business 06 november 2013

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Why you need to think twicebefore signing that first lease

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2 We d n e s d a y, November 6, 2013 3We d n e s d a y, November 6, 2013 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

BRISTOL is leading the wayin a partnership withJordan that aims to driveeconomic growth throughinnovation and technology.

Delegates from the city visitedAmman where King Abdullah ofJordan unveiled a new tech hub.

The hub will help Britishstart-up firms partner withJordanian contacts and in-novative companies.

Jordan has more in-ternet start-up compan-ies than any othercountry in the MiddleEast. The country hasbeen dubbed the MiddleEast’s Silicon Valley.

Professor Joe McGeehan,abov e, chairman of InvestBristol and Bath said: “Bristol andBath are recognised widely as UKhotspots of creativity and innovation,which is why this tech hub providessuch an exciting opportunity for there gion’s companies to partner withJo rd a n’s fast-growing technologys e c t o r. ”

Delegates from London, Belfast

and Glasgow also attended. But Bris-tol and Bath were chosen as leadersin creativity and innovation, withparticular strengths in film, anim-ation, microelectronics and ad-vanced engineering.

Bristol is a recognised globalcentre of excellence for producingfactual television programmes, nat-ural-history film-making and anim-at i o n .

It is also a leading destination foraerospace, advanced engineering andmicroelectronic industries and is atthe heart of one of the largest cluster

of silicon designers in the world,outside Silicon Valley.

David Sproxton,co-founder and chairmanof Aardman Anima-tions, said: “This techhub will help cementfurther the region’sreputation for innova-

tion, technology and cre-ativity and set up new and

exciting partnerships withcompanies in the Arab

wo rl d . ”The partnership will see business

delegations between Bristol andJordan, conferences, workshops andpartnering events, bespoke pro-grammes for leading companies andraised awareness that should lead toconcrete business deals and con-tracts in due course.

Baroness Morris of Bolton, TradeEnvoy to Jordan, Kuwait and thePalestinian Territories, said: “This isa really exciting initiative which willenormously benefit both countries.

“The tech hub will open up newpathways between the UK andJordan, giving innovative start-upsand small- and medium-sized enter-prises in both the chance to accessnew markets and learn and growfrom each other.”

Lord Green, Minister of State forTrade and Investment, said:“Jo rd a n’s education system and in-tegration with world markets make ita real leader in technological innov-ation. The UK Jordan tech hub willserve as a beacon in the region, de-livering the partnerships and invest-ment that create the jobs of thef u t u re. ”

� Networking at the Board 2020 Conference on Business Ethics and Morality

Board 2020 Te c h n o l o g y

Delegates talkbusiness ethicsFROM tax planning and avoidance tothe benefits of building your com-p a ny ’s reputation, delegatesgrappled with the ethics of businessat the latest Board 2020 event.

It was the fifth such event organ-ised by Moon Consulting, the Uni-versity of the West of England andStrategic Value Partners, with thegoal of helping business leaders dis-cuss hot topics and challenges withothers in confidence.

Keynote speaker was Steve Hind-ley, chairman of Bristol-based Midasconstruction, who spoke about howtrust and ethics were key parts of hisc o m p a ny ’s success. Delegateslistened to a staged debate from twotax experts – from Baker Tilly, and ACMole and Sons – who discussed theethical issues around tax, tax plan-ning and tax avoidance.

Peaches Golding, principal con-sultant for Moon Consulting, said:“We had a mixture of people fromboards, whether family businesses,public sector, private sector and con-sultants, leading to rich discussion.”

The topic for the next Board 2020has yet to be chosen. Email oli v [email protected] tosuggest ideas or find out more.

E n g rav i n g

Lasers leave glass-makers beaming

ACOMPANY that makes Bris-tol blue glass is using thelatest laser technology toproduce the traditionalglassware. Bristol Blue

Glass, at Bedminster, is one of twocompanies left in the city making thetrademark glass.

The company has invested “tens ofthousands” of pounds in aFrench-made engraving machinethat means customers have to waitonly a few minutes for the work to bed o n e.

Dr Francis Burroughes, companysecretary, said: “We will still be of-fering our hand-engraved and carvedart pieces in our finest lead crystal,engraved by some of the greatest en-gravers working in Britain at themoment.

“But this new technology will en-

able us to fill our customers’ demandsfor high-quality engraving for com-memorative items, personalised gifts,and corporate and promotional itemswithin an hour or two of ordering.”

He said the technique usespin-point laser accuracy to controldiamond cutting heads and produceintricate designs and lettering.

Dr Burroughes said: “T hestate-of-the-art machine is not madein this country.

“The French have long had a mag-nificent high-quality glass industry,and have recently developed engrav-ing machines which rival the finesthand engraving.”

One of the first uses of the machinewas a large order for The MansionHouse, London, to be used for officialb a n q u e t s.

The glasses have been given by theWorshipful Company of Glass Sellers,and are the first that it has com-missioned in its 349-year history.They are engraved with the name ofthe master, the Worshipful Com-p a ny ’s coat of arms, and the date.

Dr Burroughes said: “We areenormously honoured and thrilledthat these glasses from a small com-pany in Bristol will be used by theLord Mayor of London when he hostsdinners for international official vis-itors to the city, including the Queenand visiting royalty, as well asworld-famous leaders, statesmen,politicians and business leaders.

“The plan is that these glassesshould become heritage pieces, partof the historic collection of artefactsat the venue.”

The Bedminster firm was respons-ible a few years ago for producing asmaller suite of wine glasses for Bris-tol’s Mansion House.

These were engraved with the city’scoat of arms.

Personal development

You’re shore to sea benefits being a Navy reservist

Expansion ‘will seeturnover up to £2.6m’� CLIFTON restaurant TheCowshed has secured a £140,000finance package to help itsexpansion plans.

The restaurant, launched in 2009by Adam Denton, has expanded intothe next-door premises, which wasoriginally the Whiteladies PictureHouse bar. The renovation hasincluded a new bar area, largerkitchens and a chef’s table so dinerscan see the kitchen at work.

The renovation has expanded the

DiningLeading chefs showtheir skills at festival� TOP chefs cooked up treats at aBristol food exhibition. The newdemonstration stage from TheChefs’ Forum was one of thehighlights of the Home, Food andDrink Festival.

Chefs including television’s MartinBlunos, Chris Wicks of Bell’s Dinerand Josh Eggleton from the Ponyand Trap showed off their skills withthe chopping knife, frying pan and afew choice ingredients.

The Chefs’ Forum also held apop-up banquet at the festivalvenue for 60 guests. The Chefs’Forum founder Mr Wicks, AdrianKirikmaa from City of BristolCollege, and hospitality studentsserved a meal and raised £500 forChildren's Hospice South West.

The festival, held at the Universityof the West of England Exhibitionand Conference Centre, attracted6,000 visitors over two days.

Fo o d

Bristol leads the way inUK-Jordan partnership

EMPLOYERS are being urged to en-courage their staff to sign up for theRoyal Navy Reserves.

HMS Flying Fox in WinterstokeRoad, Bristol, is holding an open dayon Saturday, November 9 for peopleinterested in signing up.

HMS Flying Fox Commanding Of-ficer Dave Bucknell said: “Being areservist brings a huge range of per-sonal and professional rewards thatalso bring benefits to civilian roles.”

Reservists normally commit to theequivalent of 24 days a year for train-ing, which takes place mainly duringthe evenings and at weekends. Re-servists are paid for their time, with

pay increases with seniority.However, new recruits can easilyearn more than £1,000 a year, in ad-dition to a yearly tax-free bountywhich ranges from £400 to £1,600 de-pending on the length of service.

When needed, the reservists sup-plement the full-time ranks withextra manpower, and in some casesprovide additional specialist civilianskills. New recruits must be agedbetween 16 and 40, have a basic stand-ard in English and maths, and be ableto complete a one-and-a-half-mile runwithin a specific time period.

Leading Seaman Andy Westlake,45, from Mangotsfield, joined up 10

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years ago. Andy has been a quantitysurveyor for 25 years and now worksfor Cowlin Construction. He serves inthe Seaman Reserve Branch, special-ising in maritime force protection,and is a small-arms instructor.

He said “Being a reservist gives youthe opportunity to visit places and dothings you would not normally do. Itis hard work but rewarding. Youmake friends for life. You developpersonal and professional skills asweeks go by and you find these skillsare useful in day-to-day life too.”

He has used his training in in-structional techniques to help himdeliver courses at work.

� One oftheengravedwineglassessent to TheMansionHouse,London

� Adrian Kirikmaa in action

re s t a u r a n t ’s covers capacity by 50per cent and is expected to increaseturnover by 35 per cent to£2.6 million. The company securedthe finance from HSBC’s Bristolcommercial team.

Mr Denton said: “It is great toopen the expanded restaurant to thepublic, and the initial response hasbeen fantastic. In more austeretimes, people value good quality –and that is why we have beenoperating at capacity. Customersappreciate the quality of our food.

“We did not want to be turningcustomers away and we did notwant to have to leave our home, sothe logical move was to expandnext door. The results haveexceeded our expectation.”

� Leading Seaman Andy Westlake,45, from Mangotsfield

Paul WilliamsHead of agencyBruton Knowles

Signing with care islease you should do

Know how

FOR many growing andstart-up businesses, sign-ing the first lease on aproperty is something tobe celebrated. But it is

also something small businessesshould do carefully, and onlyafter taking appropriate inde-pendent advice.

Make sure that you do not signa lease for longer than you wantto, as it is a binding legal agree-ment. True, if your requirementschange you may be able to sub-letthe property or assign the lease,but that can be a costly andtime-consuming process with noguarantee of a successful out-c o m e.

Signing a full repairing andinsuring lease means that youare liable for the cost of anyrepairs to the property from thatdate, regardless of what condi-tion it was in when you moved in.So check what your responsib-ilities are and how much it mightcost to maintain the propertyover the term of the lease.

You should not sign a FRI leaseon commercial premises withouthaving the property’s conditionchecked independently.

Disputes can arise over ser-vice charges. These should be setout in the lease – but often peopleconcentrate on the headline rentto be paid, and only realise laterthat the service charge is moresignificant than they thought.Fortunately for tenants, regula-tions have been tightened up inrecent years, and landlords areno longer permitted to treat aservice charge as rent going by adifferent name.

The service charge can be al-most as much as the rent in somecases. One way to protect againstany unforeseen major expendit-ure is to ask for a cap on the levelof service charge payable.

Break clauses can be a goodinsurance policy, enabling a ten-ant to exit from a lease if busi-ness levels do not live up toexpectations or the firm expandsand needs to move somewherebigger. They are fraught withdifficulty, and the detailed word-ing is critical to ensuring thatthe break can be operated cor-rectly. Another thing to check iswhen and how the rent will bereviewed. It is common to findthat a lease contains what arecalled “upward only” rent re-views, which mean that the rentcan never fall below the originallevel, regardless of prevailingmarket conditions. Agreeing up-ward or downward reviews atthe outset can pay dividends fur-ther down the line.

Tenants often believe theyhave no need of specialist adviceas a solicitor will provide all thatis required. However, this can bea false economy as a solicitormay not be able to comment onproperty issues.

Best deals - How the numbers stack upBusiness currentaccounts

National averagepetrol prices

1.01%£10,000 deposit

0.25%£1 deposit

Allied IrishBank

0.05%£500 deposit

Bank ofIndia

0.1%£25,000 deposit

0.05%£1 deposit

Corporation tax

Employer NI rates

23 %20 %

Main rate

Small profitsrate – below

£300,000

13 . 8%Standard rate on

earnings above£148 per week

10 .4%Employees ins a l a r y - re l a t e d

pension schemeearning up £770 p/w

130 .70 pUnleaded

138 .0 5 pDiesel

139 .38pSuper

unleaded

69 .48pLPG

Source: PetrolPrices.com

Business savingsaccounts

1.75%£1,000 deposit

1.49%£10,000 deposit

1.55%£500 deposit

Bank ofIndia

1.45%£10,000 deposit

Bank ofCyprus

A l d e r m o re 1.1%£1,000 deposit

Source: Business Moneyfacts - moneyfacts.co.uk

Unity TrustBank

United TrustBank

1.5%£500 deposit

United TrustBank

0.12%£1 deposit

CooperativeBank

Earl ShiltonB. Society

Inflation

2.7 %Weekly earnings

0.5 %Base interest rate

0.5 %Ave mortgage rate

3.99 %

CPIAssistant Editor (Business)Gavin ThompsonCall 0117 934 3336Email [email protected]

Get in touch

Writer Rupert JanischEmail business@ b-nm.co.uk

Advertising RobertRodgersonCall 07828 941469Email ro b . ro d g e r s o n @ b - n m . c o . u k

Advertising Jane ChapmanCall 01179 343025Email [email protected]

Advertising Simon CoyCall 07736 900 705Email simon.coy @b-nm.co.uk

Professor Joe McGeehan

“Bristol and Bath arerecognised widely as UKhotspots of creativityand innovation, which iswhy this tech hubprovides such anexciting opportunity forthe region’s companies

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Eco n o my

NOW is the time to invest andexpand in Bristol, accord-ing to a commercial-prop-erty specialist in the city.Colliers International used

a business event to deliver the as-sessment to city movers ands h a ke r s.

The Broad Quay-based firm’s re-search guru Walter Boettcher said:“There is a lot of good cheer around atthe moment, and with justice. We arelooking much better than we werefour years ago.”

Speaking at the third businessbreakfast, he dismissed fears the eco-nomic recovery was not broadenough to prove sustainable, pointingto improving performance in the ser-vices, construction and manufactur-ing sectors.

He said small- and medium-sizedcompanies had got to the point where

they were re-occupying space theyhad disposed of during the down-tur n.

They were also absorbing excesscapacity rather than taking on hun-dreds of new employees, whichexplained why employmentindicators had not caughtup with wider economici n d i c at o r s.

He said the SouthWest was third behindLondon and the SouthEast in terms of grow-ing business activity.

But he said: “London isgetting so expensive thatmany institutions are looking alot more at regional opportunities.Improvements in the fundamentalscould lead to a two-year expansionarycycl e. ”

Tim Davies, p i c t u re d , head of Col-liers International’s Bristol office,predicted that the return of spec-ulative development across the Westwould gather pace, with at least twofurther big-shed deals being an-nounced around the end of the year.

He said: “Increased demand com-bined with a shortage of quality ac-commodation could cause abottleneck, with the tipping point oc-curring some time next year. Prime

rents will start to pick up as aresult of the correction in

supply and demand.”Offices director Steph-

en Lipfriend also pre-dicted a bumper year forBristol, with officetake-up 42 per cent up onlast year.

He said the market hadseen a bias towards bigger

deals in the 25,000 sqft-and-upwards bracket follow-

ing the 1,000-10,000 sq ft deals whichhad begun to proliferate through thedowntur n.

Mr Lipfriend warned of supplyproblems as steadily-improvingtake-up absorbed remaining grade-Aspace. He said the speculative de-velopment taking place in Bristolwould be swallowed up by currentdemand – which he estimated ataround 350,000 sq ft.

Now is the time to investin our city, say experts

Ed u c a t i o n

Evidence of detectivewo r ks h o ps ’ s u ccess

ABUSINESS based on thescene-of-crime experience of a formerpolice officer is celebrating three suc-cessful years and the appointment ofits first national franchisee.

The Detective Project, which provides eventsfor children and adults through detective birth-day parties, educational workshops and cor-porate events, was launched by StokeBishop-based mum and former detective JennyWilliams at the end of September 2010.

Jenny, who has worked with both the Met-ropolitan and Avon and Somerset police forces,combined her expertise and knowledge ofscenes-of-crime methodology with her exper-ience as a mum to her children, now aged 9 and11, to create the event business.

By offering fun, science-based events to in-dividuals, schools, summer and youth clubsand businesses, The Detective Project aims tospark an interest in science and give par-ticipants the opportunity to experiencehands-on challenges in crime-scene investig-ation. Typical clients are children over 7, orbusinesses and organisations promoting team-work and shared challenges.

The concept has been so successful that TheDetective Project has doubled its turnover each

year and is working to meet demand outsidethe West Country.

Now, with first franchisee Steve Sharkey, aretired Metropolitan Police officer, havinglaunched The Detective Project North EastSurrey last month and more franchise en-quiries in the pipeline, Jenny is looking for-ward optimistically to the next three years ofbusiness success.

She said: “Starting up and running a busi-ness has meant three years of working harderthan I thought was possible, but the time andeffort are paying off, with growing numbers ofbookings for parties and corporate events, lotsof interest in our franchise offering and ourfirst new office now up and running.

“Customers love the originality of our ideaand that Detective Project events are edu-cational as well as entertaining. Our businesscustomers also enjoy offering their teams ofstaff a corporate workshop which is unusual,fun and challenging.

“I am proud that within three years we havegone from a start-up enterprise to a successfulbusiness which is attracting franchise enquir-ies from across the UK.

“My ambition is that in a further three yearsThe Detective Project will be known acrossmany more areas of the UK and that a wideraudience of children and adults will have ex-perienced the joys and challenges of donning ascenes-of-crime officer suit, picking up theirmagnifying glass and engaging with forensics c i e n c e. ”

MAJOR housebuilder Barratt haspledged its support to Bristol with theopening of a new office and plans for araft of developments in the area.

More than 65 Barratt Bristol staffhave relocated into new offices inAztec West. And the city has becomethe regional head office for BarrattWest, reinforcing the importance ofthe Bristol area to the future of thefive-star housebuilder.

Regional managing director ChrisBurton said the South West has be-

come a crucial area of activity forBarratt, and the investment in newregional headquarters is testament tothe developer’s long-term confidencein the region.

He said: “We are delighted to bemaking Bristol the regionalheadquarters. The new offices havebeen designed to accommodategrowth in the future. We have beenactive in the Bristol area for manyyears with a wide range of successfuldevelopments, and we have a number

of exciting projects in the pipelinewhich will build on the foundationswe have built in the region.”

The move to new premises coin-cides with plans for the launch of 27major developments in the region inthe next 12 months, seeing more than2,250 new homes for the South West.

Mr Burton said: “We are seeingincreased confidence in the housingmarket, with developments such asND10@The Zone and Charlton Hayesin Bristol proving very popular.”

C o n st r u c t i o nNew office and big plans see firm pledge support to city

� Former detective Jenny Williams celebrates the success of her business

Conference venue’s£100k net upgradeA BUSINESS and conference venuein Clifton has invested £100,000 insuperfast synchronous internet cap-able of uploading and downloading100MB per second.

EEF Venues, which owns Engin-eers’ House on the corner of CliftonDown and Percival Road, commis-sioned telecoms experts Gamma toinstall the new system using thelatest fibre-optic technology.

Martyn Bowen, venue manager atEngineers’ House, said: “Having thisnew technology on site means del-egates can carry out multiple onlineactivities, stream videos in HD andupload and download large data fileswithout any danger of frustratingand time-consuming buffering.

“It will also give our business del-egates superb video-conferencing fa-c i l i t i e s.

“That will allow them to connectpeople and ideas, share documents,projects, videos and whiteboardswhile working in real time with col-leagues or clients anywhere in thewo rl d . ”

Part of the investment involved re-placing the old conference-roomchairs and tables with bespoke, Itali-an furniture.

Te c h n o l o g y

Firm ‘delighted’ officescheme is under way� A CLIFTON property andconstruction consultancy has beenappointed to work on a majorspeculative office development inBristol.

Wakemans is acting as quantitysurveyor and employer’s agent onbehalf of developer SalmonHarvester Properties on the 100,000sq ft Two Glass Wharf scheme closeto Temple Meads. The site waspreviously owned by CastlemoreSecurities and bought out ofadministration in 2010 by SHP, ajoint venture between SalmonDevelopments and National FarmersUnion Mutual Insurance Co Ltd.

Wa k e m a n s ’ John Woodhall said:“We are delighted this developmentis going ahead. It could mark thebeginning of a new phase ofdevelopment in Temple Quay.”

Commercial property

Aardman backs boost to protecting ideasIntellectual property

Planning consultancysees business rocket� A BRISTOL planning consultancyhas seen the number of applicationsfor new homes it handles more thandouble. Aspire Planning, a divisionof Sanderson Weatherall, is dealingwith dozens of applications onbehalf of residential developers.

The firm is handling inquiries andinstructions for 300 homes, a 100per cent increase compared to thesame period last year. Around 30per cent of them are in the Bristolarea, including plans for 13apartments in Duncombe Road,Speedwell, and eight town housesin Morley Road, Southville.

James Davis, a partner atSanderson Weatherall and head ofAspire Planning, said: “Demand fornew homes in the region continuesto outstrip supply and there is amajor shortfall of available land.

“This is placing huge pressure onlocal authorities to find space forhomes, which means that sitesoutside development boundariesare being approved for housing.”

H o m es

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BRISTOL animations firm Aardman has wel-comed extra support for smaller companies toprotect their intellectual property.

The Government’s Intellectual Prop-erty Office launched IP for Business –a suite of tools which makes surefirms can tap into up-to-date guid-ance to help manage their intel-lectual property.

It aims to help firms get morerelevant advice from accountantsand other advisers. At the centre ofthe suite is IP Equip – a free, inter-active, online training tool that helpsbusinesses and advisers identify assetswhich may be protected by IP rights, and thinkthrough a strategy for protecting them.

Aardman Animations, creators of the Wallaceand Gromit films, argue that it is essential to

protect ideas in the early stages to safeguard ac o m p a ny ’s future growth.

A a rd m a n’s Sean Clarke said: “Alot of hard work goes into what theAardman team produces. If we donot protect the ideas we have thenit is a free-for-all and it does notallow us to create value to reinvestin future ideas. It is important tohave a system in place to protectwhat we do. I would urge other

companies to protect their intellec-tual property if they want to benefit

from it and help grow their business.”Lord Younger, Minister for Intellectual

Property, said: “Intellectual property is a pro-spect which small businesses often find daunt-ing. IP for Business shows that this does not haveto be the case.”

Rupert [email protected]

THE weather looks miser-able with rain sweepingacross the golf course andthe delegates for the day’steam-building exercises

are fretting about what is going tohappen if this keeps up.

Fran Burgess from Zing Asso-ciates, the facilitators for thed ay ’s activities, has a smile on herface and knows this little ad-versity will get the day off to justthe right start. “There is nothinglike a horrible day at work andthese days do happen so let’s seewhat everyone is made of rightfrom the off,” she says.

Team-building has becomevery popular with companies andit definitely adds another dimen-sion to a company sales meetingor conference. Fran’s aim as agood team builder is to focus onthe skills of planning, commu-nication and teamwork as well asdelegation, time management,problem solving, creative think-ing and decision making.

Where you hold your meetingand if you are going to add anysort of activity-driven extras isobviously a major considerationwhen planning your event. Yourstaff understand that the day isimportant and if done properlyeveryone will benefit and learn agreat deal. The out of town venuealmost certainly has the edgewhen it comes to this type of day.

You want to find a venue withspace, excellent meeting and ITfacilities, great catering,well-trained staff and that under-stands the needs of conferenceand events organisers.

Flexibility goes a long waywhen you are planning the day orin the process of delivering it.Cost is also another major factorand free parking is always ab o nu s.

One form of activity that all golfclubs have of course is the chanceto actually play the game as welland it is now very common to findthe annual conference finishedoff with either a round for theplayers or a session with the clubprofessional for the beginners.

Sarah Claridge and TomGillespie teaching pros at TheKendleshire have put together agreat programme called Golf inHalf a Day and on many occasionscompanies have held their con-ference or seminar in the morn-ing and then got everyone out inthe fresh air to see if they canmaster a chip, putt or drive on thefantastic practice facilities thatthe club offers.

There is nothing like having ago at something that appears veryeasy but is actually incrediblyfr ustrating.

Watching groups of colleagueshelping each other out and laugh-ing with each other is great to seeand just rounds off all you arehoping to achieve when deliver-ing your company message.

Pat MurphyDirector of Golf atthe KendleshireGolf Club

Get into the swingof team building

Know how

� A a rd m a nfavouritesWallace andG ro m i t

� Martyn Bowen, venue manager at the Engineers’ House Pic: Dave Betts