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Businesswww.bristolpost.co.uk

042014JUN

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LOOKING FOR A JOB?

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2 We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 3We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 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

Advertisement feature

AS SUPPLY chain deadlinestighten, reflecting the retail-ers’ ability (and need) toreact rapidly to consumerspending patterns, tradition-

al employment models are neitherefficient nor cost effective to dealwith the inevitable peaks and troughsin demand.

Businesses from SMEs to Multina-tionals have responded to the chal-lenge of meeting demand, withoutincurring unnecessary over-man-ning costs, in new and sometimescontroversial ways.

Zero hours contracts, increasedpart-time working, use of temporarystaff, changing staff employmentterms – these are all attempts tobalance manpower resources andwo rk fl ow.

However, the drain on managementtime in trying to organise flexiblestaffing is considerable.

‘gap onsite’ a division of ‘gap per-sonnel’ offer a service called OnsiteManaged Solutions.

This is a flexible onsite manpowermanagement service for industrysectors with particular needs forvariable, trained, manpower - such asmanufacturing, warehousing anddistribution, food production, wasteand recycling.

Onsite ManagedSolutionsThe margin of success in winningbusiness can be measured in pro-ductivity gains and in creating thegreatest possible synergy between de-mand and manpower availability.

This requires a flexible and fastresponse and is best handled by an‘onsite managed solution’ - placingrecruitment and training specialistsonsite, working alongside the client,not in some distant office remotefrom the problem.

Suitable for companies with atleast sixty staff, ‘gap onsite’ p rov i d e sa dedicated recruitment specialist ac-count team who work within a cli-ent’s workplace.

This ‘embedding’ process enablesthe rapid sourcing and managementof a temporary workforce, in re-sponse to changes in workflow anddemand.

They can address key performanceareas such as wastage, core skill se-lection and multi-skilling to deliverquantifiable and sustainable im-provements in cost efficiencies andp ro d u c t iv i t y.

The key difference is that ‘g aponsite’ go beyond a general recruit-ment service.

Our onsite teams are operationallyfocussed, chosen for their sectorknowledge, with a background in ourcustomer's business.

That way you can be sure theyspeak your language, understand thechallenges you face and the skill setsyou need in candidate recruitmentand training.

With a 15-year history as one of thefastest growing industrial recruit-ment agencies in the UK, ‘gap onsite’supports our clients by forminglong-term partnerships to deliverbest practice and tailor the service toindividual need.

P ro d u c t i v i ty,Efficiencies and RiskMitigationOne factor holding some businesses

back is concern about loss of op-erational control.

With ‘gap onsite’ the client retainscontrol whilst we take full respons-ibility for all temporary workforcen e e d s.

Costs associated with the imple-mentation, project management andTUPE are fully absorbed and a com-prehensive ‘risk mitigation’ monit-oring system is put in place.

This includes tracking identifiablerisks in employment, tax and secur-ity issues (both physical and dataloss) when using temporary orshort-term contract employees.

A full worker benefits and trainingpackage is also provided, as part ofthe service.

From in-depth screening, testingand selection criteria to comprehens-ive induction packages, ‘g ap’ work inpartnership with clients to perform-ance-manage temporary workers.

The secret is to install a robust andwell-honed recruitment and manage-ment process to continually monitorand improve systems and processesto deliver the optimum service forclients and workers.

The value proposition of properlymanaged ‘onsite managed solutions’can be seen across the board, im-proving a company's time to hire,increasing the quality of the can-didate pool, reducing costs and im-proving governmental compliance.

Nothing can beat having a ded-icated onsite team whose sole func-tion is to create balance in the cycle ofbusiness demand and manpowerava i l ab i l i t y.

What sectors are indemand?Unsurprisingly, the greatest demandis created by industries with unpre-dictable or ‘peaks and troughs’ wo rk -fl ow.

Food and drink industries, ware-

housing and manufacturing all havea major need for flexible temporarystaff and close onsite management.

Specific industries require special-ist skills and training. That meansputting specialist teams in place withexperience of specific business sec-t o r s.

Examples of Gains andEff iciencies� One client set a KPI target of 240units per hour, but we delivered 259units per hour, which peaked at 262 ina given month;� Our training achieved 89.6%multi-skilled staff across one site,reducing new starter recruits andsaving £68,954 in training costs;� By selecting, training and motiv-ating the right people, staff retentionimproves – in one case training costswere reduced from 5% to 1.2% saving£78k;� Effective deployment and retentionof multi-skilled workers increasesproductivity. Increases of 11% havebeen achieved;� By introducing ‘e d u c at i o n a l ’ ses-sions, using video snapshots of cor-rect worker procedure andnon-conforming assembly practices,‘gap onsite’ saved one client £250k aye a r.

Delivering resultsIntegrating ourselves into a custom-er’s operation, and understandinghow they work and the challengesthat they face, gives us the knowledgeto deliver a service to support theirbusiness goals and objectives.

Gary Dewhurst, CEO and founderof gap personnel, said, “it is the del-icate blending of fluctuation involume and ‘g ap’s’ ability to manageand supply resources proactively(whilst the client retains overall con-trol) that makes this solution ideal for

any business where fast, cost-effect-ive response to demand is essential.

‘Onsite management solutions’ of-fers belt-and-braces security, allow-ing quick response to increaseddemand or downturn, with peace ofmind.”

With changing business modelsmany more industries are likely toadopt onsite management solutions.

They will do this not only as a costsaving strategy but, increasingly, as away of matching employee skills andwork availability as closely to theshop floor role as possible.

� To find out more about what ‘gaponsite’ could do for your businesscall 0800 999 5900 or visith t t p : / / w w w. g a p o n s i t e . c o m .

Increase your value and reduce manpowercosts with ‘gap onsite’ managed solutions

� ‘Gap onsite’ solutions are suitable for companies with at least 60 staff

� The food and drink industrieshave peaks and troughs in theirworkflow

� Warehousing operations often need flexible, temporary staff

Small business competition

‘Inspiring’ Robotic hand grips theimagination to net £10,000 prize

A SMALL Bristol-based busi-ness has been rewarded£10,000 for an “outstanding”business pitch and concept.The Open Hand Project beat

more than 1,000 businesses across theUK through Intuit’s Small BusinessLocal Buzz competition.

During the competition, which ranin April this year, more than 65,000people voted for their favourite busi-ness ideas.

The Open Hand Project provedmost popular after gaining more than300 votes in just over a week after thecompetition opening.

Bjoern Uehss, Intuit’s social mediamarketing manager, said: “The OpenHand Project conveyed the most in-spiring story. It was a prize well de-s e r ve d . ”

The project aims to deliver roboticprostheses to amputees through 3Dprinting for under £600. Leading pros-thetics cost up to £60,000.

It was funded in 2013 by acrowd-funding campaign hosted onIndiegogo where the video attractedglobal attention and more than 88,000v i ew s.

Joel Gibbard, founder and sole op-erator of The Open Hand Project, saidholding the giant cheque was “in-credibly exciting” and a “real sur-prise”.

When asked how he would use themoney, he said: “In the future I wantto hire a business partner to take careof the business bits while I take careof the development.

“At the moment I’m doingeverything by myself so the moneygives longevity to the business and itgives me time to develop a plan.”

Joel, who works out of the BristolRobotics Laboratory, said he wasnervous about expanding his busi-ness and hiring as reports show onein three businesses fail within thefirst three years.

With limited funding available forstart-ups, Joel said he wouldn’t con-sider taking out a loan.

“It’s difficult at this stage because

you have a really small amount ofmoney but so many overheads. Tak-ing someone on is such a huge in-vestment in the early stages.”

However, he said: “Before I starteddoing this I didn’t realise the amountof opportunity there is for start-upsand people with ideas to create busi-n e s s e s.

“The help that’s available in theSouth West is amazing.”

The 23-year-old said he has no in-terest in making money and onlyopened his business, Open Bionics, tomake sure this technology was madeavailable to amputees.

The robotic hand, named Dextrus,is nearing the end of its first de-velopmental track and will be testedon an amputee in a few weeks.

Joel said: “It won’t be smooth andI’m expecting that.

“If the hand doesn’t help an am-putee I won’t see it as a failure, I’d seeit as incomplete. It just means thatI’ve got more work to do.”

The engineer said the perfect re-sponse from testing would be that anamputee tried the hand and foundthat day-to-day life became so mucheasier that they didn’t want to take itof f.

B R I S T O L’S status as a hub for tech-nology companies is growing andnow the impact is being seen in thecity’s office market too.

The number of companies in thetechnology, media and telecommu-nication sector has been growingover the past two to three years, ac-counting for about 30 per cent of thetake up in office space in 2012/2013,according to property firm DTZ.

Bristol has the highest rate of em-ployment growth of the eight coreEnglish cities and is considered oneof the hot spots in the UK for edu-cation in both number and quality ofgraduates, with 35 per cent of theworking population educated to de-gree level or above which is in excessof the national average.

The city has more people employed

in knowledge-based industries thanOxford and Cambridge combined(73,700).

DTZ’s research suggests that 17,200new jobs will be created in Bristolover the next five years, with thetechnology, media and telecommu-nication sector the biggest growtharea up to 2017.

Bristol is seen as a technologicalcentre. Recently mobile solutionsfirm Somo announced it was settingup an engineering centre in the cityand a microchip makers Maxim IPhas committed to the city.

Andy Heath, director in DTZ’s of-fice agency team, says a large numberof new start-up companies have ac-quired space of around 1,000 to 2,000sq ft in the past two years in Bristol onflexible leases, which will hopefully

lead to them taking extra space overthe next two-three years.

Andy said: “Landlords are now re-cognising that there is significantdemand from certain sectors, oftentechnology, media and telecommu-nication focused, with occupierslooking for differently branded, flex-ible space, in older buildings, thatothers may have been perceived asobsolescent.

“Rather than compete with tradi-tional, institutional quality offices,which generally offer floor accom-modation from circa 5,000 sq ft, build-ings such as Temple Studios, adjacentto Bristol Meads rail station and ThePaintworks, on Bath Road, provide acreative, funky, environment wheresmall/start-up companies workalongside each other in space ranging

Commercial property

Surge in tech firms taking up offices

Find out how to getyour news online� BUSINESSES can get advice onhow to get their news publishedonline at an event later this month.

The Digital Buffet is aimed atmarketing and communicationsprofessionals and business ownersto give tips and advice to improveonline marketing.

Among the speakers will beBristol Post assistant editor(business) Gavin Thompson who willbe talking about how to pitch yourstory to a journalist... and how topublish it yourself.

Other speakers include CraigPugsley of Microsoft giving cheaptips to improve your mobile site, andJon Payne from event organisersNoisy Little Monkey talking aboutlocal search engine optimisation.

Jon said: “The objective is to giveyou bite sized, actionable tips andtricks to improve your onlinemarketing.

“Hopefully, along the way, we’lldebunk some SEO/social mediamarketing myths and possibly gaina few customers.

“But, if all we do is put a fewshady practices under the spotlightand make Bristol’s creative andtechnology sectors a bit better, thenwe’ll see that as a pretty big win.”

The free event takes place from1pm on June 25 at the Arnolfini inBristol’s Harbourside. Sign up usingEventbrite.

Digital Buffet

Get the bigger picture.Business news from Bristol,Bath, Gloucestershire and

Somerset. Scan to sign up fornews direct to your inbox

The Bristolian said there was“tonnes of scope” for the prostheticsindustry in the realms of 3D print-ing.

Joel plans to work on a smallerhand for a child that is scalable totheir age and size, and to incorporate3D scanning into his work so thatevery hand is unique to the am-p u t e e.

When asked if he had any innov-ative ideas for outside of the pros-thetics industry, Joel hinted that hehad big plans.

He laughed and said: “I can’t reallygive it all away, I’m afraid.”

from as little as 200 sq ft to around10,000 sq ft, sometimes collaboratingin a more collegiate atmosphere.

“This different style of office/stu-dio offer is proving a success, withfull occupancy levels and occupierswaiting for available space.

“Key to the success is the provisionof short-term, flexible leases, withmutual or tenant break options a

regular feature.”Temple Studios is fully occupied

and there is only 5,000 sq ft at BathRoad Studios remaining. Verve whichowns The Paint Works is looking todevelop the next phase of about 60,000sq ft of office accommodation soon.

Robert Parr-Head, who heads upthe DTZ Bristol valuation team, saysletting to start-ups poses more riskthan more traditional businesses.

He said: “The is a relatively newaddition to the commercial propertym a rke t .

“The model is predicated onshort-term income and a tenant pro-file dominated by new or start upcompanies. With this, comes risk.”

Mr Parr-Head says to be successfulin this market, buildings need to beout of the ordinary.

He said: “Whilst location will al-ways be key, so will the ability toidentify a building that has the Xfactor, an ingredient that sets thebuilding apart from the norm.”

� Andy Heath

Sammy PayneBusiness@b-nm.co.uk

� The competitionwinner, Joel Gibbard,at his desk at theBristol RoboticsLaboratory working onthe latest version of hisrobotic hand foramputees

PROPERTY MATTERS, PAGES 6&7

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2 We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 3We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 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

Advertisement feature

AS SUPPLY chain deadlinestighten, reflecting the retail-ers’ ability (and need) toreact rapidly to consumerspending patterns, tradition-

al employment models are neitherefficient nor cost effective to dealwith the inevitable peaks and troughsin demand.

Businesses from SMEs to Multina-tionals have responded to the chal-lenge of meeting demand, withoutincurring unnecessary over-man-ning costs, in new and sometimescontroversial ways.

Zero hours contracts, increasedpart-time working, use of temporarystaff, changing staff employmentterms – these are all attempts tobalance manpower resources andwo rk fl ow.

However, the drain on managementtime in trying to organise flexiblestaffing is considerable.

‘gap onsite’ a division of ‘gap per-sonnel’ offer a service called OnsiteManaged Solutions.

This is a flexible onsite manpowermanagement service for industrysectors with particular needs forvariable, trained, manpower - such asmanufacturing, warehousing anddistribution, food production, wasteand recycling.

Onsite ManagedSolutionsThe margin of success in winningbusiness can be measured in pro-ductivity gains and in creating thegreatest possible synergy between de-mand and manpower availability.

This requires a flexible and fastresponse and is best handled by an‘onsite managed solution’ - placingrecruitment and training specialistsonsite, working alongside the client,not in some distant office remotefrom the problem.

Suitable for companies with atleast sixty staff, ‘gap onsite’ p rov i d e sa dedicated recruitment specialist ac-count team who work within a cli-ent’s workplace.

This ‘embedding’ process enablesthe rapid sourcing and managementof a temporary workforce, in re-sponse to changes in workflow anddemand.

They can address key performanceareas such as wastage, core skill se-lection and multi-skilling to deliverquantifiable and sustainable im-provements in cost efficiencies andp ro d u c t iv i t y.

The key difference is that ‘g aponsite’ go beyond a general recruit-ment service.

Our onsite teams are operationallyfocussed, chosen for their sectorknowledge, with a background in ourcustomer's business.

That way you can be sure theyspeak your language, understand thechallenges you face and the skill setsyou need in candidate recruitmentand training.

With a 15-year history as one of thefastest growing industrial recruit-ment agencies in the UK, ‘gap onsite’supports our clients by forminglong-term partnerships to deliverbest practice and tailor the service toindividual need.

P ro d u c t i v i ty,Efficiencies and RiskMitigationOne factor holding some businesses

back is concern about loss of op-erational control.

With ‘gap onsite’ the client retainscontrol whilst we take full respons-ibility for all temporary workforcen e e d s.

Costs associated with the imple-mentation, project management andTUPE are fully absorbed and a com-prehensive ‘risk mitigation’ monit-oring system is put in place.

This includes tracking identifiablerisks in employment, tax and secur-ity issues (both physical and dataloss) when using temporary orshort-term contract employees.

A full worker benefits and trainingpackage is also provided, as part ofthe service.

From in-depth screening, testingand selection criteria to comprehens-ive induction packages, ‘g ap’ work inpartnership with clients to perform-ance-manage temporary workers.

The secret is to install a robust andwell-honed recruitment and manage-ment process to continually monitorand improve systems and processesto deliver the optimum service forclients and workers.

The value proposition of properlymanaged ‘onsite managed solutions’can be seen across the board, im-proving a company's time to hire,increasing the quality of the can-didate pool, reducing costs and im-proving governmental compliance.

Nothing can beat having a ded-icated onsite team whose sole func-tion is to create balance in the cycle ofbusiness demand and manpowerava i l ab i l i t y.

What sectors are indemand?Unsurprisingly, the greatest demandis created by industries with unpre-dictable or ‘peaks and troughs’ wo rk -fl ow.

Food and drink industries, ware-

housing and manufacturing all havea major need for flexible temporarystaff and close onsite management.

Specific industries require special-ist skills and training. That meansputting specialist teams in place withexperience of specific business sec-t o r s.

Examples of Gains andEff iciencies� One client set a KPI target of 240units per hour, but we delivered 259units per hour, which peaked at 262 ina given month;� Our training achieved 89.6%multi-skilled staff across one site,reducing new starter recruits andsaving £68,954 in training costs;� By selecting, training and motiv-ating the right people, staff retentionimproves – in one case training costswere reduced from 5% to 1.2% saving£78k;� Effective deployment and retentionof multi-skilled workers increasesproductivity. Increases of 11% havebeen achieved;� By introducing ‘e d u c at i o n a l ’ ses-sions, using video snapshots of cor-rect worker procedure andnon-conforming assembly practices,‘gap onsite’ saved one client £250k aye a r.

Delivering resultsIntegrating ourselves into a custom-er’s operation, and understandinghow they work and the challengesthat they face, gives us the knowledgeto deliver a service to support theirbusiness goals and objectives.

Gary Dewhurst, CEO and founderof gap personnel, said, “it is the del-icate blending of fluctuation involume and ‘g ap’s’ ability to manageand supply resources proactively(whilst the client retains overall con-trol) that makes this solution ideal for

any business where fast, cost-effect-ive response to demand is essential.

‘Onsite management solutions’ of-fers belt-and-braces security, allow-ing quick response to increaseddemand or downturn, with peace ofmind.”

With changing business modelsmany more industries are likely toadopt onsite management solutions.

They will do this not only as a costsaving strategy but, increasingly, as away of matching employee skills andwork availability as closely to theshop floor role as possible.

� To find out more about what ‘gaponsite’ could do for your businesscall 0800 999 5900 or visith t t p : / / w w w. g a p o n s i t e . c o m .

Increase your value and reduce manpowercosts with ‘gap onsite’ managed solutions

� ‘Gap onsite’ solutions are suitable for companies with at least 60 staff

� The food and drink industrieshave peaks and troughs in theirworkflow

� Warehousing operations often need flexible, temporary staff

Small business competition

‘Inspiring’ Robotic hand grips theimagination to net £10,000 prize

A SMALL Bristol-based busi-ness has been rewarded£10,000 for an “outstanding”business pitch and concept.The Open Hand Project beat

more than 1,000 businesses across theUK through Intuit’s Small BusinessLocal Buzz competition.

During the competition, which ranin April this year, more than 65,000people voted for their favourite busi-ness ideas.

The Open Hand Project provedmost popular after gaining more than300 votes in just over a week after thecompetition opening.

Bjoern Uehss, Intuit’s social mediamarketing manager, said: “The OpenHand Project conveyed the most in-spiring story. It was a prize well de-s e r ve d . ”

The project aims to deliver roboticprostheses to amputees through 3Dprinting for under £600. Leading pros-thetics cost up to £60,000.

It was funded in 2013 by acrowd-funding campaign hosted onIndiegogo where the video attractedglobal attention and more than 88,000v i ew s.

Joel Gibbard, founder and sole op-erator of The Open Hand Project, saidholding the giant cheque was “in-credibly exciting” and a “real sur-prise”.

When asked how he would use themoney, he said: “In the future I wantto hire a business partner to take careof the business bits while I take careof the development.

“At the moment I’m doingeverything by myself so the moneygives longevity to the business and itgives me time to develop a plan.”

Joel, who works out of the BristolRobotics Laboratory, said he wasnervous about expanding his busi-ness and hiring as reports show onein three businesses fail within thefirst three years.

With limited funding available forstart-ups, Joel said he wouldn’t con-sider taking out a loan.

“It’s difficult at this stage because

you have a really small amount ofmoney but so many overheads. Tak-ing someone on is such a huge in-vestment in the early stages.”

However, he said: “Before I starteddoing this I didn’t realise the amountof opportunity there is for start-upsand people with ideas to create busi-n e s s e s.

“The help that’s available in theSouth West is amazing.”

The 23-year-old said he has no in-terest in making money and onlyopened his business, Open Bionics, tomake sure this technology was madeavailable to amputees.

The robotic hand, named Dextrus,is nearing the end of its first de-velopmental track and will be testedon an amputee in a few weeks.

Joel said: “It won’t be smooth andI’m expecting that.

“If the hand doesn’t help an am-putee I won’t see it as a failure, I’d seeit as incomplete. It just means thatI’ve got more work to do.”

The engineer said the perfect re-sponse from testing would be that anamputee tried the hand and foundthat day-to-day life became so mucheasier that they didn’t want to take itof f.

B R I S T O L’S status as a hub for tech-nology companies is growing andnow the impact is being seen in thecity’s office market too.

The number of companies in thetechnology, media and telecommu-nication sector has been growingover the past two to three years, ac-counting for about 30 per cent of thetake up in office space in 2012/2013,according to property firm DTZ.

Bristol has the highest rate of em-ployment growth of the eight coreEnglish cities and is considered oneof the hot spots in the UK for edu-cation in both number and quality ofgraduates, with 35 per cent of theworking population educated to de-gree level or above which is in excessof the national average.

The city has more people employed

in knowledge-based industries thanOxford and Cambridge combined(73,700).

DTZ’s research suggests that 17,200new jobs will be created in Bristolover the next five years, with thetechnology, media and telecommu-nication sector the biggest growtharea up to 2017.

Bristol is seen as a technologicalcentre. Recently mobile solutionsfirm Somo announced it was settingup an engineering centre in the cityand a microchip makers Maxim IPhas committed to the city.

Andy Heath, director in DTZ’s of-fice agency team, says a large numberof new start-up companies have ac-quired space of around 1,000 to 2,000sq ft in the past two years in Bristol onflexible leases, which will hopefully

lead to them taking extra space overthe next two-three years.

Andy said: “Landlords are now re-cognising that there is significantdemand from certain sectors, oftentechnology, media and telecommu-nication focused, with occupierslooking for differently branded, flex-ible space, in older buildings, thatothers may have been perceived asobsolescent.

“Rather than compete with tradi-tional, institutional quality offices,which generally offer floor accom-modation from circa 5,000 sq ft, build-ings such as Temple Studios, adjacentto Bristol Meads rail station and ThePaintworks, on Bath Road, provide acreative, funky, environment wheresmall/start-up companies workalongside each other in space ranging

Commercial property

Surge in tech firms taking up offices

Find out how to getyour news online� BUSINESSES can get advice onhow to get their news publishedonline at an event later this month.

The Digital Buffet is aimed atmarketing and communicationsprofessionals and business ownersto give tips and advice to improveonline marketing.

Among the speakers will beBristol Post assistant editor(business) Gavin Thompson who willbe talking about how to pitch yourstory to a journalist... and how topublish it yourself.

Other speakers include CraigPugsley of Microsoft giving cheaptips to improve your mobile site, andJon Payne from event organisersNoisy Little Monkey talking aboutlocal search engine optimisation.

Jon said: “The objective is to giveyou bite sized, actionable tips andtricks to improve your onlinemarketing.

“Hopefully, along the way, we’lldebunk some SEO/social mediamarketing myths and possibly gaina few customers.

“But, if all we do is put a fewshady practices under the spotlightand make Bristol’s creative andtechnology sectors a bit better, thenwe’ll see that as a pretty big win.”

The free event takes place from1pm on June 25 at the Arnolfini inBristol’s Harbourside. Sign up usingEventbrite.

Digital Buffet

Get the bigger picture.Business news from Bristol,Bath, Gloucestershire and

Somerset. Scan to sign up fornews direct to your inbox

The Bristolian said there was“tonnes of scope” for the prostheticsindustry in the realms of 3D print-ing.

Joel plans to work on a smallerhand for a child that is scalable totheir age and size, and to incorporate3D scanning into his work so thatevery hand is unique to the am-p u t e e.

When asked if he had any innov-ative ideas for outside of the pros-thetics industry, Joel hinted that hehad big plans.

He laughed and said: “I can’t reallygive it all away, I’m afraid.”

from as little as 200 sq ft to around10,000 sq ft, sometimes collaboratingin a more collegiate atmosphere.

“This different style of office/stu-dio offer is proving a success, withfull occupancy levels and occupierswaiting for available space.

“Key to the success is the provisionof short-term, flexible leases, withmutual or tenant break options a

regular feature.”Temple Studios is fully occupied

and there is only 5,000 sq ft at BathRoad Studios remaining. Verve whichowns The Paint Works is looking todevelop the next phase of about 60,000sq ft of office accommodation soon.

Robert Parr-Head, who heads upthe DTZ Bristol valuation team, saysletting to start-ups poses more riskthan more traditional businesses.

He said: “The is a relatively newaddition to the commercial propertym a rke t .

“The model is predicated onshort-term income and a tenant pro-file dominated by new or start upcompanies. With this, comes risk.”

Mr Parr-Head says to be successfulin this market, buildings need to beout of the ordinary.

He said: “Whilst location will al-ways be key, so will the ability toidentify a building that has the Xfactor, an ingredient that sets thebuilding apart from the norm.”

� Andy Heath

Sammy PayneBusiness@b-nm.co.uk

� The competitionwinner, Joel Gibbard,at his desk at theBristol RoboticsLaboratory working onthe latest version of hisrobotic hand foramputees

PROPERTY MATTERS, PAGES 6&7

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4 We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 5We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 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

C a te r i n g

Fast food H otc h atakeaway chainto serve up 100more branches

Bristol Post Careers Show

City agency hoping to hirerecruits for range of jobs

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

A BRISTOL heating companywill be taking on more staffafter winning a major con-tract which it hopes will openthe door to more opportun-

i t i e s.The Warmley company was foun-

ded in 1987 by Steve Gregor and hasgrown to employ 65 staff, includingthe office team along with installersand engineers.

It has been a good few weeks for thecompany. It has just been named as afinalist in the Bristol Post BusinessAwards in the customer service cat-e gory.

And it has just won a big contractwith Knightstone Housing Associ-ation, as reported in last week’s Busi-ness. But Steve says this is just thestar t.

“This is a massive achievement fora small local company,” he said. “Wewon with our tender against a lot ofnational and regional companies.”

The deal was a 10-year contractwith Knightstone Housing Associ-ation for the installation, servicingand maintenance of boilers in itsproperties around Bristol and Som-erset.

Steve said the bid process took ninemonths and was a big undertaking fora smaller firm.

“We are up against firms that haveprocurement teams specialising inanswering all of the questions,” hesaid. “We are doing that and doing thework at the same time. “

He admits the process has been“s t re s s f u l ” but said the contractbrings “longevity for job security”and gives the firm a great platformfrom which to grow.

“This will create opportunities.Other housing associations and or-ganisations will notice us.”

The business has an annualturnover of about £5.5 million, splitbetween domestic customers and con-tracts for developers building newhomes. It installs about 1,000 boilers ayear in homes within 50 miles ofBristol.

Steve believes a business needs toinvest in the future through trainingand he does it through apprentices.

“Even through bad times with theeconomy, we carried on with appren-t i c e s h i p s, ” he said. “You have got tothink of the bigger picture.”

And long term deals such as the onewith Knightstone make that invest-ment easier.

“We will be creating new jobs,” saidSteve. “We have already taken onthree or four engineers and we willneed additional office staff too.”

Business awards

Heating firm to take on new staffafter securing major contract

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

S p o n so rs

RECRUITMENT agency Mainline is hopingto find candidates to fill a wide range ofvacancies at the Bristol Post Careers Show.

Mainline has two offices, one in Bedminsterspecialising in industrial and driving jobsand the other in the city centre focused onoffice-based roles.

Sonya Moseley, commercial manager at thecity centre office, said they had a range ofvacancies in both areas at all levels.

She said: “We have seen a considerableincrease in vacancies and we are hoping tocome along to the show to find some excellentc a n d i d at e s.

“It is getting harder to find candidates andif not enough people are coming into theoffice, this is a great way for us to go and findthem.”

Sonya said the format of bringing lots ofemployers together under one roof was onethat had worked well in the past and now theeconomy was picking up, she was confident itwould be successful again.

The number of people claiming benefits andlooking for work has fallen in recent weeks inthe Bristol area.

The official unemployment figure for theSouth West is down to 4.9 per cent but in ourarea, the number claiming jobseekers’ al-lowance is even lower.

In Bristol 2.9 per cent of the working agepopulation are claiming the out-of-work be-nefit, 1.4 per cent in South Gloucestershireand 1.7 in North Somerset.

Hussain Bayoomi, media sales director atthe Post’s publisher, Bristol News & Media,said: “This is about bringing all the bestemployers together with the best potentiale m p l oye e s. ”

He added that it wasn’t simply about op-portunities for people who are out of work, butfor those wanting to move up the career

ladder too.“This show will attract both those looking

to get back into work and others looking fortheir dream new role,” he said.

The Bristol Post Careers Show takes placeat Future Inn, by Cabot Circus on Friday, June27 from 10am to 8pm.

Employers interested in joining Mainlineat the event can contact Joanne Collins bycalling 0117 934 3092 or by emailingj o a n n e. c o l l i n s @ b - n m . c o. u k .

Sonya Moseley

We have seena considerableincrease invacancies andwe are hopingto come alongto the show tofind someexcellentcandidates.”

“

A CHINESE takeaway chainlaunched in Bristol has re-vealed plans to open morethan 100 franchise stores inthe next five years.

Hotcha, which serves freshly madeChinese food for delivery and col-lection, was founded by entrepreneurJames Liang.

James came to Bristol to set up thebusiness after spotting a gap in themarket for a firm to do for the popularChinese takeaway market what Dom-inoes has done for pizza.

There are nine owned Hotchastores in the South West, six of themin Bristol, with three more set to beopened in the coming months.

The company aims to open oneowned store per month on average infuture with the ultimate goal of list-ing within the next few years.

The chain’s target market is fam-ilies, young professionals and stu-dents and it is looking for franchiseesto take the model into other citiessuch as Manchester, Birmingham,Edinburgh, Leeds and London.

It has appointed a new non-exec-utive director, Andrew Emmerson, toadvise on the franchise approach.

A n d rew ’s experience includes astint as business development dir-ector at Dominoes Pizza, as well asmanaging director at Millie’s Cook-ies and experience at other chainsincluding Dunkin’ Donuts in theUnited States.

On the appointment, James said:“We are delighted to welcomesomeone of Andrew’s calibre onboard as we embark on the next stagein Hotcha’s development.

“His knowledge and experience ofthe franchising model will be invalu-able as we seek to create the UK’s firstChinese takeaway brand.”

In order to make the franchisemodel work, Hotcha has introducedcentralised systems. All core ingredi-

ents including meat, fish, marinadesand sauces are freshly prepared byH o t ch a ’s central production facilityin Bristol.

They are used to prepare dishes inline with Hotcha’s set recipes and

presentation styles. A central callcentre has been set up to streamlineordering and payments processes, sothe local stores focus on fulfillingorders and customer service.

The firm is also creating a training

academy as it prefers to teach peoplefrom scratch rather than hire ex-perienced chefs.

Last week the firm was listed asone of five Bristol food firms to watchon the BristolPost.co.uk website.

� James Liang, who founded the Hotcha Chinese takeaway chain in Bristol

OUR latest Business in Bri-tain report found thatSMEs’ strongest hopes forexport growth lie in theAsia-Pacific region, with 36

per cent of firms expecting an in-crease in exports to these countries.

At Lloyds Bank Commercial Bank-ing, we are seeking to raise aware-ness amongst the region’smanufacturers and exporters of thevalue of seizing all the opportunitiesavailable to enable a move into newmarkets or even internationally.

To encourage manufacturers andexporters with growth ambitions, wefeel that it is important to celebrateSMEs’ achievements in the region,and we are proud to do this throughthe 2014 Export category at the Bris-

tol and Bath Business Awards.There are many options that have

been put in place to support growthfor Bristol and Bath businesses, in-cluding the recent Budget announce-ment, which confirmed that exportfunding will double to £3 billion, Car-bon Tax will be frozen and the annualinvestment allowance will increaseto £500,000.

At Lloyds Bank Commercial Bank-ing, we are also fully supportive ofinitiatives such as the Funding forLending Scheme (FLS) where thebank provides a one per cent discounton the life of a business loan.

This means firms are able to re-invest the money saved or start newp ro j e c t s.

Whatever the situation, it is im-portant for Bristol and Bath SMEs toexplore all the funding opportunitiesavailable to them and be confident inthe fact that there are support op-tions out there to help them achievetheir goals.

By David Beaumont, left, areadirector, SME Banking Devon and

Cornwall, Lloyds BankCommercial Banking

� Business of the Year Bristol, sponsored by UWE Bristol� Young Entrepreneur of the Year� Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Punter Southall� Retailer of the Year, sponsored by Broadmead Bristol BID� Customer Service Award, sponsored by Broadmead Bristol BID� Family Business of the Year, sponsored by BOM Group� Innovator of the Year� Export Award, sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group� Marketing Campaign of the Year� Large Business of the Year, sponsored by Smith & Williamson� Best Creative/Technological Award, sponsored by Ashfords Solicitors� Leisure & Tourism Business of the Year, sponsored by QBE� Small Business of the Year, sponsored by First Great Western� Start Up Business of the Year, sponsored by J o rd a n s� Environmental Business Award� Contribution to the Community Award, sponsored by Renishaw

It’s crucial to seize all opportunities to reach new marketsSponsor profile

� The strongest hopes for exportgrowth lie in the Asia-Pacific region

Awards categories

� Steve Gregor (centre) of Gregor Heating with members of staff from left, Kate Sirl, Deb Miles, Di Kinder, SarahMahadevan, Jackie Granville, Kelly Walsh, Ann Williams and Helen Mills Picture: Dan Regan BRDR20140602B-001

Part of the Local World group

AN Event Services provide audio visual equipmentand support for all your event needs. We offer aprofessional and experienced approach withpre-show, on-site and post-show technical support.

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

Whatever the event, we’ve got it covered

Call us on: 01684 575832Email us at: enquiries@aneventservices.co.ukVisit us at : www.aneventservices.co.uk

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4 We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 5We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 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

C a te r i n g

Fast food H otc h atakeaway chainto serve up 100more branches

Bristol Post Careers Show

City agency hoping to hirerecruits for range of jobs

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

A BRISTOL heating companywill be taking on more staffafter winning a major con-tract which it hopes will openthe door to more opportun-

i t i e s.The Warmley company was foun-

ded in 1987 by Steve Gregor and hasgrown to employ 65 staff, includingthe office team along with installersand engineers.

It has been a good few weeks for thecompany. It has just been named as afinalist in the Bristol Post BusinessAwards in the customer service cat-e gory.

And it has just won a big contractwith Knightstone Housing Associ-ation, as reported in last week’s Busi-ness. But Steve says this is just thestar t.

“This is a massive achievement fora small local company,” he said. “Wewon with our tender against a lot ofnational and regional companies.”

The deal was a 10-year contractwith Knightstone Housing Associ-ation for the installation, servicingand maintenance of boilers in itsproperties around Bristol and Som-erset.

Steve said the bid process took ninemonths and was a big undertaking fora smaller firm.

“We are up against firms that haveprocurement teams specialising inanswering all of the questions,” hesaid. “We are doing that and doing thework at the same time. “

He admits the process has been“s t re s s f u l ” but said the contractbrings “longevity for job security”and gives the firm a great platformfrom which to grow.

“This will create opportunities.Other housing associations and or-ganisations will notice us.”

The business has an annualturnover of about £5.5 million, splitbetween domestic customers and con-tracts for developers building newhomes. It installs about 1,000 boilers ayear in homes within 50 miles ofBristol.

Steve believes a business needs toinvest in the future through trainingand he does it through apprentices.

“Even through bad times with theeconomy, we carried on with appren-t i c e s h i p s, ” he said. “You have got tothink of the bigger picture.”

And long term deals such as the onewith Knightstone make that invest-ment easier.

“We will be creating new jobs,” saidSteve. “We have already taken onthree or four engineers and we willneed additional office staff too.”

Business awards

Heating firm to take on new staffafter securing major contract

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

S p o n so rs

RECRUITMENT agency Mainline is hopingto find candidates to fill a wide range ofvacancies at the Bristol Post Careers Show.

Mainline has two offices, one in Bedminsterspecialising in industrial and driving jobsand the other in the city centre focused onoffice-based roles.

Sonya Moseley, commercial manager at thecity centre office, said they had a range ofvacancies in both areas at all levels.

She said: “We have seen a considerableincrease in vacancies and we are hoping tocome along to the show to find some excellentc a n d i d at e s.

“It is getting harder to find candidates andif not enough people are coming into theoffice, this is a great way for us to go and findthem.”

Sonya said the format of bringing lots ofemployers together under one roof was onethat had worked well in the past and now theeconomy was picking up, she was confident itwould be successful again.

The number of people claiming benefits andlooking for work has fallen in recent weeks inthe Bristol area.

The official unemployment figure for theSouth West is down to 4.9 per cent but in ourarea, the number claiming jobseekers’ al-lowance is even lower.

In Bristol 2.9 per cent of the working agepopulation are claiming the out-of-work be-nefit, 1.4 per cent in South Gloucestershireand 1.7 in North Somerset.

Hussain Bayoomi, media sales director atthe Post’s publisher, Bristol News & Media,said: “This is about bringing all the bestemployers together with the best potentiale m p l oye e s. ”

He added that it wasn’t simply about op-portunities for people who are out of work, butfor those wanting to move up the career

ladder too.“This show will attract both those looking

to get back into work and others looking fortheir dream new role,” he said.

The Bristol Post Careers Show takes placeat Future Inn, by Cabot Circus on Friday, June27 from 10am to 8pm.

Employers interested in joining Mainlineat the event can contact Joanne Collins bycalling 0117 934 3092 or by emailingj o a n n e. c o l l i n s @ b - n m . c o. u k .

Sonya Moseley

We have seena considerableincrease invacancies andwe are hopingto come alongto the show tofind someexcellentcandidates.”

“

A CHINESE takeaway chainlaunched in Bristol has re-vealed plans to open morethan 100 franchise stores inthe next five years.

Hotcha, which serves freshly madeChinese food for delivery and col-lection, was founded by entrepreneurJames Liang.

James came to Bristol to set up thebusiness after spotting a gap in themarket for a firm to do for the popularChinese takeaway market what Dom-inoes has done for pizza.

There are nine owned Hotchastores in the South West, six of themin Bristol, with three more set to beopened in the coming months.

The company aims to open oneowned store per month on average infuture with the ultimate goal of list-ing within the next few years.

The chain’s target market is fam-ilies, young professionals and stu-dents and it is looking for franchiseesto take the model into other citiessuch as Manchester, Birmingham,Edinburgh, Leeds and London.

It has appointed a new non-exec-utive director, Andrew Emmerson, toadvise on the franchise approach.

A n d rew ’s experience includes astint as business development dir-ector at Dominoes Pizza, as well asmanaging director at Millie’s Cook-ies and experience at other chainsincluding Dunkin’ Donuts in theUnited States.

On the appointment, James said:“We are delighted to welcomesomeone of Andrew’s calibre onboard as we embark on the next stagein Hotcha’s development.

“His knowledge and experience ofthe franchising model will be invalu-able as we seek to create the UK’s firstChinese takeaway brand.”

In order to make the franchisemodel work, Hotcha has introducedcentralised systems. All core ingredi-

ents including meat, fish, marinadesand sauces are freshly prepared byH o t ch a ’s central production facilityin Bristol.

They are used to prepare dishes inline with Hotcha’s set recipes and

presentation styles. A central callcentre has been set up to streamlineordering and payments processes, sothe local stores focus on fulfillingorders and customer service.

The firm is also creating a training

academy as it prefers to teach peoplefrom scratch rather than hire ex-perienced chefs.

Last week the firm was listed asone of five Bristol food firms to watchon the BristolPost.co.uk website.

� James Liang, who founded the Hotcha Chinese takeaway chain in Bristol

OUR latest Business in Bri-tain report found thatSMEs’ strongest hopes forexport growth lie in theAsia-Pacific region, with 36

per cent of firms expecting an in-crease in exports to these countries.

At Lloyds Bank Commercial Bank-ing, we are seeking to raise aware-ness amongst the region’smanufacturers and exporters of thevalue of seizing all the opportunitiesavailable to enable a move into newmarkets or even internationally.

To encourage manufacturers andexporters with growth ambitions, wefeel that it is important to celebrateSMEs’ achievements in the region,and we are proud to do this throughthe 2014 Export category at the Bris-

tol and Bath Business Awards.There are many options that have

been put in place to support growthfor Bristol and Bath businesses, in-cluding the recent Budget announce-ment, which confirmed that exportfunding will double to £3 billion, Car-bon Tax will be frozen and the annualinvestment allowance will increaseto £500,000.

At Lloyds Bank Commercial Bank-ing, we are also fully supportive ofinitiatives such as the Funding forLending Scheme (FLS) where thebank provides a one per cent discounton the life of a business loan.

This means firms are able to re-invest the money saved or start newp ro j e c t s.

Whatever the situation, it is im-portant for Bristol and Bath SMEs toexplore all the funding opportunitiesavailable to them and be confident inthe fact that there are support op-tions out there to help them achievetheir goals.

By David Beaumont, left, areadirector, SME Banking Devon and

Cornwall, Lloyds BankCommercial Banking

� Business of the Year Bristol, sponsored by UWE Bristol� Young Entrepreneur of the Year� Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Punter Southall� Retailer of the Year, sponsored by Broadmead Bristol BID� Customer Service Award, sponsored by Broadmead Bristol BID� Family Business of the Year, sponsored by BOM Group� Innovator of the Year� Export Award, sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group� Marketing Campaign of the Year� Large Business of the Year, sponsored by Smith & Williamson� Best Creative/Technological Award, sponsored by Ashfords Solicitors� Leisure & Tourism Business of the Year, sponsored by QBE� Small Business of the Year, sponsored by First Great Western� Start Up Business of the Year, sponsored by J o rd a n s� Environmental Business Award� Contribution to the Community Award, sponsored by Renishaw

It’s crucial to seize all opportunities to reach new marketsSponsor profile

� The strongest hopes for exportgrowth lie in the Asia-Pacific region

Awards categories

� Steve Gregor (centre) of Gregor Heating with members of staff from left, Kate Sirl, Deb Miles, Di Kinder, SarahMahadevan, Jackie Granville, Kelly Walsh, Ann Williams and Helen Mills Picture: Dan Regan BRDR20140602B-001

Part of the Local World group

AN Event Services provide audio visual equipmentand support for all your event needs. We offer aprofessional and experienced approach withpre-show, on-site and post-show technical support.

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

Whatever the event, we’ve got it covered

Call us on: 01684 575832Email us at: enquiries@aneventservices.co.ukVisit us at : www.aneventservices.co.uk

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

6 We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 7We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 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

IT has been difficult to escape therecent news articles regardingrising house prices, buyers’ in-centives and mortgage affordab-ility. The resurgence in the UK

economy is excellent news of course,so for land and property owners, nowis the time to be capitalising on thestrong housing market.

Land values are increasing as aresult of a very active housing mar-ket. This is caused both by risinghouse prices and high levels of com-petition for good residential devel-opment sites.

At GVA we have seen encouraginglevels of demand for developmentsites we are marketing.

Demand is far outstripping supply,partly due to the economy, but alsodue to changes in planning policystemming from the demise of Region-al Spatial Strategies, which reducedhousing requirements.

Housebuilders large and small aresearching for suitable sites in order tobenefit from the rising market.

However, given the changes in plan-ning rules and the increased preval-ence of the private rental sector,developers are searching for suitableconversion opportunities as well asland.

The planning system now allowsoffice buildings in some areas thatconform to certain criteria to be con-verted for res-idential usewithout plan-ning permis-sion (althoughthe LocalPlanning Au-thority muststill be consulted).

Residential values are far higherthan an existing office use value, andtherefore these properties offer alandlord an opportunity to maximisereturns from what could otherwise bean underperforming asset.

Owners of land should also con-sider whether now is the time toexplore if development of their prop-erty is possible.

The nationwide shortage of hous-ing stock is placing pressure on LocalPlanning Authorities to provide landfor residential uses.

Those with land located within set-tlement boundaries, directly adjacentto existing development or owners ofbrownfield sites such as factoriesshould be asking for professional ad-vice on whether their land is suitablefor residential development.

GVA are specialists in providingtailored development and planningadvice to clients, advising land own-ers who want to extract additionalvalue from their property – be thatdisused office space, former factoryor industrial buildings or open land.

James PetherickAssociateGVA www.gva.co.ukEmail: james.pether-ick@gva.co.ukTel: 0117 988 5331

Builders’ search forhousing sites is on

Know how

ALMOST every landlord and ten-ant will at some point comeacross the thorny issue of dilap-idations when a lease on anoffice, shop or other commer-

cial property comes to an end or has abreak clause.

Too often people do not think aboutthe issue until it is close to the time forthe lease discussions to take place. Infact the implications, including thepracticalities, the potential costs andeffect on a lease break, can be verysignificant and need to be fully con-sidered in advance. The longer the de-cision is left, the narrower the optionsfor resolution for both the landlord andthe tenant.

Firstly, many people do not under-stand the term dilapidations. The termdoes not necessarily mean that thebuilding is in a dilapidated condition.

By entering into a lease with a land-lord, the tenant commits to do certainthings, including paying rent and look-ing after the property. If the tenant failsto honour those commitments, the land-lord can take action.

One of the things tenants commit to dois to leave a premises in a certain con-dition when the lease ends and this iswhere dilapid-ations comein. They arethe repairs,renewals andchanges ne-cessary to en-sure the building is in the condition thetwo parties have agreed between them.

The landlord may appoint a surveyorto inspect and prepare a list of itemswhich are not in the condition stip-ulated in the lease and it is then thetenant’s responsibility to remedy themprior to lease end. The logistics, cost andtimescale of doing those works are oftenu n d e re s t i m at e d .

To be honest most tenants are notexcited about spending money on aproperty that they are about to vacateand landlords are also not enamouredby tenants who leave a premises in astate that costs them money, so it canoften be a contentious time.

As a local property consultancy, Bru-ton Knowles can assist landlords andt e n a n t s. For landlords we might preparethe list of works required (a schedule ofdilapidations), calculate costs and ne-gotiate with the tenant to ensure theyare carried out. Should the tenant not doso, they are liable to pay compensationand we can then manage the works forthe landlord.

Conversely, we can help tenants byassessing their potential liability in ad-vance, argue their case with the land-lord to mitigate the liability and overseeany works or agree a financial settle-ment in lieu. The key point for eitherside is to think about dilapidations longin advance (we recommend six monthsbefore lease end) and to get expert ad-vice to ensure the liabilities are un-derstood and dealt with professionally.

Angus TaylorPartnerBruton Knowles,0117 287 2101 angus.taylor@brutonknowles.co.uk

It pays to think aheadon dilapidation issues

Expert eye

WILL D E M A N D FOR HOMES L E A V E US S H O R T O F OFFICES?

0117 287 2101brutonknowles.co.uk

To Let - 2 Barns for ConversionUphill Manor Barns, Uphill, Weston Super Mare BS23 4SD

• Two former barns in a Courtyard setting• 690 and 1,030 sq ft (64.1 and 95.7 sq m) GIA• For business use - subject to consent

Contact: paul.williams@brutonknowles.co.uk

BK code:2475

Last week North Somerset Council’s deputy leaderadmitted the authority will struggle to protect thegreenbelt from thousands of new homes after alegal ruling “unravelled” it’s housing strategy. As allour local authorities face pressure to make room formore and more homes, Gavin Thompson looks atwhat that means for the commercial sector.

Property of the month

BRISTOL has a housingshortage. It’s not alone inthat, Shelter estimates theUK needs 100,000 to 150,000new homes a year to meet

demand. As more people struggle toget on the property ladder – theaverage house price in Bris-tol is £211,527 and the av-erage income £21,216 –housing is rising up thepolitical agenda.

But our city also hasa recovering economythat will need the rightkind of office space if it isto maintain the growthstory of 2014. Is there adanger that demand for homeswill leave us short of office space inf u t u re ?

Paul Williams, of commercial prop-erty specialist Bruton Knowles,based in Great George Street, Bristol,says it is already happening.

“I had an architects’ practice with40 people that wanted to buy officespace in Bristol but there was noth-ing on the market,” he said.

“A lot of businesses want freeholdspace to occupy for themselves and toprovide investment. At the momentthe city can’t offer this.”

The obvious cause of the shortageis a combination of the recent trend ofconverting offices into flats andthe lack of new buildingcaused by the recession.

But there have alsobeen planned new officebuildings that have beenditched in favour of op-tions the developerthinks will be more prof-itable, such as housing.

For example, the finalplot in the Harbourside re-generation, 3a Canon’s Gate inAnchor Road, has just had plan-ning consent to build 101 flats.

Originally that plot was destined tobe offices, but homes were seen as abetter bet. Similarly part of the Fin-z el’s Reach development on theformer Courage Brewery site acrossfrom Castle Park due to be a largeoffice building has been changed tomore flats and possibly a hotel.

Peter Musgrove, director of officeagency at LSH in Bristol, says this is

not necessarily a bad thing.“Sites such as Canon’s Gate, Cabot

Gate and Wapping Wharf should al-ways have been earmarked for res-idential anyway because they arefringe locations in terms of offices,”

said Peter, left.“What we have to be care-ful of now is making sure

we protect the sites in thetop business areas of thecity, and retain them foroffice development.”

Gordon Isgrove,b e l o w, director of land

and development at GVA,says more residential

property in the city centre isgood for businesses because it

helps create a livelier environment.“It creates that 24-hour city and

makes things more vibrant, support-ing more leisure and restaurant busi-n e s s e s, ” he said.

Colin Stratton partner and head ofthe transactional commercial prop-erty team at law firm Things, based inVictoria Street, however believes thedrive for more homes is adverselyaffecting new office space.

“T here’s going to be a real squeezeon new build and grade A office spacein the coming months as the economycontinues to improve,” he said.

There is of course the new devel-opments at 2 Glass Wharf and 66

Queen Square, but there’slittle else coming through.

Colin says the currenttrend could “s at u r at e ”the market for citycentre flats and driveup rents for commer-cial office space.

The picture out oftown is different, though

there are still issues. Thereare large scale housing de-

velopments on Bristol’s NorthernFringe and more are likely to followto the south following the recent rul-ing that North Somerset Councilmust accommodate 26,750 new homesinstead of the 14,000 it had proposedby 2026.

“There is room for both residentialand commercial out of town,” saidColin. He says there has been littlenew office development but there re-mains capacity with the likes of Aztec

West business park experiencing aregular turnover of tenants.

But Colin, right, thinks thereare questions to be askedover the lack of office spacearound many of the res-idential developments.

“T here’s mixed usewith GP surgeries, con-tributions to schools andthe like but little require-ment for new build offices p a c e, ” he said. “It doesmake you wonder in terms ofthe continued drive to get trafficout of the city whether that will

change at some stage.”Back in the city much of the

professional community hasmigrated to the area

around Victoria Streetbecause they like to becentral and well con-nected. Those same be-nefits can be foundwithin the Temple

Quarter EnterpriseZone, and that is the

most likely place for newoffice development in the

next few years, with new in-frastructure on the way, such as an

£11 million bridge to the arena siteacross the Avon.

There will be housing here,too, but the West of Eng-land Local EnterprisePartnership has beentasked with creating4,000 jobs here in thenext five years, andmore than 20,000 in thelonger term. So plan-ners will need to ensurethe commercial market iscatered for or the projectwill fail.

Robert Parr-Head, right, who heads

up the DTZ Bristol valuation team,says that to be successful in his area,

developers need to think a littledifferently. The Enterprise

Zone is being marketed asa hub for creative and di-gital businesses, andRobert says they don’twant boring traditionaloffices but something alittle funkier.

He said: “Whilst loca-tion will always be key, so

will the ability to identify abuilding that has the X factor, an

ingredient that sets the building

apart from the norm. The success ofTemple Studios, Paint Works andBath Road Studios is self evident.There is capacity for more.”

But he warns the higher value fordevelopers in residential projectscould limit opportunities for suchschemes. The key is in getting thebalance right. Bristol needs morehomes but places to work too.

Mr Williams sums it up: “One of thefactors in the prices of residentialland or property is its proximity tosuitable work locations. Similarlybusinesses need chimney pots nearbyto provide a workforce.”

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

Property matters In association with

Colin Stratton

“T h e re ’s going to be areal squeeze on newbuild and grade A officespace in the comingmonths as the economycontinues to improve.”

Paul Williams, of commercial propertyspecialist Bruton Knowles

“ I had an architects’practice with 40people thatwanted to buyoffice space inBristol but therewas nothing onthe market.”

� There is pressure for housing in areas such as Canon’s Gate, above, Finzel’s Reach, below, and NorthSomerset, right

enquiries@brutonknowles.co.ukbrutonknowles.co.uk

0117 287 2101 Achieve morefrom your property

B015-1411 Bruton Knowles Bristol Post Commercial Advert 270x40mm AW 2.pdf 1 06/05/2014 17:24

enquiries@brutonknowles.co.ukbrutonknowles.co.uk

0117 287 2101 Achieve morefrom your property

B015-1411 Bruton Knowles Bristol Post Commercial Advert 270x40mm AW 2.pdf 1 06/05/2014 17:24

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6 We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 7We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 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

IT has been difficult to escape therecent news articles regardingrising house prices, buyers’ in-centives and mortgage affordab-ility. The resurgence in the UK

economy is excellent news of course,so for land and property owners, nowis the time to be capitalising on thestrong housing market.

Land values are increasing as aresult of a very active housing mar-ket. This is caused both by risinghouse prices and high levels of com-petition for good residential devel-opment sites.

At GVA we have seen encouraginglevels of demand for developmentsites we are marketing.

Demand is far outstripping supply,partly due to the economy, but alsodue to changes in planning policystemming from the demise of Region-al Spatial Strategies, which reducedhousing requirements.

Housebuilders large and small aresearching for suitable sites in order tobenefit from the rising market.

However, given the changes in plan-ning rules and the increased preval-ence of the private rental sector,developers are searching for suitableconversion opportunities as well asland.

The planning system now allowsoffice buildings in some areas thatconform to certain criteria to be con-verted for res-idential usewithout plan-ning permis-sion (althoughthe LocalPlanning Au-thority muststill be consulted).

Residential values are far higherthan an existing office use value, andtherefore these properties offer alandlord an opportunity to maximisereturns from what could otherwise bean underperforming asset.

Owners of land should also con-sider whether now is the time toexplore if development of their prop-erty is possible.

The nationwide shortage of hous-ing stock is placing pressure on LocalPlanning Authorities to provide landfor residential uses.

Those with land located within set-tlement boundaries, directly adjacentto existing development or owners ofbrownfield sites such as factoriesshould be asking for professional ad-vice on whether their land is suitablefor residential development.

GVA are specialists in providingtailored development and planningadvice to clients, advising land own-ers who want to extract additionalvalue from their property – be thatdisused office space, former factoryor industrial buildings or open land.

James PetherickAssociateGVA www.gva.co.ukEmail: james.pether-ick@gva.co.ukTel: 0117 988 5331

Builders’ search forhousing sites is on

Know how

ALMOST every landlord and ten-ant will at some point comeacross the thorny issue of dilap-idations when a lease on anoffice, shop or other commer-

cial property comes to an end or has abreak clause.

Too often people do not think aboutthe issue until it is close to the time forthe lease discussions to take place. Infact the implications, including thepracticalities, the potential costs andeffect on a lease break, can be verysignificant and need to be fully con-sidered in advance. The longer the de-cision is left, the narrower the optionsfor resolution for both the landlord andthe tenant.

Firstly, many people do not under-stand the term dilapidations. The termdoes not necessarily mean that thebuilding is in a dilapidated condition.

By entering into a lease with a land-lord, the tenant commits to do certainthings, including paying rent and look-ing after the property. If the tenant failsto honour those commitments, the land-lord can take action.

One of the things tenants commit to dois to leave a premises in a certain con-dition when the lease ends and this iswhere dilapid-ations comein. They arethe repairs,renewals andchanges ne-cessary to en-sure the building is in the condition thetwo parties have agreed between them.

The landlord may appoint a surveyorto inspect and prepare a list of itemswhich are not in the condition stip-ulated in the lease and it is then thetenant’s responsibility to remedy themprior to lease end. The logistics, cost andtimescale of doing those works are oftenu n d e re s t i m at e d .

To be honest most tenants are notexcited about spending money on aproperty that they are about to vacateand landlords are also not enamouredby tenants who leave a premises in astate that costs them money, so it canoften be a contentious time.

As a local property consultancy, Bru-ton Knowles can assist landlords andt e n a n t s. For landlords we might preparethe list of works required (a schedule ofdilapidations), calculate costs and ne-gotiate with the tenant to ensure theyare carried out. Should the tenant not doso, they are liable to pay compensationand we can then manage the works forthe landlord.

Conversely, we can help tenants byassessing their potential liability in ad-vance, argue their case with the land-lord to mitigate the liability and overseeany works or agree a financial settle-ment in lieu. The key point for eitherside is to think about dilapidations longin advance (we recommend six monthsbefore lease end) and to get expert ad-vice to ensure the liabilities are un-derstood and dealt with professionally.

Angus TaylorPartnerBruton Knowles,0117 287 2101 angus.taylor@brutonknowles.co.uk

It pays to think aheadon dilapidation issues

Expert eye

WILL D E M A N D FOR HOMES L E A V E US S H O R T O F OFFICES?

0117 287 2101brutonknowles.co.uk

To Let - 2 Barns for ConversionUphill Manor Barns, Uphill, Weston Super Mare BS23 4SD

• Two former barns in a Courtyard setting• 690 and 1,030 sq ft (64.1 and 95.7 sq m) GIA• For business use - subject to consent

Contact: paul.williams@brutonknowles.co.uk

BK code:2475

Last week North Somerset Council’s deputy leaderadmitted the authority will struggle to protect thegreenbelt from thousands of new homes after alegal ruling “unravelled” it’s housing strategy. As allour local authorities face pressure to make room formore and more homes, Gavin Thompson looks atwhat that means for the commercial sector.

Property of the month

BRISTOL has a housingshortage. It’s not alone inthat, Shelter estimates theUK needs 100,000 to 150,000new homes a year to meet

demand. As more people struggle toget on the property ladder – theaverage house price in Bris-tol is £211,527 and the av-erage income £21,216 –housing is rising up thepolitical agenda.

But our city also hasa recovering economythat will need the rightkind of office space if it isto maintain the growthstory of 2014. Is there adanger that demand for homeswill leave us short of office space inf u t u re ?

Paul Williams, of commercial prop-erty specialist Bruton Knowles,based in Great George Street, Bristol,says it is already happening.

“I had an architects’ practice with40 people that wanted to buy officespace in Bristol but there was noth-ing on the market,” he said.

“A lot of businesses want freeholdspace to occupy for themselves and toprovide investment. At the momentthe city can’t offer this.”

The obvious cause of the shortageis a combination of the recent trend ofconverting offices into flats andthe lack of new buildingcaused by the recession.

But there have alsobeen planned new officebuildings that have beenditched in favour of op-tions the developerthinks will be more prof-itable, such as housing.

For example, the finalplot in the Harbourside re-generation, 3a Canon’s Gate inAnchor Road, has just had plan-ning consent to build 101 flats.

Originally that plot was destined tobe offices, but homes were seen as abetter bet. Similarly part of the Fin-z el’s Reach development on theformer Courage Brewery site acrossfrom Castle Park due to be a largeoffice building has been changed tomore flats and possibly a hotel.

Peter Musgrove, director of officeagency at LSH in Bristol, says this is

not necessarily a bad thing.“Sites such as Canon’s Gate, Cabot

Gate and Wapping Wharf should al-ways have been earmarked for res-idential anyway because they arefringe locations in terms of offices,”

said Peter, left.“What we have to be care-ful of now is making sure

we protect the sites in thetop business areas of thecity, and retain them foroffice development.”

Gordon Isgrove,b e l o w, director of land

and development at GVA,says more residential

property in the city centre isgood for businesses because it

helps create a livelier environment.“It creates that 24-hour city and

makes things more vibrant, support-ing more leisure and restaurant busi-n e s s e s, ” he said.

Colin Stratton partner and head ofthe transactional commercial prop-erty team at law firm Things, based inVictoria Street, however believes thedrive for more homes is adverselyaffecting new office space.

“T here’s going to be a real squeezeon new build and grade A office spacein the coming months as the economycontinues to improve,” he said.

There is of course the new devel-opments at 2 Glass Wharf and 66

Queen Square, but there’slittle else coming through.

Colin says the currenttrend could “s at u r at e ”the market for citycentre flats and driveup rents for commer-cial office space.

The picture out oftown is different, though

there are still issues. Thereare large scale housing de-

velopments on Bristol’s NorthernFringe and more are likely to followto the south following the recent rul-ing that North Somerset Councilmust accommodate 26,750 new homesinstead of the 14,000 it had proposedby 2026.

“There is room for both residentialand commercial out of town,” saidColin. He says there has been littlenew office development but there re-mains capacity with the likes of Aztec

West business park experiencing aregular turnover of tenants.

But Colin, right, thinks thereare questions to be askedover the lack of office spacearound many of the res-idential developments.

“T here’s mixed usewith GP surgeries, con-tributions to schools andthe like but little require-ment for new build offices p a c e, ” he said. “It doesmake you wonder in terms ofthe continued drive to get trafficout of the city whether that will

change at some stage.”Back in the city much of the

professional community hasmigrated to the area

around Victoria Streetbecause they like to becentral and well con-nected. Those same be-nefits can be foundwithin the Temple

Quarter EnterpriseZone, and that is the

most likely place for newoffice development in the

next few years, with new in-frastructure on the way, such as an

£11 million bridge to the arena siteacross the Avon.

There will be housing here,too, but the West of Eng-land Local EnterprisePartnership has beentasked with creating4,000 jobs here in thenext five years, andmore than 20,000 in thelonger term. So plan-ners will need to ensurethe commercial market iscatered for or the projectwill fail.

Robert Parr-Head, right, who heads

up the DTZ Bristol valuation team,says that to be successful in his area,

developers need to think a littledifferently. The Enterprise

Zone is being marketed asa hub for creative and di-gital businesses, andRobert says they don’twant boring traditionaloffices but something alittle funkier.

He said: “Whilst loca-tion will always be key, so

will the ability to identify abuilding that has the X factor, an

ingredient that sets the building

apart from the norm. The success ofTemple Studios, Paint Works andBath Road Studios is self evident.There is capacity for more.”

But he warns the higher value fordevelopers in residential projectscould limit opportunities for suchschemes. The key is in getting thebalance right. Bristol needs morehomes but places to work too.

Mr Williams sums it up: “One of thefactors in the prices of residentialland or property is its proximity tosuitable work locations. Similarlybusinesses need chimney pots nearbyto provide a workforce.”

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

Property matters In association with

Colin Stratton

“T h e re ’s going to be areal squeeze on newbuild and grade A officespace in the comingmonths as the economycontinues to improve.”

Paul Williams, of commercial propertyspecialist Bruton Knowles

“ I had an architects’practice with 40people thatwanted to buyoffice space inBristol but therewas nothing onthe market.”

� There is pressure for housing in areas such as Canon’s Gate, above, Finzel’s Reach, below, and NorthSomerset, right

enquiries@brutonknowles.co.ukbrutonknowles.co.uk

0117 287 2101 Achieve morefrom your property

B015-1411 Bruton Knowles Bristol Post Commercial Advert 270x40mm AW 2.pdf 1 06/05/2014 17:24

enquiries@brutonknowles.co.ukbrutonknowles.co.uk

0117 287 2101 Achieve morefrom your property

B015-1411 Bruton Knowles Bristol Post Commercial Advert 270x40mm AW 2.pdf 1 06/05/2014 17:24

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8 We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 9We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 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

IF you run a small or mediumsized business, you might hear afeint tick-tock, tick-tock in thebackground. That’s the sound ofthe pensions time bomb that

could blow up in your face in the nearf u t u re.

Against a background of mountingconcern that millions of us will nothave enough savings for our retire-ment in future, and in the knowledgethat the State pension – cur rently£113.10 a week – c a n’t take the strain,the Coalition Government intro-duced automatic enrolment for work-place pension schemes.

That means everyone is automat-ically opted in to a workplace pen-sion, though they can choose to optout.

It’s a great solution for the Gov-ernment and, in many cases, the em-ployee. But it’s tough on the employerwho needs to have a workplace pen-sion scheme and then administer it.

It’s not just the set-up, but man-aging changes in circumstance suchas pay rises or going part-time, peoplewho opt out and are automaticallyopted back in three years later... andso on.

Businesses, particularly smallerones, need to call in outside help.

And to give them time to managethis, the Government staggered theroll out, starting with bigger organ-isations first.

But the clock is now ticking downthe staging dates – t h at ’s the datewhen the law comes into effect foryour business – for small and mediumsized firms.

Your exact staging date depends onyour PAYE number – you can checkon the pensions regulator website –but what many firms are not takinginto account is just how much work isinvolved, and how long it will take tosort out.

Not only that, but will there beenough specialists out there to help?

Anthony Carty is group financialplanning director at one such firm,Clifton Asset Management, based inHam Green.

He said: “My main concern for theSME community is that a lack ofpreparation will see them sleep walkinto a fine.

“Even if the Pensions Regulatordecides not to punish them finan-

cially, the reputational damage of get-ting this wrong could be severe.

“It is difficult to understate theamount of heavy lifting that is re-quired for this project – it is notsomething that can be covered off indays or hours. The Pensions Reg-ulator says you should be plan-ning for at least 18 months.”

Due to lack of resources,many smaller firmsleave things late thentry and throweverything at a prob-lem. But, Anthonysays, that won’t work inthis case.

“Having your best andbrightest employeeslocked in a room trying tosort this out at the last possiblemoment will surely have an impacton a SME’s bottom line,” he said.

“Pensions are rarely, if ever, at thetop of an employee’s to-do list. This isequally the case with employers.However, they now have a legal ob-ligation to provide them.

“Whilst I empathise with their con-cerns about the additional costs,auto-enrolment has to be viewed ashealth and safety for pensions – doingnothing is simply not an option.”

Another specialist firm, Now: Pen-sions carried out a survey among 450

SMEs recently. In the South West, ashocking 58 per cent of re-

spondents have not yetgiven any thought to howthey will find a provider.

Despite that, bossesrealise the right pensionis important. 48 per centsay the choice of the

right provider is import-ant or very important; 31

per cent feel offering a goodquality pension will help hang

onto good employees and 40 percent think it will make the companymore attractive to new employees.

Morten Nilsson, p i c t u re d , chief ex-ecutive of NOW: Pensions, said:“Auto-enrolment is looming large onthe horizon for thousands of smalland medium sized companies but

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

Small and medium-sizedemployers should begrasping the nettle ofworkplace pensions now,but many are simply ignoringthe issue. Gavin Thompsonfinds out more

Don’t leave yourself facing a crisis...

Workplace pensions special report

AS A business owner youknow that you will have toautomatically enrol certainworkers into a pensionscheme and make contribu-

tions on their behalf. Thousands ofUK businesses have already starteddoing this, but what does all thisactually mean for you?

The main thing is don’t under-es-timate what’s involved. There’s a lotfor you to think about:� Does your current pension ar-rangement qualify as an auto-enrol-ment scheme?� How will you communicate withyour workers and ensure you get theright message across?� Have you considered the additionaladministration and cost involved inmeeting the new requirements?� Will your existing payroll processneed to be altered?� Will you be able to cope with theadditional administration burden?� Will you be able to put new pro-cesses in place and comply with re-cord keeping and reportingrequirements in time?

What can you do now?1. Check with your current pro-

vider to find out where you stand.Lower average contributions underauto-enrolment and a cap on pensioncharges means some leading pro-viders are changing their practices,charging employers or even sayingthey are not interested in runningsmaller schemes.

2. The Pensions Regulator (TPR)says that planning at least six-12months ahead of your Staging Date isessential. The sooner you get startedthe more chance you have of finding aservice that works best for your com-p a ny.

3. TPR has produced hundreds ofpages of guidance about what to doand which of your employees mayneed to be included – but that doesn’tmean it’s straightforward. Take timenow to find out exactly who to in-cl u d e.

4. You can’t use ‘postponement’ todelay doing something now. You maybe able to push back the date at whichyour workforce joins your schemeautomatically, but you still have tohave a scheme in place.

5. Providers will all offer differentdegrees of service. If your workforceis relatively small and you haveno-one dedicated to dealing with HRyou need to work out if your staffinglevels will allow you to deal withauto-enrolment in-house, or if youneed a higher level of support.

Anthony CartyGroup financial planningdir ectorClifton Asset Managementw w w. c l i f t o n - w e a l t h .com 0800 054 2555AE@clifton-asset.co.uk

Don’t underestimatewhat’s involved...

Expert eye

YOUR TIME’S RUNNING OUT TO GET SET FOR AUTO-ENROLMENT

many firms are taking a gamble byleaving it late to find a pension pro-v i d e r. ”

He believes this could be danger-ous, and it is especially so for smallerfirms who might not appear to besuch juicy clients for some pro-v i d e r s.

“The reality is not all providers arehappy to accept all companies and allemployers on equal terms,” saidMorten. “The upshot of this is dayafter day we hear of firms who’vebeen let down at the last minute.

“Planning well ahead and spendingtime to select the right scheme will goa long way to keeping stress levels to aminimum.”

That tick-tock you can hear is get-ting louder. Time to start planning.

� Bristol Connected:Auto-enrolment – Are You Ready, inassociation with Clifton AssetManagement takes place tonight atBristol Zoo from 5.30pm.

Auto enrolment doesn’t have to be a trade-off between benefiting your business and benefiting your employees.

Danish pensions. Believe the hype.0 333 33 222 22nowpensions.comNOW: Pensions is a UK occupational pension plan.

Membership is only available through an employer.

� 1. Take some time tounderstand yourre s p o n s i b i l i t i e sMost people running an SME aretime-poor, continually fightingfires and moving from one crisisto the next – but the longer youput off understanding what isrequired for auto-enrolment, themore difficult it could be to find abespoke service designedespecially to meet your needs.This could end up costing youvaluable time and money in thelong run.

� 2. Get some clarityAs the NOW research shows,most SMEs want to comply, butat the lowest cost and with aslittle involvement as possible.This may well limit the providersthat want your business. Investsome time in being able to simplyand clearly articulate what yourequire, this will minimise theamount of time you spendinteracting with providers thatcannot help you.

� 3. One size does not fit allProviders can be overlyevangelical about theirproposition. One size does not fitall and you need to be able toquickly and efficiently assesshow their proposition will interact

into your existing processes. Thiswill cover areas key such asintegration with payroll, employeecommunication, investmentdecisions and how they will /won’t interact with yourw o r k f o rc e .

� 4. Assume nothingNever assume that your existingsolutions/process are fit forpurpose. How you currently dealwith your workplace pension andpayroll may not be sufficient forauto-enrolment. Ensure that yourkey stakeholders understandtheir responsibilities, beforeduring and after your stagingdate.

� 5. NetworkingFinally of course there is thesimple matter of getting outthere, chatting with like-mindedbusiness owners and differentproviders and seeing what thereis on offer. We know you mayhave more pressing matters toattend to than a regulatorycompliance taking place almost12 months away. But, if youspend the time now finding outmore about what some of theexperts and fellow businessesare saying, you can get it sortedand ready to go without anylast-minute scrimmage.

The NOW: Pensions survey ofSouth West SMEs found:� 58% haven’t given anythought to how they’ll find ap ro v i d e r� 48% think choice ofpension provider is importantor very important� 2% intend to pay morethan the minimumcontribution� 52% intend to pay theminimum� 42% don’t intend tocontribute more because theywant to keep it simple� 35% expect toGovernment to increase theminimum contribution overtime

Auto-enrolment applies toworkers earning more than£10,000 ayear in theUK whoa reundertheStatepensionage,thoughsome workersearning less can still opt in.

Employers must contributea sum of a least one per centof the employee’s salary,rising to two per cent in 2017and three per cent in 2018.

Pension numbers

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8 We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 9We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014 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

IF you run a small or mediumsized business, you might hear afeint tick-tock, tick-tock in thebackground. That’s the sound ofthe pensions time bomb that

could blow up in your face in the nearf u t u re.

Against a background of mountingconcern that millions of us will nothave enough savings for our retire-ment in future, and in the knowledgethat the State pension – cur rently£113.10 a week – c a n’t take the strain,the Coalition Government intro-duced automatic enrolment for work-place pension schemes.

That means everyone is automat-ically opted in to a workplace pen-sion, though they can choose to optout.

It’s a great solution for the Gov-ernment and, in many cases, the em-ployee. But it’s tough on the employerwho needs to have a workplace pen-sion scheme and then administer it.

It’s not just the set-up, but man-aging changes in circumstance suchas pay rises or going part-time, peoplewho opt out and are automaticallyopted back in three years later... andso on.

Businesses, particularly smallerones, need to call in outside help.

And to give them time to managethis, the Government staggered theroll out, starting with bigger organ-isations first.

But the clock is now ticking downthe staging dates – t h at ’s the datewhen the law comes into effect foryour business – for small and mediumsized firms.

Your exact staging date depends onyour PAYE number – you can checkon the pensions regulator website –but what many firms are not takinginto account is just how much work isinvolved, and how long it will take tosort out.

Not only that, but will there beenough specialists out there to help?

Anthony Carty is group financialplanning director at one such firm,Clifton Asset Management, based inHam Green.

He said: “My main concern for theSME community is that a lack ofpreparation will see them sleep walkinto a fine.

“Even if the Pensions Regulatordecides not to punish them finan-

cially, the reputational damage of get-ting this wrong could be severe.

“It is difficult to understate theamount of heavy lifting that is re-quired for this project – it is notsomething that can be covered off indays or hours. The Pensions Reg-ulator says you should be plan-ning for at least 18 months.”

Due to lack of resources,many smaller firmsleave things late thentry and throweverything at a prob-lem. But, Anthonysays, that won’t work inthis case.

“Having your best andbrightest employeeslocked in a room trying tosort this out at the last possiblemoment will surely have an impacton a SME’s bottom line,” he said.

“Pensions are rarely, if ever, at thetop of an employee’s to-do list. This isequally the case with employers.However, they now have a legal ob-ligation to provide them.

“Whilst I empathise with their con-cerns about the additional costs,auto-enrolment has to be viewed ashealth and safety for pensions – doingnothing is simply not an option.”

Another specialist firm, Now: Pen-sions carried out a survey among 450

SMEs recently. In the South West, ashocking 58 per cent of re-

spondents have not yetgiven any thought to howthey will find a provider.

Despite that, bossesrealise the right pensionis important. 48 per centsay the choice of the

right provider is import-ant or very important; 31

per cent feel offering a goodquality pension will help hang

onto good employees and 40 percent think it will make the companymore attractive to new employees.

Morten Nilsson, p i c t u re d , chief ex-ecutive of NOW: Pensions, said:“Auto-enrolment is looming large onthe horizon for thousands of smalland medium sized companies but

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

Small and medium-sizedemployers should begrasping the nettle ofworkplace pensions now,but many are simply ignoringthe issue. Gavin Thompsonfinds out more

Don’t leave yourself facing a crisis...

Workplace pensions special report

AS A business owner youknow that you will have toautomatically enrol certainworkers into a pensionscheme and make contribu-

tions on their behalf. Thousands ofUK businesses have already starteddoing this, but what does all thisactually mean for you?

The main thing is don’t under-es-timate what’s involved. There’s a lotfor you to think about:� Does your current pension ar-rangement qualify as an auto-enrol-ment scheme?� How will you communicate withyour workers and ensure you get theright message across?� Have you considered the additionaladministration and cost involved inmeeting the new requirements?� Will your existing payroll processneed to be altered?� Will you be able to cope with theadditional administration burden?� Will you be able to put new pro-cesses in place and comply with re-cord keeping and reportingrequirements in time?

What can you do now?1. Check with your current pro-

vider to find out where you stand.Lower average contributions underauto-enrolment and a cap on pensioncharges means some leading pro-viders are changing their practices,charging employers or even sayingthey are not interested in runningsmaller schemes.

2. The Pensions Regulator (TPR)says that planning at least six-12months ahead of your Staging Date isessential. The sooner you get startedthe more chance you have of finding aservice that works best for your com-p a ny.

3. TPR has produced hundreds ofpages of guidance about what to doand which of your employees mayneed to be included – but that doesn’tmean it’s straightforward. Take timenow to find out exactly who to in-cl u d e.

4. You can’t use ‘postponement’ todelay doing something now. You maybe able to push back the date at whichyour workforce joins your schemeautomatically, but you still have tohave a scheme in place.

5. Providers will all offer differentdegrees of service. If your workforceis relatively small and you haveno-one dedicated to dealing with HRyou need to work out if your staffinglevels will allow you to deal withauto-enrolment in-house, or if youneed a higher level of support.

Anthony CartyGroup financial planningdir ectorClifton Asset Managementw w w. c l i f t o n - w e a l t h .com 0800 054 2555AE@clifton-asset.co.uk

Don’t underestimatewhat’s involved...

Expert eye

YOUR TIME’S RUNNING OUT TO GET SET FOR AUTO-ENROLMENT

many firms are taking a gamble byleaving it late to find a pension pro-v i d e r. ”

He believes this could be danger-ous, and it is especially so for smallerfirms who might not appear to besuch juicy clients for some pro-v i d e r s.

“The reality is not all providers arehappy to accept all companies and allemployers on equal terms,” saidMorten. “The upshot of this is dayafter day we hear of firms who’vebeen let down at the last minute.

“Planning well ahead and spendingtime to select the right scheme will goa long way to keeping stress levels to aminimum.”

That tick-tock you can hear is get-ting louder. Time to start planning.

� Bristol Connected:Auto-enrolment – Are You Ready, inassociation with Clifton AssetManagement takes place tonight atBristol Zoo from 5.30pm.

Auto enrolment doesn’t have to be a trade-off between benefiting your business and benefiting your employees.

Danish pensions. Believe the hype.0 333 33 222 22nowpensions.comNOW: Pensions is a UK occupational pension plan.

Membership is only available through an employer.

� 1. Take some time tounderstand yourre s p o n s i b i l i t i e sMost people running an SME aretime-poor, continually fightingfires and moving from one crisisto the next – but the longer youput off understanding what isrequired for auto-enrolment, themore difficult it could be to find abespoke service designedespecially to meet your needs.This could end up costing youvaluable time and money in thelong run.

� 2. Get some clarityAs the NOW research shows,most SMEs want to comply, butat the lowest cost and with aslittle involvement as possible.This may well limit the providersthat want your business. Investsome time in being able to simplyand clearly articulate what yourequire, this will minimise theamount of time you spendinteracting with providers thatcannot help you.

� 3. One size does not fit allProviders can be overlyevangelical about theirproposition. One size does not fitall and you need to be able toquickly and efficiently assesshow their proposition will interact

into your existing processes. Thiswill cover areas key such asintegration with payroll, employeecommunication, investmentdecisions and how they will /won’t interact with yourw o r k f o rc e .

� 4. Assume nothingNever assume that your existingsolutions/process are fit forpurpose. How you currently dealwith your workplace pension andpayroll may not be sufficient forauto-enrolment. Ensure that yourkey stakeholders understandtheir responsibilities, beforeduring and after your stagingdate.

� 5. NetworkingFinally of course there is thesimple matter of getting outthere, chatting with like-mindedbusiness owners and differentproviders and seeing what thereis on offer. We know you mayhave more pressing matters toattend to than a regulatorycompliance taking place almost12 months away. But, if youspend the time now finding outmore about what some of theexperts and fellow businessesare saying, you can get it sortedand ready to go without anylast-minute scrimmage.

The NOW: Pensions survey ofSouth West SMEs found:� 58% haven’t given anythought to how they’ll find ap ro v i d e r� 48% think choice ofpension provider is importantor very important� 2% intend to pay morethan the minimumcontribution� 52% intend to pay theminimum� 42% don’t intend tocontribute more because theywant to keep it simple� 35% expect toGovernment to increase theminimum contribution overtime

Auto-enrolment applies toworkers earning more than£10,000 ayear in theUK whoa reundertheStatepensionage,thoughsome workersearning less can still opt in.

Employers must contributea sum of a least one per centof the employee’s salary,rising to two per cent in 2017and three per cent in 2018.

Pension numbers

10 We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014

EPB-

E01-

S3

11 EPB-E01-S3

w w w. bristolpost.co.uk

The Big Interview

BRISTOLIANS would jump atthe chance to invest in localbusinesses, according toJustin Urquhart Stewart.And he’s a man who knows a

thing or two about investments.A regular expert on our airwaves

on shows such as Working Lunch,Wake Up To Money and the To d ayprogramme, Justin also helps runshis own successful investment man-agement firm.

He believes Bristolians wouldmake the best investors for local busi-nesses because they would be in it forthe long haul. So he would like to seesomeone create a marketplace tomake it possible.

“I would like to see Bristol taking alead,” he said. “In 1945 we had 45stock exchanges in Britain includingthe Bristol Stock Exchange, whichd i d n’t close until the mid-1980s.

“The London Stock Exchange isvery good at enabling Russians toinvest their money outside Russia butit doesn’t do anything for small busi-nesses and certainly not for smalllocal businesses.”

Justin isn’t suggesting recreatingthe Bristol Stock Exchange as such,but believes a more modern platformcould do the same job.

“I’m not suggesting we bring backthe Bristol Stock Exchange but Iwould love to see Greater Bristol setup its own crowd funding structurewhere local businesses can seek in-vestors and people who want to investin local businesses can find them.

“If you had 5,000 people in GreaterBristol each with £5-10,000 to investlocally that’s an awful lot of moneyand if it was pooled it would attractm o re. ”

The market place would give po-tential investors a starting point, assomeone wanting to invest in a Bris-tol firm looking to the London StockExchange would struggle to find theright firms.

But, says Justin, local investors aremore likely to be long-term investorswho can give businesses the stabilitythey need to prosper.

“We know on local stock exchangesmost investors invest for five to sevenye a r s, ” he said. “T hat’s what com-panies want. They don’t want privateequity firms in it for three years, theywant longer term commitment frominvestors who are proud to invest in aBristol company.”

Such a marketplace could lead tothe creation of a Bristol list of com-panies, which could be used to com-pare performance but also to marketthem and promote local businesses topotential investors.

The Bristol Pound was set up tosupport local businesses, but, Justinsays, “d o e s n’t really cut it” from aninvestment perspective.

One of the reasons Justin believesBristol is the right place to lead suchan initiative is that the economy isstrong and vibrant.

“The West Country and GreaterBristol is very well placed in terms ofthe balance of industry,” he said.

“When you go through the businessparks in Greater Bristol, there is a

common theme... you can’t park! Sothere is something going on.”

He says he is “amaz ed” to see therise in entrepreneurial spirit despitewhat he describes as a lack of busi-

ness experience both in the politi-cians and civil servants running thec o u n t r y.

He said: “But if you look at GreaterBristol we are finding record num-

WE S H O U L D I N V E S T I N LOCAL FIRMSInvestment guru JustinUrquhart Stewart tells GavinThompson how Bristol’spioneering spirit could bechannelled to help localenterprises grow.

bers of new businesses starting up.“Something has changed in the

past 20 years. More than 6,000 busi-nesses set up in Greater Bristol lastyear. Half are likely to fail withinthree years and that’s quite normalbut entrepreneurial levels are veryhigh.

“Cynics will say it is people whohave lost their jobs or it’s ‘cor porater at i o n a l i s at i o n’ and they are workingas subcontractors for the same peoplethey did before, and there is an ele-ment of that.

“But also we have come to the stagewhere more people think ‘I want towork for myself, I’m fed up workingfor someone else’. Nationally 20 yearsago there were 150,000 to 200,000 newbusinesses a year, last year therewere 520,000. That’s quite remark-abl e.

“I’m quite encouraged by the pat-tern over the past two or three years.There are a number of hot spots in theeconomy and Bristol is one ofthem.”

While Justin is better known as amedia pundit, he is a businessmantoo. He founded Seven InvestmentManagement in 2002 largely due to

Who inspires me...

dissatisfaction with the industry.“When I looked around the invest-

ment world I found it was beautifullydesigned... for the benefit of the in-vestment world and not the client,”he said.

Justin believes it is vital the com-panies which manage individual’s in-vestments such as pensions makethings as clear as possible to engagep e o p l e.

“For example we have been work-ing with a software games companyto develop a tool,” he said, “wh e repeople can see their investments andhow the money moves around theworld and how they performingagainst targets they or their fundmanager set.”

He admits he made mistakes of his

Contact us for help with pensions auto-enrolment:

Call 0117 20 20 450 or email vivien.howells@puntersouthall.com or visit www.psdcc.com/ae

Auto-enrolment A & E

© Punter Southall DC Consulting 2014. Punter Southall DC Consulting is a trading name of Punter Southall Defined Contribution Consulting Limited. Punter Southall Defined Contribution Consulting Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FCA registration No. 121328. Registered office: 11 Strand, London WC2N 5HR. Registered in England and Wales No. 873463. VAT registration No. 782601821.

This communication should not be relied upon for detailed advice or taken as an authoritative statement of the law.

A Punter Southall Group company 1403057

A robust, scalable proposition that should lead to excellent outcomes for thousands of SME employees.

Our award-winning process has helped more than 100 employers meet their regulatory duties.

Choose the level of support to suit your needs.

Assist• Initial kick-off telephone call• Automatic enrolment guide and

checklists• Contribution options report• Competitive pension terms obtained• Provider recommendation report• Telephone call to review report• Set up pathway to deal directly

with provider.

Enhanced• Everything

included in Assist• A full

automatic enrolment workshop

• Access to a technical helpline until two months after your staging date.

&

Impressive SME offering with a transparent fee structure.

1403057_Flyer DC SME_May update_v3_SouthWest.indd 1 02/06/2014 10:48

Name: Justin Urquhart StewartAge: 59Sector: InvestmentSize of company: £6.2billion inassets managedBorn: West SussexEducated: Bryanston andSouthampton UniversityFirst job: Vineyard worker

Vital statistics

own with debts and credit cards whenhe started out as a young adult andbelieves that finance should betaught in the classroom, somethinghe follows up by visiting schools reg-ularly to talk about money.

“We teach economics in school butnot finance,” he said. “As if we needmore economists!”

He supports auto-enrolment forworkplace pensions, an issue manybusinesses are facing up to right nowas their staging dates start to rollaround, and would go further withcompulsory savings.

“I would like to see pensions andISAs rolled together into one savingsscheme used for mortgage guaran-tees, pensions and the care in olda g e,” he said. “It would feel like a taxfor the first five years but after thatpeople would start to see their sav-ings. It’s not like national insurancebecause it would be your money thatyou can manage.”

And who knows, perhaps somepeople would chose to invest thosesavings in local businesses, saythrough a Bristol index or crowdfunding scheme.

� Justin Urqhart Stewart is guestspeaker at tonight’s BristolConnected - Auto-enrolment: AreYou Ready? event, in associationwith Clifton Asset Management atBristol Zoo.

I’m not suggesting webring back the BristolStock Exchange but Iwould love to see GreaterBristol set up its owncrowd funding structurewhere local businessescan seek investors andpeople who want toinvest in local businessescan find them.

“

Influences and inspirations:Lord Shaftesbury the reformer,Disraeli the politician (pictur ed),and Thucydides as historian ofthe Peloponnesian war in ancientG re e c e .Irritations: Lazy peoplewasting their lives.Hobbies:Numismatics andm o t o rc y c l i n g .What first inspiredyou to becomeinvolved in business?The prospect of poverty!And then the chance thatmaybe you could make ad i ff e re n c e .Looking back is there anythingyou would have done differently

in the course of your career?Stayed at home one night inKampala. (When he was shotwhile working for Barclays Bankin 1978!)

What part of your job doyou enjoy the most?

Seeing businesses,people and valuationsg ro w.What piece of advicewould you give toanyone considering

setting up their owncompany? Be brave, you

don’t have to do it on yourown. Gather round a team ofenthusiastic experts in their field –make sure that they all have thesame goal and just go and do it!

10 We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014

EPB-

E01-

S3

11 EPB-E01-S3

w w w. bristolpost.co.uk

The Big Interview

BRISTOLIANS would jump atthe chance to invest in localbusinesses, according toJustin Urquhart Stewart.And he’s a man who knows a

thing or two about investments.A regular expert on our airwaves

on shows such as Working Lunch,Wake Up To Money and the To d ayprogramme, Justin also helps runshis own successful investment man-agement firm.

He believes Bristolians wouldmake the best investors for local busi-nesses because they would be in it forthe long haul. So he would like to seesomeone create a marketplace tomake it possible.

“I would like to see Bristol taking alead,” he said. “In 1945 we had 45stock exchanges in Britain includingthe Bristol Stock Exchange, whichd i d n’t close until the mid-1980s.

“The London Stock Exchange isvery good at enabling Russians toinvest their money outside Russia butit doesn’t do anything for small busi-nesses and certainly not for smalllocal businesses.”

Justin isn’t suggesting recreatingthe Bristol Stock Exchange as such,but believes a more modern platformcould do the same job.

“I’m not suggesting we bring backthe Bristol Stock Exchange but Iwould love to see Greater Bristol setup its own crowd funding structurewhere local businesses can seek in-vestors and people who want to investin local businesses can find them.

“If you had 5,000 people in GreaterBristol each with £5-10,000 to investlocally that’s an awful lot of moneyand if it was pooled it would attractm o re. ”

The market place would give po-tential investors a starting point, assomeone wanting to invest in a Bris-tol firm looking to the London StockExchange would struggle to find theright firms.

But, says Justin, local investors aremore likely to be long-term investorswho can give businesses the stabilitythey need to prosper.

“We know on local stock exchangesmost investors invest for five to sevenye a r s, ” he said. “T hat’s what com-panies want. They don’t want privateequity firms in it for three years, theywant longer term commitment frominvestors who are proud to invest in aBristol company.”

Such a marketplace could lead tothe creation of a Bristol list of com-panies, which could be used to com-pare performance but also to marketthem and promote local businesses topotential investors.

The Bristol Pound was set up tosupport local businesses, but, Justinsays, “d o e s n’t really cut it” from aninvestment perspective.

One of the reasons Justin believesBristol is the right place to lead suchan initiative is that the economy isstrong and vibrant.

“The West Country and GreaterBristol is very well placed in terms ofthe balance of industry,” he said.

“When you go through the businessparks in Greater Bristol, there is a

common theme... you can’t park! Sothere is something going on.”

He says he is “amaz ed” to see therise in entrepreneurial spirit despitewhat he describes as a lack of busi-

ness experience both in the politi-cians and civil servants running thec o u n t r y.

He said: “But if you look at GreaterBristol we are finding record num-

WE S H O U L D I N V E S T I N LOCAL FIRMSInvestment guru JustinUrquhart Stewart tells GavinThompson how Bristol’spioneering spirit could bechannelled to help localenterprises grow.

bers of new businesses starting up.“Something has changed in the

past 20 years. More than 6,000 busi-nesses set up in Greater Bristol lastyear. Half are likely to fail withinthree years and that’s quite normalbut entrepreneurial levels are veryhigh.

“Cynics will say it is people whohave lost their jobs or it’s ‘cor porater at i o n a l i s at i o n’ and they are workingas subcontractors for the same peoplethey did before, and there is an ele-ment of that.

“But also we have come to the stagewhere more people think ‘I want towork for myself, I’m fed up workingfor someone else’. Nationally 20 yearsago there were 150,000 to 200,000 newbusinesses a year, last year therewere 520,000. That’s quite remark-abl e.

“I’m quite encouraged by the pat-tern over the past two or three years.There are a number of hot spots in theeconomy and Bristol is one ofthem.”

While Justin is better known as amedia pundit, he is a businessmantoo. He founded Seven InvestmentManagement in 2002 largely due to

Who inspires me...

dissatisfaction with the industry.“When I looked around the invest-

ment world I found it was beautifullydesigned... for the benefit of the in-vestment world and not the client,”he said.

Justin believes it is vital the com-panies which manage individual’s in-vestments such as pensions makethings as clear as possible to engagep e o p l e.

“For example we have been work-ing with a software games companyto develop a tool,” he said, “wh e repeople can see their investments andhow the money moves around theworld and how they performingagainst targets they or their fundmanager set.”

He admits he made mistakes of his

Contact us for help with pensions auto-enrolment:

Call 0117 20 20 450 or email vivien.howells@puntersouthall.com or visit www.psdcc.com/ae

Auto-enrolment A & E

© Punter Southall DC Consulting 2014. Punter Southall DC Consulting is a trading name of Punter Southall Defined Contribution Consulting Limited. Punter Southall Defined Contribution Consulting Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FCA registration No. 121328. Registered office: 11 Strand, London WC2N 5HR. Registered in England and Wales No. 873463. VAT registration No. 782601821.

This communication should not be relied upon for detailed advice or taken as an authoritative statement of the law.

A Punter Southall Group company 1403057

A robust, scalable proposition that should lead to excellent outcomes for thousands of SME employees.

Our award-winning process has helped more than 100 employers meet their regulatory duties.

Choose the level of support to suit your needs.

Assist• Initial kick-off telephone call• Automatic enrolment guide and

checklists• Contribution options report• Competitive pension terms obtained• Provider recommendation report• Telephone call to review report• Set up pathway to deal directly

with provider.

Enhanced• Everything

included in Assist• A full

automatic enrolment workshop

• Access to a technical helpline until two months after your staging date.

&

Impressive SME offering with a transparent fee structure.

1403057_Flyer DC SME_May update_v3_SouthWest.indd 1 02/06/2014 10:48

Name: Justin Urquhart StewartAge: 59Sector: InvestmentSize of company: £6.2billion inassets managedBorn: West SussexEducated: Bryanston andSouthampton UniversityFirst job: Vineyard worker

Vital statistics

own with debts and credit cards whenhe started out as a young adult andbelieves that finance should betaught in the classroom, somethinghe follows up by visiting schools reg-ularly to talk about money.

“We teach economics in school butnot finance,” he said. “As if we needmore economists!”

He supports auto-enrolment forworkplace pensions, an issue manybusinesses are facing up to right nowas their staging dates start to rollaround, and would go further withcompulsory savings.

“I would like to see pensions andISAs rolled together into one savingsscheme used for mortgage guaran-tees, pensions and the care in olda g e,” he said. “It would feel like a taxfor the first five years but after thatpeople would start to see their sav-ings. It’s not like national insurancebecause it would be your money thatyou can manage.”

And who knows, perhaps somepeople would chose to invest thosesavings in local businesses, saythrough a Bristol index or crowdfunding scheme.

� Justin Urqhart Stewart is guestspeaker at tonight’s BristolConnected - Auto-enrolment: AreYou Ready? event, in associationwith Clifton Asset Management atBristol Zoo.

I’m not suggesting webring back the BristolStock Exchange but Iwould love to see GreaterBristol set up its owncrowd funding structurewhere local businessescan seek investors andpeople who want toinvest in local businessescan find them.

“

Influences and inspirations:Lord Shaftesbury the reformer,Disraeli the politician (pictur ed),and Thucydides as historian ofthe Peloponnesian war in ancientG re e c e .Irritations: Lazy peoplewasting their lives.Hobbies:Numismatics andm o t o rc y c l i n g .What first inspiredyou to becomeinvolved in business?The prospect of poverty!And then the chance thatmaybe you could make ad i ff e re n c e .Looking back is there anythingyou would have done differently

in the course of your career?Stayed at home one night inKampala. (When he was shotwhile working for Barclays Bankin 1978!)

What part of your job doyou enjoy the most?

Seeing businesses,people and valuationsg ro w.What piece of advicewould you give toanyone considering

setting up their owncompany? Be brave, you

don’t have to do it on yourown. Gather round a team ofenthusiastic experts in their field –make sure that they all have thesame goal and just go and do it!

EPB-

E01-

S3

12 We d n e s d a y, June 4, 2014w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

The back page� A TEAM of 13 staff from KPMG’sBristol office faced their fears,abseiling down the Avon Gorge aspart of the firm’s nationwide BigBlue Abseil event to raise money forcharities Action for Literacy andS h e l t e r.

Led by Phil Cotton, senior partnerfor KPMG’s Bristol office, the teamcompleted the abseil and raised£2,800 for charity.

Phil said: “I have to say a hugecongratulations to all of our bravevolunteers, who like me probablyfailed to realise just how excitingand terrifying abseiling down theAvon Gorge would be when wesigned up for this challenge.

“As a result of everyone’s effortswe have raised a large amount ofmoney which will help both Shelterand Action for Literacy with theinvaluable work that they are doingacross the UK in improving literacyand promoting social inclusion.Increasing literacy skills andpreventing homelessness arefundamental to rebuilding the UKeconomy, supporting routes tosocial mobility and increasingopportunities for all.”

� Business and financial adviserGrant Thornton has appointed PaulRodwell as the new head of financialservices advisory for the SouthWe s t .

Paul joined the firm as part of itsacquisition of Navigant FinancialServices UK in 2013. He will bemanaging the financial servicesadvisory team based in Bristol, witha focus on the further developmentof Grant Thornton’s presence in theSouth West.

Peter Allen, who leads thefinancial services group, said: “Paulis already well known to many of ourclients in the South West. He bringsa broad range of consulting skillswhich complement our existingregulatory and transactionsexpertise in the region.”

� Tim Everitt from accountancy andbusiness advisory firm BDO LLP inBristol has been named one of theaccountancy profession’s best andbrightest talents in the UK.

At the age of 24 Tim, right, is oneof the youngest rising stars namedin Accountancy Age’s ‘35 under 35’,which showcases a wide variety ofachievements and skills held by thenext generation of managing

partners, CFOs and entrepreneurs.He joined BDO at the age of 18 on

the firm’s award winning schoolleaver programme and has risenthrough the ranks to become anaudit manager, building a“reputation for excellent leadershipand strong commercialunderstanding.”

� Bristol marketingexpert Bryony Thomashas won an award forher book on thesubject, WatertightMarketing.

The National IndieExcellence Awardsexists to help establishself-publishing as a strongproud facet of the publishingi n d u s t r y.

Bryony’s book aims to helpbusiness owners cut throughmarketing jargon and pick up

Where commuters enjoy dream trip to work

IMAGINE a morning commutethat starts with the train arriv-ing exactly on the platform spotwhere your ticket says it will.You hop on, take your first class

seat to London for £16 then plug intothe free WiFi.

You travel at up to 186 miles an hourand arrive in 55 minutes while over-head monitors give you updates onconnections, news and the weather.On arrival, you use your UK-wideOyster card to get on the under-ground with free WiFi and 4G. Youarrive at work relaxed and up to date.And if you miss this train, that’s not aproblem. They depart every 10minutes and are never late.

Sound too good to be true? Well, theonly incorrect information is the ref-

erence to London and the UK.I have recently returned from a trip

to South Korea to visit my son and thecontrast between our infrastructureand theirs is marked. I was travellingbetween Daejeon, a city of 1 millionpeople, and the capital Seoul which isabout the same distance from Bristolto London. I understand we arehampered by Victorian stations andageing infrastructure but the under-investment in our network is plain tosee. Over recent years this is startingto change and the proposed electri-

� One of the KPMG team abseiling at Avon Gorge

The op-ed column

fication of the line and the arrival ofsuperfast broadband is a start. But itis only a start. We tend to compareourselves with other UK or Europeancities but perhaps we should be look-ing further afield for inspiration.

The way South Korea has embracedtechnology and applied it to everydaylife is quite remarkable. Seoul has oneof the world’s largest undergroundsystems that is clean, fast, efficientand connected, making it a pleasureto travel on. It is easy to see why it hasbecome Asia’s fourth largest eco-nomy and an economic power housewith brands such as Samsung, LG andHyundai leading the way.

So what are we to do? As the UKinvests in cross rail and other majorprojects, we also spend years

wringing our hands about the impactof HS2 before any work starts. Mean-while the rest of the world pushesahead.

Bristol is starting to make goodprogress but it must be bolder in itsambitions. Look beyond the next in-novation and we might just stay intouch with the rest of the world.

Two days after my rail trip acrossSouth Korea I stood on the platform atTemple Meads awaiting the 7am trainto London. The usual scrum ensued. Igot one train earlier to make sure Imade my meeting. The 3G networkcame and went, we encountered aslow moving train ahead of us butmade up the time and arrived just fiveminutes late. The cost was £96 stand-ard class – sound familiar?

Jeremy RichardsHead of the Bristol officeJLL

practical advice. She said: “I amthrilled. Small businesses are thebackbone of our economy and weneed to do all we can to helpsupport them and enable them tosurvive and thrive.”

� Law firm TLT has appointed newdevelopment partner Daniel

Halstead to its real estategroup. Daniel joins fromFoot Anstey, where hewas one of the fourfounding partnersrecruited to set up theirBristol office.

Daniel’s specialism iscommercial and

residential development,with particular experience

acting for developers andfunders on student accommodationp ro j e c t s .

The firm’s head of real estateAndrew Glynn said: “We continue to

grow our team and expertise inresponse to client demand. Danielbrings a wealth of experience andexpertise that will further boost thesupport we can offer our clientsacross the UK.”

� Queen Square-based No5Chambers has been shortlisted forThe Lawyer Chambers of the Yearaward. It is the only chambers notheadquartered in London to makethe shortlist. Tony McDaid, No5Chambers’ practice director, says: “Iam very proud and excited that No5has been shortlisted for thisprestigious award.”

D ea l s� Property consultancy Alder King,which has acted as propertymanager to Bristol-based UniteStudent’s commercial propertyportfolio since 2009, has had its roleexpanded to include assetmanagement services.

Alder King now provides thestudent accommodation providerwith a full asset managementservice including propertymanagement, lettings, rent reviewsand lease renewals, buildingconsultancy and service chargec o n s u l t a n c y.

Partner Andrew Watson, said: “Wewill be working to maximise theincome streams and capital valuesof its commercial assets through aprogramme of proactive assetmanagement.”

P l a ces� Employment and trainingspecialist Seetec has taken a newlease on part of the first floor at theQuorum, a prominent officebuildings owned by Aviva Investors.

The five-storey office building onBond Street in the heart of the city’scommercial district has beenrecently refurbished.

Colliers International negotiatedthe five-year deal. The firm’s directorJames Preece said: “The faster thananticipated recovery has triggered arush of moves since the beginningof the year and we have a number ofdeals under offer.”

Formerly occupied by severaldepartments from Bristol CityCouncil, Quorum is home to severalmajor players including EchoManaged Services, Hogg Robinson,Clarity OSS, Camcode andP l a n g l o w.

Pe o p l e

Your digest of the week in business

In numbers

Business currentaccounts

Petrol prices

1.01%£10,000 deposit

0.25%£1 deposit

State Bankof India

Corporation tax

21 %20 %Main rate

Small profitsrate – below

£300,000

130 .29pUnleaded

136 .32pDiesel

139 . 22 pSuperunleaded

71 . 24 pLPG

Source: PetrolPrices.com

Business savingsaccounts

1.36%£1,000 deposit

1.85%£1,000 deposit

NationalCounties BS

Inflation (CPI)

1.8 %

Weekly earnings

1.6 %Base interest rate

0.5 %Ave mortgage rate

3.99 %

S o u rc e :

Secure TrustBank

Inflation (RPI)

2.5 %

� Paul Rodwell� Tony McDaid