2EPB-E01-S3

www.bristolpost.co.uk

RATES REFORM PLEDGE

What Labour will do on propertytax if it wins next election – p3

AUTO-ENROLMENT HEADS UP

Why you can’t ostrich over the bigchanges heading your way – p8&9

LIFE-SAVING APP

Bristol firm’s app cuts airambulance dispatch time – p5

THE UNASSUMINGREVOLUTIONARYHow local MP Steve Webb has turned the pensionsindustry on its head – see pages 6&7

BIG INTERVIEW

252015FEB

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

2 We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 3We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

Ret a i l Ta x

Screwfix launchesfourth Bristol store� DIY and trades supplierScrewfix has opened its fourthstore in Bristol, on Bush IndustrialEstate, St George.

Hundreds of customers visitedduring the first weekend as thechain continued its expansion,with plans to open 50 more storesnationwide in 2015.

Already 91 per cent of the UKpopulation is within a 30 minutedrive of a Screwfix store.

Store manager Nicholas Blakesaid: “We chose to open a newstore in Bristol because it’s agrowing city with a great tradep re s e n c e .

“Many of our customers alreadyshop with us for our convenientshopping experience and aredelighted to see a fourth storehere in Bristol.”

The store is looking for localcharities to support. Find outmore at www.scr ewfixfoundation.com.

Acco m m o d a t i o n

Strong growth Rising numbers ofstudents drives Unite’s profits up

GROWING numbers of stu-dents are helping drive upprofits at a Bristol companywhich provides digs aroundthe country.

Unite reported its recurring earn-ings from letting out rooms rose 44 percent from £23.1 million to £33.3 millionfor the year ending December 31.

The removal of the cap on studentnumbers, which was raised last yearand will be scrapped entirely inSeptember, has encouraged universit-ies to chase more enrolments. That inturn means more accommodation

which is good for Unite.Chief executive Mark Allan said the

firm, which employs 250 people at itsSt Thomas Street head office,was well placed to keep grow-ing.

“Market conditions re-main supportive,” hesaid.

“Student numberscontinue to grow stead-ily, interest rates are stilllow, development costsremain attractive and theinvestment market contin-ues to strengthen.

“We are alert to the risks of risinginterest rates, development cost in-flation and the uncertainty of an im-pending general election but aremanaging the business in a discip-

lined way and continue to look for-ward with confidence.”

The positive outlook is reflected inthe fact that 65 per cent of its

43,000 student beds arealready booked for the

2015/16 academic year, upfrom 62 per cent.

Rents rose 3.3 percent, ahead of inflation,helping lift profits.

The firm has 4,400more beds in the pipeline

over the next three yearsin the regional markets and

a 50 per cent share in a projectdelivering 2,320 student beds in Lon-

don this year and next.It already has 14 properties in Bris-

tol alone, including Phoenix Courttower blocks behind Cabot Circus

shopping centre.The company is FTSE 250 listed and

is looking to ensure shareholders gettheir slice of the cake.

Mark said: “Over the past few yearswe have made some important stra-tegic decisions about the shape anddirection of the business and ourstrong results for 2014 demonstratehow we continue to deliver againstthese plans.

“With recurring profits up over 40per cent and a highly visible growthtrajectory from here we are pleased toannounce a step change in our di-vidend, which has more than doubledyear on year.

“Our dividend now represents a 65per cent pay out ratio and it shouldcontinue to grow significantly in thecoming years.”

Lord Mayor’s charity

Author and business mentor Bev to be guest at gala dinner

Rates reform Ballspledges action ifLabour wins power

A FUNDRAISING event targeted atBristol’s business leaders has attrac-ted its first Gold Sponsor – “Mil-l i o n a i re s ’ Mentor” Bev James.

The business woman andbest-selling author is the first to an-nounce her support as Gold Sponsorfor The Lord Mayor’s Charity GalaD i n n e r.

Described by organisers as one ofthe not-to-be-missed events of theyear, it takes place on April 30 at theBristol Marriott Royal Hotel.

The event, supported by the BristolPo s t , is in aid of The Lord Mayor ofBristol’s Children Appeal, whichgives 1,650 disadvantaged childrenvouchers for food, clothing and giftsat Christmas.

Bev, p i c t u re d , is from Bristol and isa local success story.

She is chief executive of The Coach-ing Academy, the world’slargest training organisa-tion for coaches, and dir-ector of mentoring forStart Up Loans, the gov-ernment initiativeproviding advice, busi-ness loans and mentor-ing to start-upbu s i n e s s e s.

Bev also co-created TheEntre preneurs’ BusinessAcademy with James Caan,star in the BBC hit show Dra gons’Den and wrote Do it! Or Ditch it.

The businesswoman will be a guest

at the dinner and is certain to bepopular among networkers.

The event includes a drinks re-ception and three-course din-

ner, with a h i g h - va l u eauction, plus raffle prizes,

and live entertainment.The first ‘early bird’tickets sold out in justtwo days, with thesecond tranche sellingfor £65 each or £610 for a

table of ten, plus bookingf e e.Director of Business

Showcase South West JamieBreese, a volunteer on the charity’sevent committee, said: “This will beone of the not-to-be-missed events of

the year, and we are delighted to havethe support of Bev James, one of thecity’s great success stories.

“She strikes gold in all her busi-ness ventures so it is fitting that sheis supporting this charity event andhas come on board as our first golds p o n s o r. ”

He added: “We are asking the city’sbusiness leaders and companies togive their full support, from spon-sorship to donating high-value auc-tion prizes and buying tickets.”

McCann lands ITVsponsorship deal� MARKETING agency McCannBristol has secured a four monthsponsorship of ITV NationalWeather for spectacle lens brandCrizal UV, owned byThornbury-based Essilor Ltd.

The sponsorship wasnegotiated by McCann Bristol’steam and started this month.

The Bristol agency has alsodone the creative work, focusingon how Crizal UV helps unsungheroes in our communities, peoplewho are out in all weathers, dotheir jobs better and more safely.

Produced by Partizan films anddirected by Martin Sterling, the‘idents’ feature a lollipop lady, afarmer, and a fireman.

Essilor managing director MikeKirkley said: “We were impressedwith McCann Bristol from thestart.”

M a r ket i n g

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

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

Green technology

Minister visits science park tomeet leading eco businesses

THE Labour Party will honour thereview of business rates promised byChancellor George Osborne if theywin the general election in May, Busi-ness can reveal.

This publication campaigned for wholesalereform of unfair business rates which detercompanies from growing and creating morejobs and wealth.

Last year the government relented with apromised review but with an election loom-ing there was uncertainty over whether itwould happen.

But on a visit to Bristolthis week, Shadow Workand Pensions SecretaryRachel Reeves told Busi-ness: “We would absolutelyhonour that review and getit up and running.”

She said it was unclearwhether the governmenthad yet done anything to getthe review, due to reportahead of next year’s Budget,under way.

“We know especially forsmall businesses and busi-nesses on the high streetthat business rates are one of the top pres-sures alongside energy bills,” said Rachel.

The party has pledged to freeze then cutrates for small businesses, paid for by re-versing a planned cut in corporation tax.

Rachel said: “That is a cut in taxation forbusinesses with smaller properties. We wantto make life easier for smaller businesses.”

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls added: “Ithink the Bristol Post has got its prioritiesright in identifying that business rates underthis Government are holding back the po-tential of businesses here in Bristol.

“Nearly 200,000 businesses across theSouth West will save money under Labour.And we will look to do more as we, unlike thisGovernment who prioritised cutting corpor-ation tax for big firms, will put small busi-

nesses first in line for future tax cuts. This isthe right priority when money is tight.”

The shadow cabinet members spoke aftervisiting Airbus’ Filton plant to launch theireconomic plan for the South West.

They answered questions from businessleaders and party members, including frombusiness rates expert Ben Batchelor-Wylamfrom property firm Colliers who said rateswere unfair because they were pegged to theSeptember inflation rate which was higherthan a yearly average and asked whether theoverall total tax take raised from rates was onthe table in the planned review.

The Shadow Chancellor didn’t directly an-swer the question, instead talking about hispar ty’s general policy on rates.

Ben said afterwards: “Unfortunately theShadow Chancellor’s com-ment about reducing theburden on business was a bitof a tick-in-the-box; it didn’tactually address the issueswhich I raised.

“He wasn’t willing to bedrawn on whether the totalamount raised from busi-ness rates was going to bereduced and, if so, where thecost for that was going to bepicked up.

“Interestingly though, hedid intimate that online re-tailers might not be pickingup their fair share in con-

trast to the traditional ‘bricks and mortar’re t a i l e r s. ”

The shadow ministers set out otherpolicies, including raising the minimumwage to £8 over the Parliament, which Rachelsaid would give small businesses time toadjust, and cracking down on some zerohours contracts.

The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretaryexplained this would not be a blanket ban.

“No one wants to ban supply teachers,” shesaid. “But if you look at a contract that saysyou can’t work elsewhere even though youc a n’t be guaranteed any hours by that com-pany that is exploitative. Working the samenumber of hours on a regular basis for thesame company week after week but not beinggiven a secure contract, that’s exploitative.”

CHIEF Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alex-ander paid a visit to the Bristol & Bath SciencePark meeting businesses who are taking an in-novative role in the green and technology sec-t o r s.

He also met science park chief executive BonnieDean and Richard Pitkin, Innovation Centre dir-ector, who gave him a tour of the park facilitiesand explained some of the innovation it sup-por ts.

The visit highlighted the growth and uptake ofbusiness space at the park and showed its role inenabling collaboration between the tenants.

The minister said: “The success of these busi-nesses at the Bristol & Bath Science Park – m a nyof them leaders in green technology – shows whygoing green is great for the UK’s economy, as well

as the environment.”Mike Adams, founder of Hieta which uses 3D

printing to make lightweight heat managementcomponents for green energy systems, said:“Since coming to the science park we have seenour opportunities to collaborate with other busi-nesses increase significantly which is helping usto scale and commercialise our technology.

“We have also created 15 high value jobs in thefirst 12 months.”

Bev said she was delighted to spon-sor the event.

“I am proud to be from Bristol andstill have a home here in Stapleton aswell as having a base in London.

“It is important to me to providesupport where I can. This is why I aminvolved in Start Up Loans, and why Iwanted to support The Lord Mayor’sCharity Gala Dinner.”� To secure your tickets at £65 each,or £610 for a table of 10, please go tohttps://g aladinner2015.event-b r i t e. c o. u k� Corporates and organisations in-terested in sponsorship packages orin donating high-value orm o n e y - c a n’t-buy prizes should emailinfo@g aladinner2015.com

� Unite has 14 properties in Bristol alone, including Phoenix Court tower blocks near Cabot Circus shopping centre

� Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls with Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Rachel Reeves,right, and Kingswood Labour candidate Jo McCarron during a visit to the A400M wingmanufacturing facility at Airbus at Filton

� BonnieDean,DannyAlexanderMP andR i c h a rdPitkin

� Staff open the Bristol store

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

2 We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 3We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

Ret a i l Ta x

Screwfix launchesfourth Bristol store� DIY and trades supplierScrewfix has opened its fourthstore in Bristol, on Bush IndustrialEstate, St George.

Hundreds of customers visitedduring the first weekend as thechain continued its expansion,with plans to open 50 more storesnationwide in 2015.

Already 91 per cent of the UKpopulation is within a 30 minutedrive of a Screwfix store.

Store manager Nicholas Blakesaid: “We chose to open a newstore in Bristol because it’s agrowing city with a great tradep re s e n c e .

“Many of our customers alreadyshop with us for our convenientshopping experience and aredelighted to see a fourth storehere in Bristol.”

The store is looking for localcharities to support. Find outmore at www.scr ewfixfoundation.com.

Acco m m o d a t i o n

Strong growth Rising numbers ofstudents drives Unite’s profits up

GROWING numbers of stu-dents are helping drive upprofits at a Bristol companywhich provides digs aroundthe country.

Unite reported its recurring earn-ings from letting out rooms rose 44 percent from £23.1 million to £33.3 millionfor the year ending December 31.

The removal of the cap on studentnumbers, which was raised last yearand will be scrapped entirely inSeptember, has encouraged universit-ies to chase more enrolments. That inturn means more accommodation

which is good for Unite.Chief executive Mark Allan said the

firm, which employs 250 people at itsSt Thomas Street head office,was well placed to keep grow-ing.

“Market conditions re-main supportive,” hesaid.

“Student numberscontinue to grow stead-ily, interest rates are stilllow, development costsremain attractive and theinvestment market contin-ues to strengthen.

“We are alert to the risks of risinginterest rates, development cost in-flation and the uncertainty of an im-pending general election but aremanaging the business in a discip-

lined way and continue to look for-ward with confidence.”

The positive outlook is reflected inthe fact that 65 per cent of its

43,000 student beds arealready booked for the

2015/16 academic year, upfrom 62 per cent.

Rents rose 3.3 percent, ahead of inflation,helping lift profits.

The firm has 4,400more beds in the pipeline

over the next three yearsin the regional markets and

a 50 per cent share in a projectdelivering 2,320 student beds in Lon-

don this year and next.It already has 14 properties in Bris-

tol alone, including Phoenix Courttower blocks behind Cabot Circus

shopping centre.The company is FTSE 250 listed and

is looking to ensure shareholders gettheir slice of the cake.

Mark said: “Over the past few yearswe have made some important stra-tegic decisions about the shape anddirection of the business and ourstrong results for 2014 demonstratehow we continue to deliver againstthese plans.

“With recurring profits up over 40per cent and a highly visible growthtrajectory from here we are pleased toannounce a step change in our di-vidend, which has more than doubledyear on year.

“Our dividend now represents a 65per cent pay out ratio and it shouldcontinue to grow significantly in thecoming years.”

Lord Mayor’s charity

Author and business mentor Bev to be guest at gala dinner

Rates reform Ballspledges action ifLabour wins power

A FUNDRAISING event targeted atBristol’s business leaders has attrac-ted its first Gold Sponsor – “Mil-l i o n a i re s ’ Mentor” Bev James.

The business woman andbest-selling author is the first to an-nounce her support as Gold Sponsorfor The Lord Mayor’s Charity GalaD i n n e r.

Described by organisers as one ofthe not-to-be-missed events of theyear, it takes place on April 30 at theBristol Marriott Royal Hotel.

The event, supported by the BristolPo s t , is in aid of The Lord Mayor ofBristol’s Children Appeal, whichgives 1,650 disadvantaged childrenvouchers for food, clothing and giftsat Christmas.

Bev, p i c t u re d , is from Bristol and isa local success story.

She is chief executive of The Coach-ing Academy, the world’slargest training organisa-tion for coaches, and dir-ector of mentoring forStart Up Loans, the gov-ernment initiativeproviding advice, busi-ness loans and mentor-ing to start-upbu s i n e s s e s.

Bev also co-created TheEntre preneurs’ BusinessAcademy with James Caan,star in the BBC hit show Dra gons’Den and wrote Do it! Or Ditch it.

The businesswoman will be a guest

at the dinner and is certain to bepopular among networkers.

The event includes a drinks re-ception and three-course din-

ner, with a h i g h - va l u eauction, plus raffle prizes,

and live entertainment.The first ‘early bird’tickets sold out in justtwo days, with thesecond tranche sellingfor £65 each or £610 for a

table of ten, plus bookingf e e.Director of Business

Showcase South West JamieBreese, a volunteer on the charity’sevent committee, said: “This will beone of the not-to-be-missed events of

the year, and we are delighted to havethe support of Bev James, one of thecity’s great success stories.

“She strikes gold in all her busi-ness ventures so it is fitting that sheis supporting this charity event andhas come on board as our first golds p o n s o r. ”

He added: “We are asking the city’sbusiness leaders and companies togive their full support, from spon-sorship to donating high-value auc-tion prizes and buying tickets.”

McCann lands ITVsponsorship deal� MARKETING agency McCannBristol has secured a four monthsponsorship of ITV NationalWeather for spectacle lens brandCrizal UV, owned byThornbury-based Essilor Ltd.

The sponsorship wasnegotiated by McCann Bristol’steam and started this month.

The Bristol agency has alsodone the creative work, focusingon how Crizal UV helps unsungheroes in our communities, peoplewho are out in all weathers, dotheir jobs better and more safely.

Produced by Partizan films anddirected by Martin Sterling, the‘idents’ feature a lollipop lady, afarmer, and a fireman.

Essilor managing director MikeKirkley said: “We were impressedwith McCann Bristol from thestart.”

M a r ket i n g

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

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

Green technology

Minister visits science park tomeet leading eco businesses

THE Labour Party will honour thereview of business rates promised byChancellor George Osborne if theywin the general election in May, Busi-ness can reveal.

This publication campaigned for wholesalereform of unfair business rates which detercompanies from growing and creating morejobs and wealth.

Last year the government relented with apromised review but with an election loom-ing there was uncertainty over whether itwould happen.

But on a visit to Bristolthis week, Shadow Workand Pensions SecretaryRachel Reeves told Busi-ness: “We would absolutelyhonour that review and getit up and running.”

She said it was unclearwhether the governmenthad yet done anything to getthe review, due to reportahead of next year’s Budget,under way.

“We know especially forsmall businesses and busi-nesses on the high streetthat business rates are one of the top pres-sures alongside energy bills,” said Rachel.

The party has pledged to freeze then cutrates for small businesses, paid for by re-versing a planned cut in corporation tax.

Rachel said: “That is a cut in taxation forbusinesses with smaller properties. We wantto make life easier for smaller businesses.”

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls added: “Ithink the Bristol Post has got its prioritiesright in identifying that business rates underthis Government are holding back the po-tential of businesses here in Bristol.

“Nearly 200,000 businesses across theSouth West will save money under Labour.And we will look to do more as we, unlike thisGovernment who prioritised cutting corpor-ation tax for big firms, will put small busi-

nesses first in line for future tax cuts. This isthe right priority when money is tight.”

The shadow cabinet members spoke aftervisiting Airbus’ Filton plant to launch theireconomic plan for the South West.

They answered questions from businessleaders and party members, including frombusiness rates expert Ben Batchelor-Wylamfrom property firm Colliers who said rateswere unfair because they were pegged to theSeptember inflation rate which was higherthan a yearly average and asked whether theoverall total tax take raised from rates was onthe table in the planned review.

The Shadow Chancellor didn’t directly an-swer the question, instead talking about hispar ty’s general policy on rates.

Ben said afterwards: “Unfortunately theShadow Chancellor’s com-ment about reducing theburden on business was a bitof a tick-in-the-box; it didn’tactually address the issueswhich I raised.

“He wasn’t willing to bedrawn on whether the totalamount raised from busi-ness rates was going to bereduced and, if so, where thecost for that was going to bepicked up.

“Interestingly though, hedid intimate that online re-tailers might not be pickingup their fair share in con-

trast to the traditional ‘bricks and mortar’re t a i l e r s. ”

The shadow ministers set out otherpolicies, including raising the minimumwage to £8 over the Parliament, which Rachelsaid would give small businesses time toadjust, and cracking down on some zerohours contracts.

The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretaryexplained this would not be a blanket ban.

“No one wants to ban supply teachers,” shesaid. “But if you look at a contract that saysyou can’t work elsewhere even though youc a n’t be guaranteed any hours by that com-pany that is exploitative. Working the samenumber of hours on a regular basis for thesame company week after week but not beinggiven a secure contract, that’s exploitative.”

CHIEF Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alex-ander paid a visit to the Bristol & Bath SciencePark meeting businesses who are taking an in-novative role in the green and technology sec-t o r s.

He also met science park chief executive BonnieDean and Richard Pitkin, Innovation Centre dir-ector, who gave him a tour of the park facilitiesand explained some of the innovation it sup-por ts.

The visit highlighted the growth and uptake ofbusiness space at the park and showed its role inenabling collaboration between the tenants.

The minister said: “The success of these busi-nesses at the Bristol & Bath Science Park – m a nyof them leaders in green technology – shows whygoing green is great for the UK’s economy, as well

as the environment.”Mike Adams, founder of Hieta which uses 3D

printing to make lightweight heat managementcomponents for green energy systems, said:“Since coming to the science park we have seenour opportunities to collaborate with other busi-nesses increase significantly which is helping usto scale and commercialise our technology.

“We have also created 15 high value jobs in thefirst 12 months.”

Bev said she was delighted to spon-sor the event.

“I am proud to be from Bristol andstill have a home here in Stapleton aswell as having a base in London.

“It is important to me to providesupport where I can. This is why I aminvolved in Start Up Loans, and why Iwanted to support The Lord Mayor’sCharity Gala Dinner.”� To secure your tickets at £65 each,or £610 for a table of 10, please go tohttps://g aladinner2015.event-b r i t e. c o. u k� Corporates and organisations in-terested in sponsorship packages orin donating high-value orm o n e y - c a n’t-buy prizes should emailinfo@g aladinner2015.com

� Unite has 14 properties in Bristol alone, including Phoenix Court tower blocks near Cabot Circus shopping centre

� Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls with Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Rachel Reeves,right, and Kingswood Labour candidate Jo McCarron during a visit to the A400M wingmanufacturing facility at Airbus at Filton

� BonnieDean,DannyAlexanderMP andR i c h a rdPitkin

� Staff open the Bristol store

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

4 We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 5We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

L i fes ave r Mubaloo app speeds upemergency crews’ response times

A NEW mobile app created bya Bristol business is helpingsave lives by getting air am-bulance crews to the scenesof accidents faster.

The app cuts the time it takes Lon-d o n’s Air Ambulance advancedtrauma teams to be dispatched by upto two minutes.

It has been developed by Clifton-based Mubaloo to use EE’s 4G net-work in the capital.

It speeds up the process of dis-patching life-saving teams by provid-ing key incident data, real-time

navigation and a live 4G connectionto the emergency operations centre.

Dr Gareth Grier, of London’s AirAmbulance, explained why the timesaving was so important

“Out of the 5,000 emergency callsthat are received by the London Am-bulance Service every day, we typ-ically see six patients whose injuriesare so critical that they need ad-ditional specialist treatmenton-scene before they get to hospital,”he said.

“Even reducing the time we take toget to our patients by 10 secondscould, in some instances, mean thedifference between life and death.”

Mubaloo’s Sarah Weller said: “L i kemany organisations, there are op-erations and processes that areunique to London’s Air Ambulance.

“With 4G helping to improve thespeed of third-party apps, it was clearthat taking a custom approach woulddeliver further benefits.

“EE’s 4G network means the apphas a reliable, direct data connectionto ensure it is always updated withthe right information.

“The app has led to improvementsacross London Air Ambulance’s crit-ical processes, with the time savingsbeing passed to the people who need itthe most, the patients.”

Gerry McQuade, chief marketingOfficer at EE, which is also Bris-tol-based, said: “This is a fantasticexample of how 4G and mobile tech-nology is helping organisations toimprove performance, even in themost critical applications such asemergency services and healthcare.

TWO Bristol companies have beenrecognised for being great places towo rk .

Rockpool, based at Paintworks, is tobe included in The Sunday Times’ listof 100 Best Small Companies To WorkFor this year while construction firmMidas has been rated “One to Watch”in the Best Companies Guide.

Rockpool is a digital marketingagency which develops multimediaapps for some big consumer brands,including Red Bull, STA and Sky.

The annual small companies listpublished by the national paper high-

lights the successes of UK companiesby assessing and presenting resultson a variety of standards.

Exceptional working environ-ments and high levels of satisfactionamong motivated, collaborative staffare attributes which are said to haveearned Rockpool its proud place onthe list.

To be chosen is “a real achieve-ment”, says the founder and man-aging director Bruce Griffin.

“Keeping our team happy has beenkey since day one. We work hard toensure employees are motivated, sup-ported and rewarded,” he said.

“We have made some changes lastyear in the way that we work, movingaway from a traditional managementhierarchy which can easily stagnate

Rockpool and Midas among leading companies to work for

Investment in cityrises by 23 per cent� INVESTMENT in property isrising in Bristol, according to newdata. Direct real estate investmentreached £1.5 billion in 2014, up 23per cent on the previous year.

The figure included the sale byLand Securities of a 50 per centshare of Cabot Circus shoppingcentre in Bristol to Axa Real Estatein a £267.8 million deal.

Olly Paine, director, capitalmarkets in JLL in Bristol whichadvised Land Securities on theCabot deal, said: “The sale of halfof Cabot Circus gave the SouthWe s t ’s real estate investmentfigures a real boost last year, whileinvestment was further driven bythe purchase of £140 million worthof Bristol city centre offices.

“Looking ahead, we expect thedevelopment pipeline will continueto provide the quality productneeded to drive investment in theregion and we are advising anumber of developer clients onexciting projects throughout theregion which will be of greatbenefit to our towns and cities.”

“In the hands of the brilliant Lon-don Air Ambulance team, the speedand reliability of EE’s 4G networkcombined with a bespoke applicationby EE Customised Apps partnerMubaloo, is creating crucial efficien-cies that are actually helping to savel ive s. ”

The air ambulance advancedtrauma teams are sent out to 2,000patients every year, by helicopter inthe day and rapid response cars bynight or in adverse weather.

The app, which runs on 4G tablets,has reduced the time it takes forL o n d o n’s Air Ambulance to dispatchtrauma teams by up to two minutes,with rapid response cars now beingdispatched in as little as 10 secondswith all crucial incident and nav-igation data in hand.

Airline’s new routesfor business people� AIRLINE bmi regional islaunching three new routes toParis, Düsseldorf and Nantes,targeting business travellers.

Robert Sinclair, chief executiveat Bristol Airport, said: “These newflights will strengthen links to keymarkets in France and Germany.”

Airline chief executive CathalO’Connell said: “Flying twice a dayto Paris means business travellerscan now have a full day ofbusiness in the French capital,rather than having to stayover night.

“Düsseldorf is the centre of theRhine-Ruhr and an internationalbusiness and financial centre,renowned for its fashion and tradefairs, and bmi regional the onlyairline to connect businesses inthe South West directly to thecapital of NorthR h i n e - We s t p h a l i a . ”

James Durie, executive directorof Bristol Chamber of Commerceat Business West, added: "Thisgives business across our regionand beyond better connections totwo of our most important trademarkets.”

NUFFIELD Health provides access tomore than 10,000 health expertsthrough our 31 hospitals, 75 fitness &wellbeing gyms and more than 200corporate facilities to help people gethealthy, and stay healthy.

We are the UK’s leading employeehealth and wellbeing provider andwork with more than half of the FTSE100. We were recently named ‘BestProvider of Workplace Wellbeing Ser-vices 2014’ at the Health InsuranceAwards for the third year running.Our nationwide network of physio-therapists is the largest in the UKoutside of the NHS. As a not-for-profitorganisation, we reinvest everything

back into the organisation to improveour facilities and services andprovide public health education.

Nuffield Health Bristol Hospital,The Chesterfield, is a state-of-the-arthospital in Clifton Village whichopened in October 2013 following a £20million redevelopment. CliftonCourt, originally built in 1742, is thecentrepiece of The Chesterfield Hos-pital, which has been part of the Nuf-

field Health family since 1961. Whilstretaining and restoring the historicGrade II listed building itself, we havebuilt an entirely new hospital on thesite, combining leading-edge clinicalfacilities with an outstanding cus-tomer experience.

We offer a range of services in-cl u d i n g :� Neurosurgery & Spinal� Wo m e n’s Health

Nuffield Health – the leading employeehealth and wellbeing provider in the UK

Sponsor profileWo r k p l a ces

Trave l

Proper tyTe c h n o l o g y

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

WINNING the large busi-ness prize at last year’sBristol Post BusinessAwards has helped re-tail support services

specialists eXPD8 raise its profile inthe city.

The company helps shops withpoint of sale displays and coordinatesbig nationwide campaigns in stores,such as the Amazing Spiderman 2and The Inbetweeners DVD re-l e a s e s.

It employs 2,500 people but becauseits work is done across the UK, ith a s n’t always been so well known inits home city.

Director Mark Thurgood said: “Wewere thrilled to win Large Businessof the Year against some tough com-petition from high-profile companiesacross the region.

“Although we are a national busi-ness serving clients throughout thecountry, we love Bristol and beingpart of the Bristol community.

“Winning the award has helpedraise our profile as a mover andshaker in the city and representsrecognition to all our fantastic peoplewho are truly passionate about theclients they work for, and help to keepeXPD8 ahead of the field and a leaderin the industry.”

The company, headquartered inOrchard Street, won the sought-afteraward as it achieved significantgrowth of more than 25 per cent overthe past eight years, has investedmore than £2 million in the regionsince inception and now employs 60people in and around Bristol.

It has become a major player in theretail support or field marketing sec-tor, working with major retailers,international film studios and brand

owners to maximise their in-storesales success. Services include stockcontrol and availability, product mar-keting compliance, product promo-

Business awards Our win reallyraised our profile within the city

Bristol Post Business Awards

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

tions and sampling, point of saleplacement and development, mysteryshopping and logistics.

The company announced a 26 per-

THE CATEGORIES

� Innovator of the Year,sponsored by Aon� Export Award, sponsoredby Mazars� Marketing Campaign of theYe a r� Best Creative orTechnological Business,sponsored by NextGeneration Data� Young Entrepreneur of theYear, sponsored by Renishaw� Lifetime achievementaward, sponsored by PunterSouthall� Retailer of the Year,sponsored by BroadmeadBristol BID� Family Business of theYear, sponsored by BOMG ro u p� Large Business of the Year,sponsored by Smith &Williamson� Small Business of the Year,sponsored by Lloyds Bank� Start-up Business of theYear, sponsored by Jordans� Environmental BusinessAward, sponsored by NuffieldHealth� Contribution to theCommunity, sponsored byFirst Great Western� Customer Service Award,sponsored by DestinationBristol� Leisure and TourismBusiness of the Year,sponsored by QBE

cent growth equating to £2.7 millionincrease in turnover over the past 12months. It has projected a furthergrowth of £6 million by 2015 and hasalso recently added 12 new clients toits portfolio including UCA, YankeeCandle and ashortwalk.

Apace with the growth, the com-p a ny ’s workforce in the UK has alsorisen from 1,000 to 2,500 since 2012.

Mark added: “We have grown ourbusiness on the back of our in-depthunderstanding and expertise in themarkets we serve along with excep-tional customer service.

“Our ever growing team haveplayed a critical role in ensuring thatour customers meet the demand oftheir consumers in store. We arealways looking to bring new peopleinto our fast expanding business andwe are in the process of setting up anapprenticeship scheme with a localcolle ge.”� The awards will be presented at agala dinner at the Passenger Shed onJune 25. To enter the awards, becomea sponsor or attend the ceremony, goto bristolpost.co.uk/businessawards.

� Director Mark Thurgood with some of his staff at eXPD8, which has its headquarters in Orchard Street

� Sport & Exercise Medicine� E n d o s c o py� M e n’s Health

In addition to fitness facilities, ourFitness and Wellbeing gym, which islocated just off the Triangle in Clifton,offers on-site health MOT assess-ments, professionally trained healthadvisors, relaxation areas and reg-ular ‘Meet Our Experts’ health sem-i n a r s.

Having provided healthcare inBristol for over 50 years, NuffieldHealth Bristol Hospital – The Chester-field symbolises a new era for privatetreatment in the South West. NuffieldHealth is a longstanding supporter oflocal business in Bristol with involve-ment in initiatives such as Clifton Bidand the Clifton Traders Association,and is proud to support the BristolPost Business Awards 2015.

� N u ff i e l dChesterfieldis a state-of- the-arthospital inCliftonVi l l a g e

Joanna PeaslandBusiness@b-nm.co.uk

creativity and employee growth, to aflat and flexible system allowing formore autonomy and really giving in-dividuals a change to shine every-d ay. ”

The Midas Group, based in Win-terstoke Road, is one of the UK’slargest independent providers ofproperty and construction services.

The firm’s head of people Ian Bas-

sett said: “This is a particularly pleas-ing plaudit to earn as it follows onfrom Midas earning a Silver In-vestors in People accreditation in2014.

“We are extremely proud to receivethe One to Watch accreditation afterparticipating in the survey for thefirst time.

“We continue to focus on ensuringMidas is a great place to work as thecompany grows.”

� Construction firm Midasand digital marketing agencyRockpool, based atPaintworks have beenlauded in national surveys

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

4 We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 5We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

L i fes ave r Mubaloo app speeds upemergency crews’ response times

A NEW mobile app created bya Bristol business is helpingsave lives by getting air am-bulance crews to the scenesof accidents faster.

The app cuts the time it takes Lon-d o n’s Air Ambulance advancedtrauma teams to be dispatched by upto two minutes.

It has been developed by Clifton-based Mubaloo to use EE’s 4G net-work in the capital.

It speeds up the process of dis-patching life-saving teams by provid-ing key incident data, real-time

navigation and a live 4G connectionto the emergency operations centre.

Dr Gareth Grier, of London’s AirAmbulance, explained why the timesaving was so important

“Out of the 5,000 emergency callsthat are received by the London Am-bulance Service every day, we typ-ically see six patients whose injuriesare so critical that they need ad-ditional specialist treatmenton-scene before they get to hospital,”he said.

“Even reducing the time we take toget to our patients by 10 secondscould, in some instances, mean thedifference between life and death.”

Mubaloo’s Sarah Weller said: “L i kemany organisations, there are op-erations and processes that areunique to London’s Air Ambulance.

“With 4G helping to improve thespeed of third-party apps, it was clearthat taking a custom approach woulddeliver further benefits.

“EE’s 4G network means the apphas a reliable, direct data connectionto ensure it is always updated withthe right information.

“The app has led to improvementsacross London Air Ambulance’s crit-ical processes, with the time savingsbeing passed to the people who need itthe most, the patients.”

Gerry McQuade, chief marketingOfficer at EE, which is also Bris-tol-based, said: “This is a fantasticexample of how 4G and mobile tech-nology is helping organisations toimprove performance, even in themost critical applications such asemergency services and healthcare.

TWO Bristol companies have beenrecognised for being great places towo rk .

Rockpool, based at Paintworks, is tobe included in The Sunday Times’ listof 100 Best Small Companies To WorkFor this year while construction firmMidas has been rated “One to Watch”in the Best Companies Guide.

Rockpool is a digital marketingagency which develops multimediaapps for some big consumer brands,including Red Bull, STA and Sky.

The annual small companies listpublished by the national paper high-

lights the successes of UK companiesby assessing and presenting resultson a variety of standards.

Exceptional working environ-ments and high levels of satisfactionamong motivated, collaborative staffare attributes which are said to haveearned Rockpool its proud place onthe list.

To be chosen is “a real achieve-ment”, says the founder and man-aging director Bruce Griffin.

“Keeping our team happy has beenkey since day one. We work hard toensure employees are motivated, sup-ported and rewarded,” he said.

“We have made some changes lastyear in the way that we work, movingaway from a traditional managementhierarchy which can easily stagnate

Rockpool and Midas among leading companies to work for

Investment in cityrises by 23 per cent� INVESTMENT in property isrising in Bristol, according to newdata. Direct real estate investmentreached £1.5 billion in 2014, up 23per cent on the previous year.

The figure included the sale byLand Securities of a 50 per centshare of Cabot Circus shoppingcentre in Bristol to Axa Real Estatein a £267.8 million deal.

Olly Paine, director, capitalmarkets in JLL in Bristol whichadvised Land Securities on theCabot deal, said: “The sale of halfof Cabot Circus gave the SouthWe s t ’s real estate investmentfigures a real boost last year, whileinvestment was further driven bythe purchase of £140 million worthof Bristol city centre offices.

“Looking ahead, we expect thedevelopment pipeline will continueto provide the quality productneeded to drive investment in theregion and we are advising anumber of developer clients onexciting projects throughout theregion which will be of greatbenefit to our towns and cities.”

“In the hands of the brilliant Lon-don Air Ambulance team, the speedand reliability of EE’s 4G networkcombined with a bespoke applicationby EE Customised Apps partnerMubaloo, is creating crucial efficien-cies that are actually helping to savel ive s. ”

The air ambulance advancedtrauma teams are sent out to 2,000patients every year, by helicopter inthe day and rapid response cars bynight or in adverse weather.

The app, which runs on 4G tablets,has reduced the time it takes forL o n d o n’s Air Ambulance to dispatchtrauma teams by up to two minutes,with rapid response cars now beingdispatched in as little as 10 secondswith all crucial incident and nav-igation data in hand.

Airline’s new routesfor business people� AIRLINE bmi regional islaunching three new routes toParis, Düsseldorf and Nantes,targeting business travellers.

Robert Sinclair, chief executiveat Bristol Airport, said: “These newflights will strengthen links to keymarkets in France and Germany.”

Airline chief executive CathalO’Connell said: “Flying twice a dayto Paris means business travellerscan now have a full day ofbusiness in the French capital,rather than having to stayover night.

“Düsseldorf is the centre of theRhine-Ruhr and an internationalbusiness and financial centre,renowned for its fashion and tradefairs, and bmi regional the onlyairline to connect businesses inthe South West directly to thecapital of NorthR h i n e - We s t p h a l i a . ”

James Durie, executive directorof Bristol Chamber of Commerceat Business West, added: "Thisgives business across our regionand beyond better connections totwo of our most important trademarkets.”

NUFFIELD Health provides access tomore than 10,000 health expertsthrough our 31 hospitals, 75 fitness &wellbeing gyms and more than 200corporate facilities to help people gethealthy, and stay healthy.

We are the UK’s leading employeehealth and wellbeing provider andwork with more than half of the FTSE100. We were recently named ‘BestProvider of Workplace Wellbeing Ser-vices 2014’ at the Health InsuranceAwards for the third year running.Our nationwide network of physio-therapists is the largest in the UKoutside of the NHS. As a not-for-profitorganisation, we reinvest everything

back into the organisation to improveour facilities and services andprovide public health education.

Nuffield Health Bristol Hospital,The Chesterfield, is a state-of-the-arthospital in Clifton Village whichopened in October 2013 following a £20million redevelopment. CliftonCourt, originally built in 1742, is thecentrepiece of The Chesterfield Hos-pital, which has been part of the Nuf-

field Health family since 1961. Whilstretaining and restoring the historicGrade II listed building itself, we havebuilt an entirely new hospital on thesite, combining leading-edge clinicalfacilities with an outstanding cus-tomer experience.

We offer a range of services in-cl u d i n g :� Neurosurgery & Spinal� Wo m e n’s Health

Nuffield Health – the leading employeehealth and wellbeing provider in the UK

Sponsor profileWo r k p l a ces

Trave l

Proper tyTe c h n o l o g y

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

WINNING the large busi-ness prize at last year’sBristol Post BusinessAwards has helped re-tail support services

specialists eXPD8 raise its profile inthe city.

The company helps shops withpoint of sale displays and coordinatesbig nationwide campaigns in stores,such as the Amazing Spiderman 2and The Inbetweeners DVD re-l e a s e s.

It employs 2,500 people but becauseits work is done across the UK, ith a s n’t always been so well known inits home city.

Director Mark Thurgood said: “Wewere thrilled to win Large Businessof the Year against some tough com-petition from high-profile companiesacross the region.

“Although we are a national busi-ness serving clients throughout thecountry, we love Bristol and beingpart of the Bristol community.

“Winning the award has helpedraise our profile as a mover andshaker in the city and representsrecognition to all our fantastic peoplewho are truly passionate about theclients they work for, and help to keepeXPD8 ahead of the field and a leaderin the industry.”

The company, headquartered inOrchard Street, won the sought-afteraward as it achieved significantgrowth of more than 25 per cent overthe past eight years, has investedmore than £2 million in the regionsince inception and now employs 60people in and around Bristol.

It has become a major player in theretail support or field marketing sec-tor, working with major retailers,international film studios and brand

owners to maximise their in-storesales success. Services include stockcontrol and availability, product mar-keting compliance, product promo-

Business awards Our win reallyraised our profile within the city

Bristol Post Business Awards

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

tions and sampling, point of saleplacement and development, mysteryshopping and logistics.

The company announced a 26 per-

THE CATEGORIES

� Innovator of the Year,sponsored by Aon� Export Award, sponsoredby Mazars� Marketing Campaign of theYe a r� Best Creative orTechnological Business,sponsored by NextGeneration Data� Young Entrepreneur of theYear, sponsored by Renishaw� Lifetime achievementaward, sponsored by PunterSouthall� Retailer of the Year,sponsored by BroadmeadBristol BID� Family Business of theYear, sponsored by BOMG ro u p� Large Business of the Year,sponsored by Smith &Williamson� Small Business of the Year,sponsored by Lloyds Bank� Start-up Business of theYear, sponsored by Jordans� Environmental BusinessAward, sponsored by NuffieldHealth� Contribution to theCommunity, sponsored byFirst Great Western� Customer Service Award,sponsored by DestinationBristol� Leisure and TourismBusiness of the Year,sponsored by QBE

cent growth equating to £2.7 millionincrease in turnover over the past 12months. It has projected a furthergrowth of £6 million by 2015 and hasalso recently added 12 new clients toits portfolio including UCA, YankeeCandle and ashortwalk.

Apace with the growth, the com-p a ny ’s workforce in the UK has alsorisen from 1,000 to 2,500 since 2012.

Mark added: “We have grown ourbusiness on the back of our in-depthunderstanding and expertise in themarkets we serve along with excep-tional customer service.

“Our ever growing team haveplayed a critical role in ensuring thatour customers meet the demand oftheir consumers in store. We arealways looking to bring new peopleinto our fast expanding business andwe are in the process of setting up anapprenticeship scheme with a localcolle ge.”� The awards will be presented at agala dinner at the Passenger Shed onJune 25. To enter the awards, becomea sponsor or attend the ceremony, goto bristolpost.co.uk/businessawards.

� Director Mark Thurgood with some of his staff at eXPD8, which has its headquarters in Orchard Street

� Sport & Exercise Medicine� E n d o s c o py� M e n’s Health

In addition to fitness facilities, ourFitness and Wellbeing gym, which islocated just off the Triangle in Clifton,offers on-site health MOT assess-ments, professionally trained healthadvisors, relaxation areas and reg-ular ‘Meet Our Experts’ health sem-i n a r s.

Having provided healthcare inBristol for over 50 years, NuffieldHealth Bristol Hospital – The Chester-field symbolises a new era for privatetreatment in the South West. NuffieldHealth is a longstanding supporter oflocal business in Bristol with involve-ment in initiatives such as Clifton Bidand the Clifton Traders Association,and is proud to support the BristolPost Business Awards 2015.

� N u ff i e l dChesterfieldis a state-of- the-arthospital inCliftonVi l l a g e

Joanna PeaslandBusiness@b-nm.co.uk

creativity and employee growth, to aflat and flexible system allowing formore autonomy and really giving in-dividuals a change to shine every-d ay. ”

The Midas Group, based in Win-terstoke Road, is one of the UK’slargest independent providers ofproperty and construction services.

The firm’s head of people Ian Bas-

sett said: “This is a particularly pleas-ing plaudit to earn as it follows onfrom Midas earning a Silver In-vestors in People accreditation in2014.

“We are extremely proud to receivethe One to Watch accreditation afterparticipating in the survey for thefirst time.

“We continue to focus on ensuringMidas is a great place to work as thecompany grows.”

� Construction firm Midasand digital marketing agencyRockpool, based atPaintworks have beenlauded in national surveys

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

6 We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 7We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

The Big Interview

HE was once dismissed inunguarded remarks by hisparty leader as “l a ck i n gideas”, but Pensions Min-ister Steve Webb has come a

long way since Nick Clegg was over-heard discussing his then front benchteam a little too candidly on a plane toScotland.

Steve is one of few ministers to stayin post for the full five years of theCoalition, something which has al-lowed him to push through a radicalreform agenda.

“When I came in the job in 2010, Ihad had ten different predecessors inthe last 13 years and I had somesympathy with each of them as pen-sions is a long-term business and ittakes a long time to get things done,”he says.

“I said right from the start that Iwas clear about what I wanted toachieve and that we don’t want con-stant chopping and changing. Iwanted to set a direction of travelthen progressively deliver it and infact we have pretty much deliveredwhat I set out to do at the start.

“Taking the state pension reformsfrom green paper to white paper, draftbill to bill and now sitting downwith people and givingthem a real forecast forwhat they will get inthe future, seeing thatthrough from startto finish has beenf antastic.”

How does Steverespond to peoplewho think his re-forms are really pre-paring the ground forthe eventual scrappingof the state pension?

“You do hear people sayt h at , ” he says. “First, I wouldsay that perhaps there wouldn’t be astate pension in future if we hadn’tmade the system more sustainable.One way we have done that is to linkthe state pension age to the lengthpeople live. Each time we find outpeople are living a year longer, we’llput two-thirds of that on working lifeand one-third on retirement. So pen-sion ages will continue to rise but sowill the length of retirement. Oth-erwise it’s just a massive tax hit onworking age.

“Second, is any government goingto say to near pension-age people ‘Weare going to get rid of the pension’? Ic a n’t imagine that.”

So Steve hopes he is leaving thestate pension secure, but what aboutthe pensions industry? It’s certainlybeen a roller coaster, culminating inthe shock announcement in lastye a r ’s Budget that people will nolonger have to buy an annuity withtheir private pension pot but can dowhat they like with the money. Itturned the industry on its head.

“I don’t think the annuity is an evilp ro d u c t , ” says Steve although somein the sector might not believe him. Infact he goes as far as to suggestthey’ve had a bad press as longer lifeexpectancy and low interest rates lie

THE MINISTER THEY JUST CAN’TDuring five years of the Coalition Government, thetwo parties have largely tempered one another’saspirations. But when it comes to pensions, wehave seen the biggest reforms in more than ageneration, leaving the industry racing to keep up.Gavin Thompson talks to the man driving thosesweeping changes, Pensions Minister Steve Webb.

tailored exactly for their workforcewhereas it’s going to be bulk com-modity for the small firm. ‘I’ve gotone employee above the threshold, Iwant to comply and enrol them andt h at ’s it’.

“Actually it can be a lot simpler forsmall firms. If you’ve got one em-ployee and they always earn abovethe threshold, you meet them everyday so you give them legal paperworkbut you talk to them all the time, asagainst a firm that’s got 17 differentpayroll systems, with casual and per-manent workers.

“Although it’s cost they could dowithout, for many small firms it willbe relatively straight forward.”

He also believes the bigger firmsgoing first has given the industrytime to catch up. For example payrollproviders now have auto-enrolmentmodules on their software. “T heyd i d n’t on day one,” says Steve.“T hey’ve had to write them. Thatkind of infrastructure is more in

All about Steve

Name: Steve Webb

Age: 49

Position: Pensions Minister in CoalitionGovernment and Liberal Democrat MPfor Thornbury & Yate

Education: Comprehensive school inBirmingham then, Hertford College,Oxford, studying philosophy, politicsand economics before dropping politicsbecause “I wasn’t very good at it”.

First job: Economist at the think tankthe Institute of Fiscal Studies, whichwas a “very stimulating environment”where the likes of Evan Davis andStephanie Flanders also worked.

Other interests: Member of thecross-party Christians in Parliamentgroup, music and an armchair WestBrom supporter. Father of two.

Favourite film: A Beautiful Mind, I likethe story about thebrilliant genius andperson who doesn’tquite fit and howsociety treats them.On a similar themewe recentlyenjoyed TheImitation Game,telling the story ofAlan Turing andthe Bletchley Parkcode breakers.

Hero orinspiration:Nelson Mandela. It’s a bitof a cliche but if you have been lockedup and mistreated all of your adult life,to not emerge bitter but come backsaying ‘I am going to forgive peopleand bring them together’ is incredible.Whenever you see an intractable worldproblem, that gives you hope that thereis nothing that ultimately can’t besolved.

place now than two years ago.”One concern was that small com-

panies would find no one wantedtheir business. The returns on theirown investment for the pension pro-viders are not so attractive if you havefive employees rather than 500 or5,000.

T hat’s why the Government cre-ated the National Employment Sav-ings Trust (NEST), but in realitySteve says the market has respondedbetter than he had expected.

“Nest is there because we couldn’tbe sure that anybody would be in-terested in the very smallest offir ms,” he said. “But there has beenmore appetite than we thought fromthe private sector. There are two othermain social providers – the People’sPension and NOW Pensions. Peoplesuch as Legal & General have gonemuch further than we might haveexpected and there are others. I thinkthe small firms will have more op-tions than we might have thought.”

With staging dates looming formost small and medium-sized firms,Steve is urging employers to act.

“We are going to write to everyremaining employer, so they will benotified,” he says. “T here’s a wholesequence of letters 12 months out, sixmonths out.”

For those who fail to comply, thereare penalties, but the minister hopesthey won’t be needed. “The regulat-or’s focus is educate and enable,” hesays. “Yes enforce too because there isa legal duty but I don’t want to raise a

too low and put it up to £10,000 so youd o n’t have to enrol someone unlessthey earn that.

“Another example, you used to haveenrol someone as soon as they walkedthrough the door.

“We ’ve given a three-month win-dow so you don’t have to enrol aChristmas casual worker.”

Steve points out that the process ishalfway through in terms of employ-ee numbers, with five million peoplenow enrolled. However most of thoseare from the big employers, with themany smaller firms still to gothrough the process which could cre-ate a bottleneck due to the sheervolume of businesses.

The minister hopes it will gosmoothly. He says they have been put-ting a small sample of micro firmsthrough to test the systems for themand tweaking things as they go.

“It will be a different propositionfor smaller firms,” he says. “For thelarge firms they wanted pensions

Pensions Minister Steve Webb

behind the lower returns manypeople get.

“But people weren’t shoppingaround enough and they weren’t get-ting enough extra for ill health,” hesays. “There had been lots of attemptsto make the annuities market workand they just weren’t cutting the mus-tard. I would talk about auto-enrol-ment (of workplace pensions, more onthat in a moment) and people wouldsay to me ‘Yes, but at the end I’ve got tobuy an annuity and they’re not verygood value’.

“There is still a place for annuitiesin the market but the providers arejust going to have to work a bit harderto find it – and that’s a good thing.”

He added: “Since the Budget morepeople feel more positively about pen-sion savings and I think that’sg reat.”

It’s not just sections of the pensionsindustry who might think Steve hasbeen a thorn in their side during hisministerial term. The automatic en-rolment of workplace pensions –meaning employers must put every-one into a pension scheme – w a s n’this idea. The initial legislation wasdone by the previous Labour gov-

ernment, but Steve has beenresponsible for driving it

through. And thatmeans more red tape

and expense forpretty much everybusiness at a timewhen they wouldargue they’ve hadenough on theirplates with a global

re c e s s i o n .He is unrepentant.

“I recognise we areasking employers to take

on a new task,” he says,“And I understand if someone

says ‘T hat’s a cost and burden to meand I’d rather we didn’t have to’ but interms of the millions of workers in theprivate sector who have no privatepension – we ’ve tried everythingelse!

“We ’ve tried stakeholder, tax relief.all sorts of schemes to try to get peopleopting in and we’ve just failed. WhenI started we had got to the stage wherejust one worker in three in the privatesector had a pension. That had beenfalling for 50 years. The remainingtwo thirds would only have the statepension to live on.

“The beauty of auto-enrolment isthat we’ve all got the chance to opt outbut we’ve all been stunned by howmany people are staying in – 90 percent have stayed in.

“Partly that’s credit to the employ-ers so far who have put money in togive their workers the information.

“It’s a different kettle of fish ifyo u ’re a very small business and Iunderstand that. What we’ve tried togo is get the balance right betweendoing what we need to do and min-imising the burden. One example,when I started you would have had toenrol someone who earned above thenational insurance floor which wasabout £5,500 a year. We said that’s far

“ I said right from the start that I was clear aboutwhat I wanted to achieve and that we don’t wantconstant chopping and changing I want to set adirection of travel then progressively deliver it andin fact we have pretty much delivered what I setout to do at the start.

THREE-QUARTERS of companies plan to hirestaff in 2015, according to a survey of nearly25,000 business owners in the South West.

The research carried out by Insight Data forWeston-super-Mare firm GBRS Recruitment fo-cused on businesses which employ more thansix people already.

It found that 75 per cent of respondentsplanned to hire this year, with 49 per centintending to take on one to three new membersof staff, six per cent saying between three andfive people and 20 per cent more than five.

But while most want to hire, only 44 per centbelieve they can find the right skills.

GBRS director Gary Higgins said: “Recr uit-ing the skills they need is still an issue for somebusinesses; and in particular in the construc-tion sector.

“But still nearly half of those polled say theybelieve the skills they require are out there inthe economy.”

Despite the large numbers planning to hire,the number who felt more jobs would be createdin the UK this year was a little lower, at 64 percent, suggesting that business owners thinkthey are doing better than the economy ing eneral.

A minority, 39 per cent, of firms say theyplanned to hire at least one apprentice this year,against 41 per cent which are not and 20 per centundecided.

The survey also found just over half of thebusinesses questioned thought work building a

Three-quarters of firms planto take on staff during 2015

penny in fines.”Pensions might be boring to some,

but it’s clearly been where the actionis in government this past five years.How much of that has been down toSteve, an unassuming, churchgoingLiberal Democrat?

The state pension reforms havebeen his baby and while he didn’tstart auto-enrolment, he has put a lotinto delivering it. The recent changesaround annuities he says are more ofa product of Coalition. “If the Chan-cellor hadn’t wanted to do it, itwo u l d n’t have happened,” he says.“But I’ve been banging on about an-nuity reform for 15 years now. So itwas the right combination of people.As a liberal, the idea of letting peopledo what they want with their ownmoney works for me but it works forthe Chancellor too.”

And having Nick Clegg, despitethose past comments, in his cornerhas been vital. “If Nick Clegg andDanny Alexander hadn’t been battingfor the pension reforms it would havesunk,” he says. “It wasn’t in the Co-alition agreement. I would see Nickand explain what I wanted and whyit’s good for the Lib Dems but whenthe four of them (Clegg, Alexander,George Osborne and David Cameron)sit down together I’m generally not inthe room.”

The minister has enjoyed being inGovernment. “When you’ve been inOpposition for 13 years it’s good tohave the opportunity to actually dot h i n g s, ” he says. “Opposition is im-portant and being a local MP is im-portant and that was all I assumed Iwould ever be, but there is that specialthing about being able to bring to thefore the things you believe in.” Hewould love the chance to continue,but that all depends on the outcome ofthe next election.

No one can take reelection for gran-ted, but Steve is one of the safest LibDems in a region that had until veryrecently been a stronghold for theparty. A recent poll suggested a worstcase scenario where all but two of thepar ty’s South West seats were lost buteven then Steve and Yeovil MP DavidLaws would survive.

Whatever happens, however, theThornbury & Yate MP has no plans totake a run at the leadership shouldthe post become vacant after the May7 ballot.

“Categorically not,” he says. “I’vefound my niche, a role where it’s whatI enjoy, what I hope I’m good at andI’m very positive about what I’ved o n e.

“To be leader of any party frankly isan awful job. I discovered what Ireally like is focusing on something abit technical, detail, gnawing away atit, whereas the leader’s job is verygeneralist. You have to cover everysubject, you have to do the party polit-ics, it’s so broad and requires a par-ticular set of skills that I don’t have. Ihave no aspirations to that.”

How about a career outside politicsthen? “Maybe one day,” he says. “It’s afunny profession. You take a decisiononce every five years and I’ve nailedmy colours to the mast for the nextfive years, unless the electorate hassomething to say about it.

“But I could at some point think ofworking the world of pensions orsomething else.”

So whenever he does walk awayfrom Westminster, the pensions in-dustry might not have seen the backof Steve Webb yet. Perhaps next timeday he’ll revolutionise the industryfrom the inside.

PENSION OFF...South West survey

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

new nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point – thebiggest infrastructure project for some time –would impact them, with 12 per cent believing itwould have a direct impact and 39 per centsaying it would affect them indirectly. Thatleaves 49 per cent feeling it will have no impacton them.

Fellow director Ben Milsom said: “As a com-pany that operates in the employment and skillssector, and with lots of debate around work, wewere keen to see what intentions businesses inthe South West have around employment.

“The results were revealing and we are sur-prised so many firms will not be directly im-pacted by the build and legacy of HinkleyPo i n t .

“Overall though, the results were positive andshow that firms in the region are confidentgoing forward.”

� GBRS directors Gary Higgins and BenMilsom

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

6 We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 7We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

The Big Interview

HE was once dismissed inunguarded remarks by hisparty leader as “l a ck i n gideas”, but Pensions Min-ister Steve Webb has come a

long way since Nick Clegg was over-heard discussing his then front benchteam a little too candidly on a plane toScotland.

Steve is one of few ministers to stayin post for the full five years of theCoalition, something which has al-lowed him to push through a radicalreform agenda.

“When I came in the job in 2010, Ihad had ten different predecessors inthe last 13 years and I had somesympathy with each of them as pen-sions is a long-term business and ittakes a long time to get things done,”he says.

“I said right from the start that Iwas clear about what I wanted toachieve and that we don’t want con-stant chopping and changing. Iwanted to set a direction of travelthen progressively deliver it and infact we have pretty much deliveredwhat I set out to do at the start.

“Taking the state pension reformsfrom green paper to white paper, draftbill to bill and now sitting downwith people and givingthem a real forecast forwhat they will get inthe future, seeing thatthrough from startto finish has beenf antastic.”

How does Steverespond to peoplewho think his re-forms are really pre-paring the ground forthe eventual scrappingof the state pension?

“You do hear people sayt h at , ” he says. “First, I wouldsay that perhaps there wouldn’t be astate pension in future if we hadn’tmade the system more sustainable.One way we have done that is to linkthe state pension age to the lengthpeople live. Each time we find outpeople are living a year longer, we’llput two-thirds of that on working lifeand one-third on retirement. So pen-sion ages will continue to rise but sowill the length of retirement. Oth-erwise it’s just a massive tax hit onworking age.

“Second, is any government goingto say to near pension-age people ‘Weare going to get rid of the pension’? Ic a n’t imagine that.”

So Steve hopes he is leaving thestate pension secure, but what aboutthe pensions industry? It’s certainlybeen a roller coaster, culminating inthe shock announcement in lastye a r ’s Budget that people will nolonger have to buy an annuity withtheir private pension pot but can dowhat they like with the money. Itturned the industry on its head.

“I don’t think the annuity is an evilp ro d u c t , ” says Steve although somein the sector might not believe him. Infact he goes as far as to suggestthey’ve had a bad press as longer lifeexpectancy and low interest rates lie

THE MINISTER THEY JUST CAN’TDuring five years of the Coalition Government, thetwo parties have largely tempered one another’saspirations. But when it comes to pensions, wehave seen the biggest reforms in more than ageneration, leaving the industry racing to keep up.Gavin Thompson talks to the man driving thosesweeping changes, Pensions Minister Steve Webb.

tailored exactly for their workforcewhereas it’s going to be bulk com-modity for the small firm. ‘I’ve gotone employee above the threshold, Iwant to comply and enrol them andt h at ’s it’.

“Actually it can be a lot simpler forsmall firms. If you’ve got one em-ployee and they always earn abovethe threshold, you meet them everyday so you give them legal paperworkbut you talk to them all the time, asagainst a firm that’s got 17 differentpayroll systems, with casual and per-manent workers.

“Although it’s cost they could dowithout, for many small firms it willbe relatively straight forward.”

He also believes the bigger firmsgoing first has given the industrytime to catch up. For example payrollproviders now have auto-enrolmentmodules on their software. “T heyd i d n’t on day one,” says Steve.“T hey’ve had to write them. Thatkind of infrastructure is more in

All about Steve

Name: Steve Webb

Age: 49

Position: Pensions Minister in CoalitionGovernment and Liberal Democrat MPfor Thornbury & Yate

Education: Comprehensive school inBirmingham then, Hertford College,Oxford, studying philosophy, politicsand economics before dropping politicsbecause “I wasn’t very good at it”.

First job: Economist at the think tankthe Institute of Fiscal Studies, whichwas a “very stimulating environment”where the likes of Evan Davis andStephanie Flanders also worked.

Other interests: Member of thecross-party Christians in Parliamentgroup, music and an armchair WestBrom supporter. Father of two.

Favourite film: A Beautiful Mind, I likethe story about thebrilliant genius andperson who doesn’tquite fit and howsociety treats them.On a similar themewe recentlyenjoyed TheImitation Game,telling the story ofAlan Turing andthe Bletchley Parkcode breakers.

Hero orinspiration:Nelson Mandela. It’s a bitof a cliche but if you have been lockedup and mistreated all of your adult life,to not emerge bitter but come backsaying ‘I am going to forgive peopleand bring them together’ is incredible.Whenever you see an intractable worldproblem, that gives you hope that thereis nothing that ultimately can’t besolved.

place now than two years ago.”One concern was that small com-

panies would find no one wantedtheir business. The returns on theirown investment for the pension pro-viders are not so attractive if you havefive employees rather than 500 or5,000.

T hat’s why the Government cre-ated the National Employment Sav-ings Trust (NEST), but in realitySteve says the market has respondedbetter than he had expected.

“Nest is there because we couldn’tbe sure that anybody would be in-terested in the very smallest offir ms,” he said. “But there has beenmore appetite than we thought fromthe private sector. There are two othermain social providers – the People’sPension and NOW Pensions. Peoplesuch as Legal & General have gonemuch further than we might haveexpected and there are others. I thinkthe small firms will have more op-tions than we might have thought.”

With staging dates looming formost small and medium-sized firms,Steve is urging employers to act.

“We are going to write to everyremaining employer, so they will benotified,” he says. “T here’s a wholesequence of letters 12 months out, sixmonths out.”

For those who fail to comply, thereare penalties, but the minister hopesthey won’t be needed. “The regulat-or’s focus is educate and enable,” hesays. “Yes enforce too because there isa legal duty but I don’t want to raise a

too low and put it up to £10,000 so youd o n’t have to enrol someone unlessthey earn that.

“Another example, you used to haveenrol someone as soon as they walkedthrough the door.

“We ’ve given a three-month win-dow so you don’t have to enrol aChristmas casual worker.”

Steve points out that the process ishalfway through in terms of employ-ee numbers, with five million peoplenow enrolled. However most of thoseare from the big employers, with themany smaller firms still to gothrough the process which could cre-ate a bottleneck due to the sheervolume of businesses.

The minister hopes it will gosmoothly. He says they have been put-ting a small sample of micro firmsthrough to test the systems for themand tweaking things as they go.

“It will be a different propositionfor smaller firms,” he says. “For thelarge firms they wanted pensions

Pensions Minister Steve Webb

behind the lower returns manypeople get.

“But people weren’t shoppingaround enough and they weren’t get-ting enough extra for ill health,” hesays. “There had been lots of attemptsto make the annuities market workand they just weren’t cutting the mus-tard. I would talk about auto-enrol-ment (of workplace pensions, more onthat in a moment) and people wouldsay to me ‘Yes, but at the end I’ve got tobuy an annuity and they’re not verygood value’.

“There is still a place for annuitiesin the market but the providers arejust going to have to work a bit harderto find it – and that’s a good thing.”

He added: “Since the Budget morepeople feel more positively about pen-sion savings and I think that’sg reat.”

It’s not just sections of the pensionsindustry who might think Steve hasbeen a thorn in their side during hisministerial term. The automatic en-rolment of workplace pensions –meaning employers must put every-one into a pension scheme – w a s n’this idea. The initial legislation wasdone by the previous Labour gov-

ernment, but Steve has beenresponsible for driving it

through. And thatmeans more red tape

and expense forpretty much everybusiness at a timewhen they wouldargue they’ve hadenough on theirplates with a global

re c e s s i o n .He is unrepentant.

“I recognise we areasking employers to take

on a new task,” he says,“And I understand if someone

says ‘T hat’s a cost and burden to meand I’d rather we didn’t have to’ but interms of the millions of workers in theprivate sector who have no privatepension – we ’ve tried everythingelse!

“We ’ve tried stakeholder, tax relief.all sorts of schemes to try to get peopleopting in and we’ve just failed. WhenI started we had got to the stage wherejust one worker in three in the privatesector had a pension. That had beenfalling for 50 years. The remainingtwo thirds would only have the statepension to live on.

“The beauty of auto-enrolment isthat we’ve all got the chance to opt outbut we’ve all been stunned by howmany people are staying in – 90 percent have stayed in.

“Partly that’s credit to the employ-ers so far who have put money in togive their workers the information.

“It’s a different kettle of fish ifyo u ’re a very small business and Iunderstand that. What we’ve tried togo is get the balance right betweendoing what we need to do and min-imising the burden. One example,when I started you would have had toenrol someone who earned above thenational insurance floor which wasabout £5,500 a year. We said that’s far

“ I said right from the start that I was clear aboutwhat I wanted to achieve and that we don’t wantconstant chopping and changing I want to set adirection of travel then progressively deliver it andin fact we have pretty much delivered what I setout to do at the start.

THREE-QUARTERS of companies plan to hirestaff in 2015, according to a survey of nearly25,000 business owners in the South West.

The research carried out by Insight Data forWeston-super-Mare firm GBRS Recruitment fo-cused on businesses which employ more thansix people already.

It found that 75 per cent of respondentsplanned to hire this year, with 49 per centintending to take on one to three new membersof staff, six per cent saying between three andfive people and 20 per cent more than five.

But while most want to hire, only 44 per centbelieve they can find the right skills.

GBRS director Gary Higgins said: “Recr uit-ing the skills they need is still an issue for somebusinesses; and in particular in the construc-tion sector.

“But still nearly half of those polled say theybelieve the skills they require are out there inthe economy.”

Despite the large numbers planning to hire,the number who felt more jobs would be createdin the UK this year was a little lower, at 64 percent, suggesting that business owners thinkthey are doing better than the economy ing eneral.

A minority, 39 per cent, of firms say theyplanned to hire at least one apprentice this year,against 41 per cent which are not and 20 per centundecided.

The survey also found just over half of thebusinesses questioned thought work building a

Three-quarters of firms planto take on staff during 2015

penny in fines.”Pensions might be boring to some,

but it’s clearly been where the actionis in government this past five years.How much of that has been down toSteve, an unassuming, churchgoingLiberal Democrat?

The state pension reforms havebeen his baby and while he didn’tstart auto-enrolment, he has put a lotinto delivering it. The recent changesaround annuities he says are more ofa product of Coalition. “If the Chan-cellor hadn’t wanted to do it, itwo u l d n’t have happened,” he says.“But I’ve been banging on about an-nuity reform for 15 years now. So itwas the right combination of people.As a liberal, the idea of letting peopledo what they want with their ownmoney works for me but it works forthe Chancellor too.”

And having Nick Clegg, despitethose past comments, in his cornerhas been vital. “If Nick Clegg andDanny Alexander hadn’t been battingfor the pension reforms it would havesunk,” he says. “It wasn’t in the Co-alition agreement. I would see Nickand explain what I wanted and whyit’s good for the Lib Dems but whenthe four of them (Clegg, Alexander,George Osborne and David Cameron)sit down together I’m generally not inthe room.”

The minister has enjoyed being inGovernment. “When you’ve been inOpposition for 13 years it’s good tohave the opportunity to actually dot h i n g s, ” he says. “Opposition is im-portant and being a local MP is im-portant and that was all I assumed Iwould ever be, but there is that specialthing about being able to bring to thefore the things you believe in.” Hewould love the chance to continue,but that all depends on the outcome ofthe next election.

No one can take reelection for gran-ted, but Steve is one of the safest LibDems in a region that had until veryrecently been a stronghold for theparty. A recent poll suggested a worstcase scenario where all but two of thepar ty’s South West seats were lost buteven then Steve and Yeovil MP DavidLaws would survive.

Whatever happens, however, theThornbury & Yate MP has no plans totake a run at the leadership shouldthe post become vacant after the May7 ballot.

“Categorically not,” he says. “I’vefound my niche, a role where it’s whatI enjoy, what I hope I’m good at andI’m very positive about what I’ved o n e.

“To be leader of any party frankly isan awful job. I discovered what Ireally like is focusing on something abit technical, detail, gnawing away atit, whereas the leader’s job is verygeneralist. You have to cover everysubject, you have to do the party polit-ics, it’s so broad and requires a par-ticular set of skills that I don’t have. Ihave no aspirations to that.”

How about a career outside politicsthen? “Maybe one day,” he says. “It’s afunny profession. You take a decisiononce every five years and I’ve nailedmy colours to the mast for the nextfive years, unless the electorate hassomething to say about it.

“But I could at some point think ofworking the world of pensions orsomething else.”

So whenever he does walk awayfrom Westminster, the pensions in-dustry might not have seen the backof Steve Webb yet. Perhaps next timeday he’ll revolutionise the industryfrom the inside.

PENSION OFF...South West survey

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

new nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point – thebiggest infrastructure project for some time –would impact them, with 12 per cent believing itwould have a direct impact and 39 per centsaying it would affect them indirectly. Thatleaves 49 per cent feeling it will have no impacton them.

Fellow director Ben Milsom said: “As a com-pany that operates in the employment and skillssector, and with lots of debate around work, wewere keen to see what intentions businesses inthe South West have around employment.

“The results were revealing and we are sur-prised so many firms will not be directly im-pacted by the build and legacy of HinkleyPo i n t .

“Overall though, the results were positive andshow that firms in the region are confidentgoing forward.”

� GBRS directors Gary Higgins and BenMilsom

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

8 We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 9We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

ONE of the biggest admin-istrative headaches in dec-ades is about to hit Bristol’ssmall businesses. Automat-ic enrolment of workplace

pensions is now affecting companieswith as few as 30 employees. And overthe next two years it will reach eventhe smallest of firms.

Unlike the stakeholder pensions ofthe early 2000s, there’s no way toavoid this one. So the advice is to beproactive and deal with it soon.

The basic concept is that everyonemust be automatically enrolled into aworkplace pension scheme intowhich they contribute part of theirsalary and their employer contrib-

straight away, cuttingyour NI contributions

and other costs.But such steps are only

available to companieswhich are proactive.

Derek, whose own companyemploys 57 people and managesabout £475 million of investments,said: “Act early and get someone tohelp you.”

He said many firms would be putoff paying for advice because they are

already facing more costs but urgedthem to think hard.

“The legislation on auto-enrolmentis 100 pages long,” he said. “Most ofthese firms won’t have human re-sources departments who under-stand the process.

“When you get into the SME mar-ket, the problem is cost. The cost withpayroll, the costs of funding a pensionscheme and the employer contribu-tions... and then we want them to payus money to help them understand

the scheme as well. But for a smallcost you can find an expert to helpyou understand it and it could saveyou thousands in time, effort andf i n e s. ”

He urged the Government, and hislocal MP Pensions Minister SteveWebb, to cut the costs of regulation,and suggested allowing basic pre-ap-proved kite marked products whichthen require lighter regulation.

“We want to cut the cost of reg-ulation so we can cut the cost of

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

It’s coming and there’snothing you can doto stop it. Soon eventhe smallest ofemployers will have toautomatically enrol theirstaff into a workplacepension scheme. GavinThompson re p o r t s

utes too. Workplace pensions havebeen around for decades, but the bigshift is that now workers have to optout rather than in.

It is designed to tackle the loomingcrisis of how our growing populationwill be able to afford to live in re-tirement, and for that has beenbroadly welcomed.

But with it comes a burden of ad-ministration on businesses. Whilethe bigger firms which have alreadygone through the process can lean ontheir human resources teams tohandle it, that’s not an option for mostsmall and medium-sized businesses.

Derek Miles, below, managingdirector of pensions adviserAspira, based in Aust,South Gloucestershire,said: “The ostrich ap-proach won’t work. En-gage early and plan welland it will save youthousands in executionand delivery. Planningmeans you can include itin your budget and youmight even be able to reducesome of the costs.”

He believes one possible savingcould be if you employ people over 55,you might pay part of their remu-neration as pension instead of salary.They could then utilise recent pen-sion reforms draw it down as income

Pensions auto-enrolment

‘OSTRICH APPROACH WON’T WORK – ENGAGING EARLY WILL SAVE CASH’

a dv i c e, ” said Derek.The former Monks Park pupil be-

lieves advice is more important forthose who won’t have huge pensionp o t s.

“For the high net-worth people, put-ting in an extra £10 a month doesn’tmake a lot of difference,” said Derek.“But to someone paying in £100 amonth that extra £10 makes a hugedifference. They need help and sup-port more than the wealthy.”

The pensions regulator can fine

companies which fail to comply.Soft furnishings firm Dunelmwas among the first to face actionand was made to cough up £143,000after it was judged to have under-paid in contributions. Fines can be£100 a day after missing a deadline.

And even if none of your employeeswants to join, it doesn’t help.

“Some people think, I’ll have a chatwith the staff, they won’t want to do itand I’ll be all right,” said Derek. “Butthe employer has to put everybody in

Morten Nilsson

“A p p ro a c h i n gauto-enrolment can feeldaunting and there are alot of things to consider.But a little planning cango a long way.”

£10,000It applies to any worker earning £10,000or more aged from 22 to the statepension age (currently 65).

1% Minimumemployercontribution isone per cent ofeach employees’ear nings,increasing tothree per cent by2018.

The Government also pays via tax relief,starting at 0.2 per cent of your earningsand rising to one per cent by 2018.0.2 %

AUTO-ENROLMENT

� All businesses will haveto put their workers into apension scheme. They canthen opt out, but you haveto put them in first.

� Larger companies havealready gone through theprocess but smaller firmsare now being affected,many of which had noexisting workplace scheme.

� Employees alsocontribute starting with aminimum of one per cent oftheir salary, increasing tofour per cent over time.

and then it’s up to them to opt out.You must have a real scheme even ifno one wants to stay in.

“Then you have to do amonth-to-month, or week-to-week ifyou pay weekly, reassessment of yourpayroll. It’s an ongoing issue.”

One big concern for small and me-dium sized businesses was that noone would want their business. Whilehandling the big corporations mightbe a juicy contract, the independentcafe with four staff is certainly not.

T hat’s why the National Employ-ment Savings Trust (NEST) was setup, so every business knew thatsomeone would take their business.It’s a single scheme that’s open to anyemployer as well as the self-em-p l oye d .

But, to the surprise of some, theprivate sector has waded into thesmaller end of the market too.

Legal & General is perhaps thebiggest household name to get in-volved. The firm has launched anonline self-service platform allowingsmall businesses to do it themselveswithout any set-up or administrativecharg es.

Jim Islam, Legal & General In-vestment Management chief operat-ing officer for client operations, said:“With tens of thousands of SMEsreaching their staging dates over thenext few years, there’s huge need fora straightforward, self-service onlinesolution so they can set up theirscheme quickly and easily.

“Schemes joining our workplaceplatform only pay £50 for our defaultauto-enrolment multi-asset fund. Ibelieve this package in conjunctionwith our new online system is acompelling proposition for SMEs im-plementing auto-enrolment.”

In theory, an employer can registerwithin 30 minutes and be live within24 hours.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s agood idea to leave it late or that thisoff-the-shelf approach will be the bestdeal. The Pensions Regulator recom-mends firms start planning 18months ahead of their staging date.Something most small firms are notdoing.

Morten Nilsson, chief executive ofNOW: Pensions, said: “Last year, ofthe 4,279 companies that signed upwith us, nearly one in five completedtheir application either very close totheir staging date or after the dead-line had passed.

“While we’re happy to accept com-panies that leave it late we stronglyrecommend that employers maketheir provider selection as early aspossible to avoid unnecessarys t re s s.

“Approaching auto-enrolmentcan feel daunting and there are alot of things to consider, partic-ularly for firms that have neverset up a pension scheme before.

“But a little planning can go along way and taking a thorough

approach will certainly pay di-v i d e n d s. ”Right now, auto-enrolment is a big

headache for many small firms. But adecade from now, it will be the normand workers for companies of allsizes will look at the pension schemewhen weighing up how good, or bad,a potential employer is.

More than enough reason to takesome time to get it right.

� MortenNilsson,chiefexecutive ofN O W:Pensions

Part of the Local World group

With many years experience in fashion shows, we candesign and create your desired backdrop and shape thecatwalk while using creative lighting effects to producea show-stopping event.

Music

Lighting

Live Camera Relay

Staging your Fashion Showdoesn’t have to cost a fortune...

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

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

8 We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 9We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

ONE of the biggest admin-istrative headaches in dec-ades is about to hit Bristol’ssmall businesses. Automat-ic enrolment of workplace

pensions is now affecting companieswith as few as 30 employees. And overthe next two years it will reach eventhe smallest of firms.

Unlike the stakeholder pensions ofthe early 2000s, there’s no way toavoid this one. So the advice is to beproactive and deal with it soon.

The basic concept is that everyonemust be automatically enrolled into aworkplace pension scheme intowhich they contribute part of theirsalary and their employer contrib-

straight away, cuttingyour NI contributions

and other costs.But such steps are only

available to companieswhich are proactive.

Derek, whose own companyemploys 57 people and managesabout £475 million of investments,said: “Act early and get someone tohelp you.”

He said many firms would be putoff paying for advice because they are

already facing more costs but urgedthem to think hard.

“The legislation on auto-enrolmentis 100 pages long,” he said. “Most ofthese firms won’t have human re-sources departments who under-stand the process.

“When you get into the SME mar-ket, the problem is cost. The cost withpayroll, the costs of funding a pensionscheme and the employer contribu-tions... and then we want them to payus money to help them understand

the scheme as well. But for a smallcost you can find an expert to helpyou understand it and it could saveyou thousands in time, effort andf i n e s. ”

He urged the Government, and hislocal MP Pensions Minister SteveWebb, to cut the costs of regulation,and suggested allowing basic pre-ap-proved kite marked products whichthen require lighter regulation.

“We want to cut the cost of reg-ulation so we can cut the cost of

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

It’s coming and there’snothing you can doto stop it. Soon eventhe smallest ofemployers will have toautomatically enrol theirstaff into a workplacepension scheme. GavinThompson re p o r t s

utes too. Workplace pensions havebeen around for decades, but the bigshift is that now workers have to optout rather than in.

It is designed to tackle the loomingcrisis of how our growing populationwill be able to afford to live in re-tirement, and for that has beenbroadly welcomed.

But with it comes a burden of ad-ministration on businesses. Whilethe bigger firms which have alreadygone through the process can lean ontheir human resources teams tohandle it, that’s not an option for mostsmall and medium-sized businesses.

Derek Miles, below, managingdirector of pensions adviserAspira, based in Aust,South Gloucestershire,said: “The ostrich ap-proach won’t work. En-gage early and plan welland it will save youthousands in executionand delivery. Planningmeans you can include itin your budget and youmight even be able to reducesome of the costs.”

He believes one possible savingcould be if you employ people over 55,you might pay part of their remu-neration as pension instead of salary.They could then utilise recent pen-sion reforms draw it down as income

Pensions auto-enrolment

‘OSTRICH APPROACH WON’T WORK – ENGAGING EARLY WILL SAVE CASH’

a dv i c e, ” said Derek.The former Monks Park pupil be-

lieves advice is more important forthose who won’t have huge pensionp o t s.

“For the high net-worth people, put-ting in an extra £10 a month doesn’tmake a lot of difference,” said Derek.“But to someone paying in £100 amonth that extra £10 makes a hugedifference. They need help and sup-port more than the wealthy.”

The pensions regulator can fine

companies which fail to comply.Soft furnishings firm Dunelmwas among the first to face actionand was made to cough up £143,000after it was judged to have under-paid in contributions. Fines can be£100 a day after missing a deadline.

And even if none of your employeeswants to join, it doesn’t help.

“Some people think, I’ll have a chatwith the staff, they won’t want to do itand I’ll be all right,” said Derek. “Butthe employer has to put everybody in

Morten Nilsson

“A p p ro a c h i n gauto-enrolment can feeldaunting and there are alot of things to consider.But a little planning cango a long way.”

£10,000It applies to any worker earning £10,000or more aged from 22 to the statepension age (currently 65).

1% Minimumemployercontribution isone per cent ofeach employees’ear nings,increasing tothree per cent by2018.

The Government also pays via tax relief,starting at 0.2 per cent of your earningsand rising to one per cent by 2018.0.2 %

AUTO-ENROLMENT

� All businesses will haveto put their workers into apension scheme. They canthen opt out, but you haveto put them in first.

� Larger companies havealready gone through theprocess but smaller firmsare now being affected,many of which had noexisting workplace scheme.

� Employees alsocontribute starting with aminimum of one per cent oftheir salary, increasing tofour per cent over time.

and then it’s up to them to opt out.You must have a real scheme even ifno one wants to stay in.

“Then you have to do amonth-to-month, or week-to-week ifyou pay weekly, reassessment of yourpayroll. It’s an ongoing issue.”

One big concern for small and me-dium sized businesses was that noone would want their business. Whilehandling the big corporations mightbe a juicy contract, the independentcafe with four staff is certainly not.

T hat’s why the National Employ-ment Savings Trust (NEST) was setup, so every business knew thatsomeone would take their business.It’s a single scheme that’s open to anyemployer as well as the self-em-p l oye d .

But, to the surprise of some, theprivate sector has waded into thesmaller end of the market too.

Legal & General is perhaps thebiggest household name to get in-volved. The firm has launched anonline self-service platform allowingsmall businesses to do it themselveswithout any set-up or administrativecharg es.

Jim Islam, Legal & General In-vestment Management chief operat-ing officer for client operations, said:“With tens of thousands of SMEsreaching their staging dates over thenext few years, there’s huge need fora straightforward, self-service onlinesolution so they can set up theirscheme quickly and easily.

“Schemes joining our workplaceplatform only pay £50 for our defaultauto-enrolment multi-asset fund. Ibelieve this package in conjunctionwith our new online system is acompelling proposition for SMEs im-plementing auto-enrolment.”

In theory, an employer can registerwithin 30 minutes and be live within24 hours.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s agood idea to leave it late or that thisoff-the-shelf approach will be the bestdeal. The Pensions Regulator recom-mends firms start planning 18months ahead of their staging date.Something most small firms are notdoing.

Morten Nilsson, chief executive ofNOW: Pensions, said: “Last year, ofthe 4,279 companies that signed upwith us, nearly one in five completedtheir application either very close totheir staging date or after the dead-line had passed.

“While we’re happy to accept com-panies that leave it late we stronglyrecommend that employers maketheir provider selection as early aspossible to avoid unnecessarys t re s s.

“Approaching auto-enrolmentcan feel daunting and there are alot of things to consider, partic-ularly for firms that have neverset up a pension scheme before.

“But a little planning can go along way and taking a thorough

approach will certainly pay di-v i d e n d s. ”Right now, auto-enrolment is a big

headache for many small firms. But adecade from now, it will be the normand workers for companies of allsizes will look at the pension schemewhen weighing up how good, or bad,a potential employer is.

More than enough reason to takesome time to get it right.

� MortenNilsson,chiefexecutive ofN O W:Pensions

Part of the Local World group

With many years experience in fashion shows, we candesign and create your desired backdrop and shape thecatwalk while using creative lighting effects to producea show-stopping event.

Music

Lighting

Live Camera Relay

Staging your Fashion Showdoesn’t have to cost a fortune...

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

EPB-

E01-

S3

10 11We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 w w w. bristolpost.co.uk

Business diary

Email your business events togavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk.Events are sometimescancelled without us beingnotified so please check withorganisers before travelling.

Bristol Distinguished Address:Matthew Layton, managingpartner at Clifford Chance LLP isthe latest speaker at UWEFrenchay Campus, today, 6pm.

Financial and business advice:45-minute one-to-ones withGeoff Cole of Burton SweetAccountants. Tomorrow at TheHive, Weston-super-Mare.Register at w w w. n o r t h s o m e r s e tenterprise agency.co.uk.

Business Plans for Growth:Business coach Rob Carter andBusiness West offer free seminaron creating a business plan andaccess to finance for SMEs.F r i d a y, 8.30am-1pm, at LeighCourt with lunch. Register atw w w. a c t i o n c o a c h .com/robcarter/events.

Bristol Airport Careers Fair:Information on becoming one ofthe 3,000 workers at the airport.In the Administration Building atBristol Airport on Saturday,10am-noon. Email to register,recruitment@ bristolairport.com.

Confidence in Business - Keysto Success: Unlock the What,How and Why of your business.Four linked morning eventsstarting Wednesday, March 4aimed at Bristol business womencovering branding, marketing,presentation skills and finance.This is a series of free eventspresented by women for women.w w w. b l u e o r c h i d . c o . u k / e v e n t s .

Bristol Distinguished Address:James Timpson, chief executiveof Timpson, gives the address atUWE Frenchay Campus from6pm on Wednesday, March 4.

Smart Cities - tech solutions tourban transport challenges:Panel event hosted by BondDickinson at its Temple Quayoffices about how connectedtechnology and data could helptraffic problems. From 11.30am.Email bonddickinsonevents@dickinson-dees.com.

Bristol Business Exhibition:Sponsored by Bristol CityCouncil and Destination Bristol,this event attracts more than 500delegates, typically businessowners and decision makersfrom the SME sector. Tuesday,March 17 at M shed. Seew w w. b r i s t o l b u s i n e s sexhibition.co.uk.

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

The Lord Mayor’s CharityDinner: Enjoy a drinks receptionfollowed by a t h re e - c o u r s edinner, live entertainment andauction, in aid of The Lord Mayorof Bristol’s Children Appeal onApril 30 at the Bristol MarriottRoyal Hotel. Book ticketsthrough Eventbrite and help raisemoney for the city’s mostdisadvantaged children. Emailinfo@galadinner2015.com forsponsorship opportunities.

Reality check C i ty ’s ready to takelead role in new creative market

In pictures South West VR Conference

BRISTOL is already a leadingcentre in the film and tele-vision industry, hosting thelikes of the BBC Natural His-tory Unit, Oscar-winning

Aardman Animations and a host ofsmaller businesses involved in allaspects of the production process.

It is also a player in technology,along with Bath it forms the biggestUK digital cluster outside London.

So it should be no surprise that thecity is now leading the drive into anew creative area – virtual reality.

Yesterday At-Bristol hosted theSouth West VR Conference, bringingtogether companies from across theburgeoning industry.

The signs are there that this is anindustry with huge potential. Face-book recently bought VR games firmOculus for $2 billion, Samsung hasdeveloped new VR equipment andboth Sony and Microsoft working ontheir versions.

David Maher Roberts, creative anddigital media specialist at InvestBristol & Bath, said: “The Bristol andBath region has a long-establishedindustry in TV, film and animation,coupled with a thriving games in-dustry, meaning that it is well placedto host start-ups and establishedbrands as they move into virtualre a l i t y.

“Current estimates indicate aworldwide market of $5.2 billion,made up of games, film and TV, visu-alisation and experiential applica-tions so this is a hugely exciting time

for the region.”The event was organised by Op-

posable Games, a games developerbased at the Bristol Games Hub inStokes Croft.

It featured quick-fire talks fromsignificant industry-leading figures

with plenty of time to network andtry out the hardware, software and360 degree movies on show.

Speakers at the event ranged fromrepresentatives from Sony to Bristolstart-up Ultrahaptics which is lead-ing the way in feel-without-touch con-

trol technology using sound waves.The one-day event was supported

by Invest Bristol & Bath, CreativeSkillset, the Digital Cultures Re-search Centre, Webstart Bristol, theCentre for Digital Entertainment, theBMT Group and Unity 3D.

#GreaterWest

Find out more at FirstGreatWestern.co.uk and on Twitter @FGW

The spirit ofBrunel will help

us build agreater west.

BUILDING A GREATER WEST

���� �������� ������� ������ ���� ����� ��� �������� he created the greatest rail network in the world. �� �������� ����������� ����� ���� ����������� ��� ����� ���� ��� �� ��� ���� ��� �������������� �� ����������� � ������ �� ��� ���� ���� � �������� ���������� ������� �������� ����������� �� �������� ����� �� ����� ������� �� �������� ���� ������� �� �� ��������� ��� � ������� �� �������� ���� ������� ����� �� ������ ������������� ��� ��� �������� ����� �� ������ �� ������ �� ��� ����� ��� ���� �� ��� ������ �� ��� �������� ��� ��� ������ �� ��� ������ ������ ����� ����� ������� ��� ������� ���� ��� ��� ����� ���������� �� �������� ���������� �������� ��� ����not an idle tenure. �� ��� ��� ������ �� ������ ����� ��� ����� ���������� ������� ���� �� ���� ���� ��� ������� ���������� �� ��� ������� ����� ��������� ������ ������������ ��� ����� ��� ������������ stations. We�re introducing refurbished trains with more �������� �������� ���� �������� ����� �������� ��������� � ������ ����� ������ ��� �������������� ������� ��� ������� ������ ������������ �� �� ��� ��������� ���������� �� ��� ������������ ��������� ��� ������������� �� ��� ����� ������ ���� ������ �� ��� ����� ����� ��� ���� �������� � ������� �������� ����� building a greater west.

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

� Simon Reveley, of Figment Productions with speaker Kevin Williams

CUTTING EDGE:BRISTOL TECH FACTS

� 25% of all natural history TV production comes out of Bristol & Bath.

� Half of all vehicles use a Bristol & Bath chip intheir engine management.

� More than one billion TV set top boxes aroundthe world are powered by Bristol & Bath chips.

� Bristol & Bath was named as the onlyfast-growing and globally-significanttech cluster in UK outside London in2014

� More than 500m users viewdigital content produced in Bristol &Bath each month.

EPB-

E01-

S3

10 11We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015 w w w. bristolpost.co.uk

Business diary

Email your business events togavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk.Events are sometimescancelled without us beingnotified so please check withorganisers before travelling.

Bristol Distinguished Address:Matthew Layton, managingpartner at Clifford Chance LLP isthe latest speaker at UWEFrenchay Campus, today, 6pm.

Financial and business advice:45-minute one-to-ones withGeoff Cole of Burton SweetAccountants. Tomorrow at TheHive, Weston-super-Mare.Register at w w w. n o r t h s o m e r s e tenterprise agency.co.uk.

Business Plans for Growth:Business coach Rob Carter andBusiness West offer free seminaron creating a business plan andaccess to finance for SMEs.F r i d a y, 8.30am-1pm, at LeighCourt with lunch. Register atw w w. a c t i o n c o a c h .com/robcarter/events.

Bristol Airport Careers Fair:Information on becoming one ofthe 3,000 workers at the airport.In the Administration Building atBristol Airport on Saturday,10am-noon. Email to register,recruitment@ bristolairport.com.

Confidence in Business - Keysto Success: Unlock the What,How and Why of your business.Four linked morning eventsstarting Wednesday, March 4aimed at Bristol business womencovering branding, marketing,presentation skills and finance.This is a series of free eventspresented by women for women.w w w. b l u e o r c h i d . c o . u k / e v e n t s .

Bristol Distinguished Address:James Timpson, chief executiveof Timpson, gives the address atUWE Frenchay Campus from6pm on Wednesday, March 4.

Smart Cities - tech solutions tourban transport challenges:Panel event hosted by BondDickinson at its Temple Quayoffices about how connectedtechnology and data could helptraffic problems. From 11.30am.Email bonddickinsonevents@dickinson-dees.com.

Bristol Business Exhibition:Sponsored by Bristol CityCouncil and Destination Bristol,this event attracts more than 500delegates, typically businessowners and decision makersfrom the SME sector. Tuesday,March 17 at M shed. Seew w w. b r i s t o l b u s i n e s sexhibition.co.uk.

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

The Lord Mayor’s CharityDinner: Enjoy a drinks receptionfollowed by a t h re e - c o u r s edinner, live entertainment andauction, in aid of The Lord Mayorof Bristol’s Children Appeal onApril 30 at the Bristol MarriottRoyal Hotel. Book ticketsthrough Eventbrite and help raisemoney for the city’s mostdisadvantaged children. Emailinfo@galadinner2015.com forsponsorship opportunities.

Reality check C i ty ’s ready to takelead role in new creative market

In pictures South West VR Conference

BRISTOL is already a leadingcentre in the film and tele-vision industry, hosting thelikes of the BBC Natural His-tory Unit, Oscar-winning

Aardman Animations and a host ofsmaller businesses involved in allaspects of the production process.

It is also a player in technology,along with Bath it forms the biggestUK digital cluster outside London.

So it should be no surprise that thecity is now leading the drive into anew creative area – virtual reality.

Yesterday At-Bristol hosted theSouth West VR Conference, bringingtogether companies from across theburgeoning industry.

The signs are there that this is anindustry with huge potential. Face-book recently bought VR games firmOculus for $2 billion, Samsung hasdeveloped new VR equipment andboth Sony and Microsoft working ontheir versions.

David Maher Roberts, creative anddigital media specialist at InvestBristol & Bath, said: “The Bristol andBath region has a long-establishedindustry in TV, film and animation,coupled with a thriving games in-dustry, meaning that it is well placedto host start-ups and establishedbrands as they move into virtualre a l i t y.

“Current estimates indicate aworldwide market of $5.2 billion,made up of games, film and TV, visu-alisation and experiential applica-tions so this is a hugely exciting time

for the region.”The event was organised by Op-

posable Games, a games developerbased at the Bristol Games Hub inStokes Croft.

It featured quick-fire talks fromsignificant industry-leading figures

with plenty of time to network andtry out the hardware, software and360 degree movies on show.

Speakers at the event ranged fromrepresentatives from Sony to Bristolstart-up Ultrahaptics which is lead-ing the way in feel-without-touch con-

trol technology using sound waves.The one-day event was supported

by Invest Bristol & Bath, CreativeSkillset, the Digital Cultures Re-search Centre, Webstart Bristol, theCentre for Digital Entertainment, theBMT Group and Unity 3D.

#GreaterWest

Find out more at FirstGreatWestern.co.uk and on Twitter @FGW

The spirit ofBrunel will help

us build agreater west.

BUILDING A GREATER WEST

���� �������� ������� ������ ���� ����� ��� �������� he created the greatest rail network in the world. �� �������� ����������� ����� ���� ����������� ��� ����� ���� ��� �� ��� ���� ��� �������������� �� ����������� � ������ �� ��� ���� ���� � �������� ���������� ������� �������� ����������� �� �������� ����� �� ����� ������� �� �������� ���� ������� �� �� ��������� ��� � ������� �� �������� ���� ������� ����� �� ������ ������������� ��� ��� �������� ����� �� ������ �� ������ �� ��� ����� ��� ���� �� ��� ������ �� ��� �������� ��� ��� ������ �� ��� ������ ������ ����� ����� ������� ��� ������� ���� ��� ��� ����� ���������� �� �������� ���������� �������� ��� ����not an idle tenure. �� ��� ��� ������ �� ������ ����� ��� ����� ���������� ������� ���� �� ���� ���� ��� ������� ���������� �� ��� ������� ����� ��������� ������ ������������ ��� ����� ��� ������������ stations. We�re introducing refurbished trains with more �������� �������� ���� �������� ����� �������� ��������� � ������ ����� ������ ��� �������������� ������� ��� ������� ������ ������������ �� �� ��� ��������� ���������� �� ��� ������������ ��������� ��� ������������� �� ��� ����� ������ ���� ������ �� ��� ����� ����� ��� ���� �������� � ������� �������� ����� building a greater west.

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

� Simon Reveley, of Figment Productions with speaker Kevin Williams

CUTTING EDGE:BRISTOL TECH FACTS

� 25% of all natural history TV production comes out of Bristol & Bath.

� Half of all vehicles use a Bristol & Bath chip intheir engine management.

� More than one billion TV set top boxes aroundthe world are powered by Bristol & Bath chips.

� Bristol & Bath was named as the onlyfast-growing and globally-significanttech cluster in UK outside London in2014

� More than 500m users viewdigital content produced in Bristol &Bath each month.

EPB-

E01-

S3

12 We d n e s d a y, February 25, 2015w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

The back pagePe o p l e� A Bristol businessman has beennamed among the Maserati 100, alist of Britain’s most successfulbusiness leaders actively supportingthe next generation ofe n t re p re n e u r s .

Mike Bartley is the founder ofTVS, which has grown from being aone person company, to employing130 people around the world. Itshead office is at the Engine Shed atTemple Meads.

He is now chair of the West ofEngland Local EnterprisePartnership’s high-tech sectorgroup, chair of the Bristol branch ofthe British Computer Society, andspends time promoting thehigh-tech sector, encouraging youngpeople to go into science andtechnology. In addition, Mike alsoruns a series of young people’scoding and Raspberry Pi days foraspiring tech entrepreneurs.

The full list, compiled by theCentre for Entrepreneurs, can befound at w w w. t h e m a s e r a t i 1 0 0 . c o . u k .

� John Thatcher, third generationcidermaker from Sandford-basedThatchers Cider, has been given aprestigious award by the WorshipfulCompany of Fruiterers.

The Matthew Mack Award ismade for distinguishedachievements in education, trainingand innovation within the fruitindustry, and is made once everythree years. It is the first time thatthe award recipient has beenchosen from the cider industry.

At the age of 71, John still playsan active part in the orchardstewardship at Thatchers.

Rupert Best, Master of theWorshipful Company of Fruiterers,said: “John’s passion for researchand innovation, particularly in theareas of orchard stewardship andorchard sustainability, has led him tobe recognised within the sector asone of the country’s most respectedcider makers and an ambassadorfor the industry throughout Europe.”

� Dunkley’s Accountants in BradleyStoke has appointed Lisa White as anew client partner.

Lisa has 20 years’ experience andjoins from a national firm in SouthWales. She will head a portfolio ofaudit and non-audit clients as well

as taking a lead role in the businessdevelopment of the firm.

� The general manager has beenappointed for one of Bristol’snewest hotels.

Imran Ali, will take over theHampton by Hilton, Bristol hotel inthe build up to its opening in June.

Located on the corner of BondStreet and York Street, the newhotel forms a major conversion ofwhat was York House, a 1960soffice block.

Managed by Focus HotelsManagement Ltd, once complete itwill include 186 bedrooms.

The opening follows an increase indemand for hotel rooms in Bristol asthe city attracts more business andtourism.

Imran said: “The opening of thisquality, mid-range hotel is greatnews for Bristol. There is definitelyan appetite for both business and

Start as you mean to go on and secure business success

PERHAPS an alternative titlefor this piece could be thefictional Mary Poppins’ ex-hortation “well begun ishalfway done”. The non-fic-

tional Sir Richard Branson has statedthat the secret to a successful start-uplies “in the art of delegation, risk-tak-ing and surrounding yourself with agreat team, working on projects youreally believe in”.

There is a continual stream ofstart-up businesses, but the failurerate is high, and even if a businessgets through the first crucial threeyears, the owners end up disappoin-ted because the business is not per-forming for them as they had hoped.

There are all sorts of reasons forthis but the most common malaise isbest expressed by the complaint that“I don’t own the business, the busi-ness owns me”. This arises from thefact that the owner spends too much

time working in the business, and notenough time working on the business.That phrase has become something ofa truism, but it is worth repeatingbecause it is so incredibly common.In many cases, all the owner hasended up with is a job, but with nopaid holiday or sick leave.

There will always be a demand for,

� JohnT h a t c h e r,t h i rdgenerationcidermakerf ro mS a n d f o rd -basedThatchersC i d e r,receives hisaward fromRupert Best

say, good plumbers and good IT con-sultants, but just because you havethe skills does not mean you can turnthis into a successful business.

There are any number of businesspublications and DVDs which takeyou step by step through setting up areal business that is capable of run-ning effectively without the originalow n e r ’s input (our favourite beingMichael Gerber’s The E-myth), butwhat we sense that most potentiallysuccessful entrepreneurs are after issomeone to turn to when they facenew challenges or need to make stra-tegically important decisions. Thisperson can best be described as a“mentor”.

A mentor is very different from atrainer, technical consultant, profes-sional adviser or management con-sultant. They act more like asounding board for ideas, providinghonest and constructive feedback,

and are particularly useful at offeringwise and dispassionate counsel attimes of stress such as a period ofrapid growth, or rejection of a requestfor additional bank funding.

The problem is that these exper-ienced mentors can be expensive, andstart up businesses often have littlecapital. Websites such as ment-or me.co.uk can give you access to awide range of mentors, from bothcommercial and not-for-profit organ-isations. There is also a Governmentbacked initiative offering a mentor aspart of a start up loans package(w w w. s t a r t u p l o a n s. c o. u k ).

Some firms of chartered account-ants offer free business advice forstart ups (see www.icae w.com andsearch for business advice service).

Many proactive accountants willprovide a mentor to hold you to ac-count at regular intervals, and toaccompany you to crucial meetings.

leisure travellers to visit the city andto stay in quality accommodation.

“Events like the Shaun the Sheeptrail and Bristol’s European GreenCapital label will place it prominentlyacross the whole of Europehopefully attracting more visitors.”

P l a ces� Children and young people’scancer charity CLIC Sargent hassold the freehold of its previousoffice in north Bristol to anothercharity. Property consultants AlderKing finalised the sale of Unit EAbbey Wood Business Park in Filtonto Africa Inland MissionInternational, which is relocatingfrom Redland.

The 1,651 sq ft two-storey officebuilding was sold off a quoting priceof £300,000.

Neil Buckland, head of propertyand facilities at CLIC Sargent, said:

“Our old offices in Filton had servedus well but we had outgrown themand moved to Whitefriars in Bristolcity centre last year. We are pleasedto have now sold the Filton office,especially as it’s been acquired byanother charity.”

Tom Dugay, office agencyspecialist at Alder King, supportedCLIC Sargent throughout its officerelocation and disposal. He said:“The successful disposal of this outof town office building is indicativeof the high level of demand formodern office space on the northBristol fringe.”

� Two new occupiers have movedto the Liberty Industrial Estate inAshton Gate, South Bristol.

The Window Outlet Ltd has takena five-year lease on the 8,187 sq ftUnit 11 at an annual rental of£32,338, while the 10,959 sq ft units4 and 5 have been leased by JingXing Trading Co for 12 years at arental rising to £43,848.

Landlord CBRE Global Investorswas advised by joint agents KnightFrank and Russell PropertyConsultants.

Rob Russell, of Russell PropertyConsultants, said: “With goodaccess to the Portway and on to theM5 Liberty Industrial Estate ticks allthe boxes for trade counter,distribution and light manufacturingcompanies.”

� A Bristol-based company hasopened its second internationalo ff i c e .

Opus Recruitment Solutions,based in Castlemead in the citycentre, will open a new office inAmsterdam on March 1.

Opus was founded in Bristol backin 2008 and also has offices inLondon and Sydney, Australia. Thenew office signifies a milestone forthe recruitment agency, bringing itmore strongly into the Europeanmarket.

Your digest of the week in business

In numbers

Business currentaccounts

1.01%£10,000 deposit

0.25%£1 deposit

State Bankof India

Business savingsaccounts

1.49%£10,000 deposit

1.26%£10,000 deposit

State Bankof India

Inflation (CPI)

0.3 %

Weekly earnings

2.6 %Base interest rate

0.5 %Ave mortgage rate

3.99 %

S o u rc e :

ManchesterBS

Inflation (RPI)

1.1 %

One or two even offer a full first yearmentoring package to start-upswhich meet its criteria (search En-trepreneurs Scholarship Award(ESA) for an example).

An alternative way of rewarding amentor is to give them a meaningfulstake in the business in return forongoing support. People are instinct-ively averse to giving away equity but60 per cent of a great enterprise isbetter than 100 per cent of a one manband type business.

Unless you are already an exper-ienced entrepreneur, new businessesare more likely to succeed with amentor to hand.

Start-up businesses need a uniquedifferentiating factor to succeed anda mentor will help you identify whatthis is and how to market it – orexpose the lack of a unique sellingpoint, in which case you will need togo back to the drawing board!

Andrew FisherExecutive directorAlanbrookes Ltd01934 863386Andr ewFisher@Alanbrookes.co.ukw w w. a l a n -brookes.co.uk

Know how

� Mike Bartley � Imran Ali

� Unit E Abbey Wood Business Park