business 15 october2014
DESCRIPTION
Business Bristol Post, Marketing. Cyber Security. How secure is your data? Is your business taking the right approach to protecting your network and data? - pages 8 & 9.TRANSCRIPT
2EPB-E01-S3
Is you business taking the right approach toprotecting your network and data?
HOW SECURE ISYOUR DATA?
CYBER SECURITY
– Pages 8&9
HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
App that will ensure you don’tforget those key dates – p3
152014OCT
OPENING NIGHTON TOP OF THE WORLD
Exports bring home majorgrowth for tech company – p4
QinetiQ chief starts off theBristol address season - p7
EPB-E01-S3
EPB-
E01-
S3
2 We d n e s d a y, October 15, 2014 3We d n e s d a y, October 15, 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
G i f tsCommercial property
Top glass PwC moving to smart new offices
Expert eye
Are falling employment tribunal figures good for business?
Firms not getting most from broadbandCommunications
Never forget Bignames on board asgift app launches
Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]
Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]
Re n ewa b l es
Invest in green energy with city firm
NEVER again will you need to forgeta birthday and be too late to buy agift, thanks to a new app developedby a Bristol company. Giftcloud hasbeen launched by the company be-
hind discount app vouchercloud, whichalready employs 150 people in Bristol.
It has developed the app to allow customersto send gift cards electronically by text, emailand social media, rather having to buy giftcards in stores.
The business launched with some highprofile stores already on board, includingHouse of Fraser, Currys PC World, Cine-world, Starbucks and Pizza Express. Thefree-to-download app is available on iOS andAndroid platforms.
Unlike plastic gift cards, which can bebought online but are then usually sent bypost, Giftcloud enables instant gifting.
It can be sent as soon as it’s paid for ors ch e d u l e d .
It can even tie in with Facebook, whichcould be a money spinner given how often
people only remember friend’s birthdayswhen the social media site reminds them.
And it will remind people when their cardsare due to expire, making it less likely theywill be left unclaimed as a surprising 15 percent currently are.
Giftcloud founder Greg LeTocq said: “So-cial media and digital communication hasmade it so much easier for us to stay in touchwith old friends, distant family members andex-colleagues, so our peer group is now farwider than ever before.
“We also maintain close relationships on-line with cherished peers who move or workfar away, so the number of people who wewish a happy birthday without actually see-ing face to face is ever-increasing.
“The average Briton has a vast circle ofpeople who they will contact for celebrationsand commiserations, but has never had theopportunity before to upgrade these words onthe screen to something more meaningful.
“Giftcloud will enable the public to step uptheir online greetings with gifts, standing outfrom the rest of the messages.”
Anthony Mortimer, client manager atHouse of Fraser, added: “We are confidentthat offering customers an alternative meth-od of gifting will allow us to tap into newmarkets and simplify the gifting process.”
TRIODOS Renewables has launched a £5million share offer to invest in building newUK energy generating assets.
The company, based in Bristol citycentre, owns and operates 11 re-newable energy projects acrossthe UK totalling 53 mega watts,including the Avonmouth windfarm near Bristol, and is de-veloping a further four.
The share issue will mean Tri-odos can expand. It is working withTrillion Fund, the crowd financingplatform for renewable energy to pro-mote and distribute the offer. People caninvest from as little as £50, with the shareprice set at £2.28 per share.
Matthew Clayton, executive director of Tri-
odos Renewables, said: “We ’ve decided tolower our minimum investment because we
believe that investing in renewableenergy should be an option to every-
one and we want to provide arewarding connection with re-newable energy for even morep e o p l e. ”
The offer is open to both newinvestors and existing share-
holders and the shares are trad-able on a Matched Bargain Market
marketed by Ethex and operated byCapita Share Dealing Services Ltd.
Triodos Renewables shareholders have re-ceived dividends in eight of the past nineyears with an average dividend yield of 1.7per cent over the past three years.
A MAJOR communications provider says Bris-tol businesses are not getting the most fromtheir broadband.
A study of Bristol SMEs found byTalkTalk Business found:� 49 per cent believe the gov-ernment needs to prioritise itsfocus on enhancing the digitalskillset of the region and con-tribute towards digital inclu-sion� 48 per cent are calling on thegovernment to help reduce the costof super-fast fibre broadband forsmall businesses� 38 per cent of Bristol small businesses arenot getting value for money from their broad-band provider
� 26 per cent of small businesses are looking toswitch providers.
Charles Bligh, p i c t u re d , managing director,TalkTalk Business, said: “The research
tells us loud and clear that Bristol busi-nesses deserve better, and we couldn’tagree more. Our message to smallbusinesses is clear: there is always achoice, demand more from yourbroadband provider.”
TalkTalk has launched an app thatlets SMEs tie their business landline
to five mobiles so they can answer onthe move. The government is investing
in broadband in Bristol, with a £3,000connection voucher available to help busi-
nesses get plugged in to high-speed networks.� w w w. c o n n e c t i o n v o u c h e r s . c o . u k .
DATA from legal expenses in-surer DAS shows a fall inthe number of employmentcases being taken tot r i bu n a l .
Comparing the first six months of2013 and 2014 numbers have droppedby a third.
This could be attributed to severalfactors – the prime candidate is thenew fee regime which was introducedin July 2013.
Other contributing factors could bean upturn in the economy meaningmore hires and less fires; the ex-tended period over which employeescan bring a claim; and the effect ofearly conciliation.
At first glance this drop in numberslooks like good news for businesses.
Fewer employees taking employ-ment disputes all the way will reducecosts and management time.
However, as well as fees to submit aclaim to tribunal, the requirement foremployers and employees to attendearly conciliation was also intro-duced to establish if legal proceed-ings could be avoided.
So lower tribunal numbers at thisstage might not mean less employ-ment disputes, and certainly thatthey won’t be any less time-consum-ing.
It also doesn’t take away the em-p l oye r ’s responsibility to deal withthem correctly.
Citizens Advice reported thatseven in 10 potentially successful
WHEN developer SalmonHarvester chose to goahead with the firstspeculative office devel-opment in the city, it
was widely seen as a big gamble.But that gamble on the city’s eco-
nomy is paying off as one of theso-called big four accountants hassigned a 15-year lease for the top threefloors of the seven-storey block – atrecord rents for Bristol.
PwC will be moving to shiny newoffices at 2 Glass Wharf at TempleQuay next summer. The Po s t re portedover the summer that the firm wasone of several potential cornerstonetenants for the development and nowthe move has been confirmed.
Regional chairman Matthew Ham-mond, inset below, said: “Bristol is agreat place to live and do businessand we are dedicated to growing ourpractice here, providing the highestlevel of expertise and experience tolocal businesses.
“PwC has been located in GreatGeorge Street, Bristol, for manyyears, which has been a fantastichome for our business. We havemany fond memories, but itis time to move our busi-ness forward.”
Katherine Finn, fa rright, PwC’s seniorpartner in Bristol, said:“2 Glass Wharf willprovide a modern, cre-ative workspace. Its closeproximity to BristolTemple Meads station at theheart of plans for future de-
velopments for the city centre,will ensure connectivity
within and beyond the re-gion for generations toc o m e.
“Our new office willsecure an efficient andflexible way for ourteams to work from an
environmentally sus-tainable building, redu-
cing our carbon footprint.”The accountancy firm is tak-
ing 37,157 sq ft at a record rate forthe city of £28 per squarefo o t .
Salmon Harvester ap-pointed Wates as con-tractor and started workon the 100,000 sq ft (9,290sq m), £40 millionscheme last October.
The project waslaunched by PlanningMinister Nick Boles lastyear, as a key part of the
Temple Quarter Enterprise Zonewhich was set up to stimulate
the economy and createthousands of jobs in thec i t y.
The news of the firstletting follows daysafter the firm developerannounced it was push-
ing ahead to build an-other office block next
d o o r.Development director Rorie
Henderson said: “As we near com-pletion, 2 Glass Wharf is taking shapeas the city’s flagship office buildingand we are delighted to have signedsuch a prestigious tenant. We havealways had every confidence in theBristol market and this is the first ofour three development projectsplanned at Temple Quay.
“We have considerable interest inthe remaining space at 2 Glass Wharfand hope to announce the scheme isfully let before Christmas.”
� Giftcloud founder Greg LeTocq
Richard HarrisChief Claims Officer atDAS UK
cases are now not being pursued bye m p l oye e s.
More than half of those inter-viewed said it was the fees or coststhat were deterring them from pur-suing these cases.
The consequences of the introduc-tion of fees have also been studied byresearchers at the universities ofBristol and Strathclyde which came
to the conclusion that they have“severely limited access to justice forwo rke r s ”.
Against the back drop of years ofrising employment tribunal claims abetter system was widely regarded byemployers, employees and politiciansalike as sorely-needed.
However, it’s not yet clear whetherthe new approach will result in fairer
results for everyone, as any change inour legal system takes time to bedin.
But we must keep sight of the ul-timate goal of any change: to improveaccess to justice.
� DAS is the UK’s leading legalexpenses insurer, providing costs tocover thousands of employmentdisputes every year. DAS receivesover 100,000 calls to its advice linesannually and employment concernsare the top topic. DAS has beenbased in Bristol for nearly 40 yearsand employs over 400 local people.
WHEN THE MUSIC STOPS. . .
“Citizens Advicereported that seven in 10potentially successfulcases are now not beingpursued by employees.More than half of thoseinterviewed said it wasthe fees or costs thatwere deterring themfrom pursuing thesecases.
� Now that the first tenantsare signed up at 2 GlassWharf, it could start a gameof office musical chairsaround the city.
There are a number ofother big playerslooking for newgrade A officespace in thecity, includingKPMG, lawfirm TLT andenergy firmE D F.
With PwCtaking thelandmark spot at2 Glass Wharf, itwould be a big surprise ifKPMG moved in too as thefirms are direct competitors.
More likely is KPMGbecoming anchor tenant inthe other big speculativedevelopment under way, 66Queen Square.
TLT would be anothercandidate for that spot,however, with the prestigelocation popular among lawfirms.
There is also grade Aspace in the slightly older
Bridgewater House inVictoria Street,
another populardistrict for legalservices andclose to TLT’scurrent office.
Those whobelieve in fate
might think thatwould be a better
spot for energy firmEDF, which is believed to
be in the market as it startsbuilding Hinkley Point Cnuclear plant in... B r i d g w a t e r,Somerset. But the fact one isspelt with an “e” and theother without might be toomuch to bear. � Above, 2 Glass Wharf; inset left, Bridgewater House
EPB-E01-S3
EPB-
E01-
S3
2 We d n e s d a y, October 15, 2014 3We d n e s d a y, October 15, 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
G i f tsCommercial property
Top glass PwC moving to smart new offices
Expert eye
Are falling employment tribunal figures good for business?
Firms not getting most from broadbandCommunications
Never forget Bignames on board asgift app launches
Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]
Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]
Re n ewa b l es
Invest in green energy with city firm
NEVER again will you need to forgeta birthday and be too late to buy agift, thanks to a new app developedby a Bristol company. Giftcloud hasbeen launched by the company be-
hind discount app vouchercloud, whichalready employs 150 people in Bristol.
It has developed the app to allow customersto send gift cards electronically by text, emailand social media, rather having to buy giftcards in stores.
The business launched with some highprofile stores already on board, includingHouse of Fraser, Currys PC World, Cine-world, Starbucks and Pizza Express. Thefree-to-download app is available on iOS andAndroid platforms.
Unlike plastic gift cards, which can bebought online but are then usually sent bypost, Giftcloud enables instant gifting.
It can be sent as soon as it’s paid for ors ch e d u l e d .
It can even tie in with Facebook, whichcould be a money spinner given how often
people only remember friend’s birthdayswhen the social media site reminds them.
And it will remind people when their cardsare due to expire, making it less likely theywill be left unclaimed as a surprising 15 percent currently are.
Giftcloud founder Greg LeTocq said: “So-cial media and digital communication hasmade it so much easier for us to stay in touchwith old friends, distant family members andex-colleagues, so our peer group is now farwider than ever before.
“We also maintain close relationships on-line with cherished peers who move or workfar away, so the number of people who wewish a happy birthday without actually see-ing face to face is ever-increasing.
“The average Briton has a vast circle ofpeople who they will contact for celebrationsand commiserations, but has never had theopportunity before to upgrade these words onthe screen to something more meaningful.
“Giftcloud will enable the public to step uptheir online greetings with gifts, standing outfrom the rest of the messages.”
Anthony Mortimer, client manager atHouse of Fraser, added: “We are confidentthat offering customers an alternative meth-od of gifting will allow us to tap into newmarkets and simplify the gifting process.”
TRIODOS Renewables has launched a £5million share offer to invest in building newUK energy generating assets.
The company, based in Bristol citycentre, owns and operates 11 re-newable energy projects acrossthe UK totalling 53 mega watts,including the Avonmouth windfarm near Bristol, and is de-veloping a further four.
The share issue will mean Tri-odos can expand. It is working withTrillion Fund, the crowd financingplatform for renewable energy to pro-mote and distribute the offer. People caninvest from as little as £50, with the shareprice set at £2.28 per share.
Matthew Clayton, executive director of Tri-
odos Renewables, said: “We ’ve decided tolower our minimum investment because we
believe that investing in renewableenergy should be an option to every-
one and we want to provide arewarding connection with re-newable energy for even morep e o p l e. ”
The offer is open to both newinvestors and existing share-
holders and the shares are trad-able on a Matched Bargain Market
marketed by Ethex and operated byCapita Share Dealing Services Ltd.
Triodos Renewables shareholders have re-ceived dividends in eight of the past nineyears with an average dividend yield of 1.7per cent over the past three years.
A MAJOR communications provider says Bris-tol businesses are not getting the most fromtheir broadband.
A study of Bristol SMEs found byTalkTalk Business found:� 49 per cent believe the gov-ernment needs to prioritise itsfocus on enhancing the digitalskillset of the region and con-tribute towards digital inclu-sion� 48 per cent are calling on thegovernment to help reduce the costof super-fast fibre broadband forsmall businesses� 38 per cent of Bristol small businesses arenot getting value for money from their broad-band provider
� 26 per cent of small businesses are looking toswitch providers.
Charles Bligh, p i c t u re d , managing director,TalkTalk Business, said: “The research
tells us loud and clear that Bristol busi-nesses deserve better, and we couldn’tagree more. Our message to smallbusinesses is clear: there is always achoice, demand more from yourbroadband provider.”
TalkTalk has launched an app thatlets SMEs tie their business landline
to five mobiles so they can answer onthe move. The government is investing
in broadband in Bristol, with a £3,000connection voucher available to help busi-
nesses get plugged in to high-speed networks.� w w w. c o n n e c t i o n v o u c h e r s . c o . u k .
DATA from legal expenses in-surer DAS shows a fall inthe number of employmentcases being taken tot r i bu n a l .
Comparing the first six months of2013 and 2014 numbers have droppedby a third.
This could be attributed to severalfactors – the prime candidate is thenew fee regime which was introducedin July 2013.
Other contributing factors could bean upturn in the economy meaningmore hires and less fires; the ex-tended period over which employeescan bring a claim; and the effect ofearly conciliation.
At first glance this drop in numberslooks like good news for businesses.
Fewer employees taking employ-ment disputes all the way will reducecosts and management time.
However, as well as fees to submit aclaim to tribunal, the requirement foremployers and employees to attendearly conciliation was also intro-duced to establish if legal proceed-ings could be avoided.
So lower tribunal numbers at thisstage might not mean less employ-ment disputes, and certainly thatthey won’t be any less time-consum-ing.
It also doesn’t take away the em-p l oye r ’s responsibility to deal withthem correctly.
Citizens Advice reported thatseven in 10 potentially successful
WHEN developer SalmonHarvester chose to goahead with the firstspeculative office devel-opment in the city, it
was widely seen as a big gamble.But that gamble on the city’s eco-
nomy is paying off as one of theso-called big four accountants hassigned a 15-year lease for the top threefloors of the seven-storey block – atrecord rents for Bristol.
PwC will be moving to shiny newoffices at 2 Glass Wharf at TempleQuay next summer. The Po s t re portedover the summer that the firm wasone of several potential cornerstonetenants for the development and nowthe move has been confirmed.
Regional chairman Matthew Ham-mond, inset below, said: “Bristol is agreat place to live and do businessand we are dedicated to growing ourpractice here, providing the highestlevel of expertise and experience tolocal businesses.
“PwC has been located in GreatGeorge Street, Bristol, for manyyears, which has been a fantastichome for our business. We havemany fond memories, but itis time to move our busi-ness forward.”
Katherine Finn, fa rright, PwC’s seniorpartner in Bristol, said:“2 Glass Wharf willprovide a modern, cre-ative workspace. Its closeproximity to BristolTemple Meads station at theheart of plans for future de-
velopments for the city centre,will ensure connectivity
within and beyond the re-gion for generations toc o m e.
“Our new office willsecure an efficient andflexible way for ourteams to work from an
environmentally sus-tainable building, redu-
cing our carbon footprint.”The accountancy firm is tak-
ing 37,157 sq ft at a record rate forthe city of £28 per squarefo o t .
Salmon Harvester ap-pointed Wates as con-tractor and started workon the 100,000 sq ft (9,290sq m), £40 millionscheme last October.
The project waslaunched by PlanningMinister Nick Boles lastyear, as a key part of the
Temple Quarter Enterprise Zonewhich was set up to stimulate
the economy and createthousands of jobs in thec i t y.
The news of the firstletting follows daysafter the firm developerannounced it was push-
ing ahead to build an-other office block next
d o o r.Development director Rorie
Henderson said: “As we near com-pletion, 2 Glass Wharf is taking shapeas the city’s flagship office buildingand we are delighted to have signedsuch a prestigious tenant. We havealways had every confidence in theBristol market and this is the first ofour three development projectsplanned at Temple Quay.
“We have considerable interest inthe remaining space at 2 Glass Wharfand hope to announce the scheme isfully let before Christmas.”
� Giftcloud founder Greg LeTocq
Richard HarrisChief Claims Officer atDAS UK
cases are now not being pursued bye m p l oye e s.
More than half of those inter-viewed said it was the fees or coststhat were deterring them from pur-suing these cases.
The consequences of the introduc-tion of fees have also been studied byresearchers at the universities ofBristol and Strathclyde which came
to the conclusion that they have“severely limited access to justice forwo rke r s ”.
Against the back drop of years ofrising employment tribunal claims abetter system was widely regarded byemployers, employees and politiciansalike as sorely-needed.
However, it’s not yet clear whetherthe new approach will result in fairer
results for everyone, as any change inour legal system takes time to bedin.
But we must keep sight of the ul-timate goal of any change: to improveaccess to justice.
� DAS is the UK’s leading legalexpenses insurer, providing costs tocover thousands of employmentdisputes every year. DAS receivesover 100,000 calls to its advice linesannually and employment concernsare the top topic. DAS has beenbased in Bristol for nearly 40 yearsand employs over 400 local people.
WHEN THE MUSIC STOPS. . .
“Citizens Advicereported that seven in 10potentially successfulcases are now not beingpursued by employees.More than half of thoseinterviewed said it wasthe fees or costs thatwere deterring themfrom pursuing thesecases.
� Now that the first tenantsare signed up at 2 GlassWharf, it could start a gameof office musical chairsaround the city.
There are a number ofother big playerslooking for newgrade A officespace in thecity, includingKPMG, lawfirm TLT andenergy firmE D F.
With PwCtaking thelandmark spot at2 Glass Wharf, itwould be a big surprise ifKPMG moved in too as thefirms are direct competitors.
More likely is KPMGbecoming anchor tenant inthe other big speculativedevelopment under way, 66Queen Square.
TLT would be anothercandidate for that spot,however, with the prestigelocation popular among lawfirms.
There is also grade Aspace in the slightly older
Bridgewater House inVictoria Street,
another populardistrict for legalservices andclose to TLT’scurrent office.
Those whobelieve in fate
might think thatwould be a better
spot for energy firmEDF, which is believed to
be in the market as it startsbuilding Hinkley Point Cnuclear plant in... B r i d g w a t e r,Somerset. But the fact one isspelt with an “e” and theother without might be toomuch to bear. � Above, 2 Glass Wharf; inset left, Bridgewater House
EPB-E01-S3
EPB-
E01-
S3
4 We d n e s d a y, October 15, 2014 5We d n e s d a y, October 15, 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
A COMPANY that measurestiny movements has beenmaking big strides forwardby growing its own businessby 50 per cent a year.
And the majority of that growth forFlax Bourton-based Imetrum hasbeen through exports.
The firm, which now employs 16people, was founded as a spin-off fromBristol University in 2003.
It’s two main areas of business aretesting materials such as composites,working with clients such as Red Bulland McLaren Formula 1 teams andBAE Systems and Airbus, and mon-itoring structures such as buildingsand bridges for movement.
The big advantage of its videogauge technique is that they don’tinvolve contact with the object orstructure being measured.
For something like a bridge, it canbe done from up to 1km away mean-ing structures can be safely mon-itored to see how they cope in adverseweather conditions.
The firm has grown 50 per centeach year for the last three years andthis year has a turnover target of £1.5million.
Spokeswoman Carrie Large saidthe firm had built its exports, whichaccount for 80 per cent of the busi-ness, through partnerships with locald i s t r i bu t o r s.
Recent additions include distrib-utors in Italy and Turkey and the firmalready has partners in South Korea,Australia, the United States, China,Japan and more.
The company has worked with UKTrade & Investment and other bodieswhen looking for partners abroad.
Carrie said: “Exports are drivingour growth and we are going to newdistributors all the time.
“We are not only growing but re-ducing our risks by operating in anumber of markets.”
Managing director John Brewstersaid that having the right productwas crucial.
He said: “Our continuing expan-sion evidences the increasing de-mand for our unique precisionmeasurement system.
“ The video gauge not only providesa measurement capability far beyondany other technology on the markettoday, it also offers a quicker set-uptime and lower costs.”
Net success Learn how to reachmore customers on social media
Nuclear plant approval fuelsprogress of office scheme
Experts from aroundworld offering advice� BRISTOL firms are being urged toget on the fast track to success byjoining UK Trade & Investment(UKTI) as it brings the world to theregion for its sixth Export Week.
Export Week aims to encouragecompanies to take up the exportchallenge and highlight the wealthof support and knowledge availableto help them grow.
Previous such events have seenmore than 17,000 companies acrossthe UK attend events and UKTI’sflagship ExploreExport roadshowwill be in the South West as part ofa tour of the country bringing morethan 120 experts from across theworld to share their expertise.
Russell Jones,pictur ed, regionaldirector for UKTrade &Investmentin theSouthWest, said:“There willbe 120expertsf ro mcountriesacross the worldhere in the South West to helpcompanies explore the possibilitiesof exporting to their nations.
“We aim to bring the world to theregion and we hope that theexpertise and advice that isavailable both at ExploreExport andother events throughout ExportWeek will help businesses on thefast track to exporting success.
“Export Week is an idealopportunity for companies to findout more about international tradeopportunities and the support that isavailable to help companies achievetheir exporting ambitions. I’d urgecompanies to sign up to join us andlook forward to welcoming them.”
Export Week takes place fromNovember 10-14. Events include aworkshop for medium-sizedbusiness at Aztec West Hotel onNovember 11 and the ExploreExportroadshow at the Bristol Hotel onNovember 13. Find out more atw w w. e x p o r t w e e k . u k t i . g o v. u k / f u l l .
Export WeekJuice launches newcall centre division� JUICE Recruitment haslaunched its new call centredivision, Juice Contact.
The consultancy’s move reflectsa growth in demand for customerservice and call centre workers inrecent years.
The division is being headed byHolly James-Harper, from thefirm’s Bristol office.
Holly said: ‘I am delighted to belaunching Juice Contact at anexciting period of growth anddevelopment for Juice as a whole.
“We are confident that wesupply a level of service andcalibre of candidate thatsupersedes what is on offer in themarket place.”
TLT wins award fordrive on equality� LAW firm TLT was won a LawSociety Excellence Award forequality and diversity.
The firm is the first to beawarded the Deaf Law QualityMark and is working hard to shareits experience with other firms.
Senior partner Robert Bournssaid: “This award is welcomerecognition for the work that ourSingle Equality Forum is doing topromote an open and inclusiveenvironment for our people andclients.”
OVER the last 30 years China hastransformed into a vibrant and ex-panding market – UK exports to thecountry reached £11.2bn in 2013, ex-ceeding the total of the previous threedecades, a record high.
China is the world’s largest ICTmarket, with over 1.1 billion mobilesubscribers as of 2012, and 564 millioninternet users – over 42 per cent of thep o p u l at i o n .
The increasing use of e-commercein China has made identifying po-tential business opportunities over-seas easily achievable. For example,earlier this year the Tangle Teezerhairbrush found success in Chinaafter advertising on the country’s so-cial media sites, Weibo and Weixin.Within a week it had over 6,000 fol-
lowers and sold more in a four-weekperiod than the previous 12.
Well known for its manufacturingcapabilities, China is the largest glob-al producer of consumer goods and,as the world’s largest consumer ofiron, steel, coal and cement, Chinahas a continuing hunger for raw ma-terials. With rapid and continuousindustrialisation and urbanisation,British expertise in the engineeringand construction sectors is highlysought after.
A fast-growing consumer markethas emerged where bicycles havebeen substituted by 110 million cars(now the largest car market in theworld), and traditional Mao suitshave been replaced by internationaldesigner labels and luxury goods.
China has become one of the UK’slargest food and soft drink exportmarkets, due to the growing middlecl a s s ’s taste for British salmon, pork,cider and even tea!
Obtaining reliable market research
Know the Chinese way to gainfoothold in fast-growing market
information and insights can often bemore difficult than in Western mar-kets. To gain the information yourequire you need to be prepared tovisit the market and meet face-to-facewith potential buyers and distrib-
utors. In China, the national lan-guage is Mandarin, and businesstransactions will often be conductedin this language.
Many websites and online mater-ials are written in Chinese and some-times certain information is simplyunavailable. It is therefore essentialto not only work with a translator butalso to verify all of your research.
Business in China often takes placeover a series of small meetings. Agreat deal of importance is placed onrespect, it’s considered impolite tolook people straight in the eye and iscustomary to stand up when a seniorperson enters the room, offeringthem the seat of honour.
Relations are often placed beforebusiness in China, therefore gifts arean important business tool, howeverit may be three or four meetingsbefore the gift is accepted.
Ensure your gift is not too expens-ive or extravagant or it may be con-sidered as bribery – a severe crime inthe country.
Engineering
Enter the dragon
D eve l o p m e n t
L aw
Re c r u i t m e n tM a r ket i n g
Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]
A NEW office building in Weston-super-Mareis to go ahead following the announcementthat a new nuclear power station in Somersethas been approved.
The decision to build £24.5 billion HinkleyPoint C down the M5 near Bridgwater isexpected to have knock-on benefits reachingup to Bristol and beyond.
The first of those sees the new landmarkEnterprise House office building at WestonGateway Business Park, which is going aheadin a bid to cater for companies looking foroffice space as a result of the nuclear plant.
The 26,000 sq ft building will accommodatemore than 250 people and is now being fasttracked through the planning process withNorth Somerset Council, due to its locationwithin the J21 Enterprise Area.
The goal is to finish the site, close toKnightstone Housing’s HQ just five minutesoff the M5, by December 1, 2015 .
Gemma Day from developer Dowlas said:“Negotiations are under way with various
parties to secure commitments to the build-ing to enable us to push the button.
“With renewed economic activity and par-ticularly investment in the nuclear industryacross Somerset we are confident the build-ing will be fully let in the near future.”
Peter Barrett, associate director of officeagency at commercial property consultantsLambert Smith Hampton (LSH), said: “OnceEnterprise House is largely let, the plan is toroll out additional phases in short order.”
Natalie Bennett, from Hartnell TaylorCook, added. “Weston needs high qualitybusiness premises to secure major occupiers,large scale new jobs and inward investment.Enterprise House will lead the way in provid-ing that space.”
Designed by Angus Meek Architects, thebuilding is intended to be sophisticated mod-ern with clean lines and carefully considereddetailing.
THE Bristol Post is helpingbusinesses learn how to usesocial media to win custom-ers and increase sales. We’restaging a free event in part-
nership with social media marketingagency Noisy Little Monkey.
In just 90 minutes business ownersand managers can find out how togenerate the most sales and re-sponses from their digital marketingand how to ensure they keep up withtheir social media strategy.
The seminar will be introduced byBristol Post editor Mike Norton andfeature a talk by Noisy Little Monkeyfounder Jon Payne, right.
Jon said: “These sessions are abouthelping people plan strategies so thatthey can develop their brand imageand their brand personality online.
“People will go away with action-able tips they can use to get morereturn from the time they spend as abusiness on Facebook, Twitter, Pin-trest or Google+.”
Jon said he was expecting a widespread of knowledge and engagementin how businesses already use social
media but believes they will all “goaway with something”.
He said: “If you have got an hour aweek or two days a month to invest insocial media, how should you spendthat? How can you measure what’sworking and what’s not? These arething things we will address.”
Mike added: “The Bristol Post hasgrown its audience by engaging withpeople through social media – we nowhave more than 33,000 Twitter fol-lowers and more than 37,000 Face-book likes.
“We want help other businesses inthe city to make the most of these
valuable tools for reaching out toc u s t o m e r s. ”
The seminars take place at theArnolfini on Thursday, October 23,with morning, afternoon and eveningsessions. To book, search for Down-load Bristol social media seminar onthe eventbrite website.
On the move Exports bring firm50pc growth for past three yearsGavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]
� An artist’s impression of the Enterprise House development
www.exportbritain.org.uk
#GetExportingTake your business to the next level and
In partnership with
www.exportbritain.org.uk
#GetExportingTake your business to the next level and
FIVE TOP TIPS FOR DOING BUSINESS IN CHINA
� 1 Do your research at theoutset; find out where in Chinathere is most demand for yourproduct or service and how thatmarket works as each region hasdifferent characteristics.� 2. You will need a tailoredmarket approach for Chineseconsumers, ensure you know theappropriate unique selling pointsto your business proposition.� 3 Make sure you have sufficientresources available (managementtime, project finance and
expenses) as to be successful inChina you will need to regularlyvisit the market.� 4 Decide early on whether youneed to work with a partner inChina to succeed, and if so makesure you can communicate withthem effectively – get to grips withlanguage and culture differences.� 5. To prevent your products orservices being deceptively copiedby others/competitors in China,evaluate the business risks andprotect your Intellectual Property.
JON ’S TOP TIPS
� Thumbs are your enemy! You needcatch the eye to stop the mobile userwhizzing by so always post an imageor even better a video with every Tweetyou are posting which attempts todirect traffic to your website.� It’s increasingly hard to promoteyour brand on Facebook because it’sfor people looking at pictures of catsand babies, so why should Facebookwant to interrupt that with yourmarketing posts? Most people findthey have to spend with Facebooknow, even if it’s just £5, to get a look in.� Watch your competitors. If you sellelectrical appliances, what is JohnLewis doing on social media to sell itsappliances? Then think about how youcan do something that marks you outas local to people with the same sort ofmoney to spend.
OPINION: PAGE 12
� Imetrum staff Andy Plumb, Carrie Large, Tim Hawes, Sarah Cox, Lisa Hall, Martin Giles, Chris Setchell, DavidGriffen, Zach Goldie, James Sharam and Matt Read-Jennings Pic: Jon Kent BRJK20141014A-005
STATION ROAD, BRISTOLFOR SALE/TO LET
PROMINENT DETACHEDPRODUCTION/OFFICEBUILDING WITH YARD/EXPANSION LAND32,215 SQ.FT. ON 3.41 ACRES
Andrew [email protected]
Emma [email protected]
EPB-E01-S3
EPB-
E01-
S3
4 We d n e s d a y, October 15, 2014 5We d n e s d a y, October 15, 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
A COMPANY that measurestiny movements has beenmaking big strides forwardby growing its own businessby 50 per cent a year.
And the majority of that growth forFlax Bourton-based Imetrum hasbeen through exports.
The firm, which now employs 16people, was founded as a spin-off fromBristol University in 2003.
It’s two main areas of business aretesting materials such as composites,working with clients such as Red Bulland McLaren Formula 1 teams andBAE Systems and Airbus, and mon-itoring structures such as buildingsand bridges for movement.
The big advantage of its videogauge technique is that they don’tinvolve contact with the object orstructure being measured.
For something like a bridge, it canbe done from up to 1km away mean-ing structures can be safely mon-itored to see how they cope in adverseweather conditions.
The firm has grown 50 per centeach year for the last three years andthis year has a turnover target of £1.5million.
Spokeswoman Carrie Large saidthe firm had built its exports, whichaccount for 80 per cent of the busi-ness, through partnerships with locald i s t r i bu t o r s.
Recent additions include distrib-utors in Italy and Turkey and the firmalready has partners in South Korea,Australia, the United States, China,Japan and more.
The company has worked with UKTrade & Investment and other bodieswhen looking for partners abroad.
Carrie said: “Exports are drivingour growth and we are going to newdistributors all the time.
“We are not only growing but re-ducing our risks by operating in anumber of markets.”
Managing director John Brewstersaid that having the right productwas crucial.
He said: “Our continuing expan-sion evidences the increasing de-mand for our unique precisionmeasurement system.
“ The video gauge not only providesa measurement capability far beyondany other technology on the markettoday, it also offers a quicker set-uptime and lower costs.”
Net success Learn how to reachmore customers on social media
Nuclear plant approval fuelsprogress of office scheme
Experts from aroundworld offering advice� BRISTOL firms are being urged toget on the fast track to success byjoining UK Trade & Investment(UKTI) as it brings the world to theregion for its sixth Export Week.
Export Week aims to encouragecompanies to take up the exportchallenge and highlight the wealthof support and knowledge availableto help them grow.
Previous such events have seenmore than 17,000 companies acrossthe UK attend events and UKTI’sflagship ExploreExport roadshowwill be in the South West as part ofa tour of the country bringing morethan 120 experts from across theworld to share their expertise.
Russell Jones,pictur ed, regionaldirector for UKTrade &Investmentin theSouthWest, said:“There willbe 120expertsf ro mcountriesacross the worldhere in the South West to helpcompanies explore the possibilitiesof exporting to their nations.
“We aim to bring the world to theregion and we hope that theexpertise and advice that isavailable both at ExploreExport andother events throughout ExportWeek will help businesses on thefast track to exporting success.
“Export Week is an idealopportunity for companies to findout more about international tradeopportunities and the support that isavailable to help companies achievetheir exporting ambitions. I’d urgecompanies to sign up to join us andlook forward to welcoming them.”
Export Week takes place fromNovember 10-14. Events include aworkshop for medium-sizedbusiness at Aztec West Hotel onNovember 11 and the ExploreExportroadshow at the Bristol Hotel onNovember 13. Find out more atw w w. e x p o r t w e e k . u k t i . g o v. u k / f u l l .
Export WeekJuice launches newcall centre division� JUICE Recruitment haslaunched its new call centredivision, Juice Contact.
The consultancy’s move reflectsa growth in demand for customerservice and call centre workers inrecent years.
The division is being headed byHolly James-Harper, from thefirm’s Bristol office.
Holly said: ‘I am delighted to belaunching Juice Contact at anexciting period of growth anddevelopment for Juice as a whole.
“We are confident that wesupply a level of service andcalibre of candidate thatsupersedes what is on offer in themarket place.”
TLT wins award fordrive on equality� LAW firm TLT was won a LawSociety Excellence Award forequality and diversity.
The firm is the first to beawarded the Deaf Law QualityMark and is working hard to shareits experience with other firms.
Senior partner Robert Bournssaid: “This award is welcomerecognition for the work that ourSingle Equality Forum is doing topromote an open and inclusiveenvironment for our people andclients.”
OVER the last 30 years China hastransformed into a vibrant and ex-panding market – UK exports to thecountry reached £11.2bn in 2013, ex-ceeding the total of the previous threedecades, a record high.
China is the world’s largest ICTmarket, with over 1.1 billion mobilesubscribers as of 2012, and 564 millioninternet users – over 42 per cent of thep o p u l at i o n .
The increasing use of e-commercein China has made identifying po-tential business opportunities over-seas easily achievable. For example,earlier this year the Tangle Teezerhairbrush found success in Chinaafter advertising on the country’s so-cial media sites, Weibo and Weixin.Within a week it had over 6,000 fol-
lowers and sold more in a four-weekperiod than the previous 12.
Well known for its manufacturingcapabilities, China is the largest glob-al producer of consumer goods and,as the world’s largest consumer ofiron, steel, coal and cement, Chinahas a continuing hunger for raw ma-terials. With rapid and continuousindustrialisation and urbanisation,British expertise in the engineeringand construction sectors is highlysought after.
A fast-growing consumer markethas emerged where bicycles havebeen substituted by 110 million cars(now the largest car market in theworld), and traditional Mao suitshave been replaced by internationaldesigner labels and luxury goods.
China has become one of the UK’slargest food and soft drink exportmarkets, due to the growing middlecl a s s ’s taste for British salmon, pork,cider and even tea!
Obtaining reliable market research
Know the Chinese way to gainfoothold in fast-growing market
information and insights can often bemore difficult than in Western mar-kets. To gain the information yourequire you need to be prepared tovisit the market and meet face-to-facewith potential buyers and distrib-
utors. In China, the national lan-guage is Mandarin, and businesstransactions will often be conductedin this language.
Many websites and online mater-ials are written in Chinese and some-times certain information is simplyunavailable. It is therefore essentialto not only work with a translator butalso to verify all of your research.
Business in China often takes placeover a series of small meetings. Agreat deal of importance is placed onrespect, it’s considered impolite tolook people straight in the eye and iscustomary to stand up when a seniorperson enters the room, offeringthem the seat of honour.
Relations are often placed beforebusiness in China, therefore gifts arean important business tool, howeverit may be three or four meetingsbefore the gift is accepted.
Ensure your gift is not too expens-ive or extravagant or it may be con-sidered as bribery – a severe crime inthe country.
Engineering
Enter the dragon
D eve l o p m e n t
L aw
Re c r u i t m e n tM a r ket i n g
Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]
A NEW office building in Weston-super-Mareis to go ahead following the announcementthat a new nuclear power station in Somersethas been approved.
The decision to build £24.5 billion HinkleyPoint C down the M5 near Bridgwater isexpected to have knock-on benefits reachingup to Bristol and beyond.
The first of those sees the new landmarkEnterprise House office building at WestonGateway Business Park, which is going aheadin a bid to cater for companies looking foroffice space as a result of the nuclear plant.
The 26,000 sq ft building will accommodatemore than 250 people and is now being fasttracked through the planning process withNorth Somerset Council, due to its locationwithin the J21 Enterprise Area.
The goal is to finish the site, close toKnightstone Housing’s HQ just five minutesoff the M5, by December 1, 2015 .
Gemma Day from developer Dowlas said:“Negotiations are under way with various
parties to secure commitments to the build-ing to enable us to push the button.
“With renewed economic activity and par-ticularly investment in the nuclear industryacross Somerset we are confident the build-ing will be fully let in the near future.”
Peter Barrett, associate director of officeagency at commercial property consultantsLambert Smith Hampton (LSH), said: “OnceEnterprise House is largely let, the plan is toroll out additional phases in short order.”
Natalie Bennett, from Hartnell TaylorCook, added. “Weston needs high qualitybusiness premises to secure major occupiers,large scale new jobs and inward investment.Enterprise House will lead the way in provid-ing that space.”
Designed by Angus Meek Architects, thebuilding is intended to be sophisticated mod-ern with clean lines and carefully considereddetailing.
THE Bristol Post is helpingbusinesses learn how to usesocial media to win custom-ers and increase sales. We’restaging a free event in part-
nership with social media marketingagency Noisy Little Monkey.
In just 90 minutes business ownersand managers can find out how togenerate the most sales and re-sponses from their digital marketingand how to ensure they keep up withtheir social media strategy.
The seminar will be introduced byBristol Post editor Mike Norton andfeature a talk by Noisy Little Monkeyfounder Jon Payne, right.
Jon said: “These sessions are abouthelping people plan strategies so thatthey can develop their brand imageand their brand personality online.
“People will go away with action-able tips they can use to get morereturn from the time they spend as abusiness on Facebook, Twitter, Pin-trest or Google+.”
Jon said he was expecting a widespread of knowledge and engagementin how businesses already use social
media but believes they will all “goaway with something”.
He said: “If you have got an hour aweek or two days a month to invest insocial media, how should you spendthat? How can you measure what’sworking and what’s not? These arething things we will address.”
Mike added: “The Bristol Post hasgrown its audience by engaging withpeople through social media – we nowhave more than 33,000 Twitter fol-lowers and more than 37,000 Face-book likes.
“We want help other businesses inthe city to make the most of these
valuable tools for reaching out toc u s t o m e r s. ”
The seminars take place at theArnolfini on Thursday, October 23,with morning, afternoon and eveningsessions. To book, search for Down-load Bristol social media seminar onthe eventbrite website.
On the move Exports bring firm50pc growth for past three yearsGavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]
� An artist’s impression of the Enterprise House development
www.exportbritain.org.uk
#GetExportingTake your business to the next level and
In partnership with
www.exportbritain.org.uk
#GetExportingTake your business to the next level and
FIVE TOP TIPS FOR DOING BUSINESS IN CHINA
� 1 Do your research at theoutset; find out where in Chinathere is most demand for yourproduct or service and how thatmarket works as each region hasdifferent characteristics.� 2. You will need a tailoredmarket approach for Chineseconsumers, ensure you know theappropriate unique selling pointsto your business proposition.� 3 Make sure you have sufficientresources available (managementtime, project finance and
expenses) as to be successful inChina you will need to regularlyvisit the market.� 4 Decide early on whether youneed to work with a partner inChina to succeed, and if so makesure you can communicate withthem effectively – get to grips withlanguage and culture differences.� 5. To prevent your products orservices being deceptively copiedby others/competitors in China,evaluate the business risks andprotect your Intellectual Property.
JON ’S TOP TIPS
� Thumbs are your enemy! You needcatch the eye to stop the mobile userwhizzing by so always post an imageor even better a video with every Tweetyou are posting which attempts todirect traffic to your website.� It’s increasingly hard to promoteyour brand on Facebook because it’sfor people looking at pictures of catsand babies, so why should Facebookwant to interrupt that with yourmarketing posts? Most people findthey have to spend with Facebooknow, even if it’s just £5, to get a look in.� Watch your competitors. If you sellelectrical appliances, what is JohnLewis doing on social media to sell itsappliances? Then think about how youcan do something that marks you outas local to people with the same sort ofmoney to spend.
OPINION: PAGE 12
� Imetrum staff Andy Plumb, Carrie Large, Tim Hawes, Sarah Cox, Lisa Hall, Martin Giles, Chris Setchell, DavidGriffen, Zach Goldie, James Sharam and Matt Read-Jennings Pic: Jon Kent BRJK20141014A-005
STATION ROAD, BRISTOLFOR SALE/TO LET
PROMINENT DETACHEDPRODUCTION/OFFICEBUILDING WITH YARD/EXPANSION LAND32,215 SQ.FT. ON 3.41 ACRES
Andrew [email protected]
Emma [email protected]
EPB-E01-S3
EPB-
E01-
S3
6 We d n e s d a y, October 15, 2014 7We d n e s d a y, October 15, 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
WHEN Misty Tunks was pregnant withdaughter Luna, she was a little bored by theactivities on offer.
“We had the option of antenatalclasses and pregnancy yoga,” shesaid. “But where were the creativeclasses that we and other preg-nant women so badly needed?”
Misty, p i c t u re d , 35, from Eas-ton, was inspired by researchfrom the University of Rich-mond in Virginia which foundhormones during pregnancy andlabour rewire a mother’s brain.
“So she might not remember every-day information but she uncovers cre-ative pathways and becomes more‘right-brained,” she said.
“I wanted to make beautiful creations formy baby, in fact I needed to, but I struggled todedicate time to being creative with all thatnesting going on.”
So Misty hit upon a business idea around
the time when the Duchess of Cambridge wasalso pregnant with Prince George. And just asthe Duchess is expecting again, Misty has got
her Makey Mammas creative work-shops up and running.
She said: “I want to enable preg-nant women and new mums tonurture that creative instinct.
“Makey Mamas offers a rangeof creative workshops wherepregnant women and mums ofyoung babies can learn new
skills, make lovely things for theirbumps and babies and relax with
other like-minded women.”The workshops on offer include learn-
ing how to photograph your bump and baby,toy and bootie making, creating natural skinproducts for your pregnant bump and baby,patch working and casting pregnant bumpsand babies.
Misty’s now booking for her winter work-shops, which take place in Bishopston.
Idea born from my pregnancy boredom
A MUM has turned parent-hood into a business aftersetting up a blog websitecalled Bishopston Mum. Forfreelance writer Hilary Dou-
gals-Smith, it started as a way torecord her child’s early years.
Hilary lives in Bishopston with hertwo children, now five and three, andhusband, just five minutes fromwhere she grew up.
So she also wanted to put her localknowledge to use for other mums inand around the area and decided tofocus on her family life locally, re-viewing places they visit from amum’s perspective.
“Bishopston Mum evolved into asuccessful website and business,” shesaid.
“Its aim is to inform, inspire andsupport parents who are living andraising children in Bishopston, Hor-field, St Andrew’s and Ashley Down.
“‘From a mum’s perspective’ be-
came my tag line.”The site includes listings for local
playground and parent and toddlera c t iv i t i e s.
It also features information aboutsupport groups, charities and edu-cation, write-ups of days out thatother parents might want to try, andthe experiences and stories of othermums too.
And it has proved such a successthat Hilary has since launched aspin-off site, Bristol Mum.
Together they have more than 5,500Twitter followers.
Now Hilary, who keeps her partnerand children’s names off the site fortheir privacy, is in the running fornational award.
She took the Online and Techno-logy prize in the Bristol and SomersetVenus awards for businesswomenand goes forward to the national finalin January.
But whatever the outcome, Hilaryalready feels like a winner for makinga business out of something she ispassionate about.
“I absolutely love what I do,” shesaid. “I am so pleased at how suc-cessful the websites have become.”
M ot h e r ’s pridePassion leads towebsite success
Clients enjoy top art displayIn pictures Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2014
In pictures Bristol Distinguished Address Series
First lecture Chief executive tellsof recovery from £500m of debt
Business diary
Email your business events [email protected] are sometimescancelled without us beingnotified so please check withorganisers before travelling.
Grant Thornton FD Club:London Stock Exchange regionalrep Lucy Tarleton addresses themonthly club. Takes place from8am October 16 at GrantThor nton’s offices in HartwellHouse. Contact Laura Ketland [email protected].
Introduction to exportp ro c e d u re s : Business Westexport training course providesunderstanding of theterminology, procedures anddocumentation used in theexport process. £350+VAT, LeighCourt, Abbots Leigh,9.15am-4.30pm, October 15.
Crossrail opportunities:Working with Business West,Crossrail would like to invitespecialists to learn more aboutthe opportunities on this hugeinfrastructure project.1.30pm-3.30pm, October 16 atBond Dickinson, 3 Temple Quay,Temple Back East.
Google Digital Masterclass:Experts from Google give localbusinesses a masterclass inusing the internet toturbo-charge their growth.October 17, noon to 2pm. Signup at https://events.withgoogle.c o m / g o o g l e - j u i c e - b a r- b r i s t o l .
Online
Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]
Wo r ks h o ps
� Mums-to-be atone of theMakeyMammasc re a t i v eworkshopswhere theycan learnnew skillsande x p re s stheirc re a t i v i t y
� Hilary Douglas-Smith Picture: Barbara Evripidou BRBE20140917B-2
� A GOVERNMENT minister haspraised a festival for womenentrepreneurs taking place in Bristolnext week. Jo Swinson, pictur ed, aminister in the Business, Innovationand Skills department and also andWomen and Equalities Minister,said: “More and more women areturning their business ideas intoreality and are successful in doingso, which is why events like theFestival of Female Entrepreneurs areso popular.”
She said the event offered achance for women to takeinspiration from otherssuch as keynotespeaker FionaStewart, ownerof the GreenMan Festival.
Ms Swinsonsaid: “Thegovernment isworking to makethis country thebest place to startand grow a business,but ultimately oureconomy’s success relies on theefforts of our entrepreneurs, andwomen like Fiona Stewart are aninspiration to us all.”
The event, at the Colston Hall onMonday, is run by Women OutsideThe Box. Founder Joni Farthingsaid: “FFE14 gives women a placeto talk business, a place where theycan think big. I want to help womenstart large, profitable companies,and the festival can help them dothat.”
E n t re p re n e u rsCity festival winspraise from minister
Join us for the‘Buying Customers Seminar’ Presented by Brad Sugars,
Founder of Action Coach
Register now for FREE at
www.bristolpost.co.uk/bradsugars
What if you were guaranteed that every new customer buying from you would spend the next 5 years buying more products at ever higher price points?
Or you were certain that every Pound spent on your marketing or advertising would return extra Pounds to you down the road?
Now, you can … with this innovative new seminar from Brad Sugars, The World’s Leading Business Coach.
Discover the proven strategies of massively boosting your number of new clients almost immediately with Brad Sugars and his “Buying Customers” seminar.
Thursday 23rd October 201418:30 to 21:30
UWE Bristol Exhibition and Conference Centre, Filton Rd,Stoke Gifford, Bristol BS34 8QZ
CULTURAL transformation isthe key to delivering top per-formance in business, ac-cording to Leo Quinn. TheCEO of QinetiQ Group – a
technology and research companythat emerged from the Government’sold Defence Evaluation and ResearchAgency – was the first lecturer in thenew Bristol Distinguished AddressS e r i e s.
Speaking to UWE students andguests from the worlds of business
THE Bristol office of accountancy and in-vestment management group Smith & Wil-liamson hosted an exhibition of artshortlisted for the 27th annual Sunday TimesWatercolour Competition 2014 – the largestexhibition of its kind in the UK.
A private viewing of 93 original works of artby 73 artists, including four from Somerset,took place at Smith & Williamson’s offices inPortwall Lane, Bristol.
The four Somerset artists whose work wasdisplayed were Leo Davey from Minehead,Lucy Willis from Bridgwater, David A Parfittfrom Radstock and Sara Dudman from Taun-ton.
Mike Lea, managing partner of Smith &Williamson, Bristol, said: “We were delightedto be able to host this important exhibitionwhich celebrates the diversity and beauty ofthe medium of watercolour.
“The standard of entries was extremelyhigh and we were pleased to see local artistsincluded in the shortlist. We were delightedso many of our clients and contacts could joinus for what was a highly enjoyable and stim-ulating evening of art.”
The three winners’ paintings, judged byartists Sarah Armstrong Jones and BenRavenscroft, Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures
Desmond Shawe-Taylor CVO, and critic andwriter at the Sunday Times Louis Wise, wereamong those featured in the exhibition.
First prize was awarded to Kathryn Maplefor ‘Fat Boy’s Diner’ while second prize wentto Danny Markey for his work entitled ‘Re a rview mirror and blue ship’.
Paul Newland’s watercolour and gouachework ‘From the Southern Suburbs II’ wasawarded the Smith & Williamson CityscapePrize in third place.
and defence at City Hall, he revealedhow he led the transformation of abusiness that had £535 million of debtin 2006, to one growing and in profit,with an annual global turnover of $2.5billion.
Ending his lecture, Mr Quinn said:“We now have 5,000 employees allfacing in the right direction, eachtaking one small step, which is mak-ing a big change.”
The lectures are delivered by Bris-tol Business School at UWE. ACCA,the city council, Bristol JuniorChamber, Bristol Post, BusinessWest, CBI, CMI, FSB, IoD, ICAEW,and West of England LEP are part-n e r s.
The next event in the series fea-tures Dr Tony Cocker, chief executiveof E.ON UK and takes place at CityHall on October 28.
� Prof Martin Boddy, Leo Quinn CEO of QineticQ,George Sanderson, Prof Nicholas O'Regan andDavid Pinchard BRML20141009F-008
� Leo Quinn CEO of QineticQ speaks at the BristolDistinguished Address event
Pictures: Michael LloydBRML20141009F-013
� Alison Scott and Jeni Pearse
For more information, or to take our 2 monthfree trial, go to www.saltydoginvestor.com saltydog
INVESTOR
Take control of your ownfinances. With our help youcan reap the benefits.
Saltydog Investor Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and does notprovide financial advice. Any information that you use, or guidance that you follow, is entirely at yourown risk. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
DOUGLAS CHADWICK,FOUNDER AND CHAIRMANOF
Saltydog Investorand
the Saltydog Investor crew
Invite Saltydog Investor subscribers, friends and the curious to learn:
The benefits of actively trading funds
How to consistently pick the top performing funds
The best way to avoid market downturns
How to maximise the returns on your ISAs, SIPPs, and other Investments
Talk & Drinks
Monday,October 27th, 2014
6:00pm - 8:00 pmHarveys Cellars
12 Denmark Street, Bristol, BS1 5DQ
To attend the talk please email: [email protected]
EPB-E01-S3
EPB-
E01-
S3
6 We d n e s d a y, October 15, 2014 7We d n e s d a y, October 15, 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
WHEN Misty Tunks was pregnant withdaughter Luna, she was a little bored by theactivities on offer.
“We had the option of antenatalclasses and pregnancy yoga,” shesaid. “But where were the creativeclasses that we and other preg-nant women so badly needed?”
Misty, p i c t u re d , 35, from Eas-ton, was inspired by researchfrom the University of Rich-mond in Virginia which foundhormones during pregnancy andlabour rewire a mother’s brain.
“So she might not remember every-day information but she uncovers cre-ative pathways and becomes more‘right-brained,” she said.
“I wanted to make beautiful creations formy baby, in fact I needed to, but I struggled todedicate time to being creative with all thatnesting going on.”
So Misty hit upon a business idea around
the time when the Duchess of Cambridge wasalso pregnant with Prince George. And just asthe Duchess is expecting again, Misty has got
her Makey Mammas creative work-shops up and running.
She said: “I want to enable preg-nant women and new mums tonurture that creative instinct.
“Makey Mamas offers a rangeof creative workshops wherepregnant women and mums ofyoung babies can learn new
skills, make lovely things for theirbumps and babies and relax with
other like-minded women.”The workshops on offer include learn-
ing how to photograph your bump and baby,toy and bootie making, creating natural skinproducts for your pregnant bump and baby,patch working and casting pregnant bumpsand babies.
Misty’s now booking for her winter work-shops, which take place in Bishopston.
Idea born from my pregnancy boredom
A MUM has turned parent-hood into a business aftersetting up a blog websitecalled Bishopston Mum. Forfreelance writer Hilary Dou-
gals-Smith, it started as a way torecord her child’s early years.
Hilary lives in Bishopston with hertwo children, now five and three, andhusband, just five minutes fromwhere she grew up.
So she also wanted to put her localknowledge to use for other mums inand around the area and decided tofocus on her family life locally, re-viewing places they visit from amum’s perspective.
“Bishopston Mum evolved into asuccessful website and business,” shesaid.
“Its aim is to inform, inspire andsupport parents who are living andraising children in Bishopston, Hor-field, St Andrew’s and Ashley Down.
“‘From a mum’s perspective’ be-
came my tag line.”The site includes listings for local
playground and parent and toddlera c t iv i t i e s.
It also features information aboutsupport groups, charities and edu-cation, write-ups of days out thatother parents might want to try, andthe experiences and stories of othermums too.
And it has proved such a successthat Hilary has since launched aspin-off site, Bristol Mum.
Together they have more than 5,500Twitter followers.
Now Hilary, who keeps her partnerand children’s names off the site fortheir privacy, is in the running fornational award.
She took the Online and Techno-logy prize in the Bristol and SomersetVenus awards for businesswomenand goes forward to the national finalin January.
But whatever the outcome, Hilaryalready feels like a winner for makinga business out of something she ispassionate about.
“I absolutely love what I do,” shesaid. “I am so pleased at how suc-cessful the websites have become.”
M ot h e r ’s pridePassion leads towebsite success
Clients enjoy top art displayIn pictures Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2014
In pictures Bristol Distinguished Address Series
First lecture Chief executive tellsof recovery from £500m of debt
Business diary
Email your business events [email protected] are sometimescancelled without us beingnotified so please check withorganisers before travelling.
Grant Thornton FD Club:London Stock Exchange regionalrep Lucy Tarleton addresses themonthly club. Takes place from8am October 16 at GrantThor nton’s offices in HartwellHouse. Contact Laura Ketland [email protected].
Introduction to exportp ro c e d u re s : Business Westexport training course providesunderstanding of theterminology, procedures anddocumentation used in theexport process. £350+VAT, LeighCourt, Abbots Leigh,9.15am-4.30pm, October 15.
Crossrail opportunities:Working with Business West,Crossrail would like to invitespecialists to learn more aboutthe opportunities on this hugeinfrastructure project.1.30pm-3.30pm, October 16 atBond Dickinson, 3 Temple Quay,Temple Back East.
Google Digital Masterclass:Experts from Google give localbusinesses a masterclass inusing the internet toturbo-charge their growth.October 17, noon to 2pm. Signup at https://events.withgoogle.c o m / g o o g l e - j u i c e - b a r- b r i s t o l .
Online
Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]
Wo r ks h o ps
� Mums-to-be atone of theMakeyMammasc re a t i v eworkshopswhere theycan learnnew skillsande x p re s stheirc re a t i v i t y
� Hilary Douglas-Smith Picture: Barbara Evripidou BRBE20140917B-2
� A GOVERNMENT minister haspraised a festival for womenentrepreneurs taking place in Bristolnext week. Jo Swinson, pictur ed, aminister in the Business, Innovationand Skills department and also andWomen and Equalities Minister,said: “More and more women areturning their business ideas intoreality and are successful in doingso, which is why events like theFestival of Female Entrepreneurs areso popular.”
She said the event offered achance for women to takeinspiration from otherssuch as keynotespeaker FionaStewart, ownerof the GreenMan Festival.
Ms Swinsonsaid: “Thegovernment isworking to makethis country thebest place to startand grow a business,but ultimately oureconomy’s success relies on theefforts of our entrepreneurs, andwomen like Fiona Stewart are aninspiration to us all.”
The event, at the Colston Hall onMonday, is run by Women OutsideThe Box. Founder Joni Farthingsaid: “FFE14 gives women a placeto talk business, a place where theycan think big. I want to help womenstart large, profitable companies,and the festival can help them dothat.”
E n t re p re n e u rsCity festival winspraise from minister
Join us for the‘Buying Customers Seminar’ Presented by Brad Sugars,
Founder of Action Coach
Register now for FREE at
www.bristolpost.co.uk/bradsugars
What if you were guaranteed that every new customer buying from you would spend the next 5 years buying more products at ever higher price points?
Or you were certain that every Pound spent on your marketing or advertising would return extra Pounds to you down the road?
Now, you can … with this innovative new seminar from Brad Sugars, The World’s Leading Business Coach.
Discover the proven strategies of massively boosting your number of new clients almost immediately with Brad Sugars and his “Buying Customers” seminar.
Thursday 23rd October 201418:30 to 21:30
UWE Bristol Exhibition and Conference Centre, Filton Rd,Stoke Gifford, Bristol BS34 8QZ
CULTURAL transformation isthe key to delivering top per-formance in business, ac-cording to Leo Quinn. TheCEO of QinetiQ Group – a
technology and research companythat emerged from the Government’sold Defence Evaluation and ResearchAgency – was the first lecturer in thenew Bristol Distinguished AddressS e r i e s.
Speaking to UWE students andguests from the worlds of business
THE Bristol office of accountancy and in-vestment management group Smith & Wil-liamson hosted an exhibition of artshortlisted for the 27th annual Sunday TimesWatercolour Competition 2014 – the largestexhibition of its kind in the UK.
A private viewing of 93 original works of artby 73 artists, including four from Somerset,took place at Smith & Williamson’s offices inPortwall Lane, Bristol.
The four Somerset artists whose work wasdisplayed were Leo Davey from Minehead,Lucy Willis from Bridgwater, David A Parfittfrom Radstock and Sara Dudman from Taun-ton.
Mike Lea, managing partner of Smith &Williamson, Bristol, said: “We were delightedto be able to host this important exhibitionwhich celebrates the diversity and beauty ofthe medium of watercolour.
“The standard of entries was extremelyhigh and we were pleased to see local artistsincluded in the shortlist. We were delightedso many of our clients and contacts could joinus for what was a highly enjoyable and stim-ulating evening of art.”
The three winners’ paintings, judged byartists Sarah Armstrong Jones and BenRavenscroft, Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures
Desmond Shawe-Taylor CVO, and critic andwriter at the Sunday Times Louis Wise, wereamong those featured in the exhibition.
First prize was awarded to Kathryn Maplefor ‘Fat Boy’s Diner’ while second prize wentto Danny Markey for his work entitled ‘Re a rview mirror and blue ship’.
Paul Newland’s watercolour and gouachework ‘From the Southern Suburbs II’ wasawarded the Smith & Williamson CityscapePrize in third place.
and defence at City Hall, he revealedhow he led the transformation of abusiness that had £535 million of debtin 2006, to one growing and in profit,with an annual global turnover of $2.5billion.
Ending his lecture, Mr Quinn said:“We now have 5,000 employees allfacing in the right direction, eachtaking one small step, which is mak-ing a big change.”
The lectures are delivered by Bris-tol Business School at UWE. ACCA,the city council, Bristol JuniorChamber, Bristol Post, BusinessWest, CBI, CMI, FSB, IoD, ICAEW,and West of England LEP are part-n e r s.
The next event in the series fea-tures Dr Tony Cocker, chief executiveof E.ON UK and takes place at CityHall on October 28.
� Prof Martin Boddy, Leo Quinn CEO of QineticQ,George Sanderson, Prof Nicholas O'Regan andDavid Pinchard BRML20141009F-008
� Leo Quinn CEO of QineticQ speaks at the BristolDistinguished Address event
Pictures: Michael LloydBRML20141009F-013
� Alison Scott and Jeni Pearse
For more information, or to take our 2 monthfree trial, go to www.saltydoginvestor.com saltydog
INVESTOR
Take control of your ownfinances. With our help youcan reap the benefits.
Saltydog Investor Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and does notprovide financial advice. Any information that you use, or guidance that you follow, is entirely at yourown risk. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
DOUGLAS CHADWICK,FOUNDER AND CHAIRMANOF
Saltydog Investorand
the Saltydog Investor crew
Invite Saltydog Investor subscribers, friends and the curious to learn:
The benefits of actively trading funds
How to consistently pick the top performing funds
The best way to avoid market downturns
How to maximise the returns on your ISAs, SIPPs, and other Investments
Talk & Drinks
Monday,October 27th, 2014
6:00pm - 8:00 pmHarveys Cellars
12 Denmark Street, Bristol, BS1 5DQ
To attend the talk please email: [email protected]
EPB-E01-S3
EPB-
E01-
S3
8 We d n e s d a y, October 15, 2014 9We d n e s d a y, October 15, 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
FOR someone who works in acyber security company,Brian Lord isn’t brimmingwith kind words about the ITsecurity industry.
The managing director of cybersecurity at Protection Group Inter-national, which has recently openeda £5 million training centre in AztecWest, believes business leadersneed to start treating the threatsdifferently, but thinks the industryh a s n’t helped.
“There are elements in the ITsecurity industry trying to keepthings difficult and to keep the mys-tery around it,” he said.
“But cyber security is a risk like
It would be hard to find abusiness owner who isunaware of cyber threats.But are they going abouttackling it in the right way?Gavin Thompson finds outwhy many bosses need abetter grasp of the threats
Data storage and cyber securityExpert eye
‘BOSSES HAVE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE RISKS’
Brian Lord
“The business ownerwants to know what bitof it they have to treat,what bit can theytolerate, what risks canthey transfer throughinsurance.”
BRISTOL is home to a widerange of organisations whichare prime targets for cyberhackers due to the data theyhold. Those operating in the
defence, insurance, financial services,aerospace, legal and high tech engin-eering sectors, together with our worldleading universities, all hold intellec-tual property and data which has a highvalue on the black market and to nationstates committing industrial espion-a g e.
There is not one standard solution tothis problem. Organisations need towork out where they are vulnerableand design a system that is robust andproportionate to protect their data.
When assessing these risks, the keyquestions to consider include: Do youhave the right level of protection foryour ‘crown jewel’ assets? What wouldthe impact be on your business if yousuffered a cyber security breach? Howdo youk n owyo uh ave n’ta l re a dysuf feredone?How do you know your third partyproviders are protecting your data inthe right way?
After answering these questions, or-ganisations can begin to place securityinvestments in the right areas, pro-tecting what really matters to the busi-ness and their customers alike, in botha proportional and pragmatic way.
Key steps to take:� Know your enemy – Assess thethreat source and strike the right bal-ance between focusing on likely chan-nels of attack and businesso p e r at i o n s.� Be on the front foot – Secure dataand systems in advance, don’t wait toinvest until after a breach has occurredand the damage is done.� Gather and share intelligence –Understand the nature and latest meth-odologies used, to inform your de-cisions and share this newly foundinformation within and outside youri n d u s t r y.� Train staff – Despite technologysophistication, your people remain keyto security, both as a first line of defenceand as a major threat. Education andawareness remain key.� Delegate at your peril – D o n’t solelyrely on your IT department for thesecurity of the company’s data andsystems. Cyber security is a boardroomissue and must be included in the or-g anisation’s wider risk managementap p ro a ch .� Be brave – Boldness is key both inproactive investment and reactive re-sponse. It is essential to have in place acyber incident plan, which can be usedto maintain customer and shareholderconfidence in your brand.
A positive approach to managingcyber risk will set organisations free toachieve their business aspirations.
Crucial steps to defendagainst cyber hackers
Del HeppenstallDir ectorKPMG
Expert eye
www.hns.netBristol: 0117 920 0045Cardiff: 02920 782 791
Secure, dependable networks & Data Centres
Ensure data security byintegrated approach
WITH the recent media cov-erage of bugs such as“Heart bleed” and “Shells h o ck ”, many businesseshave been re-evaluating
the security of their onsite servers andnetworks to address how they can re-duce these potential threats to theirbu s i n e s s.
But Cyber security must relate notjust to prevention of viruses or bugs.There are equally critical, often over-looked, factors to consider too:� Physical security - this can often bethe weakest link of all - how secure isyour building?� Location of equipment - is it safefrom flooding; free from being a po-tential fire hazard?� Maintenance of the environment -are servers being sufficiently cooledand energy optimised?
For most businesses, security of datais only half the story. Business con-tinuity is just as vital. Factors such assupply of power, network and envir-onmental services need to be carefullyconsidered, along with distributing in-formation and server capacity in dif-ferent physical locations.
A popular approach is to turn to the“cl o u d ”, however, unless implementedcorrectly to match specific businessneeds, this could be ineffective and willnot ensure security or continuity ofservice. While the flexibility andcost-effectiveness of using cloud ser-vices is brilliant, it is easy to forget thatthese are often operated using com-modity equipment and must be subjectto the same best practices to ensuresecurity and reliability.
Also it’s worth noting that yourcloud based data could actually bestored on servers anywhere in theworld and subject to the jurisdiction ofa foreign government. Additionally, at-tempting to obtain support from a“cl o u d ”, especially during a crisis canoften prove frustrating, as can trans-ferring large volumes of data whenre q u i re d .
Whether your data is on yourpremises, in the cloud or otherwise, apreventative security strategy is es-sential. This means knowing exactlywhere and how your data is secured, aswell as knowing you or your serviceprovider have the ability to recoverseamlessly from disasters we all hopewill never happen.
An integrated and holistic approachto security will ensure both security ofdata AND its continuous availability.Be sure to include both physical se-curity and access issues along with themore traditional concerns such as fire-walls and intrusion detection.
any other risk. Organisations man-age their own risks because theyunderstand the risks that they aref acing.
“Saying there is a cyber threat islike saying there is a threat fromcrime. The business owner wants toknow what bit of it they have totreat, what bit can they tolerate,what risks can they transferthrough insurance.”
Brian wants to empower businessleaders by making them better in-formed. He said business ownersand executives need to better un-derstand the risks so they can makedecisions about them, not just leavethem to the IT department.
“I feel sorry for the IT techni-c i a n s, ” he said. “Most of them aren’treally trained in security and theyare never judged on it untilsomething goes wrong. If you thinkwhen was the last time you said toyour IT department something like
‘I need the website up by the morn-ing’ you can probably think of sev-eral examples. But have you eversaid to them ‘I need the website upas soon as possible but I need it to bes e c u re ’? Probably not.”
It’s the bosses who need to takeresponsibility, something Brianfeels the industry has hindered byfailing to talk to them in a languagethey relate to.
For example a company that hascontinuous monitoring of its net-work can use that as a point of
difference from its competitors.T hat’s when IT can start to create
a return on investment, and that’ssomething most chief executiveswill understand.
Cyber security is somethingbosses need to grasp, but thatd o e s n’t mean they need to knoweverything, just develop a broad un-derstanding as they would withother risks.
As well as intensive, hands-ontraining courses for IT technicians,PGI runs two-day board-level
courses, where executives areshown hacking demonstrations andeven get to have a go, but the realdrive is about that understanding.
“It’s about understanding enoughto ask the right questions and makebalanced investment decisions,” hesaid. “It’s the same whether youwere a small or a large company.”
Essentially, that means decidingwhat level of threat is acceptable toyou. Do you care if someone inChina is looking at your data? Is theimportant thing protecting your in-
tellectual property? If you havedata, which parts are sensitive andneed the most protection?”
Brian said the threats to businessare largely the same as they alwayshave been.
“People have been stealing fromeach other for hundred of years,businesses are forever trying to getone over on each other, there hasalways been people spying,” hesaid.
“The behaviour is the same. Theprimary thing that has changed is
the scale. If you were going to berobbed, it would be from someone inyour neighbourhood now it could besomebody anywhere in the globe.”
The threats appear in differentways. It could be a technical issuebut it is just as likely to be a humano n e.
“The IT industry focuses on tech-nical solutions,” said Brian. “Yo ucan put as many technical solutionsand processes in place as you likebut unless your human beings un-derstand and have the knowledge,
behaviour and awareness thosesolutions won’t be very effective.
“However you can reduce yourthreat risk by about 80 per cent bygetting your knowledge, awarenessand behaviour right.
“Then you only use those expens-ive specialist people or technologyto deal with the rest of the threat.”
Increasingly for small and me-dium sized companies, they areunder pressure from larger com-panies to be on top of securityt h re at s.
One area where the SMEs can findthemselves in the spotlight is datastorage. Increasingly companieshave forgone their own servers infavour of using cloud services orother off-site solutions.
T hat’s all very well, but it’s an-other area where the bosses need todo their homework.
Bristol-based Hub Network Ser-vices (HNS) has been providing ITservices to SMEs and larger or-ganisations across the region aswell as nationwide and globally for15 years.
John Volanthen, the firm’s tech-nical director, said more companieswere seeing the cloud as a magicsolution to data storage.
“Cloud services can be verygood,” he said. “But we have seen alot of business use these servicesassuming its secure without check-ing further.
You wouldn’t give someone thekeys to your car or house withoutbeing sure you could trust them.Why would you do it with yourcompany data? John points out thatthe cloud is still one or more datacentres somewhere in the world,and a business should know whereits data is stored.
“Ideally you should be able towalk up and look at it and knowt h at ’s where your data is,” he said.
HNS has centres in Bristol, New-port, Manchester and elsewhere.Location is important for severalreasons. “London is obviously a po-tential terror target more thanoutlying regions,” said John. “So wehave moved our focus away fromLondon to reduce the risk.”
Probably best to avoid somewherein a major flood risk area too. And ifyour data is stored abroad, what arethe laws of that territory? Couldanother body use the legal systemtherE to force you, or your provider,to hand over confidential data?
Data storage centres are tiered,ranked one to three, so John saidcompanies should work out whatlevel of security their data needsand find a centre at that level.
They can also look for accred-itation such as whether it has theISO27001 standard.
A supplier that has more than onecentre is a plus, if your data is in twoplaces thEn a problem at one won’tbe a disaster.
Disasters of course are somethingelse bosses need to plan for. What ifthe worst happens? Are you able torecover by switching to anothersite? But that might be a whole topicin itself.
On the overall approach to IT,John said: “We advise a more hol-istic approach. It’s not just fire wallsand the anti-virus but muchm o re. ”
Tel: 01633 674 518Email: [email protected]: www.ngd.co.uk
• Purpose-built 750,000 sq ft world-class colocation data centre • Secure flexible space and resilient infrastructure to meet all sizes of requirement• Cost-effective solutions for data hosting, storage and cloud computing • Conveniently located to Bristol
NOWHERE SAFER
John VolanthenTechnical DirectorHub NetworkSer vices
� Inside HNS data storage room
� Inside PGI in Aztec West
� Brian Lord, managing director of cyber security at Protection Group International Picture: Dan Regan
EPB-E01-S3
EPB-
E01-
S3
8 We d n e s d a y, October 15, 2014 9We d n e s d a y, October 15, 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
FOR someone who works in acyber security company,Brian Lord isn’t brimmingwith kind words about the ITsecurity industry.
The managing director of cybersecurity at Protection Group Inter-national, which has recently openeda £5 million training centre in AztecWest, believes business leadersneed to start treating the threatsdifferently, but thinks the industryh a s n’t helped.
“There are elements in the ITsecurity industry trying to keepthings difficult and to keep the mys-tery around it,” he said.
“But cyber security is a risk like
It would be hard to find abusiness owner who isunaware of cyber threats.But are they going abouttackling it in the right way?Gavin Thompson finds outwhy many bosses need abetter grasp of the threats
Data storage and cyber securityExpert eye
‘BOSSES HAVE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE RISKS’
Brian Lord
“The business ownerwants to know what bitof it they have to treat,what bit can theytolerate, what risks canthey transfer throughinsurance.”
BRISTOL is home to a widerange of organisations whichare prime targets for cyberhackers due to the data theyhold. Those operating in the
defence, insurance, financial services,aerospace, legal and high tech engin-eering sectors, together with our worldleading universities, all hold intellec-tual property and data which has a highvalue on the black market and to nationstates committing industrial espion-a g e.
There is not one standard solution tothis problem. Organisations need towork out where they are vulnerableand design a system that is robust andproportionate to protect their data.
When assessing these risks, the keyquestions to consider include: Do youhave the right level of protection foryour ‘crown jewel’ assets? What wouldthe impact be on your business if yousuffered a cyber security breach? Howdo youk n owyo uh ave n’ta l re a dysuf feredone?How do you know your third partyproviders are protecting your data inthe right way?
After answering these questions, or-ganisations can begin to place securityinvestments in the right areas, pro-tecting what really matters to the busi-ness and their customers alike, in botha proportional and pragmatic way.
Key steps to take:� Know your enemy – Assess thethreat source and strike the right bal-ance between focusing on likely chan-nels of attack and businesso p e r at i o n s.� Be on the front foot – Secure dataand systems in advance, don’t wait toinvest until after a breach has occurredand the damage is done.� Gather and share intelligence –Understand the nature and latest meth-odologies used, to inform your de-cisions and share this newly foundinformation within and outside youri n d u s t r y.� Train staff – Despite technologysophistication, your people remain keyto security, both as a first line of defenceand as a major threat. Education andawareness remain key.� Delegate at your peril – D o n’t solelyrely on your IT department for thesecurity of the company’s data andsystems. Cyber security is a boardroomissue and must be included in the or-g anisation’s wider risk managementap p ro a ch .� Be brave – Boldness is key both inproactive investment and reactive re-sponse. It is essential to have in place acyber incident plan, which can be usedto maintain customer and shareholderconfidence in your brand.
A positive approach to managingcyber risk will set organisations free toachieve their business aspirations.
Crucial steps to defendagainst cyber hackers
Del HeppenstallDir ectorKPMG
Expert eye
www.hns.netBristol: 0117 920 0045Cardiff: 02920 782 791
Secure, dependable networks & Data Centres
Ensure data security byintegrated approach
WITH the recent media cov-erage of bugs such as“Heart bleed” and “Shells h o ck ”, many businesseshave been re-evaluating
the security of their onsite servers andnetworks to address how they can re-duce these potential threats to theirbu s i n e s s.
But Cyber security must relate notjust to prevention of viruses or bugs.There are equally critical, often over-looked, factors to consider too:� Physical security - this can often bethe weakest link of all - how secure isyour building?� Location of equipment - is it safefrom flooding; free from being a po-tential fire hazard?� Maintenance of the environment -are servers being sufficiently cooledand energy optimised?
For most businesses, security of datais only half the story. Business con-tinuity is just as vital. Factors such assupply of power, network and envir-onmental services need to be carefullyconsidered, along with distributing in-formation and server capacity in dif-ferent physical locations.
A popular approach is to turn to the“cl o u d ”, however, unless implementedcorrectly to match specific businessneeds, this could be ineffective and willnot ensure security or continuity ofservice. While the flexibility andcost-effectiveness of using cloud ser-vices is brilliant, it is easy to forget thatthese are often operated using com-modity equipment and must be subjectto the same best practices to ensuresecurity and reliability.
Also it’s worth noting that yourcloud based data could actually bestored on servers anywhere in theworld and subject to the jurisdiction ofa foreign government. Additionally, at-tempting to obtain support from a“cl o u d ”, especially during a crisis canoften prove frustrating, as can trans-ferring large volumes of data whenre q u i re d .
Whether your data is on yourpremises, in the cloud or otherwise, apreventative security strategy is es-sential. This means knowing exactlywhere and how your data is secured, aswell as knowing you or your serviceprovider have the ability to recoverseamlessly from disasters we all hopewill never happen.
An integrated and holistic approachto security will ensure both security ofdata AND its continuous availability.Be sure to include both physical se-curity and access issues along with themore traditional concerns such as fire-walls and intrusion detection.
any other risk. Organisations man-age their own risks because theyunderstand the risks that they aref acing.
“Saying there is a cyber threat islike saying there is a threat fromcrime. The business owner wants toknow what bit of it they have totreat, what bit can they tolerate,what risks can they transferthrough insurance.”
Brian wants to empower businessleaders by making them better in-formed. He said business ownersand executives need to better un-derstand the risks so they can makedecisions about them, not just leavethem to the IT department.
“I feel sorry for the IT techni-c i a n s, ” he said. “Most of them aren’treally trained in security and theyare never judged on it untilsomething goes wrong. If you thinkwhen was the last time you said toyour IT department something like
‘I need the website up by the morn-ing’ you can probably think of sev-eral examples. But have you eversaid to them ‘I need the website upas soon as possible but I need it to bes e c u re ’? Probably not.”
It’s the bosses who need to takeresponsibility, something Brianfeels the industry has hindered byfailing to talk to them in a languagethey relate to.
For example a company that hascontinuous monitoring of its net-work can use that as a point of
difference from its competitors.T hat’s when IT can start to create
a return on investment, and that’ssomething most chief executiveswill understand.
Cyber security is somethingbosses need to grasp, but thatd o e s n’t mean they need to knoweverything, just develop a broad un-derstanding as they would withother risks.
As well as intensive, hands-ontraining courses for IT technicians,PGI runs two-day board-level
courses, where executives areshown hacking demonstrations andeven get to have a go, but the realdrive is about that understanding.
“It’s about understanding enoughto ask the right questions and makebalanced investment decisions,” hesaid. “It’s the same whether youwere a small or a large company.”
Essentially, that means decidingwhat level of threat is acceptable toyou. Do you care if someone inChina is looking at your data? Is theimportant thing protecting your in-
tellectual property? If you havedata, which parts are sensitive andneed the most protection?”
Brian said the threats to businessare largely the same as they alwayshave been.
“People have been stealing fromeach other for hundred of years,businesses are forever trying to getone over on each other, there hasalways been people spying,” hesaid.
“The behaviour is the same. Theprimary thing that has changed is
the scale. If you were going to berobbed, it would be from someone inyour neighbourhood now it could besomebody anywhere in the globe.”
The threats appear in differentways. It could be a technical issuebut it is just as likely to be a humano n e.
“The IT industry focuses on tech-nical solutions,” said Brian. “Yo ucan put as many technical solutionsand processes in place as you likebut unless your human beings un-derstand and have the knowledge,
behaviour and awareness thosesolutions won’t be very effective.
“However you can reduce yourthreat risk by about 80 per cent bygetting your knowledge, awarenessand behaviour right.
“Then you only use those expens-ive specialist people or technologyto deal with the rest of the threat.”
Increasingly for small and me-dium sized companies, they areunder pressure from larger com-panies to be on top of securityt h re at s.
One area where the SMEs can findthemselves in the spotlight is datastorage. Increasingly companieshave forgone their own servers infavour of using cloud services orother off-site solutions.
T hat’s all very well, but it’s an-other area where the bosses need todo their homework.
Bristol-based Hub Network Ser-vices (HNS) has been providing ITservices to SMEs and larger or-ganisations across the region aswell as nationwide and globally for15 years.
John Volanthen, the firm’s tech-nical director, said more companieswere seeing the cloud as a magicsolution to data storage.
“Cloud services can be verygood,” he said. “But we have seen alot of business use these servicesassuming its secure without check-ing further.
You wouldn’t give someone thekeys to your car or house withoutbeing sure you could trust them.Why would you do it with yourcompany data? John points out thatthe cloud is still one or more datacentres somewhere in the world,and a business should know whereits data is stored.
“Ideally you should be able towalk up and look at it and knowt h at ’s where your data is,” he said.
HNS has centres in Bristol, New-port, Manchester and elsewhere.Location is important for severalreasons. “London is obviously a po-tential terror target more thanoutlying regions,” said John. “So wehave moved our focus away fromLondon to reduce the risk.”
Probably best to avoid somewherein a major flood risk area too. And ifyour data is stored abroad, what arethe laws of that territory? Couldanother body use the legal systemtherE to force you, or your provider,to hand over confidential data?
Data storage centres are tiered,ranked one to three, so John saidcompanies should work out whatlevel of security their data needsand find a centre at that level.
They can also look for accred-itation such as whether it has theISO27001 standard.
A supplier that has more than onecentre is a plus, if your data is in twoplaces thEn a problem at one won’tbe a disaster.
Disasters of course are somethingelse bosses need to plan for. What ifthe worst happens? Are you able torecover by switching to anothersite? But that might be a whole topicin itself.
On the overall approach to IT,John said: “We advise a more hol-istic approach. It’s not just fire wallsand the anti-virus but muchm o re. ”
Tel: 01633 674 518Email: [email protected]: www.ngd.co.uk
• Purpose-built 750,000 sq ft world-class colocation data centre • Secure flexible space and resilient infrastructure to meet all sizes of requirement• Cost-effective solutions for data hosting, storage and cloud computing • Conveniently located to Bristol
NOWHERE SAFER
John VolanthenTechnical DirectorHub NetworkSer vices
� Inside HNS data storage room
� Inside PGI in Aztec West
� Brian Lord, managing director of cyber security at Protection Group International Picture: Dan Regan
EPB-E01-S3
EPB-
E01-
S3
10 We d n e s d a y, October 15, 2014 11We d n e s d a y, October 15, 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
DECADE OF BUILDING NAME FOR QUALITY WORK AND STAFF CARE
Neal Stephens
“We are aboutcollaboration andpartnering and parts ofthe country hadn’texperienced thatbefore, so we had agood offer. Whenpeople heard about ourvalues we quickly gotonto tender lists.”
Construction firmWillmott Dixon openedits Bristol office 10years ago. In thatdecade it has grownits turnover, staff andits reputation. GavinThompson meetsregional managingdirector Neal Stephensto find out how
COLSTON Hall was the keymoment. Glimmering inthe sunlight, the foyer ofBristol’s top concertvenue stands proud as a
landmark in the city centre. Forconstruction firm Willmott Dixon,it was the moment the firm reallyarrived in Bristol.
The company is celebrating 10years since the opening of its Bris-tol office, originally in QueenSquare but after twice outgrowingspace there it is now housed justoutside Pill.
An attempt to break the Bristolmarket was a bold one for the firm,which was strong in South Walesand other parts of the UK but not inthe South West.
“T here’s a graveyard for busi-nesses which have tried to make itacross the bridge,” says managingdirector Neal Stephens, who
joined the Cardiff office back in2003 and now heads up both theSouth Wales and Bristol-basedarms of the business.
Willmott Dixon avoided the fateof many others which had triedbefore. Neal puts that down to anumber of factors, but the biggestone is people.
“We had going for us that Will-mott Dixon as a brand is big acrossEngland,” he says.
“But the most important de-cision was to get good quality localpeople on board.
“We took on Lynne Wellington,our business development man-ager, John Boughton now directorof operations, and John Wilcoxwho had been a director of a busi-nesses in South West.
“We recruited people who knowthe market and have good strongrelationships in the South West.”
Opening the office showed the
commitment to the region, but hir-ing the right people gave the firmthe ability to deliver. That doesn’tmean it was easy, however.
“We had a good story to tell,” hesays. “We are about collaborationand partnering and parts of thecountry hadn’t experienced thatbefore, so we had a good offer.When people heard about our val-ues we quickly got onto tenderl i s t s.
“But it was difficult to convince
people then that we were the rightpeople to actually win the workwithout a local track record.”
The first win for the office was asmall job for the University of theWest of England.
It helped that Willmott Dixonhad already carried out projectsfor UWE from its Cardiff office andit gave the Bristol office a firstsuccess to point to.
The real breakthrough soon fol-l owe d .
Willmott Dixon – celebrating 10 years in Bristol Sponsored feature
� University of Bristol Nanoscience building
� Weston Town Hall was remodelled inside
� Above,plans forKeynshamTo w nHall,which isc u r re n t l ybeingbuilt
� The landmark Colston Hall foyer
� The Bristol and Bath Science Park in Emerson’s Green
� Neal Stephens, Willmott Dixon Construction regional managingdirector Picture: Huw John
Neal Stephens
“ Anybody can buildbuildings. It’s how you doit, the journey you takeyour clients on, whetheryou exceed theirexpectations and thelegacy you leave in thecommunity. That’s whatwe’re about.”
“We did that small job for UWE andonce you start building that currentcapability, it starts to move on andeight years ago we were appointed forthe Colston Hall foyer,” says Neal.
“To me that was the catalyst afterwhich people started taking us ser-i o u s ly. ”
As a marketing exercise, it wasperfect – a landmark building thatthousands of Bristolians walk ordrive past everyday.
“Not long after, we were appointed
to build the nanoscience building forthe University of Bristol,” says Neal.“As soon as you’ve got a couple ofappointments behind you you’rereputation starts to grow.” Par tic-ularly when they are such high pro-file buildings and blue chip clients.
When Neal joined the firm in 2003,the Cardiff office did about £26 mil-lion of business a year.
Last year the combined regionturned over £125 million, about halfeach from Bristol and Cardiff. The
figures have proved the strategy wassound.
And while projects such as the Col-ston Hall are the headliners, suchgrowth can only be achieved by con-sistently delivering for customers.
The Bristol team, which has grownto 79 people, has delivered projects inSwindon, Hereford, Yate, Wes-ton-super-Mare, Bournemouth, Ply-mouth, Exeter and more.
Neal believes the firm’s values havebeen key to that growth.
“Our collaboration and a partner-ing approach is enormous for us,” hesays. “T hat’s about being open andhonest, sharing problems and provid-ing a real top quality service to bothour clients and our supply chain.From procurement right through theo p e r at i o n . ”
That focus on the supply chain iskey for the firm, particularly with thelikes of Hinkley Point C on the ho-rizon, a huge infrastructure projectthat could suck much of the skills
base in the area down the M5 toB r i d g w at e r.
“We ’ve worked with our supplychain for the last 20 years and we’vegot extremely good relationshipswith those guys,” says Neal.
“We pay them on time, we look afterthem and train them, I would like tothink that will hold us true for thenext five to 10 years.”
That relationship includes ascheme to pay contractors strugglingfor cashflow early, something de-veloped after feedback from suppli-e r s.
Another core value for WillmottDixon is sustainability, and it’s not byaccident that environmentalist Jona-thon Porritt is a non-executive dir-e c t o r.
That value is seen across the busi-ness. Staff are given cash rewards forchoosing the greenest possible com-pany cars.
Buildings are designed to fit stand-ard material sizes such as bricks andcladding so there are no offcuts.
Every site has a target of 100 percent of all waste not going to landfill,often achieving 95 per cent or above.The firm also influences its supplych a i n .
“We don’t allow people to bringmaterials with loads of packaging toour sites,” he says. “We make themrethink the way they deliver mater-
i a l s. ”Every job has a target of 70 per cent
of the spend – subcontractors andmaterials – being within a 30-miler a d i u s.
The firm is privately owned so notbeholden to shareholders so it canapply these values without pressureto compromise in the chase forever-higher profit margins.
One way to judge a company’s val-ues and success is to look at its work-fo rc e.
In Willmott Dixon’s Bristol andCardiff operation, 45 per cent of the180 staff came through the firm’straining programmes.
T hat’s a strong endorsement notonly of its training but also its cultureas so many staff choose to stay withthe firm.
In turn, that means Willmott Dixonis well placed to build on its successin the past 10 years for the nextdecade and beyond.
Neal sums it up: “Anybody canbuild buildings. It’s how you do it, thejourney you take your clients on,whether you exceed their expecta-tions and the legacy you leave in thecommunity. That’s what we’reab o u t . ”
EPB-E01-S3
EPB-
E01-
S3
10 We d n e s d a y, October 15, 2014 11We d n e s d a y, October 15, 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
DECADE OF BUILDING NAME FOR QUALITY WORK AND STAFF CARE
Neal Stephens
“We are aboutcollaboration andpartnering and parts ofthe country hadn’texperienced thatbefore, so we had agood offer. Whenpeople heard about ourvalues we quickly gotonto tender lists.”
Construction firmWillmott Dixon openedits Bristol office 10years ago. In thatdecade it has grownits turnover, staff andits reputation. GavinThompson meetsregional managingdirector Neal Stephensto find out how
COLSTON Hall was the keymoment. Glimmering inthe sunlight, the foyer ofBristol’s top concertvenue stands proud as a
landmark in the city centre. Forconstruction firm Willmott Dixon,it was the moment the firm reallyarrived in Bristol.
The company is celebrating 10years since the opening of its Bris-tol office, originally in QueenSquare but after twice outgrowingspace there it is now housed justoutside Pill.
An attempt to break the Bristolmarket was a bold one for the firm,which was strong in South Walesand other parts of the UK but not inthe South West.
“T here’s a graveyard for busi-nesses which have tried to make itacross the bridge,” says managingdirector Neal Stephens, who
joined the Cardiff office back in2003 and now heads up both theSouth Wales and Bristol-basedarms of the business.
Willmott Dixon avoided the fateof many others which had triedbefore. Neal puts that down to anumber of factors, but the biggestone is people.
“We had going for us that Will-mott Dixon as a brand is big acrossEngland,” he says.
“But the most important de-cision was to get good quality localpeople on board.
“We took on Lynne Wellington,our business development man-ager, John Boughton now directorof operations, and John Wilcoxwho had been a director of a busi-nesses in South West.
“We recruited people who knowthe market and have good strongrelationships in the South West.”
Opening the office showed the
commitment to the region, but hir-ing the right people gave the firmthe ability to deliver. That doesn’tmean it was easy, however.
“We had a good story to tell,” hesays. “We are about collaborationand partnering and parts of thecountry hadn’t experienced thatbefore, so we had a good offer.When people heard about our val-ues we quickly got onto tenderl i s t s.
“But it was difficult to convince
people then that we were the rightpeople to actually win the workwithout a local track record.”
The first win for the office was asmall job for the University of theWest of England.
It helped that Willmott Dixonhad already carried out projectsfor UWE from its Cardiff office andit gave the Bristol office a firstsuccess to point to.
The real breakthrough soon fol-l owe d .
Willmott Dixon – celebrating 10 years in Bristol Sponsored feature
� University of Bristol Nanoscience building
� Weston Town Hall was remodelled inside
� Above,plans forKeynshamTo w nHall,which isc u r re n t l ybeingbuilt
� The landmark Colston Hall foyer
� The Bristol and Bath Science Park in Emerson’s Green
� Neal Stephens, Willmott Dixon Construction regional managingdirector Picture: Huw John
Neal Stephens
“ Anybody can buildbuildings. It’s how you doit, the journey you takeyour clients on, whetheryou exceed theirexpectations and thelegacy you leave in thecommunity. That’s whatwe’re about.”
“We did that small job for UWE andonce you start building that currentcapability, it starts to move on andeight years ago we were appointed forthe Colston Hall foyer,” says Neal.
“To me that was the catalyst afterwhich people started taking us ser-i o u s ly. ”
As a marketing exercise, it wasperfect – a landmark building thatthousands of Bristolians walk ordrive past everyday.
“Not long after, we were appointed
to build the nanoscience building forthe University of Bristol,” says Neal.“As soon as you’ve got a couple ofappointments behind you you’rereputation starts to grow.” Par tic-ularly when they are such high pro-file buildings and blue chip clients.
When Neal joined the firm in 2003,the Cardiff office did about £26 mil-lion of business a year.
Last year the combined regionturned over £125 million, about halfeach from Bristol and Cardiff. The
figures have proved the strategy wassound.
And while projects such as the Col-ston Hall are the headliners, suchgrowth can only be achieved by con-sistently delivering for customers.
The Bristol team, which has grownto 79 people, has delivered projects inSwindon, Hereford, Yate, Wes-ton-super-Mare, Bournemouth, Ply-mouth, Exeter and more.
Neal believes the firm’s values havebeen key to that growth.
“Our collaboration and a partner-ing approach is enormous for us,” hesays. “T hat’s about being open andhonest, sharing problems and provid-ing a real top quality service to bothour clients and our supply chain.From procurement right through theo p e r at i o n . ”
That focus on the supply chain iskey for the firm, particularly with thelikes of Hinkley Point C on the ho-rizon, a huge infrastructure projectthat could suck much of the skills
base in the area down the M5 toB r i d g w at e r.
“We ’ve worked with our supplychain for the last 20 years and we’vegot extremely good relationshipswith those guys,” says Neal.
“We pay them on time, we look afterthem and train them, I would like tothink that will hold us true for thenext five to 10 years.”
That relationship includes ascheme to pay contractors strugglingfor cashflow early, something de-veloped after feedback from suppli-e r s.
Another core value for WillmottDixon is sustainability, and it’s not byaccident that environmentalist Jona-thon Porritt is a non-executive dir-e c t o r.
That value is seen across the busi-ness. Staff are given cash rewards forchoosing the greenest possible com-pany cars.
Buildings are designed to fit stand-ard material sizes such as bricks andcladding so there are no offcuts.
Every site has a target of 100 percent of all waste not going to landfill,often achieving 95 per cent or above.The firm also influences its supplych a i n .
“We don’t allow people to bringmaterials with loads of packaging toour sites,” he says. “We make themrethink the way they deliver mater-
i a l s. ”Every job has a target of 70 per cent
of the spend – subcontractors andmaterials – being within a 30-miler a d i u s.
The firm is privately owned so notbeholden to shareholders so it canapply these values without pressureto compromise in the chase forever-higher profit margins.
One way to judge a company’s val-ues and success is to look at its work-fo rc e.
In Willmott Dixon’s Bristol andCardiff operation, 45 per cent of the180 staff came through the firm’straining programmes.
T hat’s a strong endorsement notonly of its training but also its cultureas so many staff choose to stay withthe firm.
In turn, that means Willmott Dixonis well placed to build on its successin the past 10 years for the nextdecade and beyond.
Neal sums it up: “Anybody canbuild buildings. It’s how you do it, thejourney you take your clients on,whether you exceed their expecta-tions and the legacy you leave in thecommunity. That’s what we’reab o u t . ”
EPB-
E01-
S3
12 We d n e s d a y, October 15, 2014w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business
The back page
BUSINESS is an essential part of anyeconomy. Without it we would notproduce the wealth needed to makeour society work. It creates jobs,homes and just as importantly, a
feeling of wellbeing for the community atlarg e.
What I love about business is the simplicityof it. In its basic form it’s simply a matter ofbuying a product or service, for less than yousell it for. Many businesses forget this es-sential fact and complicate the process.
The market doesn’t care about where youcome from, what your religion is, or whatcolour your skin might be. It only cares thatthe product or service you are offering meetsits requirements.
When I first discussed co-hosting a businessshow on Ujima Radio 98fm, the Bristol com-munity channel located in St Paul’s, RogerGriffith the station’s charismatic chairmaninsisted that we focus on helping everyone,regardless of age, ethnic origin or religion.
For me – it doesn’t matter where you’refrom, it’s where you are going that counts, soagreeing to Roger’s request was easy. My Dadlived in a one-bed council flat in Bristol andmy mother lived for many years in a smallcaravan in Malmesbury. Life wasn’t easy.Money was always tight despite the fact theyboth had a great work ethic.
Many of my friends are from the olderimmigrant communities of The West Indies,Pakistan and India. It has never occurred tome that they have different values or am-bitions to mine. After all, once you adopt aplace as home you accept some of the valuesoffered by that community and hopefully theyaccept some of yours. It’s called creating abalanced society. In time we all gain and get to
live in a prosperous, tolerant and progressivesociety which understands that we are all inthis together.
Creating a successful business is an es-sential ingredient in this mix, that’s why wehope the programme on Ujima Radio willinspire people of all ages from disadvantagedbackgrounds or who live in challenging cir-cumstances and often feel isolated or dis-enfranchised, to create new businesses. Itreally is possible to become a millionaireregardless of where you are today. Even if youd o n’t become another Richard Branson orLord Sugar you certainly can become a suc-c e s s.
Never let anyone say you can’t do it or letanyone live your life for you, or tell you howyou should live it. It’s your life, not theirs. Youcan succeed. Just because you didn’t do well atschool or are from what is considered a ‘dis-advanta g ed’ background needn’t stop you. Itwill take determination and application, so gofor it. Believe in yourself, you’re as good asanyone. Live life on your terms.
D o n’t accept no for an answer. Keep trying,not until you’re exhausted, but until yousucceed. It’s worth it.� Catch up on and tune in to all shows atw w w. u j i m a r a d i o . c o m .
Hinkley project will give us huge boost
WHEN nuclear power stationHinkley Point C was given thegreen light by the EuropeanCommission last week, it cer-tainly provoked a range of re-
actions. The prospect of a legal challenge,concern over soaring costs and fierce op-position from environmental groups meanthe project is undoubtedly controversial.
But it is important not to forget that we’retalking about Europe’s largest infrastructureproject and the first nuclear power station tobe built in Britain for a generation. And it’sgoing to be on our doorstep at Hinkley inSomerset. The knock-on economic impact onthe region will be huge.
The nuclear power station, which is ex-pected to begin operating in 2023, will attractbillions of pounds of investment to the region,create thousands of jobs and will furtherunderline the South West’s established repu-tation for science and engineering.
The build project alone, estimated to takealmost a decade and said to be bigger thanH e at h row ’s Terminal 5, will deliver a hugeboost to the region’s construction sector.
And imagine the number of computersneeded, the number of desks, hand driers,water dispensers… the list is endless. Ex-isting South West-based businesses in a widearray of sectors will benefit if they succeed inwinning contracts associated with the project– and science and engineering companies inparticular will be attracted by the region’sglobal reputation in this field, resulting in aboost to inward investment.
The project will also result in increased
demand for commercial property from grow-ing existing businesses and new businessescoming into the region, quite apart fromowner-operator EDF itself. A major letting inGloucester earlier this year by Horizon Nuc-lear Power is just one of an increasing numberof commercial property deals in this sector.
Equally, there will be huge demand forindustrial and logistics space, with a majorbuild project such as this certain to requirevast amounts of warehouse space.
T here’s no denying Hinkley poses enorm-ous challenges too. For example, such a majordevelopment will impact on an alreadystretched labour supply in the constructionsector. Many contractors shrunk their busi-nesses in the face of economic uncertaintyand many have not yet scaled them up for fearof getting their fingers burnt again. Effortsare being made in this area via the roll-out ofapprenticeship programmes for example.
However the sheer scale of the projectshould offer the reassurance the sector needsto invest in recruitment. There is a hugeamount of work still to be done to ensure weprepare for both the construction and op-eration of the new power plant, from trans-port infrastructure and housing to schoolsand healthcare. But I’m confident that withthe right planning and oversight, the benefitsof this world-leading development will faroutweigh the challenges.
Opinion
Ian WillsDirector in JLL’s Bristol office
Ad v i ce
Dr Stephen FearBristol businessman and entrepreneur in residence &ambassador British Library. London
Believe in yourself and never give up
� Stephen Fear started his first companyfrom a phonebox and became a millionaire
STAFF at Metcalfes Solicit-ors took a leap of faith toraise money for HeadwayBristol, which works to im-prove life after brain injury.
The Metcalfes’ High Fly-ers’ team consisted of duoRebecca Dorrington, pic-t u re d , and Matthew Wattswho jumped from the dizzy-ing height of 10,000ft at OldSarum Airfield in Salis-bu r y.
Kate Hicks and Nikki Kos-inski from Headway Bristol
joined them in the chal-lenge, which involved trav-elling at 120mph and falling1,000ft every five seconds.
Rebecca and Matt have sofar raised over £850 and toreach £1,000.
Rebecca, who works in theprobate department, said:“We were slightly nervousin the run up to the jump butthe jump was amazing.”
Sponsor throughwww.justgi v-ing.com/matt-w atts2.
10,000ft leap lands cash for charity