with employing someone.

So, if you could benefit from a few hours or more of talented resource to support your business, then please get in touch for a chat. We’ll find out what you need and then match you with the best person for the job.

We’re not a recruitment agency, we just know some great people and like helping local businesses!

We are pleased to announce that we are working with Ambient Media specialists, Tabletalk Media. Ambient Media is an interesting concept, focusing on the marketing of things around us and what Talktable do is very unique. Working with some the leading brands in the UK such CV Library, Thomas Pink and Wickes, they facilitate advertising on every day objects including coffee cups, beer mats, sandwich bags and more. This type of business involves working with thousands of UK retailers and consumers on a daily basis. Advertisers can see the impact of their placements through increased brand awareness and the option to add a call-to-action code or discount on every advertisement.

What We Are Doing For Tabletalk Media

As you know, Tudor Lodge focuses on search engine optimisation and you can read more in our profile here. We were put in touch with TableTalk because they wanted to show up on Google images for people searching for ‘coffee cup advertising,’ ‘deli bag advertising’ and all the other products they offer. The idea is that potential advertisers and retailers looking for ambient media channels would see their images and get in touch. 

To increase their presence on Google images (the first enquiry we have had of this nature) we carried out the following steps:

• Marked up all the images on their website with the appropriate alt-text so that they could be picked up by Google effectively.
• Updated the website’s sitemap and ensured that all relevant images were being indexed appropriately.
• Add images of their work and samples on trusted websites including Youtube and Slideshare
• Add case studies and images of their products on other high quality websites such as TechRound and of course, Norfolk Chamber

Our approach was based on the idea that Google will show the images from the most relevant websites – and perhaps not all of these could be directly from Tabletalk’s website. So in addition to optimising Tabletalk’s site, we added the images to other trustworthy websites which could rank just as well or higher. Eventually we aim that every image showing on Google Images could be displaying one of Tabletalk’s products. 

Whilst we have put these procedures in place, we expect Google to take several weeks or months to update this, because hopefully it should lead to greater search visibility for our client and more sales.

In this series of blogs, we are introducing our fantastic fabric suppliers. We make our blinds and curtains locally and source fabric from a number of suppliers. These suppliers are carefully selected for their first class interior design fabric collections that cover everything from the classics to the contemporary.

Last month we showcased the sumptuous Voyage fabrics; this month it is the turn of iLiv.

iLiv

British-based iLiv has a reputation for unique fabric designs, a co-ordinated and innovative approach to design and honest value for money. Their fabric collections are exquisite.

There are at least thirty different collections in their range from Art Deco to Aquitaine, Shabby Chic to Scandi and Pirates to Princesses and within each of these, there is a wide choice of colours, patterns and designs.

In our Norwich shop on St Benedict’s Street, you can come in and browse the many collection books we have for iLiv. These include;

• Botanica Collection, inspired by the English home and gardens.
• Art Deco collection has intricate decorative patterns based on nature in vibrant shades of navy, cornflower blues, cherry reds and berries.
• Imperio Collection, an opulent collection of decadent velvets and shimmering, textural wall coverings.
• Plains and textures – a collection of decorative voiles using organic colour palettes along with innovative iridescent yarns.
• Moorland – an eclectic range inspired by rural, rugged beauty.
• Matrix – a mix of abstract, geometric and organic designs to create an individual interior.
• Childrens Designs – Story Time that captures the imaginary worlds of children and Pirates on imaginative Treasure Island adventures.

This is just a small taster of the delightful collections iLiv provides.

We also source iLiv fabrics for made to measure Roman Blinds and matching soft furnishings.

Come in and have a chat with us, take a look at the collection books and let us show you how Norwich Sunblinds can help you create and elegant and inspiring home. Alternatively, you can book a free home visit online here.

This article originally appeared on the Norwich Sunblinds website

At Norwich Sunblinds we offer a superb range of interior design fabrics to choose from for when you order made to measure curtains, roman blinds, and soft furnishings.

Sourced from UK suppliers, these fabrics open up a world of creative possibilities for the interior design of your house. Beautiful fabrics allow you to create a unique style and put your personality into your home.

Our aim with these blog posts is to introduce you to all of our suppliers one by one so we can demonstrate the individuality and creativity of their superb collections, starting with Voyage fabrics.

Voyage have a reputation for innovative and stylish design; they create beautiful fabrics for interiors worldwide. Norwich Sunblinds are one of only four suppliers in Norfolk, and have recently increased the range of samples available in our Norwich Lanes showroom.

Voyage offers an extensive range of fabrics in a vast palette of designs suitable for every aspect of your house interior design schemes, which could include upholstery for furniture, cushions, floor cushions, throws, curtains, pelmets, blinds, lampshades, tablecloths… the possibilities are endless.

Curtains, blinds, and soft furnishings have the ability to pull together your decorative scheme and add colour, dimension and personality to your home.

The Voyage range is grouped into a number of collections that convey every imaginable mood for your design scheme.

There’s the Voyage Couture range which is said to have been influenced by the catwalk, a truly decadent collection that offers glamour and elegance including silk textured fabrics, chic silvers and golds, pretty beaded fabrics, appliqué, embroideries, and sequins.

Voyage Diffusion is described as contemporary country, and Voyage Boutique showcases unusual and contemporary florals that can add a hint of femininity to a decorative scheme.

The Voyage Country Collection & Natural Living Collection brings charm to a country cottage and gives a subtle country twist to a modern home. There are fun patterns amongst this range too, like welly boots and game birds, chickens, ducks and squirrels – perfect for a country kitchen look.

The Studio Line range, on the other hand, provides an explosion of colour and embroidered patterns, especially the Rashieka’s Garden designs.

And there’s even more to their collections, including a children’s range which has some fantastic designs to help you decorate your child’s room with all their favourite things.

Come into Norwich Sunblinds’ showroom on St Benedict’s Street and have a look at these delightful fabric samples or arrange a free consultation where we will visit you at your home, measure your windows, and discuss fabric choices. Your curtains or blinds are then made to order and fitted for you.

This article originally appeared on the Norwich Sunblinds website

Everyone’s talking about it now – being a thought leader, being an authority in your domain. We all want to speak and write with confidence and inspire trust. And we all see people every day who master it and people who fail at it.

But if you’re going to translate marketing content, this is a fundamental issue for you to consider. If your brochure is written to compel English-speaking readers from a specific industry and a focused demographic, how are you going to really make sure that the translated version does the same thing? This most fundamental acid-test for any piece of marketing collateral has to be summed up by one word – credibility.

Anyone who’s studied sales and persuasion techniques will know all about building rapport through shadowing, where people try and mimic your own tone of voice, rhythm of speech and even body language. Whether you think these things are nonsense or not, the point is, it pays to make people think you’re like them. In the classic book on persuasion, “Influence” (if you’ve not read it, I highly recommend it), the point is made abundantly clear. We are more receptive and more responsive to people who we consider to be like us. And not just slightly – the difference is staggering. Persuasive content needs to have the readers’ tone of voice, the readers’ language. They have to feel that they’re listening to someone who is just like them.

In translation, there’s no shortcut to this. The days of the generalist translator are numbered. Language providers need to accept that they are in the era of specialisation, intense research and a commitment to finding out all about you – and digging out the exact target language. It’s not enough to speak perfect Mandarin. If what you need is persuade an air charter buyer, you need to know how air charter is conducted in China, you need to know the jargon and the attitudes of Chinese air charter buyers.

When someone reads your documents, they should feel like they’re listening to someone who is just like them. Someone from their world and who understands their problems. Someone who talks like them and that gets them. That’s credibility.

That means the only real route to success is to work with specialists. The value of the generalist is, unfortunately, limited. Brain surgeons out-earn General Practitioners. Depth is more important than breadth when it comes to delivering perfection. It’s why we’re focused, for example, on marketing departments in growth phase businesses. And it’s why our translators are chosen not to be able to help as many clients as possible, but to be able to completely understand and delight one particular narrow client group.

We had a pretty good weekend; a house packed with three generations whose combined ability to strip a house bare of food and drink would give a swarm of locusts a run for their money. Sunday evening saw the younger members packed off to bed while their elders slumped in a postprandial torpor, trying to summon up the energy to finish off the cold bread and butter pudding.  This gave Mrs R the opportunity she had been waiting for. Their guard was down; it was the perfect moment to introduce The Talk – what would happen to both acres that comprise the vast Ross Estate when we were called to a higher, or at least different, place?

The cobbler’s children have no shoes; the Ross children have no financial plan and now seemed as good a time as any to begin to put things right.

It started out well. More by luck than judgement we seem to have produced a brood that, even into adulthood, I still like (I’ve always thought you have to love your children but liking them is a bonus) and their initial responses along the lines of ‘we’re not interested in your money’ were reassuring. Thankfully, none was cruel enough to point out that a third of what was left after we’d paid for our dotage wouldn’t buy much more than a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich over which to reflect on our passing.

We should have left it there, kept things simple. But Mrs R had to nudge them. Over the next twenty minutes a disturbing narrative developed. A casual observer could easily draw parallels with a wider post-truth zeitgeist; unfortunately I was not only a participant, I was the protagonist.

It goes without saying that Mrs R emerged as a paragon who could be relied upon completely. I, on the other hand, had barely waited for the flowers to fade on the late Mrs R’s grave before I was off with a floozy so obviously only after me for my money. It would all end in tears when she ran away with a boy nearer her own age – taking their inheritance with her. Her name was Michelle. That I can only think of one Michelle I know and he’s a French chef called Michel, didn’t matter – they weren’t coming to our wedding and that was that. The only answer was for me to make sure any money I had was protected from her grasp.

Hang on, I protested, I love your mother dearly but she might fall under a bus tomorrow. I could live another 30 years. I could be happily married to someone else for another 25. Do you really expect me to restrict myself for the rest of my life?

        Yes

   Why?

       We’ve told you – we don’t like Michelle

   THERE IS NO MICHELLE!!!  

It was all fairly light-hearted but it serves to illustrate just how easily family discussions can escalate to internecine warfare. Dicken’s fictional Jarndyce and Jarndyce lead a long and sorry line of real and fictional litigants who have seen their inheritance melt away. Examples are easy to find. Peter Ustinov’s family has been battling since his death over a decade ago to the extent that his son is close to bankruptcy and the estate pretty much exhausted by legal fees. More recently, Robin Williams’ widow and children locked horns over the terms of his will. And it’s not even about the money. In Robin Williams’ case they are arguing about his memorabilia, which you’d think would be worth little compared to his overall wealth.

When it comes to estate planning, Inheritance Tax and divorce protection are important, but it is when we encourage family discussions well in advance that we add most value. It is usually when people are hit with the unexpected that things start to turn nasty. As with so many things, communication is key.

A trend we’ve seen developing is the move towards a desire to create a legacy – wealth that will be handed down through many generations. Often it’s people who had expected to leave behind a business that could be this legacy, only to realise, late in the day, that their children really weren’t that interested in running the family firm. This is an increasingly familiar situation – the rates of familial business succession have been plummeting for years. When you put a business into the mix, the potential for misunderstanding increases exponentially, making early discussion vital.

Wealth management is usually about helping people build a pot of money and then spend it at a rate that means it doesn’t run out before they do. Because we expect people to use most of their money during their retirement we must invest in reasonably liquid assets – we need to know that when we need the money we’ll be able to get it.

Taking an intergenerational view fundamentally alters our approach. Rather than managing a portfolio to sustain an income through a retirement with perhaps a bit left over at the end for family and friends, legacy planning starts with the assumption that the portfolio will be invested to create an indefinite income that spans generations. Relieved of the burden of maintaining liquidity we can look at longer-term trends.

For example, investing in a basket of developed market shares for five years will give a better return than cash just two thirds of the time. Not bad but hardly compelling. Extend the investment period to fifteen years and your basket will outperform cash over 90% of the time.

Similarly, small companies outperform large companies in two out of every three years but 95% of the time over fifteen years. Having an indefinite investment horizon means we can take advantage of these persistent factor advantages. It also means we can, more or less, close our eyes to capital value volatility and concentrate instead on creating a rising income stream.

We can also look to other indefinite investors such as the endowment funds of Ivy League universities for examples of alternative approaches. The Yale endowment fund runs to $25bn. Its investment allocation looks very different to a typical individual portfolio. Up to 50% of the fund is held in illiquid assets (venture capital, leveraged buyouts, real estate and natural resources) with only 4% of the fund in domestic (US) equities.

We can think about investments that reflect underlying socio-economic, industrial and political trends such as an aging population, the rise in robotics or the increasing importance of clean, reliable water supplies, gaining exposure to these areas through a growing number of specialist thematic investment funds. Having a team of enthusiastic economists makes us well placed to assess these opportunities.

None of which should bother the Ross children – Michelle would have spent the money long before any of the trends play out…

In its first year of existence, Shared Parental Leave was accessed by less than 1% of families. An overnight success it was not. We were amongst the early adopters of the scheme and it was an absolute gift to our family. Long before the Government announced its new legislation, we had decided to share the childcare in the first year of our baby’s life, so, the announcement that we could, in effect, ‘share’ my maternity was absolutely timely – and welcome.

And for us, the process itself was relatively straightforward. We were the ‘guinea pigs’ in both our companies but this did not pose any issues with the actual procedure. Forms filled in, timescales agreed, maternity pay handover confirmed and we were on our way.

But whilst the law has changed, mindsets need to catch up. Our approach met with some surprised commentary from people we encountered, evidence then that societally, we still have some way to go before equality around parental leave becomes the norm.

And companies are in a great position to be able to help to normalise parental equity in their organisational culture and within their policies and procedures. The provision for women during maternity leave – such as Keeping In Touch days and regular communications – should also become the standard for fathers taking Shared Parental Leave. Businesses might also want to consider their processes for welcoming returning fathers; in the same way that companies may support a phased or flexible return for mothers, the same could apply for fathers. Consistency is the key so that whichever parent it is, they are treated equitably.

But it’s not just the practical steps which companies can take. There also needs to be an understanding and recognition of the emotional impact upon a father returning to work from parental leave. Just as it is widely understood and anticipated that mothers may feel conflicted and vulnerable during those first few days and weeks, the same might be true for the returning father. As such, we need to offer him just as much emotional support and care as we would a mother.

And this doesn’t just apply to fathers taking Shared Parental Leave. The whole process of having a child is mind-blowingly life-changing. It alters everything – our perceptions, our feelings, our concerns, our priorities. The same sensitivity we apply to new mothers should also be extended to new fathers. I have often wondered at how tough it must be for the father returning to work after the usual two weeks’ paternity leave to just ‘get back to normal.’ Because normal doesn’t exist anymore. And managers need to recognise this and pay consideration to this shift through caring inquiry and a focus on wellbeing.

Of course, we are all unique and becoming a parent will affect mothers and fathers differently. But by supporting parental parity through policies and management approaches, employers can help to empower their people to make the parental leave choices that are right for them and their families. And in doing so, increase employee satisfaction and impact positively upon wellbeing.

Holiday Park owners:  Have you rolled out  WiFi across your Holiday Park?

Does it consist of Access Points placed in strategic areas around the park?  Have you been shown heat-map and coverage maps showing how great the signal is?  And yet you still deal with complaints regarding how slow the internet is, that the signal is weak and a refund should be given?

Traditional WiFi systems consist of External Access Points dotted around the park, which provide a great signal outdoors, but this signal cannot adequately pass into the dwellings below show in the diagram below.  Dwellings within the repeater range can typically expect a 30dB drop in signal due to the construction materials, foil insulation and thermal bronzed glass resulting in difficulty connecting, slow speeds and frequent drop offs.

The above scenario is played out across pretty much every holiday park in the UK.  Wide Area coverage was suitable circa 4 years ago, but clients expectations have changed significantly, as has technology.  TV is now Catchup TV, Netfix, Amazon Prime and BBC Iplayer.  Even learning how to drain your Caravan down will now have a High Definition guide on YouTube.  MP3 music is now streaming Spotify, books are Kindles and even the telephone has been replaced with Skype and Facetime.

There is a solution that will allow you to meet these demands allowing you to provide fast internet, low latency and strong signal inside the caravan.  As a bonus, it also provides a secure network using WPA2 rather than the insecure, open networks found today.   Staff networks, CCTV and building links can also be ran across this network allowing for a long life-cycle, value for money solution that grows with you ( rather than being outgrown in a few years ).

Using a Fibre to the Cabinet style deployment consists of a fibre ring installed around the park which is broken out to Ethernet to feed to each dwelling that subscribes to the internet.  An internal router is installed that transmits both a secure SSID for the occupants to use, a Guest WiFi signal for those they opt for a PAYG service and even a staff network to allow housekeeping and maintenance staff access to management systems whilst working around site.

To find out more about our Fibre To the Cabinet and solutions, as well as our standard Holiday Park WiFi please get in touch.

Recently there have been some fantastic innovations when it comes to fabrics for made to measure blinds.

Motorisation is growing in popularity, but it is the treatment of fabrics that has become really cutting edge, including a fabric that can help with hayfever relief.

Around 16,000 people in the UK suffer from hayfever, which is essentially an allergy to pollen. The pollen season extends from March to October and hayfever not only affects people’s efficiency at work (92% of people say it affects their work capability), it also seems to strike at its worst during the exam season.

With exams coming up in a few months’ time, now is a great time to install these new blinds. The blinds are made from fabric that has been treated with Pollergen. Pollergen is a unique product created by Louvolite.

When a fabric is treated with Pollergen, it captures pollen and makes it harmless.

Louvolite says:

“Does it really work? Well, independent testing by the National Pollen and Aerobiology Research unit has concluded that a Pollergen-treated fabric shows over 50% reduction in grass pollen allergen when compared to an untreated control fabric. So simply put – yes, it does work.”

Because Pollergen is a coating for fabric, choosing these blinds won’t cramp your style; you will still have an amazing choice of Louvolite fabrics for your made to measure blinds. Pollergen is available for Roller blinds, Vertical blinds and Pleated blinds,  for the home and office.

Combine these blinds with the anti-pollen mesh on fly screens for your doors for even more protection.

So, with that exciting news, what else is new in the world of blinds?

Louvolite have excelled themselves this year. Their Vision blinds have already been popular for a few years but now they have introduced a three-dimensional version called Visage blinds.

Vision blinds are a mix of fabric and mesh which can be alternated to allow in partial light or pulled down for full privacy.

Visage blinds build on that by adding alternate sheer and opaque vanes to give an added dimension.

In essence, these blinds look sophisticated as well as giving you more choice in terms of light control and privacy than normal blinds.

For children, Louvolite has also this month introduced “Night Night Glow” a fabric which glows in the dark for half an hour, helping your child get to sleep.

All of these blinds are available from Norwich Sunblinds.

Pop into the shop in St Benedicts Street, Norwich, or book an appointment online. We will visit you to measure up and discuss the best fabrics and blinds for your needs. The blinds are made in Attleborough by local craftspeople to your exact requirements and are fitted for you.