Coronavirus or COVID-19 What businesses need to know.

As the Coronavirus or COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread across the globe, Surrey Chambers of Commerce have received an increasing number of enquiries from businesses asking what steps they should take to mitigate the potential impact.

Updated 2 March 2020

Their advice is:

  1. Do a Risk Assessment. Look at your supply chain to identify vulnerabilities if supply should stop and make contingency plans.
  2. Consider the impact on your finances such as cash flow and discuss with your bank if possible.
  3. Consider the possible legal issues that may arise such as breaches of contracted delivery terms.
  4. Review the advice and best practice from the Government, NHS, and other organisations on a regular basis.
  5. Where possible, keep in regular communication with your suppliers/clients in countries that are affected. Many of the factories in China that closed at the start of the outbreak are now reopening.
  6. Make sure you have precautionary measures in place to minimise possible contact with the virus e.g. Enhanced Hygiene, remote working.
  7. If any member of staff are showing symptoms of the Coronavirus, they should call NHS 111 or use their online Coronavirus service.

Useful sources of Information and contact:
 
 
 
Good Career Guidance – can your business help local schools?

The Enterprise M3 LEP is working with Runnymede secondary schools to find local employers who can provide local pupils with career advice. If your staff would like to volunteer to deliver career activities in schools and your business can offer trips for pupils to visit your workplace, please complete the form using the link:

bitly.com/M3Lepcareerguidance

Once you have identified the careers activities which your organisation can support in a local school or college, you will be contacted by the Enterprise Coordinator for Runnymede to assist you in engaging effectively and efficiently with schools/colleges, helping you to maximise the benefit for young people which your generous offer of time/resources provide.

The form is compliant with GDPR rules, allowing for introductions to be made to careers leaders at each of the schools.

If you would like to find out more about the career guidance targets that schools are now working towards, please do feel free to explore them via this link: www.goodcareerguidance.org.uk/the-benchmarks
 
 
 
IFS opens new offices in Runnymede

IFS bolsters UK presence with opening of new regional office in Runnymede. In September, IFS – a global enterprise software company – further expanded its presence in the UK market with the opening of a new regional office at Bourne House in Staines-Upon-Thames, Surrey.

The office will be home to 370 IFS employees; 10% of IFS’s global workforce.

Complete with an interactive and immersive customer suite, the new offices have been extensively refitted to suit the needs of this high-growth global technology company.

Alan Laing, IFS Managing Director for the UK and Ireland, said that “the move had been highly anticipated, and they are delighted with the new offices, which will now act as a business showcase for customers and partners alike”

Darren Roos, CEO, IFS, added: “IFS has gone through a significant transformation over the past year and a half that has seen us deliver six consecutive quarters of growth over 20% year-on-year. The move of our UK headquarters to a modern working environment, built with our customers in mind, is part of our global journey to become the go-to software partner for challenger brands.”

The opening was marked with a drink’s reception and official ribbon-cutting at the facility in Bourne House. The office is within a stone’s throw of the intersection of two major motorways (the M3 and M25) and has easy access to the UK’s largest airport, Heathrow with fast rail links to London. IFS’s UK office was previously based in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

IFS senior executives were joined by the Mayor of Runnymede, Councillor Parshotam Sohi and the Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey, Nick Wood-Dow.

About IFS

IFS develops and delivers enterprise software for customers around the world. IFS customer base includes manufacturing and goods distrubters who build and maintain assets and manage service-focused operations.

To learn more about how IFS’s enterprise software solutions can help your business today visit ifs.com

Follow us on Twitter: @ifs

Visit the IFS Blog on technology, innovation and creativity: https://blog.ifs.com/
 
 
 
Low carbon across the South East LOCASE

The Low Carbon Across the South East (LoCASE) programme is supported by the European Regional Development Fund to provide a free business support programme in the South East. Its aim is to help businesses become more competitive and profitable while protecting the environment and encouraging low carbon solutions.

LoCASE provide grants to assist business. These are available until 30 March 2020. However, the availability of grants is restricted to SMEs who have not previously received funding from the programme.

Relevant companies might be SMEs in the region who are looking at ‘green’ projects or LCEGS (low carbon environmental goods & services) firms seeking their first bite at grant funding for business development purposes.

Maximum 40% ERDF grant contributions is limited to £10K with a minimum grant of £1K for qualifying projects.

There is only £800K ‘up for grabs’ in this round so get in quick as demand is already very high!

For more information about how LoCASE have helped firms, please see their news section and register your interest https://locase.co.uk/register-here/
 
 
 
Data Protection Fee – Ignore it at your peril!

The ICO has been sending letters out to companies reminding them of the potential need to pay a fee to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as required by the regulations relating to data protection.

Don't overlook it!

It really is a pretty easy thing and the fee is not high for most people. There are three levels of fee £40, £60 and a third level up to £2,900 (the third level is only for organisations with a turnover of £36 million or more).

Most organisations that handle personal information must pay the fee. There are some exceptions, and a self-assessment questionnaire is available on the ICO website which enables you to assess whether you need to pay or not.

Failure to pay the fee when required is a criminal offence with a maximum penalty fine of £4,350. Failure to pay the fee means that your company or organisation is not ‘searchable’ on the register; a good indication to searchers that you have probably failed to comply more generally with 2018 Data Protection requirements.

Even if you are exempt from paying the fee you must still comply with the other provisions of the data protection legislation. It may also be worth considering to voluntarily pay the fee for public transparency – and in case any of your processing extends beyond the scope of the exemptions during the course of the year.

The fee is payable annually and each entity within a corporate group must pay.

Further Information

If you have any questions regarding the above or require additional information or assistance, please contact Debbie Turner or Ben Habershon: [email protected] or call them on +44 (0)333 122 0010.

Thank you to Dixcart UK for this article. www.dixcartuk.com/
 
 
 
Once in a lifetime date

The mirroring of the numbers (first and second half of the year) occurs only once a century, so this year is significant for many reasons.

It is recommended that when you’re writing down dates in official and legal documents, to write the year in its full four-digit form (2020). It is best to avoid abbreviations such as the two-digit form “dd/mm/20”, as irresponsible or fraudulent parties could change the number within the date for their own motives, with negative implications

Recent recommendations also warned the public not to accept official documents with dates written without the full form, to avoid any future problems.

When we write dates such as 31.01.19, convention dictates that it does not mean the year 1819 or 1919, but 2019. When writing 31.01.20, there is potential for ambiguity and the ’20’ can be altered to anything from 2001 to 2019.

It is always good to be clear and specific, so write it in full, as we certainly won’t be around for the next time, in 3030.

With thanks to Charlotte Clabon at Dixcart Accountancy and tax services for this article. www.dixcartuk.com/
 
 
 
Start-Up Academy Is it lonely running your business?

Are there some areas you need help with?

The Surrey Chambers of Commerce, supported by Projectfive and Eagle Radio, are delighted to announce their Start-Up Academy.

By becoming a member of the Academy, new businesses and start- ups can work alongside their peer group and grow their business. By utilising the expertise of academy members, Start Up Academy can ensure that new businesses will get the best advice and resources needed to develop and increase your network.

The Academy will take place once a month from 25th March – 19th October 2020, when a graduation ceremony will take place. Key areas of business will be covered in depth, with an informative talk for the first half of the day, followed by an interactive session in the afternoon. Running from 10am - 1.30pm, you will be offered the chance to work remotely in Projectfive’s office space – a great opportunity to continue getting to know your fellow cohort members and expand your network.

Monthly timings

10:00 – Arrival with networking/tea and coffee

10:30 – Headline speaker opens

11:30 – 12:30 – Networking and Lunch

12:30 – 13:30 – Interactive session

13:30 – event close/networking

Delegates will be welcome to stay on and work from Projectfive's offices

Topics covered:

25th March – Business Planning/Strategy and setting objectives– Richard Butcher, Stratagems

20th April – Budgets & Raising Money – Daniel Morgan, Haines Watts Chartered Accountants

18th May – How to make a business successful – Mike Turner, youbecome

22nd June – Digital Media & Marketing Strategy – David Evans, Akiko

20th July – Sales & Negotiation – Paul Glynn, Sandler

24th August – IT & Cyber Crime – Steve Coburn, projectfive

21st September – HR & Compliance – Martine Robins, The HR Dept

19th October – Graduation – Recap of learning, future support options, measure initial objectives.

If you are interested in finding out more about the academy and how to sign up, please contact [email protected] or call 01483 735547