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ACS has welcomed Local Government Minister Marcus Jones’ intervention to speed up the process of rebilling businesses that are waiting for rate relief.

In a Commons statement, he said: “The Government has been consistently clear that it expects local authorities to make rapid progress in helping business by implementing these relief schemes. 

“Overall, however, despite various examples of good practice, the pace of providing relief to ratepayers has not been acceptable. I have written today to those authorities that have not fully implemented all three schemes asking them to rebill businesses that are set to benefit from relief as soon as possible.” 

Mr Jones added that he will be publishing a list of authorities that have rebilled businesses who have been affected by each of the three relief schemes next month.

The schemes include a £300m fund for local authorities to give to hard-pressed businesses facing higher bills and funds that limit annual increases to £600 for those losing either small business or rural rate relief.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Business rates are one of the biggest fixed costs for thousands of local shops and other small businesses, with one in three convenience stores forced to deal with an increase in their rates bills as a result of the revaluation. We welcome the Minister’s intervention on this issue, and hope that it can be resolved swiftly so that businesses can receive the relief that they’re entitled to.”

The Government had previously set a deadline of September this year to have new bills with business that had been affected. 

The full written statement from Marcus Jones MP is available here: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2017-09-14.HCWS140.h

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Confidence in small business in Wales falters but small businesses continue to drive Wales’ economy forwards.

A new report from FSB Wales shows that small business confidence has dropped from a three year high of +31 in Q2 to +22 in Q3, however, the Welsh Business Index shows that Wales is still significantly outperforming the rest of the UK, which saw the index fall from +15 last quarter to +1.1 in Q3.

The index shows that small business confidence is still higher than it was a year ago. The UK Small Business Index stands above the -2.9 level seen in Q3 2016, but has fallen over the past two quarters.

Janet Jones, FSB Wales Policy Unit Chair, said:

“This new SBI report shows that small business confidence has wavered in Wales, although confidence in Wales is still higher than that in the rest of the UK.

“Despite faltering business confidence, 19.7% of business reported that they had increased their employee headcount in the third quarter of 2017. This serves as an important reminder that Wales is built on a small business economy, and that any plans from the Welsh Government to develop the national economy must be aimed at improving circumstances for small businesses.”

Over the third quarter a net balance of 52% of small businesses in Wales reported export growth – much higher than the 19.5% reported by small businesses across the UK. Growth is largely driven by strength in key export markets such as the EU. The EU accounts for over two thirds of Welsh exports, compared to just less than half of the UK’s exports. In the year to March 2017, the value of exports to the EU from Wales increased by 13%, whilst exports to countries outside the EU increased by 10%.

Janet Jones commented: “Small businesses in Wales are exporting more than ever before, and it is important that the UK and Welsh Governments are supporting this growing trend. We recently called for Welsh Government to develop a Trade and Investment Strategy and a key part of that would be supporting small businesses who seek to trade abroad.”


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Meet the Experts and Make Valuable Connections at Our Events in October

Win 2 free tickets for Techsmart NFP on November 28th at County Hall valued at over £200

 

Our calendar of events offers a variety of formats to learn and are all designed to provide:

Real-life client case studies from your peers;

practical help, expertise and take-aways;

opportunity to make valuable connections;

technology experts sharing their insights and years of experience.


“Making CRM and web projects work in the NFP sector”

Afternoon event, including networking over wine and beer

Wednesday, October 11, 4:00-6:30pm

Location: The fantastic Montcalm at The Brewery, 52 Chiswell St, London EC1Y 4SA

View full programme and register


“Finding the right digital solution for educating, accrediting and regulatory bodies”

Intimate roundtable discussion over hot breakfast

Thursday, October 19, 8:30-10:30am

Location: Mary Ward House, 5-7 Tavistock Place, London, Kings Cross WC1H 9SN

View full programme and register here


“How to choose the right partner and system while avoiding the pitfalls?”

Morning event over hot breakfast

Tuesday, October 24, 8:30–10:30am

Location: Hush Mayfair, Lancashire Court, 8 Brook St, London W1S 1EY

View full programme and register  


Click here to see our full calendar of events

 

And don’t forget, at each event, we will be giving away two free tickets worth over £200 for our TechSmart NFP event on November 28th at County Hall – the perfect place to research the marketplace and make new contacts.

Hart Square are independent consultants, with in-depth knowledge of the non-profit sector and the technology marketplace.

We hope you can join us,

Glenda Parker

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The Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries (ABPI) and the BioIndustry Association (BIA) have welcomed the UK Government’s latest Brexit position paper on ‘Collaboration on science and innovation’.

​​​​The UK Government’s position​ follows a prolonged effort from the life sciences industry to establish Government consensus on key Brexit issues.

The sector first outlined in September 2016 that securing “alignment and commonality with the EU for the regulation of medicines“, “long-term, predictable funding for scientific research, and continued ability to collaborate at scale” and “an agreement with the EU that facilitates the ease of movement for highly-skilled talent“, were top level priorities for maintaining and growing the industry as Britain leaves the EU.

This position paper also follows a recent recommendation (3 July 2017) of the European Commission appointed High Level Group on ‘Maximising the impact of EU Research and Innovation Programmes‘, which stated that “full and continued engagement with the UK within the post-2020 EU R&I programme remains an obvious win-win for the UK and the EU. The UK has one of the strongest science bases of all European countries.

Mike Thompson, ABPI CEO and Steve Bates, BIA CEO said:

“Continuing their pragmatic approach to secure the future of the UK’s life science sector, this latest position paper features many very positive ambitions for the future.

As the Commission’s own research has recognised, citizens across the whole of Europe benefit from the way UK and European scientists and researchers collaborate; helping find new ways to tackle health challenges we all face.

Continued cooperation in research, a smooth transition for the regulation of medicines, and practical solutions for trade and talent will be essential to delivering the best outcome for patients in both the UK and the EU.

Talent drives the strength, depth and quality of UK science, so, securing the continued mobility of UK and EU scientists would be the next logical and crucial step. These scientists have an important role to play in the future health, well-being and economic prosperity of Europe.

As the paper recognises, “drug development is a global business” and with timeframes getting tighter by the day, it’s essential that progress is delivered through negotiations with the EU to give industry confidence that UK and Europe will continue to be one of the best places in the word for developing and delivering the very best breakthroughs in medicine.”

The ABPI represents innovative research-based biopharmaceutical companies, in an industry that is a major contributor to the economy of the UK. Member companies supply more than 80 per cent of all branded medicines used by the NHS and those who are researching and developing the majority of the current medicines pipeline. Globally the industry is researching and developing more than 7,000 new medicines. 

Established over 25 years ago at the infancy of biotechnology, the BioIndustry Association (BIA) is the trade association for innovative enterprises involved in UK bioscience. Members include emerging and more established bioscience companies; pharmaceutical companies; academic, research and philanthropic organisations; and service providers to the bioscience sector. The BIA represents the interests of its members to a broad section of stakeholders, from government and regulators to patient groups and the media. ​​

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At smartimpact we’ve recently been talking about member engagement and how focusing on improving engagement is the key to success for membership organisations. Talking about it is all well and good but how does this translate into practical action?


Here’s five tips on gaining an understanding and improving your membership engagement rates.

 

#1 Understand what engagement looks like to your organisation

Engagement will look slightly different for every professional body so the first step is to work out what it looks like to yours. What do you consider important ‘engagement moments’? These could include:

  • Email opens/click-throughs
  • Event attendance (online of face-to-face)
  • Involvement in committees & groups
  • Volunteering/mentoring
  • Recommending your organisation to others
  • Connecting on social media
  • Continuous membership renewal
  • Use of benefits

 

Brainstorm, ask colleagues and refer to your overall business objectives to define a full list of your member ‘engagement moments’.

 

#2 Define metrics and KPIs that reflect these ‘engagement moments’

Once you know what ‘engagement moments’ are important to your organisation, you need to be able to measure them effectively so you can see where you need to focus improvements. You need to define metrics and KPIs that reflect these moments.

 

Some example metrics include:

  • Member retention rates – by types of grade/level
  • Email ‘click to open’ (CTO) rates – this compares the percentage of opens an email gets with the click-throughs it gets. This tells you if your members are engaged with your email communications. Measure different types of email separately to understand which are most effective
  • Increase in active group members – do your committees and groups lack members or is there a high turnover? Measure and track this
  • Use Net Promoter Score (NPS) – this is a well-known way of measuring advocacy. You will have seen the question ‘Would you recommend us to colleagues?’ – that’s NPS in action. Ask this question in all your surveys. Find out more about NPS»
  • Social media activity increase – sharing/liking/commenting/Klout score
  • website metrics

 

With regard to KPIs, remember to take initial ‘base’ measurements; these will help you define KPIs that are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based). For example, if your member retention rate at present is 40% you could set a KPI target of 75% within 2 years.

 

Regularly monitoring your defined set of KPIs will then allow you to see how well your activities and improvements are working (or not) and alter your actions accordingly.

 

#3 Understand what benefits are valued…and which aren’t

So, you’ve got your list of ‘engagement moments’ and monitor those through a defined set of KPIs. But that doesn’t address whether the member benefits you offer actually meet the needs of your members. What your members needed ten years’ ago may well have changed, but has your organisation kept up with this need for change?

 

Ask them. Through an annual survey, focus groups and regular satisfaction surveys throughout the year.

 

#4 Translate your findings into an improvement action plan

The most important thing about asking your members what they would like from your organisation is to then make the changes required! Adjust the benefits offered to meet needs and wants of today’s (and tomorrow’s) member, not yesterday’s.

 

Also, make sure you communicate your improvements and changes to the membership. In the way members want.

 

Finally,

#5 Don’t confuse loyalty with engagement

It might sound silly but loyal members aren’t necessarily engaged members. They’re very valuable members to have but it’s important to note the difference. A loyal member might continue renewing their membership for years in return for the support shown to them by the organisation in previous years. That doesn’t mean they read your emails, attend your events or use the benefits available. But it would be good to understand what would make them engage still.

 

We hope these tips have given you some food for thought. If you’d like to know more about engagement and how to measure those ‘engagement moments’ read our new ebook or call us on 0845 544 2043.

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The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has warned the new Government not to overlook the domestic agenda as it starts the negotiations over withdrawing from the EU. 

FSB National Chairman Mike Cherry said: “Brexit is clearly the most urgent focus for the new Government but it will only be successful if the Government fully backs small businesses, the backbone of the economy, whose ambitions will need to be harnessed to make use of any new trade deals.

 
“UK negotiators must have their interests in mind, including easy access to the single market and the ability to hire workers with the skills they need.”

The organisation also warned the Government not to revisit plans to raise National Insurance on the self-employed. 

 
“Many self-employed strivers were frightened during the recent election by the threat of a tax grab on them in the form of higher National Insurance Contributions,” said Mr Cherry. “I call on the new minority Government to rule that out once and for, to reassure entrepreneurs seeking to help our economy grow that they will not have extra obstacles thrown in their way.”


He also called for reform of the outdated business rates system and the need to tackle the poor treatment of many small firms by big business customers: “We look forward to working constructively with the new Government on all of these issues.”

More

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New Standards for Fogging Systems

The Association of Insurance Assessors (AiS) is a group of individual risk control and reduction experts working in the insurance market throughout the UK.

Through its collective expertise and influence, it aims to pursue continuous improvement in all aspects of protection of persons and property against insurable risks. The main way this is achieved is through the collection, collation and dissemination of information on products and services, and the developments affecting best practice in the field of risk surveying and consultancy.

Supported entirely by members’ subscriptions, AiS is independent of the Insurance and Security industries. This allows it to focus completely – without fear of outside influence – on the improvement of its members’ skills and their job satisfaction.

Fogging systems are now in wide-spread use as a security precaution. Their purpose is to obscure, and therefore prevent access, to valuable items. As such they are frequently used in the retail sector, among others, to prevent access to high value items such as alcohol, tobacco, jewellery etc. They are also used by the banking sector to protect safes and strong rooms, and have a high deterrent value when used correctly.

However, following a number of system failures it was decided that a code of practice was required to improve performance.  These failures included insufficient performance, i.e. the fog was too slow, did not fill the room, or wasn’t dense enough, Failure to activate at all – sometimes due to not being serviced correctly – and sometimes not configured correctly with the alarm system.

A working party, including the principal suppliers, was convened by AiS Chairman, Lee Wallace, and a Code of Practice agreed, with the expectation that both British and European standards will be amended in the fullness of time.

More information about the Association of Insurance Assessors can be found here

The AiS Guidelines on Security Fogging can be downloaded here

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The product standards for portable ladders are changing

BS EN 131 – the single British and European product standard covering all types of portable ladders has been substantially revised. The changes that come with this revision will help improve the safety of ladders and make buying the right ladder simpler.

These changes will affect everyone involved with ladders, from users and specifiers to suppliers and health & safety professionals. The Ladder Association has produced a comprehensive guide explaining what the changes to ladder standards mean and how they will affect you.

It includes: a look at the features of ladders manufactured to the new standard; guidance on the use of ladders to withdrawn standards; and advice for businesses and users on buying ladders.

The guide is available to download.

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On 11 August the Mayor of London published the draft London Environment Strategy which aims to make London a zero carbon city by 2050. The Mayor is taking a range of actions to improve the environment now, setting London on the path to create a better future.

The strategy brings together in one document every aspect of London’s environment: Air quality, green infrastructure, climate change mitigation and energy, waste, adapting to climate change, ambient noise, and transition to a low carbon circular economy.

The ADE produced a briefing for Association members, which provides an overview of the key points of interest of the consultation, which closes on 17th November 2017. The ADE will be submitting a response and will circulate a draft for members to provide comment in due course.

For more information about the Mayor’s draft plan, please see the following Policy & Regulation News post

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Association News

TechSmart NFP 2017 – Definitely Not Your Ordinary Conference

28th November, County Hall

This is not another sector event where you’re packed into a hotel conference centre, and doing your best to avoid the exhibition area. It’s the opposite. At TechSmart NFP, the leading tech providers take centre stage and shape our entire programme.

This is only a one-day event, and it’s jam-packed. We understand that it’s tough enough finding time away from the office. Therefore, our Programme is punchy and to the point. We will give you meaningful, practical advice and insights from the industry experts – and your peers – with simple take-aways that you can put into practice straight away.  


Book now and save over 22% 

Headline Speakers

Simon Devonshire, OBE – serial entrepreneur! Simon is fascinated by the whole new era of technology we’re entering, which has the potential to “transform everything around us from being passively dumb to being predictively intelligent”.

Rachel Neaman, CEO of Corsham Institute, is a specialist in digital transformation and was voted 20th in Computer Weekly’s list of 50 Most Influential Women in IT 2016. Rachel won the Founder’s Award 2017 at the Digital Leaders event in June 2017.

Dominic Campbell – due to popular demand, he is back! Dominic is a digital government and social innovation entrepreneur. He founded FutureGov to prove the power of digital and design for government transformation, focusing on creating better cheaper public services.

Take a closer look at our Keynote Speakers 

Everything you need to get your digital transformation on track

Strand 1 – Catching up, then keeping up

If you want to know what a strategy for CRM and associated technologies looks like, and how to ensure that it delivers what you need today – but is also future-proofed – this is the strand for you.

Strand 2 – Emerging tech

If you’re looking ahead to what is coming down the track technology-wise, and how to prepare your organisations for the future, this is the strand to attend.

Strand 3 – Drowning in data

If you want to learn how to harness data to help drive engagement with members, supporters and stakeholders, this is your best bet.

Different ways for you to learn – it’s punchy and to the point

TED-style Talks: our Sponsors are passionate about what they do and are leading tech experts. They will educate and entertain you with all the insights about their topics – in just 20 minutes!

Lightning Talks: Want to hear from some of the best technology providers without having to do all the small talk and sit through a full presentation? These tech experts will be on the clock, they will get exactly 5 minutes to tell you why they are different.

Client case studies and roundtable discussions: due to popular demand, there are even more opportunities to get involved, contribute and share with your peers. They are people just like you who have been through a similar experience.


Take a peek at our Programme

Work doesn’t need to feel like work

No need to wear a suit – it’s a relaxed informal set up, with a venue to match. And great content!

Plus: Coffee, cakes and snacks throughout the day; Soft sofa seating – chat with your colleagues or experts away from the crowds; Photographer to take professional headshots; and, Cocktails from 5:00pm!

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