business 21 october 2015

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FRESH THINKING

Start-up develops pioneeringindoor air quality monitor – p3

QUANTUM LEAP

Bristol uni researchers developgame-changing encryption – p5

PENSIONS ADVICE

Ensure staff pensions are ingood shape, firms urged – p6

THINGS REALLYLOOKING UP...Boom times ahead for Bristol but we need buildingswhere businesses can grow, say experts – page 8

PROPERTY

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2 Wednesday, October 21, 2015www.southwestbusiness.co.uk

● A UniteStudentsStudyRoomwhich hasbeenupgradedas part ofthe project

Catering

Opening scenefor Loungerscafe at cinema● CAFE bar group Loungers isopening its latest site in Clevedon– the home of one of thecompany’s founders.Teatro Lounge will open at the

Curzon Cinema today, creating 25jobs in the town.Loungers has invested

£600,000 transforming old officesand storage space at the rear ofthe cinema into a retro home fromhome where dramatic artwork willsit next to oversized vintage sofasand statement light fittings, in theeclectic style much loved byLounge aficionados.Executive vice chairman Alex

Reilley said: “As a Clevedonresident I’m delighted to beopening Teatro Lounge in myhome town.“There’s already a thriving and

vibrant community and we’rereally looking forward to playingour part in the foodie scene here.“We do very well from the

Impero Lounge in Portishead, andthere have been lots of peoplebending my ear about why therewasn’t one in Clevedon.”Loungers will rent the space

from the Curzon, providing thecommunity-run cinema with anextra revenue stream.With its entrance on Great

Western Road, the conversion willinclude an extension to the firstfloor section of the mews, addingan indoor dining area and a roofterrace.The two-storey cafe, which will

overlook the Land Yeo river fromits ground floor windows, will seat150 with additional seating on theroof terrace.The Lounge model aims to keep

the tills ticking over through theday, serving coffees, lunch drinksand dinner.

Accommodation

Bright ideas Students’ lifestyle isimproved by efficient lighting plan

BRISTOL-based student ac-commodation providerUnite is becoming a leadinglight in the drive towardsenergy efficiency.

The FTSE 250 company is carryingout a two-year project to upgrade allthe lights in its properties.The firm houses 46,000 students in

132 properties across the UK, includ-ing 14 in Bristol.By the time the project finishes by

the end of 2016, Unite will have in-stalled 300,000 new light fittings.The scheme came about following a

pilot study, which showed significantbenefits both in terms of carbon re-ductions and cost savings, as well asimproved living and studying envir-onments for tenants.The firm’s effort has been recog-

nised with a nomination for a na-tional Energy Award.Estate director Steve Batley said:

“It’s fantastic to be shortlisted for anEnergy Award, which are highly re-garded across business and industry.“As the longest established and

leading private student accommod-ation provider in the UK, we’re con-stantly looking for ways to improvethe service we provide.“Our core purpose is providing our

students with a home for success.

This means helping them achievemore from their time at university,whether that is academic success,personal growth or employability.“We are working closely with

Philips to make a real change to thelook and feel of our buildings whichwill help create the right environ-ment to support our mission.“The energy efficient pur-

pose-made LED light fittings optim-ise layouts, provide reliability andimprove controls for students.

“The new lighting creates a moreinviting space for students whichthey can personalise.”He said the project should deliver a

15 per cent energy saving, around a6,000-9,000 tonnes reduction of CO2per year. But there will be other be-nefits too. Maintenance staff whospend around 30 per cent of their timereplacing lamps will be able to devotethis time to other tasks.Steve added: “As well as being good

for the environment and students this

is also good for us as a business.”Jeremy Palmer, salesmanager pub-

lic lighting at Philips Lighting, saidswitching to LED lighting had greatpotential for savings.He said: “The Unite project is a

great example of where the key ob-jectives of enhancing the living andlearning environment of the studentsand driving forward their energyagenda is being achieved through arobust lighting and controls improve-ment strategy.”

Manufacturing

Arts charity’s craft workspace receives awardA NEW space for digital manufac-turing in south Bristol has been re-cognised for its work at an awardsceremony celebrating young crafts-men and women at the Lord Mayor’sMansion House.The Guild of Guardians presented

its Alfred Telling Award to The Fact-ory, run by arts charity Knowle WestMedia Centre (KWMC).The annual award provides a

bursary of £1,500 for an entrepreneurstarting their own business in amanual trade in the Bristol area.KWMC: The Factory was nomin-

ated by BRAVE, a not-for-profit busi-ness support organisation that hashelped thousands of entrepreneursstart and run successful ventures.Located in KnowleWest, where sat-

isfaction with local jobs is very low –just 12 per cent in the last Bristol CityCouncil Quality of Life survey in 2013– The Factory aims to bring togetherartists, makers and local people andopen up access to digital manufac-turing technologies, such as CNCma-chines and laser cutters.From two units at the new Filwood

Green Business Park, The Factorymanufactures products from re-cycled and sustainable materials andprovides in-demand skills trainingfor volunteers, businesses andschools.The enterprise developed out of a

pilot scheme run byKWMCand char-ity re:work from the empty EagleHouse Youth Centre in Knowle West.Between October 2014 and May 2015

their ‘pop up’ enterprise producednearly 500 pieces of furniture to kitout Filwood Green Business Park, ina commission from building con-tractors MIDAS and Bristol CityCouncil.Justin Ricks, business develop-

mentmanager at KnowleWestMediaCentre, said: “Digital fabrication isfundamentally changing the waypeople make things – and we want toensure that these technologies areavailable to themany, not just the few,and that they can be utilised to make

things that are sustainable, attractiveand innovative.“The award from the Guild of

Guardians will enable us to purchasemore equipment for use by volunteergroups who come to us for train-ing.”

Students work out toget in shape for work● YOU have to be pretty fit towork in construction so studentsat City of Bristol College areworking hard to get in shape.The college has introduced an

18-week programme into theconstruction curriculum for thenew term, which will see studentstake part in weekly footballsessions and regular fitnessmonitoring at the city’s TrojanFitness gym.A group of 80 learners have just

completed their initialassessments and introduction atthe Bedminster-based gym.Co-owner Matt Hudd and

strongmen Paul Todd and MattMoney tested students’ fitnesslevels on a rowing machine andintroduced the groups to a rangeof weightlifting equipment andtechniques. The programmecontinues with weekly football atSt Pauls Leisure Centre.Gemma Parry, sport maker at

City of Bristol College, said: “It’san 18-week programme aimed atgetting construction students fit.“The pilot scheme proved a

success and received positivefeedback from the students, andto have Trojan Fitness on board, itreally adds a little extra.”Matt, who runs Trojan gym with

mum Julie, added: “Sport andfitness have many benefits, andfor us it was good to see theinterest shown by the students.”

Construction

Assistant Editor (Business)[email protected]

● From left, Vicky Beckwith (CEO of re:work), Tom Barnes (KWMC’s Digital Fabrication Technician), Justin Ricks(KWMC’s Business Development Manager), the Lord Mayor of Bristol Councillor Clare Campion-Smith, Liz Sands (ofBRAVE), Carolyn Hassan (KWMC Director) and Nigel Hardy (The Master of the Guild of Guardians)

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3Wednesday, October 21, 2015 www.southwestbusiness.co.uk

PLENTY of good ideas havebeen sparked in a conver-sation down the pub. Not somany have gone on to besuccessful businesses.

SamNwanko hopes to achieve justthat and at the same time, and some-whatmore importantly, play a part inimproving air quality in our cities.Sam and his friends founded Alti-

tude Tech and developed air qualitymonitor Sensly, which they hope toput into production soon.The process has already been an

“amazing learning experience” forthe young entrepreneur.He said: “We had all worked for

start-ups and were inspired by ourbosses to create our own businessand develop our ‘Sensly’ productconcept, an indoor air quality sensorthat uses onboard gas sensors todetect a wide range of harmful com-pounds.”The formula of the team is that

they each have different back-grounds and skills, fromengineeringand design to business and market-ing.“We all share a passion for tech-

nology and have a common goal tocreate products thatpeople need,” hesaid. “We took ascientific ap-proach to runninga business to ac-complish our goal,formulating as-sumptions that wecould test in thereal world, as werealised early onthat we neededfeedback from thegeneral public tovalidate ourideas.”They started

with the simpleidea that the air webreathe is important.“While on average we can survive

three weeks without food and threedays without water,” Sam said, “wecan only survive three minutes

without air.“We also as-

sumed that peoplecare about theirair quality.

However, current airquality monitors aren’t very simpleand are rather expensive.”The Sensly idea was born. Using

the onboard sensor information, thedevice can give real-time notifica-

tions and visual alerts about sur-rounding air quality.It also enables people to share their

data and use this information, whichthey hope will be used to improvetheir surrounding air quality.“On a global scale, Sensly can en-

able cities to dynamically plan theirgrowth,” said Sam. No lack of am-bition then.The start-up has got to this point in

Entrepreneurs

Top creativessecure excitingoffice space● CREATIVE agency Studio Divahas secured a new prestigious citycentre address in Queen Square,Bristol.The growing company, which has

doubled its workforce over the lastfour years has taken the decision tobuy about 2,000 sq ft of commercialpremises at 62 Queen Square tosecure its long term future and takeadvantage of the currentcompetitive interest rates.Established in 2003 by husband

and wife team, Andy and SuzyBarnes, Studio Diva operates in theentertainment and video gamessector, with big clients includingSony PlayStation and ActivisionBlizzard.Suzy said: “We’re excited to be

able to create a playful space thattruly represents our companypersonality and both inspires andnurtures our teams.”Andy added: “The premises will

give us the room to grow that we sodesperately need, and is ideallylocated. As far as positive workingenvironments in Bristol go - it reallydoesn’t get much better than this.”Studio Diva was the UK’s only

creative agency to make it to thefinals of a battle to win overall‘agency of the year’ at this year’svideo games industry ‘Oscars’, theMCV awards.Describing itself as a lifestyle

specialist, the agency’s expertisealso spans retail, entertainment,sport and leisure and thefast-moving consumer goodsindustry.The move was supported by an

undisclosed six-figure sum fundingpackage from Barclays.Howard Foley, Barclays business

manager in Bristol, said: “StudioDiva is an exciting and valuedcustomer and we are pleased to besupporting them in the completionof their new premises in the centre.”

Hat-trick of awards fortop firm of lawyers● LAW firm Osborne Clarke hascompleted an unprecedentedawards hat-trick.The firm has been named Law

Firm of the Year Award (over 15partners) at the Bristol Law SocietyAwards. It is the firm’s third majoraccolade this year.In June it scooped one of the legal

sector’s most prestigious titles –Law Firm of the Year at The Lawyermagazine’s annual awards and inMarch, it won Law Firm of the Yearat the Legal Business Awards.The has around 400 staff in its

Bristol office, located at TempleQuay.Head of office Peter Clough said:

“Winning the legal sector’s two mainnational awards in the same yearwas a first in the UK legal profession- and now to cap it off we havebeen recognised by our peers inBristol.“They have acknowledged the

outstanding quality of the workbeing carried out by our lawyers.“We are the only legal adviser in

the South West to offer a trulyinternational service and a strongCity offering. That puts us in aunique position.”Meanwhile Barcan + Kirby won

the Law Firm of the Year award forfirms of up to 15 partners at theBristol Law Society Awards, held atthe Bristol Marriott Hotel.

Property

Legal

Start-up Monitoring device couldclean up air quality in our cities

no small part thanks to support fromthe Bristol Robotics Laboratory’sTechnology Business Incubator,based at the University of theWest ofEngland.The teamallworked for companies

there and pitched their idea to itsinnovation manager Jill Burnett.“Wewere granted some desk space

within the incubator,” said Sam. “Wealso obtained a grant from the Uni-versity of UWE to help us set up ourbusiness.“Using the resources we obtained

from UWE and BRL we developedour prototype. We then took the ideato Kickstarter the crowd-fundingplatform to validate our assump-tions and test the market.“The responsewas amazing,wehit

our funding goal within seven daysand raised over £33,000 by the end ofthe campaign.”Headded: “Noneof thiswouldhave

been possible if it wasn’t for theassistance given by BRL and UWE,and the schemes and opportunitiesavailable within the South West.“The region exemplifies the na-

tion’s drive to create a better, moreconnected tomorrow, striving to sup-port and accelerate the efforts ofthose within the community thatwant to contribute to building a bet-ter future.”The team has developed a product,

tested the market and is preparingfor mass manufacture.“Our next step will be to ship our

Sensly air quality product to all ofour Kickstarter backers,” said Sam.“Then, hopefully, we start working

with cities like Bristol to create amesh network of Senslys that caninformus of the overall air quality inour communities, so we can beginthe public debate on how best toimprove our air quality together.”


Finance

Free deal nets pensions provider new clientsAN AIM-listed pension provider hastaken on a big new pensions bookwithout having to pay a penny.Curtis Banks, now one of the UK’s

leading self-invested personal pen-sion providers, will earn £2 millionin fees in the first year.The deal, which sounds too good to

be true, follows an unnamed othercompany pulling out of the SIPPsmarket and needing to find a safepair of hands to look after its cus-tomers.It helps that Curtis Banks isn’t in

the asset management business sowon’t be competing for the assetsheld within the pensions.The contract is for a minimum 10

year period. Curtis Banks will re-

ceive an annual fee for each SIPPadministered, subject to agreedmin-imum aggregate annual amounts.The fees are front end loaded over

the first two years of the contract toreflect the initial workload of takingon the book. In each of the first twoyears, the firm will be paid £1.25million plus an additional initialpayment of £750,000 in year one tocover transition costs.The Bristol-based firm will be a

white label administrator and notrequired to provide client facing ac-count management services.Bosses see the contract as vin-

dication of the group’s strategy ofbeing an administration-only con-solidator in the pensions industry.

Chief executive Rupert Curtis, pic-tured, said: “We are delighted to havereached agreement to provide ad-

ministrative services for this largebook of SIPPs.“This transaction fits well with

Curtis Banks’ proven expansionstrategy and enhances our positionas the go to consolidator for financialservices companies seeking a spe-cialist SIPP administrator.“This book of SIPP’s further in-

creases Curtis Banks’ position in theUK’s hierarchy of SIPP administrat-ors.”It’s been a big year for the com-

pany, which employs 240 people inBristol and also has offices in Dun-dee and Market Harborough.It listed on the Alternative Invest-

ment Market and has since seen itsshare price and profits rise.

“We had all worked forstart-ups and wereinspired by our bossesto create our ownbusiness and developour ‘Sensly’ productconcept, an indoor airquality sensor.

● Sam Nwanko and his Sensly air quality device

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A NEW office building is onthe cards next to TempleMeads railway station afterdeveloper Skanska boughtthe site.

The company, which built and re-cently sold the 66Queen Square officedevelopment, has bought the 0.75 acreTemple Gate site.Another developer TCN, which

owns Temple Studios, a collection offunky officers converted from the redbrick depot fromwhich themail vansused to set out, andBristol andExeterHouse, sold Skanska the plot.TCN has been regenerating the

area since 2009 and has established itas a thriving campus for Bristol’screative and digital companies.Chief executive Richard Pearce

said: “Having acquired the site in

2009 we have built up a vibrant com-munity of companies through regen-eration of the old buildings.“The area is now recognised as a

dynamic location and we are de-lighted that Skanska will bring theirdevelopment skills to complete thefinal phase.”Details of Skanska’s plans are scant

at this stage.Andreas Lindelof, the firm’s man-

aging director of development, said:“Our vision is to provide the nextgeneration of workplaces.“With all our developments, we like

to work in partnership with the localstakeholders to realise the full po-tential of each site, providing futurethinking and top-quality work-places.“Our development at Temple Gate

will continue to showcase this.The Swedish company is perhaps

best known in Bristol for buildingand extending numerous schoolsover the years.More recently it built 66 Queen

Square, one of the first speculativeoffice developments in the city sincethe recession which is soon to behome to KPMG, and is a sponsor ofthe Bristol 2015 European Green Cap-ital programme.“This transaction with TCN UK is

the next logical chapter in our storyin Bristol, said Andreas.“This is an exciting location for an

office development in the heart of theenterprise zone and at the gateway toBristol.“Like all of Skanska’s office pro-

jects, the Temple Gate developmentwill havemarket leading, sustainablecredentials which translate intogreat office environments for ten-ants.”Plans have also been mooted

around Temple Meads for an EngineShed 2, a second centre to build on thesuccess of the first city council andBristol University-backed EngineShed which is home to many of Bris-tol’s fast growing digital and tech-nology businesses.

Offices on track Skanskareveals plans for city site

Office conversionrestrictions removed● THE wave of conversions fromempty offices into homes couldcontinue in Bristol after thetemporary rule which allows themwas made permanent.First introduced in 2013,

temporary permitted developmentrights have enabled offices to beconverted to new homes withouthaving to apply for planningpermission.These rights were set to expire

in May 2016.But Housing and Planning

Minister Brandon Lewis, pictured,has swept away that restriction, amove aimed at making use ofexisting buildingsto help meetthe hugedemand fornewhomes.“We’re

determinedthat, bothin Whitehalland in townhalls,everything is doneto get the homes we need built,”he said.“We can tap into the potential of

underused buildings to offer newhomes for first-time buyers andfamilies long into the future,breathing new life intoneighbourhoods and at the sametime protecting our precious greenbelt.”He also announced that those

who already have permission willhave three years in which tocomplete the change of use,ending uncertainty for developers.In addition, new permitted

development rights will enable thechange of use of light industrialbuildings and launderettes to newhomes.Ian Willis, director at property

consultants JLL in Bristol, said: ,Ian Wills, director at JLL in Bristol,said: the news will be welcomedby developers.“It will provide certainty to those

who have resisted applying forprior approval to convert offices toresidential use due to the previousMay 2016 deadline,” he said.But he said the scheme had a

downside in Bristol where it hadproved popular, adding:“However, the South West andparticularly centres like Exeter,Cheltenham and Bristol have seenso much conversion that there isnow has a shortfall of office spaceto meet future demand.”

PropertyBusiness experts toencourage exports● BRISTOL will be hosting aninternational delegation ofbusiness experts from more than70 countries who are visiting theUK with business opportunities intheir home markets.Organisers, UK Trade &

Investment (UKTI) are urgingbusiness of all sizes with bigambitions to be the next Dyson,Aardman Animations, Yeo Valleyor Trunki to attend.ExploreExport 2015 is a

one-day event held at AshtonGate Stadium onWednesdayNovember 11aimed at allcompanieswho arekeen toexpandoverseas.The event

will allowattendees toexplore numerousbusinessopportunities around the world injust one day without the travelcosts or time investment involvedin crossing continents.Attendees can create a

programme of one-to-onemeetings with in-market expertsfrom British Embassies andConsulates as well as join anumber of seminars on topicalmatters such asdigital/ecommerce world,protecting Intellectual Property,becoming export savvy andexporting to high growth markets.Countries represented at the

event are from all four corners ofthe globe and include high growthmarkets such as Brazil, Russia,India and China, mature marketssuch as US and Australia and newemerging economies such asAfghanistan and Cuba.Russell Jones, pictured, regional

director, UKTI, said: “The SouthWest has so much to offer the restof the world. We have afascinating array of interestingstartups, small companies andgrowth businesses based herefilling much-needed gaps in theinternational market.“UKTI’s agenda is to promote

UK goods and services to all fourcorners of the globe. If you have abusiness you are ambitious aboutyou need to be at this event. ”The event is part of Export

Week. Details fromwww.exploreexport.ukti.gov.uk/Bristol.aspx.

AN OUTSOURCING company hasmoved into Bristol city centre in thebiggest letting deal of the year so far.Civica has opened a new office at

the Spectrum office building, close toCabot Circus shopping centre.The deal, brokered by property con-

sultants JLL, is the largest in Bristolcity centre since the start of theyear.Civica, which employs more than

2,500 people inmore than 30 offices inUK and overseas, will be bringingtogether teams from three offices inthe wider Bristol area into one cent-ral location with the potential to

expand over time.Initially, 180 people will be based at

the new office.Group HR director Wendy Merry

said: “As Civica continues to grow, sowe continue to invest in our peopleand facilities in order to ensure thebusiness remains a great place towork.“The new property will ensure we

can create a flagship office in anexcellent location.”The firm has agreed a lease for

15,000 sq ft of space in the building,which was recently bought by Mad-dox Property Partners.

Civica outsourcing firmmoves into Spectrum

Maddox is undertaking a compre-hensive refurbishment of the prop-erty, improving existing facilities aswell as providing additional onessuch as a café and business loungeand meeting space.Civica was advised by property

consultants Ian Culverhouse and Cowhile JLL andKnight Frank are jointletting agents for the landmark build-ing.Steve Lane, associate director at

JLL in Bristol, said: “The fact thatCivica has chosen Spectrum is pos-itive news for the building and thecity.“This letting, combined with the

fact a high specification refurbish-ment is being undertaken, highlightsthat demand for good quality officesin the city centre remains highagainst a backdrop of reducing sup-ply.”TheSpectrumbuildinghadbeen on

the market for £16.6 million before itwas snapped up by Maddox in June.

Development Trade

Letting


● The Spectrum building

● Land at Temple Gate which has been bought by Skanska to build an office on

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Cracking code University researchis a ‘game changer’ for encryption

A TEAM of researchers atBristol University believethey have developed game-changing technology to keepinformation safe.

Dr Chris Erven, Dr Jake Kennard,Phil Sibson and Professor MarkThompson foundedKETS; a companywhich has developed ways to usequantum cryptography to improvedata encryption.They believe it could be wide ran-

ging applications, from bank trans-actions and critical infrastructure toonline shopping.It is the culmination of over two

years work by the team, who arebased in the university’s world-

leading Centre for Quantum Photon-ics. They describe the technology as a“game changer” because it uses newquantummethods to ensure the mostsophisticated and secure communic-ations.Jake said: “It’s been a real team

effort, building on all the excellentwork which has been going on inBristol for the last 10 years.“We’re the first of hopefully many

spin-outs to come from the Centre forQuantumPhotonics at theUniversityof Bristol, focusing on buildingdevices that real people will use.”The team has won the university’sown Dragon’s Den-style contest, beat-

ing 103 entries to claim top prize inthe New Enterprise Competition.Winning the contest, which was

judged by a panel of experts, sees theteam take a £10,000 cash prize plus£2,000 of support from the BristolSETsquared business incubator.They will use that to develop the

technology further, explore potentialuses and how it can be licensed toindustry.Chris said: “It’s fantastic to win

and the judging panel were very re-ceptive to our pitch.“It’s really starting to snowball

now and this extra investment andsupport will make a huge difference.KETS technology will provide for se-cure communications in a funda-mentally new way.”Nine finalists had to submit a

20-page business plan and give apresentation pitch to a panel ofjudges, before hearing announce-ment of the winner at the EnterpriseDinner in the Wills Memorial Build-ing.Second place and £7,000 went to

Funeral Arrangements, a companyfounded by French graduate Tom

BRISTOL’S thriving restaurant scenelooks set for further growth in thenext 12 months.Four out of five owners in the re-

gion think there will be more res-taurants opening, according to asurvey by TLT and industrymagazine The Caterer, with 38 percent planning to increase the numberof sites they run over the next 12months.Two thirds (67 per cent) of res-

taurant owners in the region said theSouth West still offered the most po-tential for further growth.Similarly, restaurant owners from

across the UK see potential in theSouth West, citing it as the regionafter London and the South East with

the greatest potential.Prime city centre locations are

likely to benefit most from the ex-pected growth, with owners citingthese as the most favoured locationsfor new ventures.The picture for out of town shop-

ping centres is gloomier, with onlyfive per cent citing them as targetlocations for new sites.Finding a suitable site (71 per cent)

and recruiting the staff to run it werethe two biggest challenges to expan-sion in the region. And 38 per cent ofSouth West owners were concernedabout increasing wage costs.Julian Mant, real estate partner at

law firm TLT, said: “Our mid yearsnapshot of restaurateurs’ views

shows a growing sector in a confidentmood. This is good news given thesector’s status as a bellwether for thehealth of the wider economy.“The South West seems to be a

target for restaurant owners accord-ing to our survey findings. And, thisis borne outwhenyou look at thehighstreet with chains like Wahaca, CAUand Byron Hamburgers appearing inBristol recently“However, there are some hurdles

to jump for those looking to open newrestaurants. Securing the site is, asever, near the top of the list. Increas-ing competition for space in popularlocations is pushing up rents, both fornew lettings and those in situ whoserent is being reviewed.

Restaurants get a taste for success

New job plans putregion ahead in UK● EMPLOYMENT levels in Bristollook set for a boost as more thantwo thirds of small andmedium-sized enterprises in theregion plan to take on newemployees in the next 12 months.That puts the region ahead of

any other UK region, according toa survey from HSBC CommercialBanking.The survey revealed SMEs in the

South West are very optimisticabout growth and a desire torecruit skilled, permanent staff tosupport increased activity.More than two thirds of SMEs in

the South West – 68 per cent –expect to hire staff in the comingyear, with 59 per cent of thembelieving that permanent, skilledstaff willbenefitthegrowth oftheir firmmorethanagency orcasualstaff.Of the

SouthWestbusinessessurveyed,52 percentexpect turnover growth in the next12 months, with more than a thirdexpecting at least six per centgrowth.Nigel Davis, pictured, HSBC’s

head of business banking in theSouth West, said: “This surveyshows that small andmedium-sized businesses in theSouth West are not only positiveabout growth, they are more likelyto hire full-time staff to help themgrow than any other region.“Hiring and training skilled staff

takes investment – which is whyHSBC has committed £600 millionto lend to SMEs in the South Westthis year and why we are running‘Strategies for Growth’ workshopsto help businesses realise theirambitions.”The survey found that finding

customers was the most pressingconcern for all SMEs in the UK,while one in six SMEs say they areconcerned by competition.Maintaining staff pay rises is a

pressing issue for smaller SMEs inthe UK, while labour and/orproduction costs are greaterconcerns for medium-sizedenterprises.

Harries, offering an online platformfor funeral directors and the be-reaved.And third place went to Imprint

Clothing, a fashion social enterprisefounded by History of Art studentLydia Cooper which aims to provideskills, flexible employment and em-powerment to disadvantaged womenin Bristol. She won £2,000 cash and£3,250 worth of marketing and busi-ness support.There were two honourable men-

tions, for Filthy Banana and NoMoreTaboo, who will each receive £1,000.

Catering

RecruitmentTech


“In addition, for the first time insome years, landlords are securingsignificant tenant premiums inprime locations on the grant of newleases.”For those looking to expand, most

expected to fund any expansion withbank loans (52 per cent). But a sig-nificant proportion will look to ven-ture capital or private equity sources(38 per cent).Andrew Webber, corporate partner

at TLT, added: “Venture capital andprivate equity investors remain act-ive in this sector.“Tax incentives and access to in-

creased board support mean thatangel investors are often available tohelp early-stage ventures developscale and brand.”Meanwhile, having a social media

presence, positive feedback on onlinereview sites and price promotionemails were cited as the three mosteffective ways to get diners throughthe door.● CAU on Clifton Triangle

Dr Jake Kennard

“We’re the first ofhopefully many spin-outsto come from the Centrefor Quantum Photonicsat the University ofBristol, focusing onbuilding devices that realpeople will use.

● Dr Chris Erven and Dr Jake Kennard receiving the New Enterprise Award for KETS

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Are you doing enough tomake sure your staff willhave a happy retirement?Gavin Thompson reports onwhat is the role of the em-ployer in pensions today andin the future...

YOU’VE just about got yourhead around automatic pen-sion enrolment in the work-place. You have a scheme,defined who is and isn’t a

worker, put everyone one ‘in’ and setup the hokey-cokey style payroll andadministration systems to cope withthosewhowant to comeout andwhenyou have to put them back in again.Great. Now you can put it all in a

folder marked ‘job done’ and backaway quietly.Well maybe not. Having a work-

place pension scheme up and run-ning is one thing, but have youconsidered whether it’s any good forthe people who work for you? Andwhether any of them will have adecent retirement income when thetime comes?You might think that’s not your

problem. And you’d be right, after afashion.But there are a number of reasons

you might want to consider it.

First, culture. What kind of em-ployer do you want to be and whatmessages do you want to send to yourstaff ?Martin Parish, South West area

director for Aon Employee Benefits,said firms can use good pension pro-vision as a way of getting employeesto buy in to the company and valuewhat it gives them.It can also be a way of attracting

and retaining staff, probably as partof a wider package of benefits.“If, like many firms in the South

West, you’re paying in above the av-erage employer contribution, youshould make sure your staff under-stand and value that,” he said.Second is risk.Martin said: “What if an employee

comes back to you in 10 years’ timeand says I’m retiring now, I didn’tknow I needed to put more money into my pension to get a decent stand-ard of living?“If you have engaged with your

staff then at least the business cansay, we reminded you in 2015 to log into your pension or invited you to aseminar to explain things.“Risk is on everyone’s agenda,

whether it’s property risk, cyber riskor in this case, people risk. Effectivecommunication is a risk mitigationtool.”Employers don’t yet have legal re-

sponsibilities over how their employ-ee pension schemes aremanaged, butyet is the key word.The Government has been gradu-

ally shifting the burden of respons-ibility to the private sector.“Governance is not yet a formal

requirement,” said Martin. “It’s anice-to-do not a have-to-do for auto-matic enrolment. But I don’t think it’sstretching the imagination to see thatcoming into contract-based work-place pension schemes.”

Sowhat can employers do to stay onthe right side of both those issues?While pensions seem fiendishly

complicated, Martin believes the is-sues are straight forward.“Howbig a person’s pension fund is

the single biggest factor that willdetermine when they can retire, howmuch flexibility they have and howmuch income they will have,” saidMartin.“If you start with the premise they

want to get the biggest pot possible,there are only four factors.”Those are:

● How much goes in● How long it goes in for● How well it performs● And what is taken out in charges.This last point is a crucial one. As

an employer, it’s the area on whichyou can have the biggest impact.The last government introduced a

legal limit for charges to administerworkplace pensions schemes of 0.75per cent of the pension pot. Butthere’s still lots of room for vari-ation.“Schemes for smaller firms will

● YOU might have been there. Ina room with peers hearing aboutyour company’s pension scheme.Looking around, you notice

you’re all in the same agebracket.It used to be common to group

workers based on age when itcame to talking about pensions.It made sense to a point,

everyone retired at the same timeso proximity to that date was akey factor in whatever youneeded to do.And things were pretty simple.

You were in the scheme or youweren’t.But things have changed

radically in the past few years.First automatic enrolment

means most people are in thepension scheme, so thesubstance of the conversationchanges.Second, the flexibility people

now have over how they taketheir pension, how they save fortheir retirement and even whenthey retire means often age is notsuch a common cause anymore.So what should you if you want

to talk to your staff aboutpensions?Martin Parish, of AON

Employee Benefits, thinks itneeds a different approachtailored to the company.

“Age might work for some butnot others,” said Martin. “A biglaw firm might say we don’t wantpartners and senior associate inthe same seminar as office staff.The ability of those senior peopletake action will probably be muchgreater than someone in asupport function.“It will depend what sort of

business you are and whatlogistics do you face. Are you onsplit sites with lots of people inthe field. It might be difficult torun seminars so what else can wedo? Webinars? It’s about whatworks best for the business.”Once you’ve identified groups,

you can prioritising them.Many over 50s will need advice

soon as they can start to drawtheir pensions from 55.Then it might be your middle

managers, who might not besaving enough to fund theretirement they want but have thepotential to do something aboutit. The idea is that next time youor your staff are in a room talkingabout pensions, you have more incommon with the people aroundyou than just what was on Top ofthe Pops in the year you wereborn.

Case study

There has beenmajorchange in a few years

WHY FIRMS SHOULD TAKE INTEREST

Steve Webb

“We’re saying let’s getout there and engagewith your staff to makesure that even if theycan’t take the steps toput them on the rightpath they understandthey might not get whatthey want.

Finance

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● PENSIONS are top of the agenda for manyemployers at the moment with governmentpolicies such as auto-enrolment, membersnot having to buy annuities at retirement andthe changes to tax relief for high earners.As such, Aon Employee Benefits is

experiencing a surge of interest in theirworkplace financial education service.The UK retirement landscape has been

radically modified – access to your pensionfund as cash, no compulsion to buy anannuity, flexibility to draw from your pensionfund as required – and would seem to be tothe advantage of employees and pensionscheme members.As such, there is growing demand for

employers to offer staff improved support.This is on top of employers pensions’automatic enrolment duties which areproving a financial and administrativeburden.Furthermore, many business owners and

managers are struggling to comprehend howthe new pension rules for high earners willaffect them.Manage all your ‘Money’ in one placeAon believes there is an important role forengaging technology and tools to helpmembers understand what their financialfuture may look like and access all of theirfinances in one place. Aon can provideemployees withthe ability to seetheir workplacebenefits andpersonalsavings togetherin one, secureonlinedashboardthrough their‘Money’ module which has been designed toallow employees to view their entire financialuniverse, from workplace benefits topersonal savings with real-time clarity.It is an unfortunate truth that many

employees do not adequately understandtheir pension and employee benefit schemesand do not fully appreciate the value andsignificant investment made on their behalf.With the possibility of individuals living 30

years or more in retirement, improvedbenefits’ communication supported by afinancial education programme provides thehelp and information an individual needs toensure they make appropriate decisions.In turn, this will help many employers fulfil

the Pension Regulator’s mantra – ‘deliveringgood outcomes for pension schememembers’ – which underpins effectiveworkplace pensions’ governance/management.Aon South West & Wales is hosting a

regional seminar event at the newconferencing facilities at Ashton Gate onThursday, November 12.The seminar will cover current and critical

risk-related subjects and Aon would expectattendees to leave with an improvedunderstanding of the risks companies face interms of insurance, pensions and healthmanagement.Attendees will be provided with a copy of

Aon’s research into ‘Multi-generationWorkforces’ and ‘Pension Tax Reform’.

Help your employeesplan for their future

IN THEIR STAFF PENSIONSoften have quite a high managementcharge,” said Martin.“We know that in the marketplace

we can typically secure a reduction ofmaybe 40 per cent of their charges.”He said an employee dissatisfied

with his or her pension pot who seesthat the companyhas beenpaying themaximum administration chargessimply because they didn’t do any-thing about it could ask legitimatequestions.“As an employer time and to an

extent performance are out of yourcontrol,” he said. “But charges issomething the employer can con-trol.”Automatic enrolment has changed

the workplace pensions advice mar-ket. Whereas before firms would tryto convince people to sign up, nowmuch of that work is already done.Take up rates have shot up sinceauto-enrolment came in.But for employers, in many ways,

the amount of advice they may needhas grown.That’s why Aon and firms such as

Punter Southall andSmith & William-son are hold-ingseminarsand work-shopsaimed atemploy-ers.Steve

Webb,right, theformer Thorn-bury and YateMP and pensions min-ister who drew up many of thesechanges, is filling up his diary as aguest speaker on the subject.“Auto-enrolment means there

hasn’t been a need for people like usto go into companies and saywhy youneed to join a pension, becausethey’re already in,” said Martin.“There is a need for education

around what people are in and howmuch do they need to make whenthey are in it.“It’s great more people are in but if

you are at one and one, you can’texpect a decent income at the end.“The pension landscape is quite

muddled for employers. There’s le-gislation coming out, admin and fin-ancial pressures and now pressurefrom employees saying ‘tell us more’or ‘I’m a high earner what are yougoing to do for me’.“We’re saying let’s get out there

and engage with your staff to makesure that even if they can’t take thesteps to put them on the right paththey understand they might not getwhat they want.“The key message is if you have to

spend money on pensions, at leastmake sure you are getting value formoney and that your people under-stand what you are doing, what itmeans to them and how they cancreate a better outcome.”

PartnerArea Director South West & WalesAon Employee [email protected]

Expert eye

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In pictures Property market breakfast seminar

Space to grow Business boom begins in city

BRISTOL is at the beginningof a business boom – butneeds to have the buildingsin which companies cangrow if it is to fulfil its po-

tential.Thatwas themessage fromabreak-

fast seminar on the future of the city’sproperty market.Nick Sturge, director of the Engine

Shed centre for high growth busi-nesses, which is hoping to expand,said: “I think we are at the beginningof the most exciting boom period ofgrowth I have seen.“We need to ensure that the right

location, style and flexibility of spaceis available as and when growingcompanies need it – be they homegrown or relocating/investing in thecity.He added: “We need to ensure the

other pillars of the ecosystem are inplace for businesses: funding, sup-port and talent. At Engine Shed weare working on all those and are keentoworkwith the property industry onhelping grow this great city-region.”The event, held at the M Shed mu-

seum in the city centre, was organ-ised by property consultants GVABilfinger.Regional senior director Jo Davis

said: “Bristol is one of the most im-portant economic centres in the UK.A product of this success sees Bristolas the only city in the UK with adecreasing aging population, actingas a magnet for young professionals.“In response Bristol’s population is

forecast to see strong growth, with arise of circa 40,000 expected over thenext decade, well above the rate pro-jected for the South West region.“Bristol has outperformed both the

South West and the UK as a whole in


terms of economic growth over thelast decade. It is the only English corecity where output per capita out-performs the national average.”Jo put the city’s success down to

successful universities which sup-port research, media, technology andknowledge based industries, a focuson the green economy, and a strength-ening professional services sector.

But she added a note of caution.“However,” she said. “To continue

to prosper we must see developmentopportunities in the city move for-ward with demand.“We are at a tipping point where

demand is outstripping supply whichcould restrict the city’s ability in theshort term to capture this economicgrowth trajectory.”

Director Paul Hobbs spoke aboutthe industrial market.He said there was strong demand

for warehouses from discount andonline retailers.But he added: “The Bristol market

has seen only limited developmentactivity and the declining supply ofhigh quality space over the last 12months means there is virtually no

prime standing stock available, andonly one significant speculativebuilding scheme under way.”Bristol City Council service dir-

ector for the economy Alistair Reidgave an update on the long-awaitingarena, describing the recent acquis-ition of Arena Island and the derelictformer sorting office site by the coun-cil as a “game changer” for the city.

● Neil Baker and Chris Taylor from Clarke Willmott ● Ray Brown, UWE, and Lucy Carson, Taylor Wimpey● Simon Richardson, Newline Homes, and Jonathan Galbraith,Paragon Land

● James Petherick, Development and Andy Capes,Restructuring and Recovery

● John Vowles, Bellway Homes, and Phil Stephens, SovereignHousing

● Jo Davis, Bilfinger GVA regional senior director● Gordon Isgrove and James Petherick ofBilfinger GVA ● Nick Sturge, SetSquared

● Pete Stockall, Planning, and Tony Joyce, BusinessDevelopment

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Sell-out event for tech experts to network proves ‘amazing’

In pictures Bristech, At-Bristol

AROUND 250 delegates from the tech-nology sector gathered in Bristol toshare ideas and hear from some of theindustry’s leading lights.The one-day event staged at the

At-Bristol centre was the first of itskind in the city.It was organised by a group of

people from within the industry, in-cluding Nicholas Hemley, head of de-

velopment at Scott Logic, based inKing Street.He said: “I am thrilled that the

inaugural event was a sell-out andinitial feedback from delegates andsponsors has been stellar.“Already there is talk of an

#bristech2016 event so it seems wehave hit on something here.”That feeling was echoed by those

who attended.Delegate Joe Jarlett, of eLearn-

ing247.com, said: “It was a truly fas-cinating day. The whole team lovedit.”Speaker Mike Elsmore, of IBM,

added his endorsement, saying theevent had been “amazing”.Mike was one of 18 speakers at the

event, which was sponsored by local

firms Scott Logic, ClusterHQ andForgerock.Other speakers included Softwire’s

technical lead, Tim Perry, and JustEat’s head of technology, Roja Buck.The event was divided into three

streams, web andmobile; techniques;and languages and platforms.Bristech started as a monthly

meet-up for beer, pizza and sharing

ideas among the technology com-munity.The aim was to provide a platform

for local tech speakers and provide aquality low-cost community event fordevelopers, from the simplytech-curious to seasoned veterans.And following the success, it looks

set to become an annual fixture in thecity’s events calendar.

● From left, Mark Withers, David Moody, Tom Wright, Omar Meija and Zia Grosvenor, all from MomentumPictures: James Beck

● From left, Roy Weston, Marla Cristina Tarantino, both from Elsevier, andMark Ferguson, from Shaw Gibbs

● From left, Steve Ford, from Scott Logic, Russell Day and Iain Baughen, both Muddy Boots

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THE Bristol office of account-ancy and investment man-agement group, Smith &Williamson, hosted an exhib-

Investing in Art Groupsupports prestigious show

ition of art shortlisted for the28th annual Sunday Times Water-colour Competition 2015 – the largestof its kind in the UK.This is the seventh year that the

firm has hosted the event and invitedclients and friends of the firm toattend a private viewing at its officesin Portwall Place, Bristol.More than 90 people came along to

view 90 original works of art by 80artists, including seven based in theWest of England.Mike Lea, managing partner at the

Bristol office, said: “We are proud tosupport this important exhibitionwhich celebrates the achievements oflocal and national artists using themedium of watercolour to create di-verse and beautiful paintings.“The standard of entries was ex-

tremely high and we were pleased tobe able to bring them to Bristol andshare them with our clients and con-tacts.”TheWest-based artists whose work

was exhibited included Leo Davey

from Minehead, who won Smith &Williamson’s annual Cityscape Prizefor his work entitled ‘Drip … RegentsCanal – London’ as well as Lucy Aus-tin from Bristol, Daphne Gradidgeand Peter Matthews, both from Salis-bury, Andrew Lansley from Bath,DavidAParfitt of Radstock andMich-ael Williams of Stroud.The overall winner was Akash

Bhatt for ‘Blue Room’ – one of a seriesof drawings and paintings of theartist’s mother.Second place was awarded to Mich-

ael Williams for ‘Land, Sea, Island.’The judging panel included Sara

Dudman, artist, DesmondShawe-Taylor LVO, Surveyor of theQueen’s Pictures, Josh Spero, editor,art critic and author, Lucy Willis,watercolour artist and Louis Wise,critic and writer at The SundayTimes.

In pictures Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition


● David Hoyle, Dean of Bristol Cathedral, Mike Lea, Managing Partner at Smith & Williamson, Bristol, Maggie Telferof Bristol Drugs Project and Andrew Gregg of Gregg Latchams Pics: Barbara Evripidou

● Belinda Biggam of Icon Films and Caroline Wellings

● Tom Hewitt of Burges Salmon and Robert Drewett of Bond Dickinson

● Jeni Pearse of BSPM and Alison Scott

● Jon Shaw of Careflow Connect and Emma Reinhold

● Kathryn, Isobel and Stephen Toole of Barton Willmore

● Eden Warren of Threesixty Services and Samantha Mant of Ecosoft Water

“We’re proud to supportthis important exhibitionwhich celebrates theachievements of localand national artists usingwatercolours to creatediverse and beautifulpaintings.

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COMPANIES which want toattract an audience on socialmedia need to use pictureswhich look beautiful andwork on mobiles, 200 busi-

ness people were told.The delegates at Digital Buffet,

held at the Colston Hall in Bristol,heard that 71 per cent of us use Twit-ter and Facebook from our phone. Sochoosing good looking images andtesting how they look is essential.Marketers had come from far and

wide to learn how to do better onlinemarketing from leaders in the fieldwho ply their trade right here inBristol.Natasha Baldwin, creative director

of Bristol agency Noisy Little Mon-key, was the stand out speaker de-lighting the delegates with tips tomake their brand images get noticedon Facebook, Twitter and Ins-tagram.“We’re competing with a lot of

noise on social media and if we’re notevolving and evaluating what we do,we may as well not bother,” saidNatasha.She gave some top tips for using

images on social media:●Make a good impression with clearand consistent imagery across yourprofile pages.● Keep your images simple, don’tclutter them up with unnecessarytext.

Business diary

Post your events online atwww.southwestbusiness.co.uk.Events are sometimescancelled without us beingnotified so please check withorganisers before travelling.

Festival of FemaleEntrepreneurs: Hear fromsuccessful women includingNicola Horlick, pictured, who wasonce branded ‘superwoman’ bythe media for juggling a highpowered career in finance withbringing up six children, AlexDepledge,co-founder ofonlinecleanerlocatorplatformhassle.comand JuliaElliotBrown –the womanbehind UpperStreet, the onlinesite that harnesses tech to allowwomen to design their ownshoes. Colston Hall, Thursday,October 22, from 10am. Visitwww.enterprisenation.com/festival.

Bristol Connected: The BristolPost’s regular businessnetworking event, this time takingplace in our offices in TempleWay. Post editor Mike Norton willtalk about our changing audiencewhile managing director SarahPullen will discuss the future ofmedia. From 6pm, Thursday,October 29, please register viaeventbrite.

Global MSC - Technology andInnovation in the SecurityIndustry: With speakers fromchief constables to Big BrotherWatch, Global MSC’s annualconference is a high profileindustry event. November 9 and10 at the Bristol Hotel. [email protected].

Bristol Post Green CapitalAwards: Celebrating theachievements of businesses,communities and individuals inmaking the city a greener andbetter place. The gala ceremonytakes place on November 12 atBristol Marriott Hotel City Centre.To nominate or buy tickets, visitwww.bristolpost.co.uk/greencapitalawards.

Linking marketing to financialperformance: If you aspire to runyour own business or rise to aboard level position within alarger organisation understandingthe links of marketing to businessperformance is critical. Half-dayCIM workshop at The Bristol Golfand Country Club, Almondsbury,on Thursday, November 12. [email protected].

Employment law seminar:Discrimination, social media andmanaging workplaceinvestigations seminar forbusiness owners, managers andHR advisers. Leigh CourtBusiness Centre, Abotts Leigh,Thursday, November 12. [email protected].

Workshop essentials: Forpeople who give or would like togive workshops as part of theirbusiness. Three-hour sessionfrom 9.30am on Thursday,November 12 at BristolSpaceworks, Easton BusinessCentre. Email [email protected].

In pictures Digital Buffet, Colston Hall

Simply beautiful Why great imagesare essential for social media use


● Sharon Tanton, David Sloly, Joe Tuckwell and Natasha Baldwin Pics: Barbara Evripidou

● Clockwise from above left,Natasha Baldwin, Joe Tuckwell,David Sloly and the audience at theDigital Buffet

“We’re competing with alot of noise on socialmedia and if we’re notevolving and evaluatingwhat we do, we may aswell not bother.

● Stock imagery doesn’t help youstand out from the crowd, use yourown.● Test how your posts look on mul-tiple devices. Don’t post for yourdesktop and hope it’ll be okay onmobiles, it probably won’t!Other local experts who shared

their advice included David Sloly,from Bristol’s marketing automationspecialists HarveyDavid.He gave great advice on how com-

panies can to use journalistic storytelling techniques in r marketing.From Bath web design company

Moresoda, Joe Tuckwell sharedthoughts on how evolve your currentwebsite rather than pay for a newone.Sharon Tanton of Valuable Content

spoke on how to keep content rel-evant and valuable to your audienceand Martin Warnes delivered an in-sightful talk on branding both onlineand off.Event host Jon Payne said: “Once

again Bristol proved that it has worldclass talent in the digital marketingspace.“Delegates came from all over the

UK to learn from our experts whowork with global clients. Attendancenearly doubled from 2014 so we’reexpecting tickets for Digital Buffet inMarch 2016 to go like hot cakes.”

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12 Wednesday, October 21, 2015www.bristolpost.co.uk

The back pagePeople● A well-known legal adviser hasjoined accountancy firm KPMG asan ambassador to help its teamsmake connections with law firms.Chris Bull founded Bath-based

advisory firm Kingsmead Squareand is chair of the professional andfinancial sector group on the Westof England Local EnterprisePartnership.He is also a non executive director

of Bristol-based DAS Law.In his latest consultancy role,

Chris will work alongside KPMG’sprofessional practice solutionsleadership team and with clients,developing further services andproviding expert guidance tosupport growth.Paul Spicer, UK head of

professional practice solutions atthe firm, said: “Chris, in commonwith all of our ambassadors, is ahighly experienced individual withdeep market expertise who will addvaluable insight, knowledge and avital critical eye.“He is incredibly well networked in

the legal and professional practicesmarket here in the UK and beyondand is a great addition to ourteam.”Chris, right, added: “My

years of industryexperience have givenme the knowledge tohelp legal andprofessional practicefirms face andovercome a new set ofchallenges and identifynew routes to growth, andI am looking forward to fusingthat experience with the KPMGteam to further develop the supportthe firm provides to what is now afast-paced market.”

● Ed Rimmell, joins VWV as acommercial partner, having trainedand qualified at Herbert Smithbefore moving to Bond Dickinson in2004.Originally a corporate lawyer, in

2009 Ed’s focus changed tocommercial, including high valuecontracts with a specialism in theenergy sector.Ed has worked on projects

including large-scale offshore wind,onshore wind and solar, energy fromwaste and bio-mass, as well assome traditional thermal generationprojects.VWV managing partner Simon

Heald said: “Our commercial team is

key to our strategic growth, andmuch of the work from the teamsupports our core sectors.“We recognise that our clients’

needs are ever changing. Ed joinsour existing team of 24 lawyers and

brings a wealth of experience,particularly in the energysector. He joins us afterthe arrival of intellectualproperty and data lawspecialist SerenaTierney, who joined usin September as apartner.”Ed added: “I am

looking forward to addingmy experience to the

existing team at VWV, and toidentifying fresh opportunities forexisting and new clients.“I aim to support the firm’s

commitment to the energy andutilities sector. It’s a toughenvironment for the sector, with theConservative Government makingswingeing cuts to the availablesubsidies.“However, opportunities remain,

particularly in relation to smallerscale projects where there issupport from local communities.”

● Blue Badge Company, amanufacturing business thatproduces stylish living aids, hasgrown its team.Yvonne Bowman has joined the

team, helping make colourful BlueBadge display wallets, walking stickbags, lap trays and other productswhich have proved popular.

It’s not romantic, but pre and post-nups are essential steps

HERE is something most en-trepreneurs don’t know,and which can have seriousramifications for theirbusiness: divorce courts

trump the Chancery courts.So if precautions haven’t been

taken, a business owned by severalpeople could suddenly be at thecentre of a matrimonial row.Few people who are in business

together have even considered thatthey could be made to pay part of thevalue of their stake to their spouse ina divorce.Although the courts generally

prefer a divorce settlement whichavoids anyone selling their share of

the business, it will make such anorder if necessary.The scenarios are countless but

prevention and planning is keyacross the board.Although far from romantic, pre

and post-nuptial agreements are anessential consideration which, in myexperience, far too few businesspeople are taken.While all iswell, before any signs of

divorce, all business partners with a

Opinion

stake in the company should agree toenter into a prenuptial or postnuptialagreement with their spouses.Such agreements are not 100 per

cent legally binding, but they will betaken into consideration by thecourts and could protect that person’sbusiness share.Clear terms and acceptable time

frames should also be set out forbuying out one business partner’sshare in the event that they have toquickly liquidise their interest in thebusiness due to divorce.When the issue of divorce is

already on the horizon, all you can dois prepare for the worst. Your firstcall should be to the company’s ac-

countant for an indication of themar-ket value of everyone’s businessshares. This will set out the potentialscale of the problem.The accountant will also be able to

suggest ways in which the businessor the directors can raise cash to fundany divorce settlement if necessary.Assets used by the business, such

as premises that are held within aSelf-Invested Personal Pension couldbe problematic if a pension sharingorder is made.The scheme trustees will need to

raise cash to meet it fairly quickly, sowarn the trustees about this pos-sibility straight away.Some say never mix business with

It brings the total number of staffat Blue Badge Company to 21, upfrom just one two years ago.It comes after a busy summer

which saw a flood of two months oforders in just 24 hours aftercompany director Ellen Green’sappearance on Dragons’ Den and a£30,000 investment from FundingCircle.Nearly half – 40 per cent – of Blue

Badge Company’s staff areregistered disabled or primary caregivers and the business hascommitted to maintain thisproportion as it grows.Yvonne, right, 47, is

profoundly deaf andregistered disabledafter being struck by arare auto-immunedisease called Cogan’ssyndrome in 1993.She said: “Working

with Blue Badge hasgiven me newfoundconfidence in working withpeople again after years of being outof touch, as well as providing myfamily home with extra income,meaning I can contribute towardsthings just as my husband, who hasnormal hearing, does.”

● An advanced manufacturer thatemploys more than 60 staff andexport its products to over 50countries has appointed its originalfounder to the role of chairman.Richard Roller formed Powervamp

23 years ago. Now he takes over aschairman, stepping aside to allow

Ken Walker to assume control of theday-to-day running of the firm asmanaging director.The company is based in

Weston-super-Mare andmanufactures cutting edge powerproducts for various sectors andindustries such as automotive,aviation and construction.Ken joined the company four

years ago as commercial director tooversee the acquisition of EffektaUK, an emergency lightingspecialist.

Richard said: “The future ispositive for Powervampand we’ll build on ourrecent success, whichhas seen us winsubstantial contracts toprovide airport groundpower to UK airportssuch as such as LondonHeathrow and LondonCity Airport.“Ken will now continue to

make most all the important dayto day decisions, together with theboard, and I will support them toensure Powervamp continues to gofrom strength to strength.”

Places● A new neighbourhooddevelopment in Stoke Gifford, northBristol, has its first shop.The Square was developed by

Balfour Beatty in a joint venture withHavard Estates earlier this year toprovide a community focus for thenew 1,000 home development at

Your digest of the week in business

pleasure. Many of us do and far toofew consider the consequencesshould dreams turn to nightmares.So here is the reality: The value of a

person’s share of a business will betaken into account in determiningany divorce settlement. This is es-pecially the case where there arelimited other resources and let’s faceit sometimes start-ups risk it all to getthe business off the ground.If you are in business and about to

marry, ask your future spouse to signup to a pre-nup.If you are in business with others,

suggest that everyone does the same.For a brief moment, allow good busi-ness sense to outplay romance.

Head of Family LawSimpson Millar in Bristol

Cheswick Village, below, in the heartof a 77 acre residential developmentsite near Filton.Acting on behalf of Havard

Estates, Alder King secured a pre-letearlier this year to SouthernCooperative as the food anchor

store at the Cheswick Village site.The Co-op has taken Unit 5, a

1,647 sq ft store, on a 15-year lease.A second 4,313 sq ft pre-let was

also agreed with expanding nurserychain Happy Days for its secondBristol nursery.The childcare provider agreed a

25 year lease on Unit 10. The new82-place purpose-built nursery, nextto Wallscourt Farm Academy, is nowopen.Two other lettings are in solicitors’

hands.Rebecca Harries of Alder King

said: “This exciting newdevelopment is now acting as a vitalhub for the local community.Demand has been strong fromnational and regional occupiersseeking good quality space.”

● Richard Roller, second from left, and Ken Walker, far right ● Ed Rimmell, left, and Simon Heald

business 21 october 2015

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