Member Blog

Please see our quarterly update which, this time, focuses on the impact ” the sugar tax” is having on R & D claims in the food and drink sector. For more information please call me on 07794201990

To give a bit of backstory to this post, I was tasked with learning as much as possible about Spring Boot. What it is, how to use it, what it does and the benefits it brings and to then follow this investigation up with a blog post explaining, to the best of my ability, all of the things that I’ve learnt.

I should explain what Spring is before I go any further into Spring Boot. Spring is an open-source framework with one main goal in mind: Simplifying Java development. Spring does a lot of things, but underneath all of that functionality, it adds a few primary features. Dependency injection and aspect-oriented programming being the main ones. The main issue with Spring is that to get it to do a lot for you, you have to do a lot for it in return. Namely, a lot of configuration, especially if you want features such as transaction management or a Spring MVC feature.

“Spring Boot changed all of that.”

If you haven’t heard or looked at Spring Boot before, explaining what it is would probably be a good next step. Spring Boot, simply put, allows for auto configuration of an application. Simple enough, right? Going into more depth, Spring Boot allows Spring to detect what kind of application you’re building and will then automatically configure its components to support your application’s needs. No more writing explicit configuration. Spring Boot takes care of this for you.

Spring Boot is deceptively easy to get going. Even being a complete novice in both Spring and Spring Boot, I managed to get an application up and running (albeit a very simple one without any front-end) in just over an hour whilst reading through a very useful book titled ‘Spring Boot in Action’, written by Craig Walls (ISBN-13: 978-1-61729-254-5). The easiest way that I got going with it was via the ‘Quick Start’ method on the Spring Boot website (found here: https://start.spring.io/). This allows you to choose either Maven or Gradle as your build tool, name your application and include any dependencies that you already know you will need to include at the start of the project. Hit ‘Generate project’ and you’re good to go!

I’ll touch on these dependencies that you can include in the beginning a little bit because they make things very convenient when making your application. These dependencies are known as ‘Starter Dependencies’. They make it easy to select which build and runtime libraries you will need in your application, as well as cutting out the thinking about the versions and specific libraries you’ll need.

Spring Boot allows you to spend less time configuring your application and more time building it. It makes the beginning of an application’s development more enjoyable, letting you get down to the parts you enjoy most and is novice friendly, with multiple tools that allow you to quickly boot (pun intended) up an application and get going with it.

I urge anyone that uses Spring as a framework to look into Spring Boot and give it a go. It might save you a bunch of time and energy because let’s be honest, who enjoys configuring their application more than building it?

Words byLewis

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) statistics reveal that companies in the East of England accounted for 10% of 22,445 research and development tax credits claims in the tax year 2014-15, with HMRC paying back £250m to companies in the region, out of £2.45bn of tax relief paid out nationwide.

But tax specialist Jumpstart says that many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are still unaware they could claim back thousands in Corporation Tax from the Government.

The firm says the figures show that the East is lagging behind other regions in terms of the increase in claims by SMEs over the last five years. Since 2010, the amounts claimed by SMEs in the East have increased by 198%, compared with 438% in the North East at 438% and 364% in London.

If your business is large enough to have employees, treasure them. With the right people in the right places, your employees are the most important asset your business has.

To get the best out of your staff, they need to know you value them. But with the day to day focus on operational needs, it’s all too easy to let staff motivation fall down your list of priorities.

However, taking care of employee engagement should form a key part of your strategic planning, not be an afterthought.To keep your staff motivated you need to identify what makes them tick and provide the right environment to nurture them. This is particularly important during times of business change where people can be pushed into situations they’re not comfortable with.

Key to success is ensuring that all staff have a clear understanding of a future that they see as secure and sustainable, so they have the willingness to change with you. Poorly motivated staff results in high staff turnover and a direct impact on the bottom line.

A big part of what I do is working directly with the employees to ensure any transitions are smooth and that the workforce feels valued.Listening to your employees is as important as listening to your customers. When I go into an organisation, I need to get employees to open up and discuss any problems with me. I can then come up with a strategy to resolve any issues. Communication is key.

Education is another vital part of staff motivation. A motivated employee is confident that they have the support and the skills they need to complete their job. And the other important ingredient?

Recognition. A big motivator for staff is having their hard work recognised. A simple ‘thank you’ when someone achieves an agreed goal can go a long way, but is all too often forgotten!

Ican help identify and nurture talent through coaching and mentoring. These foundations might not seem tangible, but you will feel the positive change within your organisation and see your business grow.Feel free toget in touch to find out more.

Everything is going great, you’ve exchanged a few messages via the dating website and you arrange to meet up. Profile picture and write up ticks all the boxes and you seem to have a lot in common.

It’s the big night and you expect the potential partner to more or less resemble what they portrayed, except, they are nothing like they described. So you send the pre-arranged text to a friend who calls you in 10 mins…ring ring, ring ring, you make your excuses “Oh I’m terribly sorry I must dash, my sister has broken her leg!” and leave.

Onboarding is exactly the same; the first few days in a new role are so important, and it’s the best opportunity for a company to prove they are who they promised they would be.

Girl seeks company must have GSOH

I’ve been lucky and unlucky enough to experience a lot of onboarding in different types of companies. The experience generally revolves around two camps either being given a printed out guide and generally left to discover the processes of my job on my own, or a week filled with hour long meetings with senior staff to understand the business, but not having any time with my own team.

Both approaches resulted in me becoming mentally exhausted, not sure where my role was within the company or what I was even meant to be doing.

I saw an opportunity at Indigo Swan, applied, got the interview and the job, a perfect girl meets company story so far. Now being a bit of an expert I was unsure what the onboarding experience would be like. I was, however pleasantly surprised and I am now 6 months in at Indigo Swan, I know my place in the organisation, what I am meant to be doing and what is expected of me. I believe a lot of this has come from the very first few days where my expectations were delightfully matched to the truth, much like how a perfect 1st date scenario should be.

I’ve listed my top 4 onboarding tips based on one of the best, and hopefully last, I’ll experience.

1. Give me something to work to…

Plan the first few weeks for your new starter but still leave time for them to do tasks, we have to take in a lot, so striking a good balance between learning and doing is essential. I had a written schedule of the first few days which was a balance of meeting different people learning a task, working through it and then reflecting before moving onto the next thing.

2. Keep it light…

Allow them time to process what they are learning and write up their notes.

When you’re learning all the time with a new organisation, copious amounts of notes get written and then swiftly forgotten about. When I first started at Indigo Swan, I was given an hour at the end of each day to type up the notes from the day. This ended up being a vital process, as I was able to understand what I had learned, and organise these ideas into my own readable, format that I could then refer back to.

3. Let me know i’m doing good…

I will admit, I was very excited to have my first contract signed and processed, but what made it better was that the rest of the staff in the office shared my excitement and were genuinely pleased I had achieved this ‘first’. It’s a super confidence booster and felt great that I was already beginning to make a meaningful contribution, even if it is as small as ringing your first client, to getting that first contract signed, reward their ‘firsts’ as they are going in the right direction.

4. Make me feel needed…

The first day I started at Indigo Swan, we all gathered around the bean bags and everyone introduced themselves with a quick description of how they contribute to the business, and a fun fact about themselves. It was at this point I realised how friendly, approachable and positive every person was about their job, and how much time they had allocated to me.

Remember, don’t be slack…

You may be thinking, this is great but I’m too busy, but it’s completely logical to take the time to make your new starter feel special as it will last. You have already invested so much in getting them this far do you really want to be doing that all over again in a few months’ time?

Slack onboarding will only result in a slack culture over time. Involve your new starter, welcome them, and accept them, you want them to instinctively believe that where they are is where they should be and moving jobs isn’t even on the radar. This attitude starts forming right from day one.

Sign up to our Newsletter – Peck Here

Article originally from Indigo Swan website:indigoswan.co.uk/blog/onboarding-with-feathers-4-tips-from-the-other-side-of-the-desk/

Client: A National Training Provider

The client runs seminars aimed at business people, professionals and sometimes members of the public and was looking for Training Room hire in Norwich. For this series of courses, they were looking for a small training room for 15-20 people and also required specific equipment for their training including flip-charts, and basic AV for their presentation. The client was keen to have be in a business environment but also wanted to offer their delegates on site parking.

The Space‘s Training Room Hire Solution

• We providedThe GreenSpaceas atraining roomon a Daily Delegate Rate which meant the client could easily calculate costs on a per delegate basis.
• The delegate rate included 3 refreshment breaks and a buffet lunch as well as the room hire and equipment they needed.
• The trainer used the inbuilt 80″ Full HD Screen with sound barspeaker for a video, a flipchart and pens and a lectern for their laptop and notes etc.
• Bottled water was provided along with pens and pads for notetaking.
• Breaks were taken in the spacious Atrium area which provided a change of scene for the delegates where they could enjoy their food and refreshments while enjoying works of art on display in our revolving exhibition of local artists and photographers.
• The client enjoyed the focused environment provided by a dedicated business venue.
• Delegates used thefree parkingavailable on site.

Client:A National Young People’s Charity

The client was looking for a venue hire only option so that they could minimise their costs and mould the spaces to be how they wanted them for the day.They needed a large main area with an additional breakout spaces and wanted to offer free parking and be within a short distance from public transport especially Norwich Station.

The client was keen to have exclusive use of the venue to ensure young people were safe.

The Space‘sVenueHire Solution:

• We provided the client with the auditorium and use of the atrium on a venue hire only rate including a 25% discount for the charity.
• Our flexible catering policy meant that the client was approved to allow delegates to bring in their own lunches to keep costs down.
• The Auditorium was virtually emptied of chairs which meant the facilitators were able to make full use the space in the manner that their activities required.
• The Atrium provided a light and airy alternative space to use during breaks.
• They had peace of mind that the young people were not going to be lost in the venue with it’s simple layout.
• Free parking was used and parents bringing their children were able to drop them at The Space without parking in the city centre or braving Saturday traffic. Attendees arriving at the station were able to make the short taxi ride and be at the space within 10 minutes.

We are thrilled to announce that we are working with award-winning company Catalyst2, focusing on helping them increase their visibility on Google through search engine optimisation. Catalyst2 are based all over the UK and provide managed hosting and dedicated servers, amongst other hosting products starting from £1 per month. Founded in 2000, they have become one of the leading hosting companies in the country and have won several ISPA awards for their customer service, providing 24/7 support for all their customers, including ‘Best Business Customer Service‘ in 2016.

How we have approached the Catalyst SEO project

We were conscious that Catalyst have a very big website, especially since it has been going since the year 2000. So our approach has beento make a small number of relevant changes, rather than try do too much at once. So we started with keyword research, working with the Catalyst team and confirming which keywords to target. We then selected which landing pages on their website would target each of these pages and optimised the meta-titles, descriptions, URLs and content accordingly.

Next, we want to maximise the user experience by removing any crawl errors, broken pages and broken links to ensure a smooth journey for any customer. By compressing images and cleaning up code, we have increased the site speed for both mobile and desktop from around 50/100 to 80/100 and this is a continued working progress to make the site as fast as possible.

In terms of the link strategy, we have added Catalyst to a few strong local websites to consolidate their positionas a local business – and also adhere to a recent Google algorithm update that is more local-SEO focused. With over 5,300 links pointing to the Catalyst, we have analysed the links in great depth, deciding which to keep and removing any via the Google disavow tool (or simply contacting the webmaster to remove these links).

Results

Despite only working on the Catalyst2 website for one month, we have already seen their ranking for ‘website hosting’ and ‘dedicated server’ jump around 25 spots, from page 6 to page 3 – so we are hopefullyon track to reach page 1 by the end of the year or sooner.

To see the Catalyst website and our SEO work, please visit:https://www.catalyst2.com/

Having a website in the 21st century is much like having a shop front in the 80s; a good balance of brand identity, a fancy window display and plenty of footfall is key to getting people through the door. The methods however, are very different. The sandwich board employee has been replaced by a business savvy search engine working for all of the businesses on your patch – and you need to engage in some heavy schmoozing to make sure they’re shouting loudest about your business.

Getting traffic to your website is only one of the challenges. Here’s 7 key things your website needs to have from the start if you want to hit the ground running:

1. Branding & Design

With so many templates and themes available for web builds, many sites are just blending into one. Make your website stand out with eye-catching branding and a memorable design. Like many creative processes, there will always be trends in web design and branding, with new possibilities and innovative features being developed every day. Ensure your site uses the best new functions to communicate your message, but don’t include functions just because they are available to you.

2. User Experience

There’s nothing worse than landing on a website, looking for an answer or product and not being able to easily find it. Make sure your structure and navigation is clear and user-friendly, with a bold introduction to your products or services instantly present. Use of white space helps the user to digest the information in manageable chunks, while creative copywriting and striking images complete the experience. Clear call-to-actions will guide the user to your chosen communication method. E-commerce sites should feature easy search and filtering functions, and an optimised route to checkout.

3. Mobile/Tablet Testing

More and more of us are using mobile devices for online search, and combined mobile and tablet visitor figures are now outweighing desktop computers for the majority of industries. If your website isn’t responsive, you really are missing out; Google have split their algorithm so that results for mobile searches are different to desktop searches – based on mobile-friendly scores. Make sure that you’re testing your website on all mobile devices to ensure that it displays and folds as you expect it to and doesn’t have any nasty design surprises.

4. Loading Times

Websites that take ages to load are sooooooooooo annoying, most people will click ‘back’ in their browser and go to the next search result if your website doesn’t load straight away. Image sizes, too many scripts, poorly developed plugins and poor hosting can all cause delays in your loading times. Google frowns on slow load time because its users don’t like it, so it is likely to hurt your search rankings as well as being a huge pain for your users.

5. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

Optimise your website for Search Engines by ensuring that you have keyword-rich Title Tags, Meta Descriptions, Image Alt Tags and website copy from the start. Your website will naturally tell your audience what you do, but make sure it includes the exact words or phrases they’re searching for so that Google knows to point them in the direction of your website.

6. Clear Message Delivery

If your online marketing is up to scratch, your website’s home page is your business’ opening pitch. Don’t let it waffle on with pre-amble; make it clear upfront exactly what it is you do and why your business is the best choice. Be aware of using relevant keywords in your copy and make sure your design is clear and easy to follow for your users. Focus the copy more on the benefits you offer to potential customers, rather than yourself.

7.Online Marketing Plan

Having a well-designed, easy to use, responsive website is just the beginning. You need to make sure that you have a strategy in place to get customers to your website. Online marketing is essential to get your website noticed, not just by your customer, but also by search engines, who will be valuable asset in directing customers to your site, and not your competitors’. Whether you choose SEO, pay-per-click advertising or social media marketing, make sure you have your sandwich board out for all to see.

There is a lot to cover when you’re building a website but if you get it right, your website can be a 24hr salesman working hard for your business.

Nu Image specialise in responsive website design in Norfolk and further afield, so if you need any help building, maintaining or marketing your website, give us a call, we’ll be happy to hear from you!

Chapter 64 of the UK Trade Tariff is where you will find nearly 90 commodity codes used on the import or export offootwearin the UK.

Classification is aone of the 3 key elements whichdefine the amount of duty that is paid on import and as footwear attracts duty rates between 5 & 17%getting it wrong could prove costly.

Applying the correct commodity code requires a greater understanding of the article of footwear. In order to confirm an accurate classification you will need to knowwhat materialit is made from, who will be wearing it, whether the shoe is for use in sportwhether it is, a wellington, a flip flop, or wornfor health & safety purposes.Tthe height of a heel and length of sole are also determining factors in shoe classification& whether the item covers the ankle or knee or whether if it is used for sport.

All of this can be daunting for the fist time importer or the seasoned professional so we at IEShave designed a tool to assist you with the classification of footwear and where the classification is still unclear (which can happen for new innovativefootwear designs) we can then assist with the submission of a Binding Tariff Infromation sheet to HMRC which will give you a decision as to the classification of the footwear.

Please see more https://goo.gl/xJu9NM​ and contact us using the link https://goo.gl/9Lebqf

Let your fingers do the walking to our contact us page https://goo.gl/9Lebqf & let us get your footwear correctly classifed

Many web site owners face a problem. Their search engine marketing strategy is failing. They don’t know why and they equally don’t know what to do to ensure a ranking on page 1 of all search engines, not just Google.

Here are some reasons I have come across why this might just be the case:

1. Your goals are either wrong or not clearly defined: If your web site is not getting traffic to it and is not ranking, how can you expect it to be on page 1 for the most valuable term(s) in your sector? You must start by targeting key terms or phrases. Try to optimise multiple pages with different key phrases with lower competition on each. The more high rankings your site has for the phrases which attract lower competition the more likely your site will get high rankings for the most competitive terms available.

2: You are not taking seo (search engine optimisation) seriously enough as part of an overall digital marketing strategy, of course: This isn’t a process which you can start and then just let go (unfortunately for you). It takes time to make things happen. SEO is an investment for your company and therefore you should treat it as any other investment – with care, time and attention. What worked last year may not necessarily work this. What techniques were employed are likely to be ever-changing.Monitor. Assess. Prove. Repeat.

3. Your focus is all wrong: Some site owners are obsessed with ultra long title tags, stuffing keywords in to meta tags etc. Others will constantly submit their site to the engines in the hope that this will bring higher rankings.

Don’t chase the latest trend. You will fail. If you succeed it will only make the difference between position 10 and position 9 – not great enough to warrant the time needed to achieve this menial goal. If your website is not listed on page 1 on the search engine of choice, then you have not even got the fundamentals right!

4. Your key phrases are wrong: A massive mistake a lot of people make. There are tools like Google’s Adwords Keywords tool, but this is totally directed toward the advertising push of Google toward their services. There are other open source tools (free on the web) which you can find, but most are inaccurate at best. The issue of misguided keywords is probably the most popular and people are left scratching their heads as to why they are not ranking. It is not always the case that the number of searches equates to the number of clients/business transactions you will make on-line. It may actually be better to find more targeted phrases and get a foothold with these, before attacking the main phrases. If nothing else this will give your site a higher level of authority with the search engines.

5. Your links to your site are wrong: To get highest rankings on any search engine you must have good, relevant, high quality back links. However, there is a balance in this covering averages, as there is with all things online. Links can and should be a mix of do follow and no follow, exact match and phrase match, and padded; again in balance. Automatic links or paid links do not work. Actually, they can cause issues with Google which could see your link disavowed, and your website come up negatively on Google’s ‘radar.

In conclusion: To get anywhere on the search engines does not necessarily have to cost a fortune. Neither should the time needed to attain long term success be undervalued or underestimated by you. If you are in a geographically targeted market sector your improvement should be seen more rapidly than if you are not. However, be warned, as already mentioned on here many times over the years, the understanding of rank, Meta information, competitive analysis, page speed load (quality of hosting), social media engagement and quality of code, coupled with commercialism, ease of use of website for the viewer, and a clear and simple defined path, coupled with trust by using SSL certificates across the site, and by being open about your business, should have viewers and engines beating a path to your door. Failure in any one element may be tolerated. Failure in more may not! Chris.

Digital marketing refers to the type of promotion for your business that is done in the online environment. If you have a website, a blog, a social media account for your business or send emails to your customers, you are already doing digital marketing. The job is to find out what you are doing and how you are doing it, and then to make some minor (or occasionally major) changes to make your efforts more successful.

Digital marketing involves:

SEO: Your lovely flashy website is worth nothing to you if people can’t find it. Modern SEO is a combination of external authority link building, on page coding, content in abundance, links to social media. It is not likely to be the panacea for success, however, just an integral part of it.

Social media: Are you on Facebook? What about Twitter? Should you be using Pinterest, Instagram or StumbleUpon? What about Tumblr & WordPress? The number and complexity of social networking platforms can be daunting to say the least. In order to increase the efficiency of your time spent socially marketing your brand, you may need help. There are over 300 social media bookmarking sites on the Internet – choose the ones that fit your business.

Website design and development: Whether you need a brand new website for a new business or product, or want to revamp your existing web presence. Affordable starter packages for new businesses can include web hosting, but you may want to build a huge eCommerce website featuring thousands of products. Cheap sites are normally cheap for a reason: poor code, repetitive theme, poor mobile experience, poor viewer one generally!

Email marketing: Email is still one of the most powerful ways to reach out to your customers. Get it right, and you’ll develop brand loyalty, customer referrals and ultimately, more sales. But get it wrong and you could be doomed to the ‘junk’ folder forever. Think about your message, your audience and your calls to action.

Branding: From logo creation to a complete branding strategy for your business, your agency should be able to assist you in exuding business quality through your brand.

..and none of this matters at all if you are either not competitive or you simply don’t answer the phone when it rings with an enquiry!