Business 18 March 2015

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www.bristolpost.co.uk

ON GEORGE’S CASE

What you want from thispre-election Budget – pages 8&9

SERVICED APARTMENTS

From small building in Bristol to£30 million turnover – page 5

PLASTIC FANTASTIC

Manufacturer creates jobsafter Bristol move – p3

WHAT’S IN STOREFOR NEW BOSSI’ve 900 partners to meet, says Lucy Ramseyer, newhead of branch at John Lewis Cribbs Causeway

BIG INTERVIEW

182015MAR

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2 We d n e s d a y, M a rc h 18, 2015 3We d n e s d a y, M a rc h 18, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

A SPECIALIST plastics manufacturerhas created five new jobs and se-cured a £100,000 tooling order afterreshoring the manufacturing of sixproducts to the UK from China.

Phineas Group makes plastic hangers forthings such as shoes.

Managing director Dan Wright said: “Wedecided it would be ideal if we were able tomanufacture more of our products in the UKto satisfy growing demand.

“However, we needed support in devel-oping a clear plan for the future direction ofthe business and sustaining the new man-ufacturing facility.”

The firm, based in Hengrove, won a£100,000 grant from the West of EnglandLocal Enterprise Partnership’s GrowthFund – backed by the Bristol Post’s Going forGrowth campaign – last year.

It opened a new 18,000 sq ft state-of-the-artplastic injection moulding factory.

But it needed more support to put its plansinto action and get help from the Man-ufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), whichforms part of the Business Growth Service,after encountering some problems maintain-

ing operations. Dan said: “We participated ina strategic management programme led byMAS, which brought our management teamto gether.

“It identified that we needed to restructureparts of the workforce in order to ensure theright skills were in place to sustain andimprove production.

“This resulted in the recruitment of stafffor five new positions.”

MAS also help as the company sought tostreamline production.

Dan added: “MAS helped us look at theautomation of our assembly process, en-suring we had a cost effective way of running‘lights out’ p ro d u c t i o n .

“By automating our set up, we have beenable to re-shore the manufacturing of sixproducts previously made in China to ourfactory in Bristol. Off the back of this, we wona significant contract with a UK company inthe medical sector.”

Nick Golding, business growth manager atMAS, said: “It is great to see a businessbringing production back to the UK andenhancing the British manufacturingbrand.

“With our support in developing a cleargrowth strategy, Phineas Group is success-fully competing against a number of in-ternational rivals in low cost countries.”

Phineas Group has a turnover of £5 millionand employs 14 people.

Ta xa t i o n M a n u fa c t u r i n g

Take part inreview intobusiness rates� THE Bristol Post is calling onbusiness owners to take part in acomprehensive review intobusiness rates, the taxbusinesses pay based on thevalue of their property.

The review, which the BristolPost had campaigned for underthe banner #RealRatesReform,was first revealed in last year’sAutumn Statement.

Chief Secretary to the TreasuryDanny Alexander launched thereview, which will report back forthe Budget in 2016. It will thenbe down to the new governmentto take it forward.

The Post is urging businessowners in the Bristol area to takepart in the review to make surethe Government is forced tomake real reforms to theoutdated and unfair tax.

Business rates generate more

Bristol Post Business Awards 2015

Big ambition Pension firm targetsstaff expansion after office move

Sponsor profile

‘Helping start-ups growat heart of what we do’

Homewares store creates92 new jobs at retail park

Shopping

Jobs boost as firmbrings productionhome to Bristol

THE South West consistently leadsthe way for innovation and new startup businesses. And helping fledglingbusinesses grow is at the heart ofwhat we do.

Jordans is the UK’s leading com-pany formation service provider,based in Bristol, assisting thousandsof businesses each year to take thatcrucial next step to becoming a lim-ited company.

Whatever their reasons for doingso – commercial kudos, business andfinancial growth or name protection,we make sure the company they formis right for them.

And the support we provide doesn’tend there.

There are legal obligations to run-ning a limited company and hun-dreds of businesses turn to Jordans tomake sure they remain compliant,leaving them free to concentrate ongrowing their business.

Even businesses that choose not tooperate as a limited company need toconsider certain legal issues.

And here, our law firm provides allthe support they need in relation todata protection, terms and condi-tions, website compliance and em-ployment matters.

The Bristol Post Business Awardscelebrate the success of local busi-nesses, whether they are well-estab-lished or just starting out.

So it will come as no surprise thatJordans are delighted to once againhave the opportunity to further sup-port businesses in the region. We areproud to be sponsors of the Start-Upcategory at the 2015 Awards.

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]


Proper ty

Tax office will be student digsCONSTRUCTION firm Beard has started a £5.3million refurbishment of Norfolk House - theformer HM Revenue and Customs tax office inWater Lane, Bristol, which is being trans-formed into student accommodation.

Beard is working with StamfordGoldhawk and architects StrideTreglown to develop the officebuilding into 152 studio apart-ments with en-suite showers andfitted furniture.

The four-storey building willalso house an on-site gym, cinemaand private study rooms withhigh-speed broadband and wi-fit h ro u g h o u t .

Energy-saving measures include the install-ation of solar panels to the roof of the building,

which will help to reduce the residents’ carbonfootprint and lower the cost of energy bills.

Beard contracts manager Martin Courtneysaid: “There is a desperate need for high

quality student accommodation inBristol and this hi-spec refurbish-

ment will make a valuable contri-bution to meeting this need.

“We ’re delighted to be workingwith Stamford Goldhawk andStride Treglown in the delivery ofthis important student housing

scheme which will provide uni-versity students with a comfortable

and purpose-designed home away fromhome during their studies.”

The scheme is due for completion in July2015.

than £20 billion for the Treasurybut the system was designed 30years ago, long before online andtends to penalise high streettraders. The Post is calling forgreater control over spending thetax take to be devolved locally, toend the disincentive for firms togrow caused by the currentproperty link and to create a taxthat doesn’t lag behind theeconomy. Throughout therecession and recovery, Bristolfirms have been paying ratesbased on pre-recession propertyvalues.

The review appears to belooking at those issues. It isasking business owners whethera property based tax is fair; andwhat are the alternatives; howthe tax could give localauthorities more incentives todrive business growth; whatimpact rates have on howcompetitive the UK is; how thesystem could be changed so asnot to penalise firms that investin their property.

The Chief Secretary said: “Oursystem of business rates wascreated nearly 30 years ago.Since that time the worlds ofcommerce and industry havechanged beyond recognition.

“I’ve been impressed by therepresentations made by thebusiness community and I knowbusiness rates are a considerablecost.

“The Government has takenmeasures to help businesses bycapping rates and introducingreliefs for smaller businesses. Butnow the time has come for aradical review of this importanttax.

“We want to ensure thebusiness rates system is fair,efficient and effective.”

Business owners can emailviews to businessrates.review@ h m t re a s u r y. g s i . g o v. u k .

THE CATEGORIES

� Innovator of the Year,sponsored by Aon� Export Award,sponsored by Mazars� Marketing Campaign ofthe Year� Best Creative orTechnological Business,sponsored by NextGeneration Data� Young Entrepreneur ofthe Year, sponsored byRenishaw� Lifetime achievementaward, sponsored by Punter Southall� Retailer of the Year, sponsored by Broadmead Bristol BID� Family Business of the Year, sponsored by BOM Group� Large Business of the Year, sponsored by Smith & Williamson� Small Business of the Year, sponsored by Lloyds Bank� Start-up Business of the Year, sponsored by Jordans� Environmental Business Award, sponsored by Nuffield Health� Contribution to the Community, sponsored by First Great Western� Customer Service Award, sponsored by Destination Bristol� Leisure and Tourism Business of the Year, sponsored by QBE

PENSIONS provider CurtisBanks has moved to new of-fices in Temple with room toexpand its 100-strong Bristolhead office team.

The firm, the third largest SIPPSprovider in the UK, wants to raise itsprofile to aid that recruitment drive.

T hat’s why the company will beentering this year’s Bristol Post Busi-ness Awards.

Founded in 2009, the company ex-pects to turnover more than £10 mil-lion this year, meaning it will beentering the Large Business cat-e gory.

Managing director Rupert Curtissaid the firm’s niche is at the top endof the market, offering bespokeproducts for high net worth peoplewith pension pots of around £500,000or more.

“We offer SIPPs, like HargreavesLansdown does but we are at theother end of the market,” said Rupert.“We are very service driven, we offera high level of professional service.”

The approach appears to be payingoff, as the company now has 27,000cl i e n t s.

Much of the growth has comethrough acquisitions of other com-panies or buying their pension booksand the firm plans to continue thatstrate g y.

Like most pensions firms, it is alsocreating new products for the moreflexible pensions market created bythe changes in the last Budget whichcome into force next month.

“It has shaken up the industry andsome people in the industry are notready for it,” he said.

Rupert has worked in Bristol forsome time, previously as managingdirector of IPS in Old Market, anddecided the city was the right placewhen founding Curtis Banks sixyears ago.

“Bristol is a financial servicesc e n t re, ” he said. “That means there isa talent pool we can recruit from.”

The firm wants to supplement thatby creating a graduate and A-levelleavers scheme.

“When you are growing it is alwaysa challenge to get enough good qual-ity employees through the door,” saidRuper t.

“Profile is important and ours isnot where it should be so we arelooking to develop that so that peoplein our industry know who we are andthink, ‘maybe I should go to see themfor a job’.”

� Winning a prize at the Bristol PostBusiness Awards would certainlyhelp. The awards take place at thePassenger Shed in Brunel’s OldStation on June 25. Entries close onApril 17. To find out more, visitbristolpost.co.uk/businessawards.When talking about the awards onsocial media, please use#PostBizAwards.

� Curtis Banks managing director Rupert Curtis

� Dan Wright, Managing Director at Phineas Group and Nick Golding, Business Gro w t hManager at the Manufacturing Advisory Service

� HOMEWARES chain Dunelm is openinga new store in Bristol, creating 92 newjobs.

The 44,606 sq ft store opens at theTramway Retail Park in Brislington.

Chief Executive, Will Adderley said: “Weare always excited about the opening of anew store.

“It takes a lot of hard work, investmentand commitment getting a new store up

and running and we are delighted towelcome our special guest to open ourdoors for the very first time.

“We are confident our new Bristol storewill play a big part in the continuedsuccess of the company and look forwardto introducing local shoppers to our diversehomewares offering.”

The firm has a range of 20,000 homefurnishing products from bedding tofurniture, including made-to-measurecurtains, blinds and accessories, as well asa reserve online and collect in store service.

The new store will be opened by BarneyBear, the official mascot for Barnardo’s,Dunelm’s at 9am on April 9.

� J o rd a n sp re s e n t sthestart-upbusinessprize tolast year’swinnerKingstonBar nes

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A SPECIALIST plastics manufacturerhas created five new jobs and se-cured a £100,000 tooling order afterreshoring the manufacturing of sixproducts to the UK from China.

Phineas Group makes plastic hangers forthings such as shoes.

Managing director Dan Wright said: “Wedecided it would be ideal if we were able tomanufacture more of our products in the UKto satisfy growing demand.

“However, we needed support in devel-oping a clear plan for the future direction ofthe business and sustaining the new man-ufacturing facility.”

The firm, based in Hengrove, won a£100,000 grant from the West of EnglandLocal Enterprise Partnership’s GrowthFund – backed by the Bristol Post’s Going forGrowth campaign – last year.

It opened a new 18,000 sq ft state-of-the-artplastic injection moulding factory.

But it needed more support to put its plansinto action and get help from the Man-ufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), whichforms part of the Business Growth Service,after encountering some problems maintain-

ing operations. Dan said: “We participated ina strategic management programme led byMAS, which brought our management teamto gether.

“It identified that we needed to restructureparts of the workforce in order to ensure theright skills were in place to sustain andimprove production.

“This resulted in the recruitment of stafffor five new positions.”

MAS also help as the company sought tostreamline production.

Dan added: “MAS helped us look at theautomation of our assembly process, en-suring we had a cost effective way of running‘lights out’ p ro d u c t i o n .

“By automating our set up, we have beenable to re-shore the manufacturing of sixproducts previously made in China to ourfactory in Bristol. Off the back of this, we wona significant contract with a UK company inthe medical sector.”

Nick Golding, business growth manager atMAS, said: “It is great to see a businessbringing production back to the UK andenhancing the British manufacturingbrand.

“With our support in developing a cleargrowth strategy, Phineas Group is success-fully competing against a number of in-ternational rivals in low cost countries.”

Phineas Group has a turnover of £5 millionand employs 14 people.

Ta xa t i o n M a n u fa c t u r i n g

Take part inreview intobusiness rates� THE Bristol Post is calling onbusiness owners to take part in acomprehensive review intobusiness rates, the taxbusinesses pay based on thevalue of their property.

The review, which the BristolPost had campaigned for underthe banner #RealRatesReform,was first revealed in last year’sAutumn Statement.

Chief Secretary to the TreasuryDanny Alexander launched thereview, which will report back forthe Budget in 2016. It will thenbe down to the new governmentto take it forward.

The Post is urging businessowners in the Bristol area to takepart in the review to make surethe Government is forced tomake real reforms to theoutdated and unfair tax.

Business rates generate more

Bristol Post Business Awards 2015

Big ambition Pension firm targetsstaff expansion after office move

Sponsor profile

‘Helping start-ups growat heart of what we do’

Homewares store creates92 new jobs at retail park

Shopping

Jobs boost as firmbrings productionhome to Bristol

THE South West consistently leadsthe way for innovation and new startup businesses. And helping fledglingbusinesses grow is at the heart ofwhat we do.

Jordans is the UK’s leading com-pany formation service provider,based in Bristol, assisting thousandsof businesses each year to take thatcrucial next step to becoming a lim-ited company.

Whatever their reasons for doingso – commercial kudos, business andfinancial growth or name protection,we make sure the company they formis right for them.

And the support we provide doesn’tend there.

There are legal obligations to run-ning a limited company and hun-dreds of businesses turn to Jordans tomake sure they remain compliant,leaving them free to concentrate ongrowing their business.

Even businesses that choose not tooperate as a limited company need toconsider certain legal issues.

And here, our law firm provides allthe support they need in relation todata protection, terms and condi-tions, website compliance and em-ployment matters.

The Bristol Post Business Awardscelebrate the success of local busi-nesses, whether they are well-estab-lished or just starting out.

So it will come as no surprise thatJordans are delighted to once againhave the opportunity to further sup-port businesses in the region. We areproud to be sponsors of the Start-Upcategory at the 2015 Awards.



Proper ty

Tax office will be student digsCONSTRUCTION firm Beard has started a £5.3million refurbishment of Norfolk House - theformer HM Revenue and Customs tax office inWater Lane, Bristol, which is being trans-formed into student accommodation.

Beard is working with StamfordGoldhawk and architects StrideTreglown to develop the officebuilding into 152 studio apart-ments with en-suite showers andfitted furniture.

The four-storey building willalso house an on-site gym, cinemaand private study rooms withhigh-speed broadband and wi-fit h ro u g h o u t .

Energy-saving measures include the install-ation of solar panels to the roof of the building,

which will help to reduce the residents’ carbonfootprint and lower the cost of energy bills.

Beard contracts manager Martin Courtneysaid: “There is a desperate need for high

quality student accommodation inBristol and this hi-spec refurbish-

ment will make a valuable contri-bution to meeting this need.

“We ’re delighted to be workingwith Stamford Goldhawk andStride Treglown in the delivery ofthis important student housing

scheme which will provide uni-versity students with a comfortable

and purpose-designed home away fromhome during their studies.”

The scheme is due for completion in July2015.

than £20 billion for the Treasurybut the system was designed 30years ago, long before online andtends to penalise high streettraders. The Post is calling forgreater control over spending thetax take to be devolved locally, toend the disincentive for firms togrow caused by the currentproperty link and to create a taxthat doesn’t lag behind theeconomy. Throughout therecession and recovery, Bristolfirms have been paying ratesbased on pre-recession propertyvalues.

The review appears to belooking at those issues. It isasking business owners whethera property based tax is fair; andwhat are the alternatives; howthe tax could give localauthorities more incentives todrive business growth; whatimpact rates have on howcompetitive the UK is; how thesystem could be changed so asnot to penalise firms that investin their property.

The Chief Secretary said: “Oursystem of business rates wascreated nearly 30 years ago.Since that time the worlds ofcommerce and industry havechanged beyond recognition.

“I’ve been impressed by therepresentations made by thebusiness community and I knowbusiness rates are a considerablecost.

“The Government has takenmeasures to help businesses bycapping rates and introducingreliefs for smaller businesses. Butnow the time has come for aradical review of this importanttax.

“We want to ensure thebusiness rates system is fair,efficient and effective.”

Business owners can emailviews to businessrates.review@ h m t re a s u r y. g s i . g o v. u k .

THE CATEGORIES

� Innovator of the Year,sponsored by Aon� Export Award,sponsored by Mazars� Marketing Campaign ofthe Year� Best Creative orTechnological Business,sponsored by NextGeneration Data� Young Entrepreneur ofthe Year, sponsored byRenishaw� Lifetime achievementaward, sponsored by Punter Southall� Retailer of the Year, sponsored by Broadmead Bristol BID� Family Business of the Year, sponsored by BOM Group� Large Business of the Year, sponsored by Smith & Williamson� Small Business of the Year, sponsored by Lloyds Bank� Start-up Business of the Year, sponsored by Jordans� Environmental Business Award, sponsored by Nuffield Health� Contribution to the Community, sponsored by First Great Western� Customer Service Award, sponsored by Destination Bristol� Leisure and Tourism Business of the Year, sponsored by QBE

PENSIONS provider CurtisBanks has moved to new of-fices in Temple with room toexpand its 100-strong Bristolhead office team.

The firm, the third largest SIPPSprovider in the UK, wants to raise itsprofile to aid that recruitment drive.

T hat’s why the company will beentering this year’s Bristol Post Busi-ness Awards.

Founded in 2009, the company ex-pects to turnover more than £10 mil-lion this year, meaning it will beentering the Large Business cat-e gory.

Managing director Rupert Curtissaid the firm’s niche is at the top endof the market, offering bespokeproducts for high net worth peoplewith pension pots of around £500,000or more.

“We offer SIPPs, like HargreavesLansdown does but we are at theother end of the market,” said Rupert.“We are very service driven, we offera high level of professional service.”

The approach appears to be payingoff, as the company now has 27,000cl i e n t s.

Much of the growth has comethrough acquisitions of other com-panies or buying their pension booksand the firm plans to continue thatstrate g y.

Like most pensions firms, it is alsocreating new products for the moreflexible pensions market created bythe changes in the last Budget whichcome into force next month.

“It has shaken up the industry andsome people in the industry are notready for it,” he said.

Rupert has worked in Bristol forsome time, previously as managingdirector of IPS in Old Market, anddecided the city was the right placewhen founding Curtis Banks sixyears ago.

“Bristol is a financial servicesc e n t re, ” he said. “That means there isa talent pool we can recruit from.”

The firm wants to supplement thatby creating a graduate and A-levelleavers scheme.

“When you are growing it is alwaysa challenge to get enough good qual-ity employees through the door,” saidRuper t.

“Profile is important and ours isnot where it should be so we arelooking to develop that so that peoplein our industry know who we are andthink, ‘maybe I should go to see themfor a job’.”

� Winning a prize at the Bristol PostBusiness Awards would certainlyhelp. The awards take place at thePassenger Shed in Brunel’s OldStation on June 25. Entries close onApril 17. To find out more, visitbristolpost.co.uk/businessawards.When talking about the awards onsocial media, please use#PostBizAwards.

� Curtis Banks managing director Rupert Curtis

� Dan Wright, Managing Director at Phineas Group and Nick Golding, Business Gro w t hManager at the Manufacturing Advisory Service

� HOMEWARES chain Dunelm is openinga new store in Bristol, creating 92 newjobs.

The 44,606 sq ft store opens at theTramway Retail Park in Brislington.

Chief Executive, Will Adderley said: “Weare always excited about the opening of anew store.

“It takes a lot of hard work, investmentand commitment getting a new store up

and running and we are delighted towelcome our special guest to open ourdoors for the very first time.

“We are confident our new Bristol storewill play a big part in the continuedsuccess of the company and look forwardto introducing local shoppers to our diversehomewares offering.”

The firm has a range of 20,000 homefurnishing products from bedding tofurniture, including made-to-measurecurtains, blinds and accessories, as well asa reserve online and collect in store service.

The new store will be opened by BarneyBear, the official mascot for Barnardo’s,Dunelm’s at 9am on April 9.

� J o rd a n sp re s e n t sthestart-upbusinessprize tolast year’swinnerKingstonBar nes

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Chorus of approval PMhails woman-led IT firm

Success storey S e r v i ce dapartments are booming

IT began with a piece of leftoverdevelopment they didn’t knowwhat to do with. Now, 18 yearslater, SACO is a £30 millionturnover business success story.

Co-founder Lesley Freed said: “Wehad been travelling in Australia andstayed in serviced apartments withour children who at that time werevery young. It was a revolutionaryway to stay with children.”

David Freed, who was a propertydeveloper at the time, added: “Afterwe came back I was developing anoffice block for an insurance com-pany. We had a piece of the site leftwhich we didn’t know what to dowith. Lesley said ‘Let’s open a ser-viced apartments business’.

“So we did. We have gone from thatone little building in Bristol to beinga £30 million turnover business thisye a r. ”

In that time the firm has carved outa new sector providing accommod-ation in serviced apartments for thebusiness traveller as an alternative toh o t e l s.

It has 200 employees across the UK,with 50 of them based at its headoffice in Clifton.

Growth has been steady but strong.Ten years ago the firm went fromoperating its own apartments to alsorunning an agency sourcing otherapartments so it could cater for cli-ents who wanted to say in moretowns and cities.

Now the business isstepping up a gearagain following a mer-ger with the serviceapartments arm ofUS equity firm Oak-tree Capital Manage-ment.

Lesley said: “Whenwe started there was vir-tually nothing in servicedapartments outside London.”

David said: “It has been an edu-cation process. It still is to this day,some people still look quizzicallywhen you say serviced apartments.Then you explain it’s a great altern-ative to hotels that’s more like a home

from home where you can relax incomfortable surroundings in-

stead of the hotel bar.”He compared the sector to

the rise of the student ac-commodation market,also pioneered inBristol. It wasnew and in-

vestors werevery wary to

now it has ma-tured and offers

good returns whichare attractive to big in-stitutional investors, asthe Oaktree deal shows.

The new combined com-pany, which will operate underthe SACO name, will include both

Oaktree and SACO’s existing ser-viced apartment offering and the newBeyonder ApartHotel.

It will have a portfolio of 1,645apartments, including two sites in

Bristol, West India House in WelshBack and a larger site in Broad

Q u ay.There is a strong

pipeline of developmentstoo in cities includingEdinburgh, Aberdeen,Dublin and London.

Nothing new in Bris-tol, though. Not yet any-

w ay.David said: “We are on

the look out to find other op-portunities to build more apart-

ments in Bristol.”

AN affordable gym chain is prepar-ing to open its third club in Bristolthis summer, with more set to follow.

Pure Gym opened in the Har-bourside in January 2013 and inUnion Gate, Broadmead, earlier thisyear. Now it plans to open a third gymin Barton Hill.

Chief executive Humphrey Cob-bold, who only took the helm of thecompany this month, told the Po s t thechain has big plans for the Bristola re a .

“I would be surprised if we don’tend up with five, six or maybe sevengyms in the Greater Bristol area,” hesaid.

“We think the proposition workswell here.”

The Leeds-based firm has 91 clubsacross the UK which will rise to 120 bythe end of the year.

The chain’s success has been downto scrapping long term membershipsthat tie people in and replacing themwith flexible options where peoplecan sign up for a day, week or month.They can have a rolling monthlymembership but they can walk awaywhen they want to.

Humphrey said the other elementof the company’s offer was price, butwithout cutting back on quality.

“We invest around £1 million to£1.2 million in each club we open,” hesaid. “People come to us to work outso we give them as much space as wecan to do just that.

“We don’t use the space for re-ception desks and cafes. That meanswe can fit more members in andtherefore keep the prices down.”

Typically, established gyms such asthe one in the Harbourside have 5,000to 6,000 members. On average 55 to 60per cent of those are men and 60 percent under 40.

The gyms are 24-hour operations,with a manager on site during the dayand usually self-employed personaltrainers on hand at other times. In thesmall hours if even the cleanersa re n’t around, CCTV cameras mon-itor the sites.

People join online, although thereare kiosk in the gyms where that canbe done.

Affordable gym chain in peak fitness

3D for dentists� ENGINEERING firm Renishawhas developed a new 3D printerfor the dental industry.

The firm, based atWotton-under-Edge whichemploys hundreds of peoplefrom across Bristol, has been3D-printing metal dental devicesfor some time.

Now it is supplying theequipment for others to use, aswell as the cobalt chromepowder used in production.

Deadline nears toclaim for overpaying� THE deadline is fastapproaching for companies toreclaim overpaid business ratesfor the past five years.

Businesses which think theirproperties may have beenover-valued or the valuation hadchanged in that time must submittheir appeal by March 31.

Property advisers Colliersbelieves firms could miss out onbig sums if they don’t appeal intime. The firm has looked at thesums from appeals it hassuccessfully made and believesindustrial property businessescould claim up to £127,000, hoteloperators up to £19,000 per hoteland office occupiers and landlordsup to almost £4,000 per office.

Ben Batchelor-Wylam, head ofrating at the Bristol office, said:“These three markets havereasons to seriously considerappealing their business rates –but not much time.”

‘We need to act quicker on internet of things’

Te c h

Te c h n o l o g y

Business rates

Smart technologyH ea l t h

Proper ty



� Humphrey Cobbold, chief executive of Pure Gym

MILLENNIAL TRAVELLERS

� SO-called Millennials, peopleborn after 1980, are the futureof business travel but theirdemands are different from thegenerations before.

This generation has beenraised on diet of choice andimmediacy, where almostanything can be accessed orarranged with the right onlinetools.

Research commissioned bythe firm found that Millennialsare less swayed by loyaltycards but more interested in

value over price.It found a good bed is the

most important considerationfor business travellers of allages but younger travellers rategood connectivity over goodfood as the second priority.

But while Millennials expectto be connected online,perhaps surprisingly they aretwice as likely as their olderpeers to see travelling as animportant networkingopportunity (14 per cent versusseven per cent).

Richard has worked closely with localemployers for many years to offertraining solutions and create careeropportunities for young people.

Q What support facilities areavailable for the engineering sectorin the South West?A The South West region is a hub ofadvanced engineering activities. Theseare supported by the excellentengineering training facilities acrossBristol including City of BristolCollege’sAdvancedEngineering andTr a n s p o r tCentre atParkway, theRobotics Centreat UWE, Bristol and Bath Science Parkand National Composite Centre (NCC)both located in Emersons Green. AtCity of Bristol College we haverelocated our Engineering andTransport provision to Parkway. The£12m Advanced Engineering Centre atParkway opened in September 2013,and a further £5m extension is plannedfor 2016. The centre is located withinthis engineering hub to assist with thetraining needs of the engineeringorganisations in the area.

Q What support do you provide forbusinesses in the region?A We work closely with employers tosupport the development of youngengineers who are needed to sustaingrowth in Advanced Engineering foryears to come. The average age ofengineers working in the UK is 51; somany companies are reducing the agegap by recruiting young engineers intotheir businesses throughapprenticeships. This is fullysupported by Government initiativesand there are fully fundedapprenticeships available for 16 – 18year old applicants. Further funding isavailable for small to medium sizedcompanies employing no more than 50staff. Growth in the Engineeringindustry is also supported by the Westof England Local EnterprisePartnership. They have access toregional growth funds specificallyaimed at the advanced engineeringsector. They assist organisations inaccessing funding for training existingstaff and for the development ofapprenticeships. We are currentlyworking with many engineeringsectors to offer training andapprenticeships including Aerospace,Defence, Oil and Gas, PackagingIndustries, Robotics, Electrical andElectronic Engineering, CompositeResearch and Manufacturing.

Q Where can employers go for moreinformation?A We are working in partnership withthe NCC to promote apprenticeships,composite training and employerownership funding which is aninitiative available through the Airbusand GKN aerospace supply chain. Weare inviting employers to engage withus at a breakfast event at the NCC onWednesday, March 25, 7.30-10.30am.City of Bristol College is also holdingan engineering and transport OpenEvening at the AEC at Parkway onMarch 23 from 5-8pm, open toemployers and potential students. Welook forward to meeting you.

� If you would like more informationon recruiting apprentices or trainingopportunities for your existingemployees contact our EmployerAdvice team at City of Bristol Collegeon 0117 312 5020 or [email protected].

Richard WalkerBusiness DevelopmentManager for Science,Engineering and TransportCity of Bristol

COLLEGE PROFILE

THE internet of things could be-come an enabling technology on apar with the internet or electricity.But Bristolians and governmentneeds to move faster to get to gripswith the privacy and data protec-tion issues.

Those were the key messagesfrom a panel discussion on smartcities held in Bristol on Monday.

Chi Onwurah, shadow cabinetoffice minister for smart cities,said: “The internet of things is astep change in technology that hasthe power to be an enabler in theway electricity was an enabler. Butthe word is could. The focus needsto be on people.”

Vinnett Taylor, head of internet

of things at 02, said machine-to-ma-chine communications had beenaround for a while but the internetof things was when you start to pulltogether information from differ-ent sources and put it to use.

“If you have a black box in vehicleit reports that an accident hastaken place,” she said. “T hat’s ma-chine to machine. But wouldn’t itbe helpful if it also took data fromanother source about what theweather was like at the time? It’swhen you use that data to dosomething intelligent, that’s the in-ternet of things.”

Paul Wilson, managing directorof Bristol is Open – a world firstopen network being created jointly

by the city council and Bristol Uni-versity, said the city was a globalleader in this area but peopleneeded to think about the issuesinvolved. “It is so very complicatedthat the current legal framework isnot adequate,” he said. “We need tohave a very mature and rapid dis-cussion on this topic.”

Emma Wright, a partner at lawfirm Bond Dickinson, agreed.“Consumers are frightened of se-curity and hacking becauseeverything will be in one centrald at ab a s e, ” she said. “It’s difficultfor legislation to keep pace.”

She recalled having her emailhacked last year, which took fourweeks to sort out. “I’m not sure

about the idea that I’m going toconnect more things to my phoneafter that, so someone else couldaccess my heating or transportp l a n s, ” she said.

New data protection laws willrequire businesses to be more pro-active about protecting people’sdata, and that might improve con-sumer confidence, Emma said, butit comes down to who people trust.

Speaking afterwards, DarrenJones, Labour Parliamentary can-didate for Bristol North West whowas chairing the debate hosted atBond Dickinson’s Temple Quay of-fices, said he hoped smart tech-nology could help improve Bristol’stransport systems in future.

AN IT services company hasbeen named as one of thetop ten fastest growingwomen-led small busi-nesses in the UK.

Chorus, based in Portishead, hasgrown 118 per cent in the last threeyears, ranking it ninth in the For-tuna 50 Index. Its turnover was £1.7million of the year to April 2014.

Managing director EmmaSherry said she learned the news ina letter from David Cameron.

“It was a complete surprise toreceive a letter from the Prime Min-i s t e r, ” she said.

“It is extremely humbling to berecognised and rewarded for all theyears of hard work involved in set-ting up my own business.”

Chorus has been a growing suc-cess story, recently moving to abigger premises at Portishead’s

Marina. The business was foundedin 1999 with two employees as an ITsupport company, helping busi-nesses with Microsoft software.

Now the firm, which employs 40people and continues to expand,offers IT services, cloud technology,CRM, SharePoint, web design anddevelopment and creative designs e r v i c e s.

Emma said: “Coming from a fam-ily of entrepreneurs and businessowners, I always knew I wanted tostart my own business one day, so tohave received this sort of recog-nition is fantastic.

“I started my own business ingraphic design in my 20s which hasevolved over the years into digitalonline solutions such as websites,CRM and SharePoint as well.

“Our key to success is our staff –we have an extremely talented, en-thusiastic team of experts who,through their great work and ded-ication, have enabled us to growmassively, even in a recession.

“Attracting the right talent to thebusiness is key but keeping that

talent is the most important part ofour business which is why we makemotivating and rewarding our staffa priority.”

She added: “I am very excitedabout the opportunities that lieahead for Chorus.”

In his letter of congratulations,the Prime Minister wrote: “Fo r -tuna 50 showcases the great varietyof businesses that are run bywomen in the UK, inspiring othersto do the same, and we are de-termined to do everything we canto help even more women withgreat entrepreneurial ideas turntheir vision into reality.”

The list is formulated from com-pound annual revenue growthusing the last 3 years of reportedCompanies House data as of 25 Feb-ruary. The organisations on the listare the fastest growing small busi-nesses in the UK with single ormajority women listed as foundingdirectors, have experienced posit-ive growth in each year, and havereached £100,000 in turnover butnot exceeded £5 million.

Research looks atgaming opportunities� RESEARCH is beingundertaken to ensure Bristolcapitalises on the opportunitiesthe future of gaming, animationand visual effects will bring.

The survey follows the firstSouthWest VR Conference inBristol, which threw a spotlighton the world of virtual reality infilm, games, TV and animation.

The survey, commissioned byinward investment agency InvestBristol & Bath and the West ofEngland Local EnterprisePartnership, is designed toidentify the skills, training andrecruitment needs of the sectors.

Te c h n o l o g y

Emma Sherry

It was a completesurprise to receive a letterfrom the Prime Minister,Itis extremely humbling tobe recognised andrewarded for all the yearsof hard work involved insetting up my ownbusiness.

“

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Chorus of approval PMhails woman-led IT firm

Success storey S e r v i ce dapartments are booming

IT began with a piece of leftoverdevelopment they didn’t knowwhat to do with. Now, 18 yearslater, SACO is a £30 millionturnover business success story.

Co-founder Lesley Freed said: “Wehad been travelling in Australia andstayed in serviced apartments withour children who at that time werevery young. It was a revolutionaryway to stay with children.”

David Freed, who was a propertydeveloper at the time, added: “Afterwe came back I was developing anoffice block for an insurance com-pany. We had a piece of the site leftwhich we didn’t know what to dowith. Lesley said ‘Let’s open a ser-viced apartments business’.

“So we did. We have gone from thatone little building in Bristol to beinga £30 million turnover business thisye a r. ”

In that time the firm has carved outa new sector providing accommod-ation in serviced apartments for thebusiness traveller as an alternative toh o t e l s.

It has 200 employees across the UK,with 50 of them based at its headoffice in Clifton.

Growth has been steady but strong.Ten years ago the firm went fromoperating its own apartments to alsorunning an agency sourcing otherapartments so it could cater for cli-ents who wanted to say in moretowns and cities.

Now the business isstepping up a gearagain following a mer-ger with the serviceapartments arm ofUS equity firm Oak-tree Capital Manage-ment.

Lesley said: “Whenwe started there was vir-tually nothing in servicedapartments outside London.”

David said: “It has been an edu-cation process. It still is to this day,some people still look quizzicallywhen you say serviced apartments.Then you explain it’s a great altern-ative to hotels that’s more like a home

from home where you can relax incomfortable surroundings in-

stead of the hotel bar.”He compared the sector to

the rise of the student ac-commodation market,also pioneered inBristol. It wasnew and in-

vestors werevery wary to

now it has ma-tured and offers

good returns whichare attractive to big in-stitutional investors, asthe Oaktree deal shows.

The new combined com-pany, which will operate underthe SACO name, will include both

Oaktree and SACO’s existing ser-viced apartment offering and the newBeyonder ApartHotel.

It will have a portfolio of 1,645apartments, including two sites in

Bristol, West India House in WelshBack and a larger site in Broad

Q u ay.There is a strong

pipeline of developmentstoo in cities includingEdinburgh, Aberdeen,Dublin and London.

Nothing new in Bris-tol, though. Not yet any-

w ay.David said: “We are on

the look out to find other op-portunities to build more apart-

ments in Bristol.”

AN affordable gym chain is prepar-ing to open its third club in Bristolthis summer, with more set to follow.

Pure Gym opened in the Har-bourside in January 2013 and inUnion Gate, Broadmead, earlier thisyear. Now it plans to open a third gymin Barton Hill.

Chief executive Humphrey Cob-bold, who only took the helm of thecompany this month, told the Po s t thechain has big plans for the Bristola re a .

“I would be surprised if we don’tend up with five, six or maybe sevengyms in the Greater Bristol area,” hesaid.

“We think the proposition workswell here.”

The Leeds-based firm has 91 clubsacross the UK which will rise to 120 bythe end of the year.

The chain’s success has been downto scrapping long term membershipsthat tie people in and replacing themwith flexible options where peoplecan sign up for a day, week or month.They can have a rolling monthlymembership but they can walk awaywhen they want to.

Humphrey said the other elementof the company’s offer was price, butwithout cutting back on quality.

“We invest around £1 million to£1.2 million in each club we open,” hesaid. “People come to us to work outso we give them as much space as wecan to do just that.

“We don’t use the space for re-ception desks and cafes. That meanswe can fit more members in andtherefore keep the prices down.”

Typically, established gyms such asthe one in the Harbourside have 5,000to 6,000 members. On average 55 to 60per cent of those are men and 60 percent under 40.

The gyms are 24-hour operations,with a manager on site during the dayand usually self-employed personaltrainers on hand at other times. In thesmall hours if even the cleanersa re n’t around, CCTV cameras mon-itor the sites.

People join online, although thereare kiosk in the gyms where that canbe done.

Affordable gym chain in peak fitness

3D for dentists� ENGINEERING firm Renishawhas developed a new 3D printerfor the dental industry.

The firm, based atWotton-under-Edge whichemploys hundreds of peoplefrom across Bristol, has been3D-printing metal dental devicesfor some time.

Now it is supplying theequipment for others to use, aswell as the cobalt chromepowder used in production.

Deadline nears toclaim for overpaying� THE deadline is fastapproaching for companies toreclaim overpaid business ratesfor the past five years.

Businesses which think theirproperties may have beenover-valued or the valuation hadchanged in that time must submittheir appeal by March 31.

Property advisers Colliersbelieves firms could miss out onbig sums if they don’t appeal intime. The firm has looked at thesums from appeals it hassuccessfully made and believesindustrial property businessescould claim up to £127,000, hoteloperators up to £19,000 per hoteland office occupiers and landlordsup to almost £4,000 per office.

Ben Batchelor-Wylam, head ofrating at the Bristol office, said:“These three markets havereasons to seriously considerappealing their business rates –but not much time.”

‘We need to act quicker on internet of things’

Te c h

Te c h n o l o g y

Business rates

Smart technologyH ea l t h

Proper ty



� Humphrey Cobbold, chief executive of Pure Gym

MILLENNIAL TRAVELLERS

� SO-called Millennials, peopleborn after 1980, are the futureof business travel but theirdemands are different from thegenerations before.

This generation has beenraised on diet of choice andimmediacy, where almostanything can be accessed orarranged with the right onlinetools.

Research commissioned bythe firm found that Millennialsare less swayed by loyaltycards but more interested in

value over price.It found a good bed is the

most important considerationfor business travellers of allages but younger travellers rategood connectivity over goodfood as the second priority.

But while Millennials expectto be connected online,perhaps surprisingly they aretwice as likely as their olderpeers to see travelling as animportant networkingopportunity (14 per cent versusseven per cent).

Richard has worked closely with localemployers for many years to offertraining solutions and create careeropportunities for young people.

Q What support facilities areavailable for the engineering sectorin the South West?A The South West region is a hub ofadvanced engineering activities. Theseare supported by the excellentengineering training facilities acrossBristol including City of BristolCollege’sAdvancedEngineering andTr a n s p o r tCentre atParkway, theRobotics Centreat UWE, Bristol and Bath Science Parkand National Composite Centre (NCC)both located in Emersons Green. AtCity of Bristol College we haverelocated our Engineering andTransport provision to Parkway. The£12m Advanced Engineering Centre atParkway opened in September 2013,and a further £5m extension is plannedfor 2016. The centre is located withinthis engineering hub to assist with thetraining needs of the engineeringorganisations in the area.

Q What support do you provide forbusinesses in the region?A We work closely with employers tosupport the development of youngengineers who are needed to sustaingrowth in Advanced Engineering foryears to come. The average age ofengineers working in the UK is 51; somany companies are reducing the agegap by recruiting young engineers intotheir businesses throughapprenticeships. This is fullysupported by Government initiativesand there are fully fundedapprenticeships available for 16 – 18year old applicants. Further funding isavailable for small to medium sizedcompanies employing no more than 50staff. Growth in the Engineeringindustry is also supported by the Westof England Local EnterprisePartnership. They have access toregional growth funds specificallyaimed at the advanced engineeringsector. They assist organisations inaccessing funding for training existingstaff and for the development ofapprenticeships. We are currentlyworking with many engineeringsectors to offer training andapprenticeships including Aerospace,Defence, Oil and Gas, PackagingIndustries, Robotics, Electrical andElectronic Engineering, CompositeResearch and Manufacturing.

Q Where can employers go for moreinformation?A We are working in partnership withthe NCC to promote apprenticeships,composite training and employerownership funding which is aninitiative available through the Airbusand GKN aerospace supply chain. Weare inviting employers to engage withus at a breakfast event at the NCC onWednesday, March 25, 7.30-10.30am.City of Bristol College is also holdingan engineering and transport OpenEvening at the AEC at Parkway onMarch 23 from 5-8pm, open toemployers and potential students. Welook forward to meeting you.

� If you would like more informationon recruiting apprentices or trainingopportunities for your existingemployees contact our EmployerAdvice team at City of Bristol Collegeon 0117 312 5020 or [email protected].

Richard WalkerBusiness DevelopmentManager for Science,Engineering and TransportCity of Bristol

COLLEGE PROFILE

THE internet of things could be-come an enabling technology on apar with the internet or electricity.But Bristolians and governmentneeds to move faster to get to gripswith the privacy and data protec-tion issues.

Those were the key messagesfrom a panel discussion on smartcities held in Bristol on Monday.

Chi Onwurah, shadow cabinetoffice minister for smart cities,said: “The internet of things is astep change in technology that hasthe power to be an enabler in theway electricity was an enabler. Butthe word is could. The focus needsto be on people.”

Vinnett Taylor, head of internet

of things at 02, said machine-to-ma-chine communications had beenaround for a while but the internetof things was when you start to pulltogether information from differ-ent sources and put it to use.

“If you have a black box in vehicleit reports that an accident hastaken place,” she said. “T hat’s ma-chine to machine. But wouldn’t itbe helpful if it also took data fromanother source about what theweather was like at the time? It’swhen you use that data to dosomething intelligent, that’s the in-ternet of things.”

Paul Wilson, managing directorof Bristol is Open – a world firstopen network being created jointly

by the city council and Bristol Uni-versity, said the city was a globalleader in this area but peopleneeded to think about the issuesinvolved. “It is so very complicatedthat the current legal framework isnot adequate,” he said. “We need tohave a very mature and rapid dis-cussion on this topic.”

Emma Wright, a partner at lawfirm Bond Dickinson, agreed.“Consumers are frightened of se-curity and hacking becauseeverything will be in one centrald at ab a s e, ” she said. “It’s difficultfor legislation to keep pace.”

She recalled having her emailhacked last year, which took fourweeks to sort out. “I’m not sure

about the idea that I’m going toconnect more things to my phoneafter that, so someone else couldaccess my heating or transportp l a n s, ” she said.

New data protection laws willrequire businesses to be more pro-active about protecting people’sdata, and that might improve con-sumer confidence, Emma said, butit comes down to who people trust.

Speaking afterwards, DarrenJones, Labour Parliamentary can-didate for Bristol North West whowas chairing the debate hosted atBond Dickinson’s Temple Quay of-fices, said he hoped smart tech-nology could help improve Bristol’stransport systems in future.

AN IT services company hasbeen named as one of thetop ten fastest growingwomen-led small busi-nesses in the UK.

Chorus, based in Portishead, hasgrown 118 per cent in the last threeyears, ranking it ninth in the For-tuna 50 Index. Its turnover was £1.7million of the year to April 2014.

Managing director EmmaSherry said she learned the news ina letter from David Cameron.

“It was a complete surprise toreceive a letter from the Prime Min-i s t e r, ” she said.

“It is extremely humbling to berecognised and rewarded for all theyears of hard work involved in set-ting up my own business.”

Chorus has been a growing suc-cess story, recently moving to abigger premises at Portishead’s

Marina. The business was foundedin 1999 with two employees as an ITsupport company, helping busi-nesses with Microsoft software.

Now the firm, which employs 40people and continues to expand,offers IT services, cloud technology,CRM, SharePoint, web design anddevelopment and creative designs e r v i c e s.

Emma said: “Coming from a fam-ily of entrepreneurs and businessowners, I always knew I wanted tostart my own business one day, so tohave received this sort of recog-nition is fantastic.

“I started my own business ingraphic design in my 20s which hasevolved over the years into digitalonline solutions such as websites,CRM and SharePoint as well.

“Our key to success is our staff –we have an extremely talented, en-thusiastic team of experts who,through their great work and ded-ication, have enabled us to growmassively, even in a recession.

“Attracting the right talent to thebusiness is key but keeping that

talent is the most important part ofour business which is why we makemotivating and rewarding our staffa priority.”

She added: “I am very excitedabout the opportunities that lieahead for Chorus.”

In his letter of congratulations,the Prime Minister wrote: “Fo r -tuna 50 showcases the great varietyof businesses that are run bywomen in the UK, inspiring othersto do the same, and we are de-termined to do everything we canto help even more women withgreat entrepreneurial ideas turntheir vision into reality.”

The list is formulated from com-pound annual revenue growthusing the last 3 years of reportedCompanies House data as of 25 Feb-ruary. The organisations on the listare the fastest growing small busi-nesses in the UK with single ormajority women listed as foundingdirectors, have experienced posit-ive growth in each year, and havereached £100,000 in turnover butnot exceeded £5 million.

Research looks atgaming opportunities� RESEARCH is beingundertaken to ensure Bristolcapitalises on the opportunitiesthe future of gaming, animationand visual effects will bring.

The survey follows the firstSouthWest VR Conference inBristol, which threw a spotlighton the world of virtual reality infilm, games, TV and animation.

The survey, commissioned byinward investment agency InvestBristol & Bath and the West ofEngland Local EnterprisePartnership, is designed toidentify the skills, training andrecruitment needs of the sectors.

Te c h n o l o g y

Emma Sherry

It was a completesurprise to receive a letterfrom the Prime Minister,Itis extremely humbling tobe recognised andrewarded for all the yearsof hard work involved insetting up my ownbusiness.

“

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The Big Interview

WHEN you’re the newboss, it’s important toget to know the team.For the new woman incharge of the John

Lewis store at Cribbs Causeway, thatwill be quite a challenge. The storehas about 900 staff, or partners asthey prefer to call them.

But it’s a challenge 35-year-old LucyRamseyer is up for.

“My ambition is to meet all 900partners individually,” she says. “I’mhaving one-to-ones with the leader-ship team and with all our partnervoice partners (elected employee rep-re s e n t at ive s ) .

“But the best way to meet people isget out on the shop floor, getting yourhead into stock rooms and see what’sgoing on. It’s hard to say, but I feel like

I’ve met most of the partners in thefirst five weeks.”

She admits that she has asked thestaff to bear with her, however.

“There are a lot of names,” she says.“We wear badges which helps me a lotbut my eyesight’s not brilliant. Thereality is once you get a conversationgoing and you remember somethingabout them, the name sticks. But I’vebeen honest with them and saidt h e re ’s one of me and 900 of them sothey have to be a bit patient. But I’mgetting there.”

Lucy believes that the staff own-ership model of John Lewis makes iteven more important that she gets toknow the team. “They are as im-portant to me as I am to them,” shes ay s.

The new boss is well versed in theJohn Lewis principles, havingworked for the partnership her wholecareer. She started at the Peter Jonesstore in Southampton, doing her timeon the shop floor in the women’s wearfitting room.

As she climbed the career laddershe embarked on a 12-year nation-wide tour of seven different stores,including three years heading theTrafford Centre branch inManchester, before being seconded tolead the firm’s 150th anniversary cel-ebrations last year.

NEW BOSS GETTING TO KNOW HERGavin Thompson meetsthe woman who hastaken the helm ofBristol’s John Lewisstore and finds out whatshe has planned for theiconic department store

“Anything that develops the areaand draws customers to us can onlybe a good thing,” she says.

“We have to deliver the best serviceand best products when they get hereso they want to keep shopping withu s. ”

Part of the draw for customers isthe famous “never knowingly under-sold” promise to match any highstreet competitor’s promotion on thesame goods. But is that realistic in thechanging retail landscape, where wecan all shop from a huge range ofsellers online?

My working dayStart: I’m an early bird so I like to get in early, about 7.30am, so that Ican get my head round the day before the team start to come in.

Go home: The store is open until 8pm and I go home sometime after6pm. If I don’t feel like I’ve had enough time on the shop floor becauseother things have happened I’ll stay a bit later. We have a weekend andlate nights rota as well which I am on.

Typical day: T h e re ’s no typical day. I try to spend as much time on theshop floor as possible. Inevitably when you are new there are moremeetings, one-to-ones and getting to know people. But I think there’s agood balance. It’s got to be about partners and customers. I’m not amassive fan of meetings so as few of them as possible.

Name: Lucy Ramseyer

Age: 35

Bor n: Southampton

Job: Head of branch at JohnLewis Cribbs Causeway

Education: English literaturedegree at Southampton

First job: With John LewisPartnership on the graduatescheme, starting on the shopfloor in the fitting room

Vital statistics

“It as at the very core of our cus-tomer proposition and has been ford e c a d e s, ” says Lucy. “It’s about givingour customers that reassurance andtrust. In the world of omni-channelshopping we have to constantly as-sess what that means but that’s ourchallenge and we just need to bereally clear with our customers aboutwhat our never knowingly undersoldpolicy means.”

How do they keep tabs on whattheir rivals are up to?

“We have a central team constantlyout and about and trying to under-stand what’s going on nationally,”explains Lucy. “Locally I have teammembers who are just checkingwh at ’s going on in the market. Whenwe know there’s something going onwe will go out and about to check it inperson but we do more online thesedays. And sometimes a customer willjust tell us. We’ll check it and thenwe ’ll match it.”

The partnership released its an-nual results last week, including itsannual profit-share staff bonus whichsaw workers benefit from about sixwe e k s ’ extra pay. The performancesuggests the store is managing tomeet the demands of modern shop-ping.

Lucy says: “Customers are shop-ping in very different way but the fact

d u s t r y.“The really important thing is we

are never complacent,” says Lucy.“We never say, OK we’ve nailed it. It’sthat consistent desire to do more andpush further and healthy competi-tion internally to want to keep push-ing for more. The retail climate is asexciting as it’s every been and youc a n’t take anything for granted.”

She welcomes long-term plans fromthe owners of the Mall in Cribbs toexpand, even if it brings more com-petition in the shape of a new anchors t o re.

Now she’s taken on Cribbs Cause-way and, having just sold her housein Manchester, is on the look-out for anew home in the Bristol area.

So far, she’s impressed by her newteam. “All our shops are very dif-ferent but you walk into a John Lewisand you know, without seeing a sign,that it’s John Lewis,” she says.“T here’s a feel to it.

“This particular shop has a realfamily feel and a real loyalty. It feelsanchored in the community. I feelvery privileged to run a shop like this.It’s bigger than me. I’m head ofbranch but it has a heritage and afuture and for a number of years I getto be at the helm of it so that’s a realprivile ge.”

Lucy says it’s too early for her tohave plans for big changes, stressingthat the firm’s approach is always tofocus on the long term.

“There are two key areas,” she says.“One is investing in our partnersbecause that then invests in our cus-tomers. The second is customer ser-vice and understanding at everytouch point are we delivering thelevel of service that we prideourselves on.”

John Lewis has an enviable brand.Bosses of firms up and down thecountry talk about aspiring to be “theJohn Lewis” of their particular in-

‘We are proud to recognisefantastic work women do’

AN EVENTS company which is in therunning for the Bristol and BathWomen in Business Awards has an-nounced its latest spectacular. Bris-tol-based Paradise Hotel is staffed by a

team of stage designers, prop makers and tech-nicians meaning it can stage events with realtheatrical flair.

Its next big project, called Dream Garden, willbe a collaboration with the Royal West of Eng-land Academy in Clifton.

The event will be what the organisers call an“immersive party” held at the art gallery on theMay Day Bank Holiday.

The team will transform the RWA into anethereal wonderland. Guests will be invited toview the gallery’s exhibition Drawn and Draw-ing On over welcome drinks before being en-tertained with dancing, cocktails and musicfrom the renowned Bedmo Disco DJ.

Ballet dancers and circus performers will beperforming among the crowds with life drawingand poetry readers also on offer.

The event follows a previous sold out ball atthe Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.

The company was founded by former show-girl and cabaret performer Keda Breeze.

Keda said: “Working with historical venuesalways is always an honour and privilege, es-pecially as no one before us has ever createdthese types of events in public spaces.”

Paradise Hotel also organises corporateevents and is a finalist in for the InnovationAward at the Bristol and Bath Women in Busi-ness Awards run by the Bristol Post and BathChronicle in association with UWE Bristol.

Events firm lines updream gallery party

we are omni-channel is very import-ant to them.

“We know they are shopping instore then going home and orderingonline, or doing research online andthen coming into the shop or theyorder online and come in and clickand collect.

“You can imagine there are hun-dreds of different customer journeysbut what’s important is there arethose choices, we can’t just strip themaway and say it’s only this way. That’swhere the future is and omni-channelis at the heart of the proposition foru s. ”

The company has been growing itssales but choosing to invest a lot of theprofits into its IT and logistics. Lucysays that’s about thinking longter m.

“Because we are employee-ownedwe are a long-term business; we don’thave to think about tomorrow, wehave to make sure the business is fitfor future generations of partnersand customers so that’s where we’vegot our eye,” she says. “We recognisethat this is a period of change for usbut in 10 or 15 years time we will beable to open the bonus envelope be-cause we have invested now in ourpartners and our customers.”

By which time. Lucy should justabout know all 900 names.

My downtimeHobbies: When you do a job like this it’sall-consuming but in a good way because Ichose it. Sometimes if I have time off I’m quitehappy with a book and cup of tea or maybe aglass of wine on the sofa. I do run, I’m trainingfor a 10K at the moment. Exercise is a goodone for me. I’ll pick up a new hobby and investin it and then do something else. Climbing I’vedone; it’s running at the moment.

Books, film and TV: I’m an avid reader. I’dlove to pretend it’s all high-brow stuff but itisn’t. I love film. I try to pick a film a week togo and see. My favourite film of this year isWhiplash. It’s brilliant.

Women in Business

Sponsor profile

� Whiplash

900 PARTNERS

WOMEN INBUSINESSAWARDS

SPONSOREDBY.. .

in association with

SPIRE Bristol Hospital is delighted to besponsoring the Award for Innovation atthe Bristol Post Women in BusinessAwards. We are proud to take part inthese awards which recognise the fant-

astic work women do in business.As a healthcare provider we know the value

that innovation can bring to the workplace, andthat is why we have chosen to support thisinspiring award.

We believe that women play a huge role in

Bristol’s business sector, many of whom runand own successful organisations throughoutthe city.

We are lucky to have a team that is made up oflots of highly trained female staff and con-sultants, who together help make us one of theleading private hospitals in the South West.

The Bristol Post Women in Business Awardsrecognise the city’s amazing businesswomen,and we are proud to help share and be a part ofthat success.

� Spire ‘The Glen’ HospitalBristol, Redland Hill,Durdham Down

GUEST SPEAKER

� ENTREPRENEUR and marketingexpert Claire Harper will be the guestspeaker at the Bristol and Bath Women inBusiness Awards on Thursday night.Claire has led the marketing forsuccessful brands including Ocado andMammas & Papas before forming herown kids’ clothing brand IndiaCoco in2011.

ITV West presenter Ian Axton willpresent this year’s awards. The localnewsreader was a big hit with theaudience at last year’s Bristol PostBusiness Awards and we hope he will bejust as warmly received at the Women inBusiness event.

If you’re posting about the awards onsocial media, please use #WIBA.

� ParadiseHotel’sp re v i o u sevent atthe BristolMuseumand ArtGalleryPic: Ed Stone

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The Big Interview

WHEN you’re the newboss, it’s important toget to know the team.For the new woman incharge of the John

Lewis store at Cribbs Causeway, thatwill be quite a challenge. The storehas about 900 staff, or partners asthey prefer to call them.

But it’s a challenge 35-year-old LucyRamseyer is up for.

“My ambition is to meet all 900partners individually,” she says. “I’mhaving one-to-ones with the leader-ship team and with all our partnervoice partners (elected employee rep-re s e n t at ive s ) .

“But the best way to meet people isget out on the shop floor, getting yourhead into stock rooms and see what’sgoing on. It’s hard to say, but I feel like

I’ve met most of the partners in thefirst five weeks.”

She admits that she has asked thestaff to bear with her, however.

“There are a lot of names,” she says.“We wear badges which helps me a lotbut my eyesight’s not brilliant. Thereality is once you get a conversationgoing and you remember somethingabout them, the name sticks. But I’vebeen honest with them and saidt h e re ’s one of me and 900 of them sothey have to be a bit patient. But I’mgetting there.”

Lucy believes that the staff own-ership model of John Lewis makes iteven more important that she gets toknow the team. “They are as im-portant to me as I am to them,” shes ay s.

The new boss is well versed in theJohn Lewis principles, havingworked for the partnership her wholecareer. She started at the Peter Jonesstore in Southampton, doing her timeon the shop floor in the women’s wearfitting room.

As she climbed the career laddershe embarked on a 12-year nation-wide tour of seven different stores,including three years heading theTrafford Centre branch inManchester, before being seconded tolead the firm’s 150th anniversary cel-ebrations last year.

NEW BOSS GETTING TO KNOW HERGavin Thompson meetsthe woman who hastaken the helm ofBristol’s John Lewisstore and finds out whatshe has planned for theiconic department store

“Anything that develops the areaand draws customers to us can onlybe a good thing,” she says.

“We have to deliver the best serviceand best products when they get hereso they want to keep shopping withu s. ”

Part of the draw for customers isthe famous “never knowingly under-sold” promise to match any highstreet competitor’s promotion on thesame goods. But is that realistic in thechanging retail landscape, where wecan all shop from a huge range ofsellers online?

My working dayStart: I’m an early bird so I like to get in early, about 7.30am, so that Ican get my head round the day before the team start to come in.

Go home: The store is open until 8pm and I go home sometime after6pm. If I don’t feel like I’ve had enough time on the shop floor becauseother things have happened I’ll stay a bit later. We have a weekend andlate nights rota as well which I am on.

Typical day: T h e re ’s no typical day. I try to spend as much time on theshop floor as possible. Inevitably when you are new there are moremeetings, one-to-ones and getting to know people. But I think there’s agood balance. It’s got to be about partners and customers. I’m not amassive fan of meetings so as few of them as possible.

Name: Lucy Ramseyer

Age: 35

Bor n: Southampton

Job: Head of branch at JohnLewis Cribbs Causeway

Education: English literaturedegree at Southampton

First job: With John LewisPartnership on the graduatescheme, starting on the shopfloor in the fitting room

Vital statistics

“It as at the very core of our cus-tomer proposition and has been ford e c a d e s, ” says Lucy. “It’s about givingour customers that reassurance andtrust. In the world of omni-channelshopping we have to constantly as-sess what that means but that’s ourchallenge and we just need to bereally clear with our customers aboutwhat our never knowingly undersoldpolicy means.”

How do they keep tabs on whattheir rivals are up to?

“We have a central team constantlyout and about and trying to under-stand what’s going on nationally,”explains Lucy. “Locally I have teammembers who are just checkingwh at ’s going on in the market. Whenwe know there’s something going onwe will go out and about to check it inperson but we do more online thesedays. And sometimes a customer willjust tell us. We’ll check it and thenwe ’ll match it.”

The partnership released its an-nual results last week, including itsannual profit-share staff bonus whichsaw workers benefit from about sixwe e k s ’ extra pay. The performancesuggests the store is managing tomeet the demands of modern shop-ping.

Lucy says: “Customers are shop-ping in very different way but the fact

d u s t r y.“The really important thing is we

are never complacent,” says Lucy.“We never say, OK we’ve nailed it. It’sthat consistent desire to do more andpush further and healthy competi-tion internally to want to keep push-ing for more. The retail climate is asexciting as it’s every been and youc a n’t take anything for granted.”

She welcomes long-term plans fromthe owners of the Mall in Cribbs toexpand, even if it brings more com-petition in the shape of a new anchors t o re.

Now she’s taken on Cribbs Cause-way and, having just sold her housein Manchester, is on the look-out for anew home in the Bristol area.

So far, she’s impressed by her newteam. “All our shops are very dif-ferent but you walk into a John Lewisand you know, without seeing a sign,that it’s John Lewis,” she says.“T here’s a feel to it.

“This particular shop has a realfamily feel and a real loyalty. It feelsanchored in the community. I feelvery privileged to run a shop like this.It’s bigger than me. I’m head ofbranch but it has a heritage and afuture and for a number of years I getto be at the helm of it so that’s a realprivile ge.”

Lucy says it’s too early for her tohave plans for big changes, stressingthat the firm’s approach is always tofocus on the long term.

“There are two key areas,” she says.“One is investing in our partnersbecause that then invests in our cus-tomers. The second is customer ser-vice and understanding at everytouch point are we delivering thelevel of service that we prideourselves on.”

John Lewis has an enviable brand.Bosses of firms up and down thecountry talk about aspiring to be “theJohn Lewis” of their particular in-

‘We are proud to recognisefantastic work women do’

AN EVENTS company which is in therunning for the Bristol and BathWomen in Business Awards has an-nounced its latest spectacular. Bris-tol-based Paradise Hotel is staffed by a

team of stage designers, prop makers and tech-nicians meaning it can stage events with realtheatrical flair.

Its next big project, called Dream Garden, willbe a collaboration with the Royal West of Eng-land Academy in Clifton.

The event will be what the organisers call an“immersive party” held at the art gallery on theMay Day Bank Holiday.

The team will transform the RWA into anethereal wonderland. Guests will be invited toview the gallery’s exhibition Drawn and Draw-ing On over welcome drinks before being en-tertained with dancing, cocktails and musicfrom the renowned Bedmo Disco DJ.

Ballet dancers and circus performers will beperforming among the crowds with life drawingand poetry readers also on offer.

The event follows a previous sold out ball atthe Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.

The company was founded by former show-girl and cabaret performer Keda Breeze.

Keda said: “Working with historical venuesalways is always an honour and privilege, es-pecially as no one before us has ever createdthese types of events in public spaces.”

Paradise Hotel also organises corporateevents and is a finalist in for the InnovationAward at the Bristol and Bath Women in Busi-ness Awards run by the Bristol Post and BathChronicle in association with UWE Bristol.

Events firm lines updream gallery party

we are omni-channel is very import-ant to them.

“We know they are shopping instore then going home and orderingonline, or doing research online andthen coming into the shop or theyorder online and come in and clickand collect.

“You can imagine there are hun-dreds of different customer journeysbut what’s important is there arethose choices, we can’t just strip themaway and say it’s only this way. That’swhere the future is and omni-channelis at the heart of the proposition foru s. ”

The company has been growing itssales but choosing to invest a lot of theprofits into its IT and logistics. Lucysays that’s about thinking longter m.

“Because we are employee-ownedwe are a long-term business; we don’thave to think about tomorrow, wehave to make sure the business is fitfor future generations of partnersand customers so that’s where we’vegot our eye,” she says. “We recognisethat this is a period of change for usbut in 10 or 15 years time we will beable to open the bonus envelope be-cause we have invested now in ourpartners and our customers.”

By which time. Lucy should justabout know all 900 names.

My downtimeHobbies: When you do a job like this it’sall-consuming but in a good way because Ichose it. Sometimes if I have time off I’m quitehappy with a book and cup of tea or maybe aglass of wine on the sofa. I do run, I’m trainingfor a 10K at the moment. Exercise is a goodone for me. I’ll pick up a new hobby and investin it and then do something else. Climbing I’vedone; it’s running at the moment.

Books, film and TV: I’m an avid reader. I’dlove to pretend it’s all high-brow stuff but itisn’t. I love film. I try to pick a film a week togo and see. My favourite film of this year isWhiplash. It’s brilliant.

Women in Business

Sponsor profile

� Whiplash

900 PARTNERS

WOMEN INBUSINESSAWARDS

SPONSOREDBY.. .

in association with

SPIRE Bristol Hospital is delighted to besponsoring the Award for Innovation atthe Bristol Post Women in BusinessAwards. We are proud to take part inthese awards which recognise the fant-

astic work women do in business.As a healthcare provider we know the value

that innovation can bring to the workplace, andthat is why we have chosen to support thisinspiring award.

We believe that women play a huge role in

Bristol’s business sector, many of whom runand own successful organisations throughoutthe city.

We are lucky to have a team that is made up oflots of highly trained female staff and con-sultants, who together help make us one of theleading private hospitals in the South West.

The Bristol Post Women in Business Awardsrecognise the city’s amazing businesswomen,and we are proud to help share and be a part ofthat success.

� Spire ‘The Glen’ HospitalBristol, Redland Hill,Durdham Down

GUEST SPEAKER

� ENTREPRENEUR and marketingexpert Claire Harper will be the guestspeaker at the Bristol and Bath Women inBusiness Awards on Thursday night.Claire has led the marketing forsuccessful brands including Ocado andMammas & Papas before forming herown kids’ clothing brand IndiaCoco in2011.

ITV West presenter Ian Axton willpresent this year’s awards. The localnewsreader was a big hit with theaudience at last year’s Bristol PostBusiness Awards and we hope he will bejust as warmly received at the Women inBusiness event.

If you’re posting about the awards onsocial media, please use #WIBA.

� ParadiseHotel’sp re v i o u sevent atthe BristolMuseumand ArtGalleryPic: Ed Stone

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TO DAY ’S Budget will be moreof an early glimpse of theConservative general elec-tion manifesto than a seriousexercise in managing the

UK’s economy. With polling day lessthan two months away, there is littletime to enact big changes and cer-tainly not to see their impact.

But that doesn’t mean it won’t beworth watching. For those who enjoypolitics, it should be a good show.

T here’ll be lots of taking credit forgood news in the economy but warn-ings that things could easily turnwith a more careless hand on thet i l l e r.

Business owners and entrepren-eurs will be hoping for at best a fewlast-minute measures to help themand at worst no major new hurdles orred tape.

Karen Kirkwood, Bristol-based taxpartner, said: “With this Budget an-nounced in the dying embers of thecoalition, this event will be somewhatof a novelty.

“We are looking at a different kindof Budget that will inevitably reflecton the Chancellor’s successes overthe past five years.

“But with the election just aroundthe corner the Chancellor is facedwith a tough decision.

“Will he press ahead with key an-nouncements, and share them withhis Coalition partners, or save anypre-election giveaways for the Con-servative Party’s manifesto?”

Details of the previously an-nounced business rates review wereoutlined on Monday as part of theBudget. The review, which this newsorganisation had campaigned forunder the banner #realratesreform,has been widely welcomed.

But what other tax changes mightbe in store for businesses?

The tax regime now is generallyregarded as more competitive forbusiness and that is likely to go on.

“The Annual Investment Allow-ance is due to revert back to £25,000this year,” said Karen.

“We expect the Chancellor to pro-long the £500,000 extension, or even toincrease it, to allow the policy tofurther support the economy’s ex-pansion.

“To stimulate and support spend-ing on critical infrastructure, we mayalso see the introduction of a capital

Chancellor’s way of laying the found-ations to expand similar levies toother sectors in the future,” saidK a re n .

We may well hear more on de-volution, too, although the focus islikely to be on the so-called NorthernPowerhouse around Manchester,which seems to be very popular inGovernment right now.

Karen said: “In the Autumn State-ment the Chancellor announced thatNorthern Ireland would have control

over its Corporate Tax rate. Thisraises questions as to whether cor-porate tax will be devolved to Scot-land, among other powers, and whatthat means for the English regions.”

Phil Smith, managing director ofBusiness West, which represents thelocal chambers of commerce, said thepoliticians needed to avoid wageringhard-fought economic progress inorder to score temporary points inthe polls.

“We will hear a crowd pleasing

speech, but this must not come at thecost of the measures we need to boostskills, exports and access to finance,”he said.

“In the past year we have seenunemployment plummet, the UKclimb out of a damaging recession,and our local business survey show-ing that business confidence in ourregion was 65 per cent to close out astrong 2014.

“There are still significant hurdlesin the way of long term growth, and

OVER the last two parlia-ments, the UK’s tax sys-tem has undergone amajor transformationthat has led to the cre-

ation of one of the most competitiveregimes in the G20.

According to a recent EY survey,the vast majority of businesses(68%) are happy with the changesthe Chancellor has introduced tothe tax system and indicated thatthey regard the UK’s tax system asmore competitive than it was fiveyears ago.

T here’s no doubt that the Gov-er nment’s changes to the corporatetax system have significantly en-hanced the UK’s attractiveness as aplace to do business – with cor-poration tax rates, changes to pat-ent box and R&D relief listed as keyreasons driving the improved com-petitiveness of the UK.

However, there are still outstand-ing elements, in particular aroundinvestment allowances, support forSMEs and business rates.

As the UK is coming out of achallenging economic period, thebusiness community is now lookingfor fewer surprises and more sta-bility to drive greater success.

The focus now needs to be beyondtax alone and on integrated policiesthat will create opportunities tomake up the lost ground and fulfilthe ambitions of the workforceacross the UK.

Reshoring of manufacturingbusinesses is a prime example ofhow changes to the tax system canstimulate further investment andhelp equip the UK to succeed.

Infrastructure is another ex-ample. All the main parties appearto recognise the need for long term,strategic and integrated planningfor infrastructure – including in theSouth West, where it can supporteconomic rebalancing.

However, it remains to be seenwhether the Chancellor uses hisBudget to lay out concrete fundingplans, tax incentives and furtherpowers to encourage the delivery oftransport and integrated smart cityinitiatives, and potentially rein-force the Government’s commit-ment to create a thriving regionale c o n o my.

Lastly, new funding to supportregional growth projects in theSouth West and other UK regions tocomplement devolution is also highup the in the region’s wish list.

This could involve handing oversome control for decisions aroundspending to support local busi-nesses, developing skills and im-proving transport infrastructure inall its guises, as well as potentialpowers to give leaders a say insecuring future energy needs.

Majority happy withtax system changes

Focus on start-ups | Sponsored by THEME SPONSOR’S NAME HERE.

As George Osborneprepares to deliver his finalBudget before the election,Gavin Thompson reports onwhat’s expected and whatbusiness wants to hear

What you wantfrom the redb r i efca se. . .

Budget preview

L O O M I N G E L E C T I O N POSES TACTICAL DILEMMA FOR CHANCELLOR

allowance taking us back to the goodold days of industrial buildings al-lowances. These allowed businessesto claim a tax deduction for a pro-portion of the cost of certain build-i n g s. ”

She said there may also be a newtobacco levy, based on a company’smarket share – something thatwo u l d n’t impress Bristol-based Im-perial Tobacco.

“We will be keeping an eye out forthis announcement as it may be the

Karen KirkwoodTax partnerEY in the South West

Expert eye

the final budget of this parliamenthas the chance to give business reas-on for optimism ahead of one of themost unpredictable general elec-tions in modern memory.”

Phil said the priorities should beskills, exports and support for smalland medium sized businesses.

“Youth unemployment remainsstubbornly high,” he said. “In theAutumn Statement George Osborneabolished employer’s National In-surance for young apprentices

which was applauded by business,but more must be done to ensurethat young people have thework-ready skills to contribute tobusiness success.

“On exports, the latest figuresshow the UK’s trade deficit widenedlast year to £34.8 billion.

“To address this, the governmenthas set a target to double exports to£1 trillion by 2020 and here in theSouth West we have launched our#GetExporting campaign to encour-

age 2,020 more firms to export in thesame time frame.

“Back in December the AutumnStatement fuelled new optimismwith a focus on export promotion,but this hasn’t yet translated intothe statistics. Greater governmentattention to executing its ideas isrequired if we are to meet thesetarg ets.”

Phil said challenges of access tofinance continued to hurt smallfirms trying to grow.

“We have seen action taken toboost small business growth but ac-cess to credit remains persistentlydifficult for many high growthfir ms,” he said. “Over 99 per cent ofthe 87,000 registered businesses inour region are SMEs and we mustsee further intervention to givethem the confidence to expand andcreate the jobs of the future.

“This budget threatens to be re-membered more as a plea to votersthan a statement of long term fin-ancial planning. Businesses do notget a vote in May and their con-fidence should not be risked by ahyper-political budget.

Instead of pulling vote pleasingrabbits from hats, the Chancellorshould focus on the hurdles thathinder long term business growthsuch as skills, exports and access tof i n a n c e.

“Politicians still have more than50 days to convince the electorateand we must hope that the budgetwill focus on growth not votes.”

PERSONAL TAX

While support for business is theway to long term growth, cuttingpersonal taxes is the quickest wayto the pockets of most voters. Sowhat personal tax changes are instore? Here’s what Jennine Way,director of private client services atEY, predicts:

� 60% chance “We are likely tosee an increase in the inheritancetax nil rate band with theChancellor even promising to raisethe threshold to £1 million by 2020.This will help families take theirhomes outside the inheritance taxnet.”� 30% chance “We know that thepersonal allowance will beincreased to £10,600 and there willbe a repeat of the promise to raisethis to £12,500 by 2020. TheChancellor, however, may spring asurprise by setting out on his pathto reach £12,500 earlier thanexpected by raising the personalallowance again. However, it wouldbe more helpful to the lower paid toincrease the threshold at whichnational insurance is paid.”� 10% chance “There is a slimchance that the Chancellor willannounce an increase above the£11,100 level already scheduled for2015/16 in the Capital Gains Taxallowance. We may see changes toCapital Gain Tax entrepreneurs’relief, which ideally would beamended so that it offers moreencouragement to seriale n t re p re n e u r s . ”

In association with

We asked a number of businesspeople around Bristol what theywant from today’s Budget. Here’swhat they said:

Martin Thatcher, of Thatcher’sCider: Cut cider duty 2 per centand retain exemption for smallp ro d u c e r s

“Our industry contributes £30million every year into farmincomes and themore than 7,000jobssupporteddirectly andi n d i re c t l y.

“The in-novationand invest-ment of cidermakers hasdelivered somesuccess, howeverthat progress is fragile and ourscale is still small compared toother sectors, hence the need for aduty reduction in this Budget andthe development of a long-termpolicy for our industry.”

Bonnie Dean, chief executive ofBristol & Bath Science Park:Keep R&D tax credits and beclear on long-termscience funding

“We hope that theGovernment willcontinue to furtherdevelop its Scienceand InnovationStrategy and thatthis budget willprovide greater clarityand detail aboutscience funding beyond

2020-2021. This will provide amore secure environment for the

science and technology sectorto prosper and plan

effectively for the future.“To achieve a return on

the natural investment inscience and technologythe UK needs to en-hance significantly ournatural capability to

translate scientific dis-coveries into scalable

products and services.“The R&D tax credit, en-

hanced capital allowances, em-phasis on research impact andcatapult centres are all positivemeasures and need continued sup-port so that industry has the con-fidence to invest in taking newproducts to market.”

James Preece, national officesdirector of Colliers South West:Extend Annual InvestmentAllowance limit

“I hope that the Budget will extendthe Annual Investment Allowance

of £500,000 for another year.“This will help

encourage busi-nesses to in-vest inexpansionand spendmoney onupgradingand mod-ernising theirp re m i s e s .Businesses inthe office marketneed a budget that is going to

keep the positive momentumgoing.”

Jim Duffy chief executive ofEntrepreneurial Spark whichhas just launched a newbusiness ‘hatchery’ in the citywith NatWest: Appoint aMinister for Entrepreneurs

“Start-up businesses and a newgeneration of entrepreneurs arebringing billions of pounds intothe UK economy, creatingthousands of jobs and making a

huge contribution to communitiesacross the length and breadth ofBritain. But there is so muchmore they can do with greatersupport at government level. Wehave a Minister for Business butthe needs of start-ups can bevery different from those of largeand established firms or giantmulti-nationals.

“They deserve, and Britainwould benefit hugely from, a Min-ister at Cabinet level who can in-fluence legislation to providegreater support for start-ups and

raise awareness of the massiveeconomic and social benefitsthese businesses bring.”

James Turgoose, director atstrategic communicationsconsultancy JBP: Stability

“Like many other SMEs, we willbe following the Budgetextremely closely. The mostimportant thing for business iscertainty and stability whichcreates the time and space togrow and expand.

“Therefore we hope that, des-pite the inevitable politicking thatwill occur on Wednesday, the UKeconomy continues to grow andthat all political parties recognisethe contribution that small busi-nesses make.”

Marcus Plaw, director ofplanning at Lambert SmithHampton (LSH) in Bristol: Relaxplanning rules

“The government’s approach tosimplifying the planning systemhas not deliveredsupplya n y w h e renear whatis needed– nor is itlikely toogivenf o re c a s tpopulationg ro w t hcoupled withthe Government’scommitment towards sustainableeconomic strength.

“Changes to the planning sys-tem to enable the developmentsto go ahead swiftly must continuebut I would also call upon GeorgeOsborne to use his final budgetbefore the general election as aplatform to propose legislativechanges to speed up local planmaking and planning applicationdecision making processes.”

� Chancellor of the ExchequerGeorge Osborne is expected tofocus on this government’seconomic successes

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TO DAY ’S Budget will be moreof an early glimpse of theConservative general elec-tion manifesto than a seriousexercise in managing the

UK’s economy. With polling day lessthan two months away, there is littletime to enact big changes and cer-tainly not to see their impact.

But that doesn’t mean it won’t beworth watching. For those who enjoypolitics, it should be a good show.

T here’ll be lots of taking credit forgood news in the economy but warn-ings that things could easily turnwith a more careless hand on thet i l l e r.

Business owners and entrepren-eurs will be hoping for at best a fewlast-minute measures to help themand at worst no major new hurdles orred tape.

Karen Kirkwood, Bristol-based taxpartner, said: “With this Budget an-nounced in the dying embers of thecoalition, this event will be somewhatof a novelty.

“We are looking at a different kindof Budget that will inevitably reflecton the Chancellor’s successes overthe past five years.

“But with the election just aroundthe corner the Chancellor is facedwith a tough decision.

“Will he press ahead with key an-nouncements, and share them withhis Coalition partners, or save anypre-election giveaways for the Con-servative Party’s manifesto?”

Details of the previously an-nounced business rates review wereoutlined on Monday as part of theBudget. The review, which this newsorganisation had campaigned forunder the banner #realratesreform,has been widely welcomed.

But what other tax changes mightbe in store for businesses?

The tax regime now is generallyregarded as more competitive forbusiness and that is likely to go on.

“The Annual Investment Allow-ance is due to revert back to £25,000this year,” said Karen.

“We expect the Chancellor to pro-long the £500,000 extension, or even toincrease it, to allow the policy tofurther support the economy’s ex-pansion.

“To stimulate and support spend-ing on critical infrastructure, we mayalso see the introduction of a capital

Chancellor’s way of laying the found-ations to expand similar levies toother sectors in the future,” saidK a re n .

We may well hear more on de-volution, too, although the focus islikely to be on the so-called NorthernPowerhouse around Manchester,which seems to be very popular inGovernment right now.

Karen said: “In the Autumn State-ment the Chancellor announced thatNorthern Ireland would have control

over its Corporate Tax rate. Thisraises questions as to whether cor-porate tax will be devolved to Scot-land, among other powers, and whatthat means for the English regions.”

Phil Smith, managing director ofBusiness West, which represents thelocal chambers of commerce, said thepoliticians needed to avoid wageringhard-fought economic progress inorder to score temporary points inthe polls.

“We will hear a crowd pleasing

speech, but this must not come at thecost of the measures we need to boostskills, exports and access to finance,”he said.

“In the past year we have seenunemployment plummet, the UKclimb out of a damaging recession,and our local business survey show-ing that business confidence in ourregion was 65 per cent to close out astrong 2014.

“There are still significant hurdlesin the way of long term growth, and

OVER the last two parlia-ments, the UK’s tax sys-tem has undergone amajor transformationthat has led to the cre-

ation of one of the most competitiveregimes in the G20.

According to a recent EY survey,the vast majority of businesses(68%) are happy with the changesthe Chancellor has introduced tothe tax system and indicated thatthey regard the UK’s tax system asmore competitive than it was fiveyears ago.

T here’s no doubt that the Gov-er nment’s changes to the corporatetax system have significantly en-hanced the UK’s attractiveness as aplace to do business – with cor-poration tax rates, changes to pat-ent box and R&D relief listed as keyreasons driving the improved com-petitiveness of the UK.

However, there are still outstand-ing elements, in particular aroundinvestment allowances, support forSMEs and business rates.

As the UK is coming out of achallenging economic period, thebusiness community is now lookingfor fewer surprises and more sta-bility to drive greater success.

The focus now needs to be beyondtax alone and on integrated policiesthat will create opportunities tomake up the lost ground and fulfilthe ambitions of the workforceacross the UK.

Reshoring of manufacturingbusinesses is a prime example ofhow changes to the tax system canstimulate further investment andhelp equip the UK to succeed.

Infrastructure is another ex-ample. All the main parties appearto recognise the need for long term,strategic and integrated planningfor infrastructure – including in theSouth West, where it can supporteconomic rebalancing.

However, it remains to be seenwhether the Chancellor uses hisBudget to lay out concrete fundingplans, tax incentives and furtherpowers to encourage the delivery oftransport and integrated smart cityinitiatives, and potentially rein-force the Government’s commit-ment to create a thriving regionale c o n o my.

Lastly, new funding to supportregional growth projects in theSouth West and other UK regions tocomplement devolution is also highup the in the region’s wish list.

This could involve handing oversome control for decisions aroundspending to support local busi-nesses, developing skills and im-proving transport infrastructure inall its guises, as well as potentialpowers to give leaders a say insecuring future energy needs.

Majority happy withtax system changes

Focus on start-ups | Sponsored by THEME SPONSOR’S NAME HERE.

As George Osborneprepares to deliver his finalBudget before the election,Gavin Thompson reports onwhat’s expected and whatbusiness wants to hear

What you wantfrom the redb r i efca se. . .

Budget preview

L O O M I N G E L E C T I O N POSES TACTICAL DILEMMA FOR CHANCELLOR

allowance taking us back to the goodold days of industrial buildings al-lowances. These allowed businessesto claim a tax deduction for a pro-portion of the cost of certain build-i n g s. ”

She said there may also be a newtobacco levy, based on a company’smarket share – something thatwo u l d n’t impress Bristol-based Im-perial Tobacco.

“We will be keeping an eye out forthis announcement as it may be the

Karen KirkwoodTax partnerEY in the South West

Expert eye

the final budget of this parliamenthas the chance to give business reas-on for optimism ahead of one of themost unpredictable general elec-tions in modern memory.”

Phil said the priorities should beskills, exports and support for smalland medium sized businesses.

“Youth unemployment remainsstubbornly high,” he said. “In theAutumn Statement George Osborneabolished employer’s National In-surance for young apprentices

which was applauded by business,but more must be done to ensurethat young people have thework-ready skills to contribute tobusiness success.

“On exports, the latest figuresshow the UK’s trade deficit widenedlast year to £34.8 billion.

“To address this, the governmenthas set a target to double exports to£1 trillion by 2020 and here in theSouth West we have launched our#GetExporting campaign to encour-

age 2,020 more firms to export in thesame time frame.

“Back in December the AutumnStatement fuelled new optimismwith a focus on export promotion,but this hasn’t yet translated intothe statistics. Greater governmentattention to executing its ideas isrequired if we are to meet thesetarg ets.”

Phil said challenges of access tofinance continued to hurt smallfirms trying to grow.

“We have seen action taken toboost small business growth but ac-cess to credit remains persistentlydifficult for many high growthfir ms,” he said. “Over 99 per cent ofthe 87,000 registered businesses inour region are SMEs and we mustsee further intervention to givethem the confidence to expand andcreate the jobs of the future.

“This budget threatens to be re-membered more as a plea to votersthan a statement of long term fin-ancial planning. Businesses do notget a vote in May and their con-fidence should not be risked by ahyper-political budget.

Instead of pulling vote pleasingrabbits from hats, the Chancellorshould focus on the hurdles thathinder long term business growthsuch as skills, exports and access tof i n a n c e.

“Politicians still have more than50 days to convince the electorateand we must hope that the budgetwill focus on growth not votes.”

PERSONAL TAX

While support for business is theway to long term growth, cuttingpersonal taxes is the quickest wayto the pockets of most voters. Sowhat personal tax changes are instore? Here’s what Jennine Way,director of private client services atEY, predicts:

� 60% chance “We are likely tosee an increase in the inheritancetax nil rate band with theChancellor even promising to raisethe threshold to £1 million by 2020.This will help families take theirhomes outside the inheritance taxnet.”� 30% chance “We know that thepersonal allowance will beincreased to £10,600 and there willbe a repeat of the promise to raisethis to £12,500 by 2020. TheChancellor, however, may spring asurprise by setting out on his pathto reach £12,500 earlier thanexpected by raising the personalallowance again. However, it wouldbe more helpful to the lower paid toincrease the threshold at whichnational insurance is paid.”� 10% chance “There is a slimchance that the Chancellor willannounce an increase above the£11,100 level already scheduled for2015/16 in the Capital Gains Taxallowance. We may see changes toCapital Gain Tax entrepreneurs’relief, which ideally would beamended so that it offers moreencouragement to seriale n t re p re n e u r s . ”

In association with

We asked a number of businesspeople around Bristol what theywant from today’s Budget. Here’swhat they said:

Martin Thatcher, of Thatcher’sCider: Cut cider duty 2 per centand retain exemption for smallp ro d u c e r s

“Our industry contributes £30million every year into farmincomes and themore than 7,000jobssupporteddirectly andi n d i re c t l y.

“The in-novationand invest-ment of cidermakers hasdelivered somesuccess, howeverthat progress is fragile and ourscale is still small compared toother sectors, hence the need for aduty reduction in this Budget andthe development of a long-termpolicy for our industry.”

Bonnie Dean, chief executive ofBristol & Bath Science Park:Keep R&D tax credits and beclear on long-termscience funding

“We hope that theGovernment willcontinue to furtherdevelop its Scienceand InnovationStrategy and thatthis budget willprovide greater clarityand detail aboutscience funding beyond

2020-2021. This will provide amore secure environment for the

science and technology sectorto prosper and plan

effectively for the future.“To achieve a return on

the natural investment inscience and technologythe UK needs to en-hance significantly ournatural capability to

translate scientific dis-coveries into scalable

products and services.“The R&D tax credit, en-

hanced capital allowances, em-phasis on research impact andcatapult centres are all positivemeasures and need continued sup-port so that industry has the con-fidence to invest in taking newproducts to market.”

James Preece, national officesdirector of Colliers South West:Extend Annual InvestmentAllowance limit

“I hope that the Budget will extendthe Annual Investment Allowance

of £500,000 for another year.“This will help

encourage busi-nesses to in-vest inexpansionand spendmoney onupgradingand mod-ernising theirp re m i s e s .Businesses inthe office marketneed a budget that is going to

keep the positive momentumgoing.”

Jim Duffy chief executive ofEntrepreneurial Spark whichhas just launched a newbusiness ‘hatchery’ in the citywith NatWest: Appoint aMinister for Entrepreneurs

“Start-up businesses and a newgeneration of entrepreneurs arebringing billions of pounds intothe UK economy, creatingthousands of jobs and making a

huge contribution to communitiesacross the length and breadth ofBritain. But there is so muchmore they can do with greatersupport at government level. Wehave a Minister for Business butthe needs of start-ups can bevery different from those of largeand established firms or giantmulti-nationals.

“They deserve, and Britainwould benefit hugely from, a Min-ister at Cabinet level who can in-fluence legislation to providegreater support for start-ups and

raise awareness of the massiveeconomic and social benefitsthese businesses bring.”

James Turgoose, director atstrategic communicationsconsultancy JBP: Stability

“Like many other SMEs, we willbe following the Budgetextremely closely. The mostimportant thing for business iscertainty and stability whichcreates the time and space togrow and expand.

“Therefore we hope that, des-pite the inevitable politicking thatwill occur on Wednesday, the UKeconomy continues to grow andthat all political parties recognisethe contribution that small busi-nesses make.”

Marcus Plaw, director ofplanning at Lambert SmithHampton (LSH) in Bristol: Relaxplanning rules

“The government’s approach tosimplifying the planning systemhas not deliveredsupplya n y w h e renear whatis needed– nor is itlikely toogivenf o re c a s tpopulationg ro w t hcoupled withthe Government’scommitment towards sustainableeconomic strength.

“Changes to the planning sys-tem to enable the developmentsto go ahead swiftly must continuebut I would also call upon GeorgeOsborne to use his final budgetbefore the general election as aplatform to propose legislativechanges to speed up local planmaking and planning applicationdecision making processes.”

� Chancellor of the ExchequerGeorge Osborne is expected tofocus on this government’seconomic successes

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Business diary

Email your business events [email protected] are sometimescancelled without us beingnotified so please check withorganisers before travelling.

Walk & Swim Netwalk forWomen in Business: Meet atthe Lido for coffee then walktowards the gorge, along thePromenade to Clifton Downsand returning to the Lido around10.30am for coffee. Then a swimand sauna pass and stay for acouple of hours. March 19. Bookvia Eventbrite.

Digital Marketing That WillGive Your Business the Edge:Free Business West workshop9.30am-3.30pm on March 19,Aztec Hotel, Almondsbury.

Bristol Post and BathChronicle Women In BusinessAwards 2015: The winners willbe revealed at a gala awardsdinner at the Bristol City CentreMarriott on March 19. If you’retalking about the awards onsocial medial, use #wiba.

Tweet Up Bristol: Social andbusiness informal networkingevent where you can meet whoyou tweet. AT Revolution Bar,Bristol, 6-9pm, March 24.@tweetupbristol.

Agents of Growth Summit:Guest speakers including Nextfounder George Davies, AlexReilley of Loungers, and TimWestwell of Pukka Herbs willaddress this breakfast event formid-sized businesses atTortworth Court from 8am onThursday, March 26. Details:[email protected].

Digital Challenge Final andAw a rd s : Finalists from the hackweekend in February willcompete for a £50,000 cashprize to develop a softwareapplication or game addressingone of five environmentalchallenges, energy, transport,food, resources and nature.Colston Hall, April 20.w w w. b r i s t o l 2 0 1 5 . c o . u k

20 Ways to Grow YourBusiness: Seminar on how tostructure a business forsustainable and profitablegrowth. Ashton Court Mansion,BS41 9JN, 7.45am on April 22.Contact Mazars.

The Lord Mayor’s CharityDinner: Enjoy a drinks receptionfollowed by a sumptuousthree-course dinner, world-classlive entertainment and auction, inaid of The Lord Mayor ofBristol’s Children Appeal on April30 at the Bristol Marriott RoyalHotel. Book tickets throughEventbrite and help raise moneyfor the city’s mostdisadvantaged children. [email protected] forsponsorship opportunities.

Timpsons boss: Secretof our success? People

In pictures Fox Davidson

IN 13 years since taking over thefamily business, James Timpson hasgrown Timpsons from 160 shops to1,400.

The chief executive believes thekeys to that growth are the bestpeople and a clear focus on what theydo best.

“We ’ve got 1,400 shops, of which 500are photo processing shops,” he said.“The business has grown dramat-ically at a time when a lot of ourcompetitors have struggled or goneout of business. That’s one of thereasons we have grown because we’vebought their shops. We concentratedon people and they spent time onstrategy and got it wrong.

“We focus on high margin productswhile our competitors filled theshops with anything that improvedturnover, luggage mobile phones,anything. I could raise the turnoverin our shops tomorrow by puttingcigarettes and chocolate bars inbut you don’t make moneyout of that. You can only begood at so many things soconcentrate on thingsyou are good at. We aregood at cutting keys.Whatever we do we do itreally well.”

But James, who wastalking ahead of hisspeech at the Bristol Dis-tinguished Address Series hos-ted at UWE Bristol, said people werethe most important factor. “We pick

people to work in our shops who haveloads of personality and we let them

get on with it,” said James.“If we have an amazingperson running one of our

shops and they move andwe put a drongo in, we’lldrop turnover by 50 percent. So the most im-portant part of ourbusiness isn’t what the

shop looks like, howmuch stock we have or

how clean it is, it’s what thecolleagues are like. We recruit

for personality and train for skills. Ionly want to employ nines and tens in

our business. Sparky, independentminded, good at taking money.”

He said the chain had no vacanciesand a waiting list of more than 200good people who want to join.

“Yo u ’ve got to be good at recruit-ment because if you are desperate youwo n’t get the right people,” he said.

But James admitted the firm’s corebusiness of shoe repairs is a chal-lenging one.

“Shoe repairs has good marginsbut is a declining business,” he said.“T here’s two parts of the shoe mar-ket, the discount retailers and thehigh end. The middle market hasg o n e. ”

Part of the Local World group

We supply a glossy setting worthy of any awardwinner. From staging and set design, to an assortmentof lighting from LED’s to gobos. We provide all thenecessary services and equipment you would needto make your awards evening the one to remember.

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Mortgage broker celebrates big moveA CITY mortgage broker marked itsmove to a bigger office with a launchpar ty.

Fox Davidson has tripled in size of staffsince its launch in May 2013 and movedinto Merchants House at the end of lastyear. Now settled in, and as the housingmarket rises quickly, the team decided itwas a good time to celebrate the move.

Co-founder Wesley Davidson said theoffices had been furnished using “funk ydigital wallpaper” and give it a “p ro -fessional yet laidback feel”.

Fox Davidson now employs six peopleat its new offices on Wapping Road andutilises a part of Merchants House thathad never been used before, the officesare directly above the archway.

Thee firm, co-founded by SarahFox-Clinch, is a finalist in the new busi-ness category in this year’s Bristol andBath Women in Business Awards.

In pictures Bristol Distinguished Address SeriesIn pictures Chinese New Year party

Year of the Sheep City businessesflock to join Chinese celebration

BR I S T O L’s business com-munity celebrated theChinese New Year with abanquet at Zen Restaurant,H a r b o u r s i d e.

Lord Mayor Councillor AlastairWatson was guest of honour at theevent organised by the Bristol ChinaPartnership and Bristol & West ofEngland China Bureau.

Many people from the BristolChinese business community andthose who do business with Chinaat t e n d e d .

As 2015 is Year of the Sheep a sneakpreview clip of the Aardman An-imations film Shaun The Sheep was

shown and Bristol-based band Trans-ition, who have toured China threetimes and won a Mandarin MusicAward, provided the entertainment.

Dianne Francombe, chief executiveof the West of England China Bureau,said: “Business links between Chinaand this region are growing strongerby the day.

“It is a great benefit for Bristolbusinesses to connect with this hugeand growing market.

“We also have a strong Chinesecommunity here in Bristol and uni-versities that welcome thousands ofChinese students, who will be thebusiness leaders of the future.”

� Lord Mayor Councillor Alastair Watson was guest of honour, pictured withTian Yang, Guangzhou Municipal Government, Foreign Affairs office

� Wai Yee Hong (also known as Joe-Wah Short)

� Kam Wong, DPS Global is on left Simon Huang of Buffett Island � Tony Prescott, Director of Bristol China Partnership and Lu Yang

� Diana Francombe, chief executive of West of England China Bureau

The Bristol MBAFind out moreOpen Evening 25 March, Watershed, Bristol City Centrewww.uwe.ac.uk/bristolmba


Whether your conference is on a small or large scaleour expert knowledge will give you a professionaland stress free event by providing you with theright presentation equipment, lighting and sound.

Audience Response


Video Presentation

Staging your Conferencedoesn’t have to cost a fortune...


EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3


Business diary

Email your business events [email protected] are sometimescancelled without us beingnotified so please check withorganisers before travelling.

Walk & Swim Netwalk forWomen in Business: Meet atthe Lido for coffee then walktowards the gorge, along thePromenade to Clifton Downsand returning to the Lido around10.30am for coffee. Then a swimand sauna pass and stay for acouple of hours. March 19. Bookvia Eventbrite.

Digital Marketing That WillGive Your Business the Edge:Free Business West workshop9.30am-3.30pm on March 19,Aztec Hotel, Almondsbury.

Bristol Post and BathChronicle Women In BusinessAwards 2015: The winners willbe revealed at a gala awardsdinner at the Bristol City CentreMarriott on March 19. If you’retalking about the awards onsocial medial, use #wiba.

Tweet Up Bristol: Social andbusiness informal networkingevent where you can meet whoyou tweet. AT Revolution Bar,Bristol, 6-9pm, March 24.@tweetupbristol.

Agents of Growth Summit:Guest speakers including Nextfounder George Davies, AlexReilley of Loungers, and TimWestwell of Pukka Herbs willaddress this breakfast event formid-sized businesses atTortworth Court from 8am onThursday, March 26. Details:[email protected].

Digital Challenge Final andAw a rd s : Finalists from the hackweekend in February willcompete for a £50,000 cashprize to develop a softwareapplication or game addressingone of five environmentalchallenges, energy, transport,food, resources and nature.Colston Hall, April 20.w w w. b r i s t o l 2 0 1 5 . c o . u k

20 Ways to Grow YourBusiness: Seminar on how tostructure a business forsustainable and profitablegrowth. Ashton Court Mansion,BS41 9JN, 7.45am on April 22.Contact Mazars.

The Lord Mayor’s CharityDinner: Enjoy a drinks receptionfollowed by a sumptuousthree-course dinner, world-classlive entertainment and auction, inaid of The Lord Mayor ofBristol’s Children Appeal on April30 at the Bristol Marriott RoyalHotel. Book tickets throughEventbrite and help raise moneyfor the city’s mostdisadvantaged children. [email protected] forsponsorship opportunities.

Timpsons boss: Secretof our success? People

In pictures Fox Davidson

IN 13 years since taking over thefamily business, James Timpson hasgrown Timpsons from 160 shops to1,400.

The chief executive believes thekeys to that growth are the bestpeople and a clear focus on what theydo best.

“We ’ve got 1,400 shops, of which 500are photo processing shops,” he said.“The business has grown dramat-ically at a time when a lot of ourcompetitors have struggled or goneout of business. That’s one of thereasons we have grown because we’vebought their shops. We concentratedon people and they spent time onstrategy and got it wrong.

“We focus on high margin productswhile our competitors filled theshops with anything that improvedturnover, luggage mobile phones,anything. I could raise the turnoverin our shops tomorrow by puttingcigarettes and chocolate bars inbut you don’t make moneyout of that. You can only begood at so many things soconcentrate on thingsyou are good at. We aregood at cutting keys.Whatever we do we do itreally well.”

But James, who wastalking ahead of hisspeech at the Bristol Dis-tinguished Address Series hos-ted at UWE Bristol, said people werethe most important factor. “We pick

people to work in our shops who haveloads of personality and we let them

get on with it,” said James.“If we have an amazingperson running one of our

shops and they move andwe put a drongo in, we’lldrop turnover by 50 percent. So the most im-portant part of ourbusiness isn’t what the

shop looks like, howmuch stock we have or

how clean it is, it’s what thecolleagues are like. We recruit

for personality and train for skills. Ionly want to employ nines and tens in

our business. Sparky, independentminded, good at taking money.”

He said the chain had no vacanciesand a waiting list of more than 200good people who want to join.

“Yo u ’ve got to be good at recruit-ment because if you are desperate youwo n’t get the right people,” he said.

But James admitted the firm’s corebusiness of shoe repairs is a chal-lenging one.

“Shoe repairs has good marginsbut is a declining business,” he said.“T here’s two parts of the shoe mar-ket, the discount retailers and thehigh end. The middle market hasg o n e. ”


We supply a glossy setting worthy of any awardwinner. From staging and set design, to an assortmentof lighting from LED’s to gobos. We provide all thenecessary services and equipment you would needto make your awards evening the one to remember.

Staging your Awards doesn’thave to cost a fortune...


Live Camera Relay

Pyrotechnics


Mortgage broker celebrates big moveA CITY mortgage broker marked itsmove to a bigger office with a launchpar ty.

Fox Davidson has tripled in size of staffsince its launch in May 2013 and movedinto Merchants House at the end of lastyear. Now settled in, and as the housingmarket rises quickly, the team decided itwas a good time to celebrate the move.

Co-founder Wesley Davidson said theoffices had been furnished using “funk ydigital wallpaper” and give it a “p ro -fessional yet laidback feel”.

Fox Davidson now employs six peopleat its new offices on Wapping Road andutilises a part of Merchants House thathad never been used before, the officesare directly above the archway.

Thee firm, co-founded by SarahFox-Clinch, is a finalist in the new busi-ness category in this year’s Bristol andBath Women in Business Awards.

In pictures Bristol Distinguished Address SeriesIn pictures Chinese New Year party

Year of the Sheep City businessesflock to join Chinese celebration

BR I S T O L’s business com-munity celebrated theChinese New Year with abanquet at Zen Restaurant,H a r b o u r s i d e.

Lord Mayor Councillor AlastairWatson was guest of honour at theevent organised by the Bristol ChinaPartnership and Bristol & West ofEngland China Bureau.

Many people from the BristolChinese business community andthose who do business with Chinaat t e n d e d .

As 2015 is Year of the Sheep a sneakpreview clip of the Aardman An-imations film Shaun The Sheep was

shown and Bristol-based band Trans-ition, who have toured China threetimes and won a Mandarin MusicAward, provided the entertainment.

Dianne Francombe, chief executiveof the West of England China Bureau,said: “Business links between Chinaand this region are growing strongerby the day.

“It is a great benefit for Bristolbusinesses to connect with this hugeand growing market.

“We also have a strong Chinesecommunity here in Bristol and uni-versities that welcome thousands ofChinese students, who will be thebusiness leaders of the future.”

� Lord Mayor Councillor Alastair Watson was guest of honour, pictured withTian Yang, Guangzhou Municipal Government, Foreign Affairs office

� Wai Yee Hong (also known as Joe-Wah Short)

� Kam Wong, DPS Global is on left Simon Huang of Buffett Island � Tony Prescott, Director of Bristol China Partnership and Lu Yang

� Diana Francombe, chief executive of West of England China Bureau

The Bristol MBAFind out moreOpen Evening 25 March, Watershed, Bristol City Centrewww.uwe.ac.uk/bristolmba


Whether your conference is on a small or large scaleour expert knowledge will give you a professionaland stress free event by providing you with theright presentation equipment, lighting and sound.

Audience Response


Video Presentation

Staging your Conferencedoesn’t have to cost a fortune...


EPB-

E01-

S3

12 We d n e s d a y, M a rc h 18, 2015w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

The back page

We must inspire more pupils to study scienceOpinion

Your digest of the week in business

APPRENTICESHIPS at SGSCollege allow you to combineemployment with training, so youcan earn while you learn andachieve recognised qualificationswhile you progress your careerwith an employer.

SGS offers a wide variety of Ap-prenticeships available at Level 2,(the equivalent to GCSEs) Level 3(the equivalent to A Levels) and anincreasing range of Higher Appren-ticeships at Levels 4 and 5.

The College can help you securesuitable Apprenticeship employ-ment. All vacancies are posted onthe Apprenticeship vacancy web-site and the College website.

Once in employment, we willagree the most suitable framework,level and pathway with you andyour employer.

Your Apprenticeship combineswork with training. As employees,apprentices have a contract of em-ployment and earn a wage, justlike other employees. The trainingwill take place both on and off thejob.

On-the-job training means work-ing alongside experienced staff togain job-specific skills. Off-the-job,normally on a day-release basis,will usually (but not always) meancollege attendance to receiveformal training to achieve the qual-ifications that make up your Ap-prenticeship framework.

Apprenticeships are highly val-ued by employers. The training istailored to theneeds of thebusiness, sothey enablebusinesses tohave the rightpeople, withthe right skills,at the righttime.

A p p re n t i c e -ships can takebetween oneand four yearsto completedepending on the level of Appren-ticeship, the Apprentice’s abilityand the industry sector. Most em-ployers pay the national minimumwage for the age group of the Ap-prentice but some will pay more.

There is no upper age limit forApprenticeships, but if you areover 19 when you start, your em-ployer will have to contribute to thecost of your training.

There are different entry require-ments for Apprenticeships de-pending on the programme youapply for. Apprenticeships areopen to all age groups above 16years-old whether you are justleaving school, have been workingfor years or are seeking to start anew career.

Employers want to be im-pressed, so you will need to showthat you are committed and awareof your responsibilities to bothyourself and the company whowould employ you.

You will need to be happy towork as both part of a team andindividually, and be able to useyour own initiative. SGS can offerfree support and training for yourjob interview with its Suited,Booted, Recruited programme.

To find out more visit the Collegewebsite where you can discoverour latest vacancies and readthrough a selection of case stud-ies, which provide a valuable in-sight into the life of anA p p re n t i c e s h i p :www.sgscol.ac.uk/appr enticeships.

Patrick McleodHead of Offsite DeliverySouth Gloucestershire andStroud (SGS) College

APPRENTICESHIPS

Pe o p l e� Property consultancy BilfingerGVA has appointed Alan O’Sullivanas associate in its energy andnatural resources team.

Based in its Bristol office, Alan,below, is experienced in providingproperty and regulatory supportservices to the energy industry.

He joins fromProvelio, a

Bristol-basedmanagementc o n s u l t a n c y,where healso workedon a numberof nuclear,

defence andeducation

based projects.He said: “My

approach has always been basedon working closely with people,developing strong relationships,understanding where they requiresupport and helping them in themost straight-forward waypossible.”

The firm was appointed by theNuclear DecommissioningAuthority in 2013 to providecommercial property, advisory andtransactional services across itsestate.

� Commercial law firm Thrings hasstrengthened its corporate offeringwith the appointment of JonathanMorris as partner.

A corporate solicitor with morethan 10 years’ experience ofworking with AIM-listedand owner-managedbusinesses, Jonathan,right, joins from BatesWells Braithwaite,where he was asenior associate.

In addition toadvising on public andprivate fundraising andhe acts for ownermanaged businesses andcorporate clients on groupreorganisations, joint ventures andM&As. He will also advise issuers,Nomads and brokers on domesticand international AIM IPOs,secondary fundraisings and publico ff e r s .

He said: “With a newgovernment in place in May and abuoyant economy, certainty willreturn to the stock market,

prompting greater levels of activityand further significant investmentopportunities.”

� Property consultancy Alder Kinghas announced five promotions inits Bristol headquarters.

Emma Smith and TomDugay, who specialise in

industrial and officeagency respectively,have been promotedto senior surveyor.These promotionsreflect Emma andTo m ’s success in

securing a significantvolume of transactions

through a challengingperiod.

Building surveyor Chris Sully,who joined as a graduate, is alsopromoted to senior surveyor inrecognition of his contribution tothe growth of the practice’sbuilding consultancy service inBristol and the development of itsproject monitoring anddilapidations markets.

Catherine Norris joined AlderKing’s planning team in early 2014

and has been promoted toprincipal planner inacknowledgement of her skills andexpertise in the co-ordination ofstrategic projects and her strongwork ethic. Genevieve Tuffnell isalso made to senior planner inrecognition of her hard work andcommitment since joining theplanning team in 2012.

Alder King senior partner MartynJones congratulated all five,saying: “These promotions are verywell deserved and are given inrecognition of outstandingperformance.”

� An entrepreneur is celebratingdouble success after reaching fiveyears in business and beinghonoured in the South West AsianAwards. Adil Ayub, who has beenin the property business for10 years won theone-stop services forhis Bedminster firmLets Rent

The 30-year-oldsaid: “The awardsrecognise businessexcellence, bridgecultures and highlightbusinesses that havestrived to serve their localcommunities – a businessphilosophy that Lets Rent wouldcertainly agree with.

“I feel honoured to have beenrecognised for our business effortswithin Bristol and can honestly sayvaluable advice given to me overthe years has helped me succeedand achieve five years inbusiness.”

� Purplex Marketing has

appointed Steve Jennings, bottom,as head of creative to strengthenthe company’s graphic design,creative and branding team.

Steve joins Purplex from CliftonCreative, a high-end designagency. He previously worked withHouse of Fraser and his careerspans both B2B and B2Cconsumer branding.

He said; “Purplex is a reallydynamic and innovative agencywith unrivalled expertise at helpingcompanies grow. Heading up thecreative team as the companyenters the next phase of growth isreally exciting.”

Other� Recycling and waste firm Sitahas changed its name to SuezEnvironment. The firm runshousehold recycling services inSouth Gloucestershire, a largematerials recycling plant inAvonmouth and commercial wasteservices across the region.

The Suez name is being adoptedfrom its global parent group.

� Keynsham-based estate agencygroup Andrews has made itsbiggest charity pay out for adecade. The firm is owned by threecharitable trusts, the legacy of itshumanitarian founder.

The firm has paid a shareholderdividend totally £593,000, brokendown into £421,000 for theAndrews Charitable Trust,£107,000 for the Christian Book

Promotion Trust and £65,000to the Christian Initiative

Tr u s t .The ACT has given a

£70,000 grant overthree years to BristolTogether, which workswith ex-offenders todevelop property

which is then sold orleased to housing

associations. Andrewschief executive Michael

Robson has also become adirector of the charity.

He said: “Bristol Together has avision that over the next five yearsit will support up to 200ex-offenders and other long-termunemployed people to work fulltime on one of its projects. This isexactly the type of project that ourfounder Cecil Jackson Cole wouldhave wanted to see us support.”

IREAD a rather sad statistic theother day. It said that 50 per centof children at the age of 12aspire to careers that are ac-tually only undertaken by five

per cent of the population, you knowthe sort of thing, footballer, TVpresenter, dancer, actor.

It is a sad statistic because itautomatically means that 45 percent of 12-year-olds are going to failto fulfil their dreams. However, inthe context of British Science Weekit is also sad because it means that 45per cent of children will be studyingsubjects that close their options forcareers in which they might oth-erwise have been very successful,such as science and engineering.

That is why we need British Sci-ence Week; to give young people, and

their parents and grandparents whoinfluence them, an insight into thegreat things that are being achievedin science and engineering and thefantastic careers that are availablein local industries that use thoseskills. It is an irony that at the sametime as young people are chasingimpossible dreams and as our politi-cians are agonising about the largenumbers of young people who can’tfind jobs, the leaders of British en-gineering and science industriesare seriously alarmed that they are

running out of people with the skillsthey need. So let’s applaud the im-petus that British Science Weekmakes in communicating to peoplethe truth about what is great abouts c i e n c e.

However, a week a year is notenough. Local industry which in-volves science and engineeringneeds to be consistently engagingyoung people in their school years togive them insights into the careersand opportunities which followfrom pursuing science and maths atschool. Young people need to meetreal scientists and engineers and totake part in projects which inspirethem to seriously consider the jobsthat are on offer in local compan-i e s.

At Industrial Cadets we support

local employers of all sizes to designand deliver workplace experiencewhich is of genuine value to youngpeople in exploring careers in localindustry and in helping them todevelop skills which will be of valuein their future careers.

In this area we are already work-ing with forward looking companieslike Airbus but we need so manymore to give real penetration intothe local schools and to ensure thatin five and ten years time our localindustries have a talent pool of prop-erly qualified young people who canfill the science and engineering jobsthat will be crying out for them.

� To join in with this work contactme at [email protected] orvisit www.industrialcadets.org.uk

Denise AnsteyFormer British Inventorof the Year

� Staff have been promoted at property consultancy Alder KingPic: Martin Bennett

� Estate agency group Andrewshands £593,000 to charity

Documents

Business 18 March 2015