Robin Evans Appointed Partner at MHA Carpenter Box

Robin joined the firm back in 2002 as a Senior Manager and has progressed to Partner following a stint as a Departmental Director in the firm’s Assurance and Advisory Group which deals with all of the firm’s client audits, amongst other things. Initially qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1997 and a Chartered Tax Adviser in 2002, Robin previously worked for BDO in London before moving to a Brighton practice. Prior to joining MHA Carpenter Box he took the role of Internal Auditor for The Body Shop, and has gained a vast amount of experience in audit work both in practice and in industry over the years.  

Within the Assurance and Advisory Group at MHA Carpenter Box, Robin works with a variety of limited companies on statutory audits, tax planning and strategic reviews, as well as providing general technical support to a portfolio of clients. He is also a specialist in dealing with academy schools, assisting them through the conversion process and providing them with ongoing support. He is Head of the Academies Sector at MHA Carpenter Box and is the Senior Statutory Auditor for a number of academy schools and commercial businesses.

Robin also works closely with the Charity Sector at the firm and provides invaluable audit support to many charities and not-for-profit organisations.

Robin is thrilled with his new appointment, commenting: “I’m delighted to have been appointed as a Partner at MHA Carpenter Box. It’s been a great place to work both in terms of the people within the firm and the wide variety of client issues and opportunities that we deal with on a daily basis. There are always new challenges to face and I relish the prospect of being part of the partnership team to give my input into the strategic direction of the firm.”

Robin lives in Littlehampton, and is married with three children. Besides watching his sons play football and his daughter ride horses, he is a card-carrying Welshman, a keen fan of Brighton & Hove Albion and season ticket holder at the AMEX Stadium in Brighton.

Five signs your business needs a virtual FD By Kreston Reeves

We are nearing the eye of the storm. Whether this be through changing attitudes of employees and consumers, innovation driven by artificial intelligence, political changes at home and in the US and, of course, Brexit, the macro environment is changing.

With this uncertainty, there arises many fantastic opportunities for successful businesses to grow, thereby maximising the return on their business for its owners. It will be of no surprise that these owners will have strong financial analysis driving this success, critical to execute a mid- to long-range plan.

This is where a strong finance director can be a great benefit. From acting as a sounding board for strategic ideas, to engaging and challenging management against pre-determined goals, the FD is a true deputy to the managing director.

So why would your business need an FD, virtual or otherwise? There are of course many reasons, but I believe there are five main drivers.

1. Great ambitions to grow, with no long-range plan in place.

This is a common occurrence in SMEs and entrepreneurial businesses where a great idea or delivery method is present, but clear stated financial objectives are not. A plan can be developed which empowers senior managers to take ownership of objectives, with a clear view as to how they measure up against the overall goals on a regular basis. This is further underpinned by development of management accounts which actually give information that leaders can make decisions on, in a timely manner.

2. Business is booming, but cashflow remains a constant worry.

In any high growth organisation, working capital will be tight. A well developed and structured reporting tool will help identify crunch points ahead of time, and a good FD will have several suitable financing options to call upon to steer through these times. This may be through drawdown on invoice discounting facilities, or identifying the best time to order foreign currency to ensure exchange fluctuations are mitigated.

3. Unknown impact of changing variables.

Sensitivity analyses and a good stress test of your business is key to negotiating uncertainty. Will your imports become too expensive for your business model to work after a change in currency rates? What if inflation continues to rise, leading to an interest rate hike – how will you afford to keep debt payments on the funding obtained when your business was growing? Does your business rely on EU workers, and how will exit from the EU impact resourcing?

4. Processes are time consuming and do not add value to customers.

Lean process management is a crucial cost effective tool which can free up time for team members to work on delivering value to customers, and differentiating your business from the masses. Making processes efficient, from a clear vision of what “good” looks like, can really improve productivity whilst maintaining the control required to detect and prevent errors occurring.

5. The business has excellent product/process ideas, but little idea of the costing and profitability of the venture.

It is useful to have someone with a prudent approach to costing and profitability analysis. This not only helps to play devil’s advocate, but to ensure that the idea will ultimately achieve its desired financial and operational objectives. Business Case Analyses (BCAs) are powerful tools to ensure that the idea has every chance of succeeding, and can also be used when quoting for new opportunities.

The virtual FD

Whilst a good finance director is expensive, you may not need them in a full-time position. The day-to-day running of the finance team should be well run by process, ensuring an efficient streamlined function. In this case, having a good business advisor, acting as a virtual FD, could be your solution. The scope is flexible, and the business retains control and allows for focussed effort on what is important.

Generally, a virtual FD is always on hand to answer any questions arising or to discuss ideas, and attends monthly or quarterly board meetings to discuss results and direction of the business. Outsourcing this position means that continuity of service is maintained, and the virtual FD can dip into a wide-ranging talent pool within the organisation.

Although SMEs make up a large proportion of all businesses, many do not have this key position of strategic advisory servicing in place. Perhaps this is down to a seemingly unneeded cost or a lack of quality resource out there to trust. However, in the changing world today, there must be no misunderstanding as to how much value the virtual FD can bring to a business.

For more information contact Jake Standing, Business Advisory Senior Manager, Kreston Reeves 01903 828728 jake.standing@krestonreeves.com.  

ETI helping the local community 

Late last year we were grateful to hear that a local company ETI was going to donate a considerable sum to our disabled toilet building fund.

This week saw the official presentation and you can imagine how lucky and fortunate we felt when we were informed that the sum donated had doubled to £1,000.

So again grateful thanks to ETI for their generous help with our project.

Pictured is David our treasurer being predented with the cheque by Miriam Webb of ETI surrounded by club members that come down on Wednesday mornings to eat cake, drink tea, cocoa and ovaltine and in between these breaks, carry out essential maintenance and building work.

If you didn't know it, ETI are a very successful manufacturer of temperature measuring instruments and equally importantly are based in Worthing. Their website https://thermometer.co.uk is well worth a visit and can be reached via this link. Alternatively a search for ETI will soon get you there.

For more pictures of this and an update on progress visit the disabled toilets sub page on the What's happening page.

Link to Disabled Toilets

Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd Wins Highly Prestigious Queen’s Award for Innovation

It is with enormous pleasure and pride that Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd is able to announce that Her Majesty the Queen has today granted a Queen’s Award for Enterprise within the category of Innovation, the fourth Queen’s Award for the company since gaining its first in 2012.

The Queen's Awards for Enterprise are the UK's most prestigious awards for business performance which recognise and reward outstanding achievement by UK companies. The Awards are made each year by the Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister who is assisted by an Advisory Committee that includes representatives of Government, Industry & Commerce, together with the Trade Unions.

On receiving the news of the award, Peter Webb MBE, Managing Director of Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd commented: "I feel immensely proud and honoured to have received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for a fourth time.  We have always prioritised investment in research, development and innovation and the Queen’s Award for Innovation recognises our continued commitment to providing our customers with pioneering temperature measuring solutions using the latest technology.  I am lucky to have such a dedicated and supportive workforce, who without their hard work and commitment this honour would not have been possible.  By keeping our manufacturing and Research & Development in the UK we have been able to support our local economy whilst successfully continuing to grow the business.”

Trading for 35 years, since 1983, Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd is the UK’s largest digital thermometer manufacturer and exporter of electronic thermometers and temperature probes.  Thermapen thermometers, manufacturer by ETI Ltd are used worldwide for many different applications and are the UK’s number one selling food thermometer.  Offering a combination of speed, accuracy and convenience of use, the SuperFast Thermapen 4 uses advanced technology and incorporates a number of innovative features including a patented 360° self-rotating display.  Various models complete the Thermapen range including the new Thermapen IR infrared and Thermapen Blue with Bluetooth technology.

Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd will be officially presented with its Queen's Award for Enterprise at a ceremony that will take place at the company's Worthing headquarters during the summer.

Greater Brighton: taking it to the next level

Councillor Andy Smith, chairman of the Greater Brighton Economic Board and Leader of Lewes District Council, discusses the next steps for the City Region. It’s been nearly a year since I took on the role of chairman of the Greater Brighton Economic Board which means it is a good time to look back and reflect on what has been delivered in the last 12 months.

When I took up the role on the rotating annual basis, I made clear that the time was right for the City Region to start talking about how we deliver for our near one million residents.

Looking back, I am pleased to say that we are now meeting that ambition and, for that, I must thank the collaborative work of the six local authorities, business groups and academia representatives that make up the Greater Brighton board.

At our meeting this week (April 17, 2018) we discussed the way the City Region moves forward.

Since the board was established in 2014, we have been successful in bringing in more than £150 million worth of investment into the area which has helped kick-start regeneration and creating ten of thousands of homes and jobs in our local economies.

But, as is ever the case with these things, changes in the direction of central government means that the goalposts are moving. But as a vibrant City Region whose economy has grown by 10 per cent in the last five years, Whitehall are well aware of our potential and keen to support our work.

The key question is how we go about delivering this and take the project to the next level.

In order to keep the success of the City Region going we have to think about the wider ambition of Greater Brighton - what do we want to achieve and how can we use the collective power to benefit residents and businesses in an area that stretches from Brighton north to Gatwick.

I’m pleased to say that the last year has started to see all the board members think about ‘joining the dots’ - so rather than just focus on jobs and homes, we’re thinking about skills, about education, about infrastructure, about water and energy.

Without these things, our communities would not be able to reach their potential which is bad news for residents and bad news for businesses. But we also must do this while ensuring that the unique and vibrant identities of places like Haywards Heath, Crawley, Newhaven and Worthing are not diluted in any way.

We’re also taking steps to draw in more investment and trade into the area. Despite being home to 40,000 businesses and generating an output of around £21 billion every year, Greater Brighton is falling behind when it comes to attracting investors. The new trade and investment team, the first stages of which we agreed at our last meeting, will go some way to dealing with this.

There is lots to be excited about though. The addition of Crawley Borough Council and Gatwick Airport as members of the board means that we are bigger, not only in terms of geography but also reputationally. also important that we focus beyond our coastal communities.

We still have challenges, most notably in transport. But through working with the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership and the Transport for South East group, we are hopeful of bringing in much needed investment to improve our road and rail network. This will also support the ongoing activities of our two ports at Newhaven and Shoreham and our very successful international airport at Gatwick.

As I pass over the baton to another chairman, there's still a lot to achieve. But I know we are capable of delivering for our residents.

I look forward to working with fellow board members moving forward to keep on driving growth and taking this exciting collaboration to the next level.

Further expansion for Lucketts 

Travel business Lucketts Group has bought North Hampshire-based Mortons Travel - its second acquisition in four months. 

The purchase of Mortons Travel, which follows the acquisition of Solent Coaches, brings Lucketts' total number of vehicles to about 175 and widens its reach in the north of the county and beyond into Berkshire.

The move brings Lucketts’ total number of vehicles to around 175 and widens its reach in the north of the county and beyond into Berkshire. As part of the acquisition all 60 staff of Mortons Travel will be retained by the company and managing director Tony Lawman said the plan is to grow the fellow family business.

"There were a lot of synergies between Lucketts and Mortons, not least the fact that it's a family owned company with our same core values of safety, reliability, quality and attention to detail," he said.

Mortons Travel will retain its name, coaches and extensive client portfolio. Should, however, it need to call on extra resources it now has the operational backing of Lucketts Group – which incorporates Lucketts Travel, Coliseum Coaches, Solent Coaches and Worthing Coaches.

The former shareholders of Mortons Travel, Adrian and Joanne Morton, now plan to spend more time with their young children.

Adrian Morton said: "Having grown the company over a period of 14 years it felt like the right time to pass the business on to someone who could develop it long into the future. Lucketts has an enviable reputation in the business and we felt our loyal customers and staff would be in safe hands."

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Ambitious investment and trade plans revealed by Greater Brighton

Greater Brighton is stepping up the pace to bring jobs and prosperity to the City Region - by backing ambitious plans to sell the area to the world.

With excellent connectivity, a diverse and growing economy and a world-class workforce, Greater Brighton has all the raw materials needed to thrive.

But, with the City Region bringing in less than 1% of the UK’s total inward investment in 2016/17, economic experts say the area - which stretches from Brighton north to Gatwick - is underperforming, with productivity and growth rates lower than the wider south east.

With economic uncertainty ahead and competition for investment set to intensify, the Greater Brighton Economic Board (GBEB) yesterday agreed to push ahead with plans to create a new dedicated Trade and Inward Investment Team.

The aim is to sell the benefits of doing business in the area to a wider audience while supporting City Region firms to grow and trade internationally - ensuring Greater Brighton can realise its potential as one of the UK’s leading locations for investment and trade.

Councillor Andy Smith, chairman of GBEB and Leader of Lewes District Council, said: “The Greater Brighton City Region has the potential to be one of the UK’s most compelling inward investment and growth locations.

“Home to nearly one million people, the City Region is distinctive for excellent national and international connectivity, a diverse and growing economy, a talented labour pool and the quality of lifestyle for workers.

“It’s now up to us to sell these benefits to the wider world with one single voice as investment will boost business, create jobs and encourage prosperity for all of our communities.”

The decision comes after GBEB commissioned leading consultancy firm Regeneris to create an inward investment and export strategy for the whole Greater Brighton City Region.

It showed that Greater Brighton is home to around 400,000 jobs and 40,000 businesses, generating an output of around £21 billion every year. The size of the economy has grown by around 10% over the past five years.

But, the report also said that the City Region is way behind other areas, such as Manchester, Thames Valley and Bristol and Bath, when it comes to bringing in investment into the area.

A report presented to the board at the meeting in Hove Town Hall yesterday (Tuesday April 17, 2018) said: “In an uncertain economic context, trade and inward investment has an integral role to play in working towards this vision, supporting business growth and innovation, and creating and sustaining employment opportunities in existing and emerging sectors.

“There is evidence that the area is currently failing to maximise its investment and trade potential, and that, in economic terms, it is losing ground to other locations across the UK.”

The new Trade and Inward Investment Team would be positioned as the lead body to sell the area and its specialised industries to the wider world.

Board members suggested the team could operate from a central hub, with potential for the work to be supported at strategic sites across the City Region, such as Gatwick Airport. With the proposal now backed, Greater Brighton officers have been tasked with exploring the issue further.

The plan would also feed in to the UK government’s Industrial Strategy which sets out an ambition to “create an economy that boosts productivity and earning power throughout the UK”.

Ethical lending supported by Worthing Council

More people will be able to access fair and affordable ways to manage their money thanks to Worthing Borough Council.

As part on ongoing work to assist low-income and vulnerable communities, the Council has been working with local credit union BOOM to provide safe and ethical loans and savings. The work also involves helping members of the street homeless community open bank accounts to ensure they can receive welfare payments.

Formed out of a merger between the former Surrey and West Sussex Credit Unions, the not-for-profit organisation said nearly half of all loans agreed in recent months have been in Worthing - with nearly £1 million now lent to residents in our communities.

To ensure BOOM can continue to support those in need, senior councillors on Adur & Worthing’s Joint Strategic Committee agreed at a meeting this week to invest a further £25,000 in member-owned co-operative.

Mary D’Arcy, Adur & Worthing Councils’ Director for Communities, said: “We know that having access to affordable credit is essential for many residents.

“Without help to access credit and support to manage tight budgets as well as encouragement to save, some people could very quickly find themselves in financial difficulties after resorting to doorstep lenders and ‘so called’ payday loans.

“By investing in BOOM we are investing in our communities and ensuring that this valuable resource can continue supporting our residents.”

Both Worthing Borough Council and Adur District Council invested £25,000 in the credit union in 2014.

Recent months has seen BOOM receive an increasing number of queries from Worthing residents to consolidate expensive loans into affordable payments. Requests for loans to cover rent arrears and deposits on new tenancies are also on the rise.

In light of this extra demand, Council leaders believe the extra money will ensure support can continue be provided.

The investment will have the added bonus of helping local residents save - as anyone with a BOOM loan has to put an amount aside each month, meaning they have a nest egg after paying off the debt.

Andy Johnson, General Manager at BOOM, said: “The continued support from Worthing Borough Council has been invaluable to us. With investments like this, we are able to help many of the local residents avoid financial exclusion or the option of high interest lenders with can easily lead into a spiral of debt.

“We actively campaign to create opportunities for people to save and manage their money more effectively, working with our members to try and reduce situations of stress and difficulty which the demands of money troubles can bring. In fact, we want that saving ethos to start so early, we have recently started our new Junior Savers campaign to encourage this.

“We are also looking to support those residents that may struggle to access high street banks and working with Engage we are able to provide a Current Account option as an alternative.”

The Council also said it will continue its work with BOOM to prepare local residents for the full rollout of Universal Credit which is planned for Worthing and most parts of Adur in July 2018.

While officers admitted that some of concerns around the initial stages of the Universal Credit process of payment of benefits have been addressed by the government, work continues to ensure our communities understand the changes.

This includes issuing advice and guidance on a range of financial and other related issues - such as working with the credit union to reduce the amount required to open an account from £5 to £2.50 for some particularly vulnerable clients. The Council has also worked with BOOM to support our street homeless community to open accounts despite individuals not always being able to provide the standard forms of identification.

As well as supporting financial inclusion, the Council is also helping people to get online through its IT Junction programme. Established with the Department of Work and Pensions, there are more than 10 centres across the area which provide support for new Universal Credit claimants to manage their claim online.

The Councils are committed to continuing to provide our communities with information and support to navigate the changes as they occur,. A separate web page has been established on the Councils’ website and an easy-to-understand video explains the impact of Universal Credit. Please feel free to share this widely.

Website Dedicated To Caring For Elderly Parents Launches In Sussex

Research shows that over three million people in the UK have to juggle caring for a loved one with their busy career and a survey carried out by Carer’s UK showed that two out of five workers who are carers were up to £20,000 worse off per year as a result.

Age Space is the online community for anyone concerned about ageing parents or relatives, has today launched a bespoke site dedicated to Brighton & Hove, East and West Sussex.

The counties have the highest percentage of over 85s anywhere in England. Brighton & Hove alone has approximately 35,600 people aged 65+, which is increasing every year; and the older population of West Sussex (183,969 in 2014) is expected to rise by 65% by 2039.

Age Space Founder, Annabel James (54), developed the website after her Mother had a stroke and she found it hard to find information, or to know what to do, for the best to support her Mum’s long stay in hospital and recovery.

‘Keeping Mum’, research commissioned by Age Space, found that more than half (54%) of Britons aged between 45 and 64 give practical, financial, health or personal care to at least one parent.

These concerns are taking their toll, with over half (53%) of respondents in the ‘Keeping Mum’ report stating that supporting their parents is negatively affecting their wellbeing and 26% said that they didn’t know where to start looking for advice 

Others compared it to the single most stressful life event with moving to a new house, changing schools and getting divorced.

Age Space aims to make it easier for those who are concerned about their parent’s care providing all the trusted information they need, in one place. At www.agespace.org people can find practical, up-to-date guidance on all aspects of supporting elderly parents, including health and stages of care, finance and legal matters, all specifically tailored to the Sussex area. It is the only website of its kind helping the seven million adults currently caring for, or supporting their elderly parents (Age UK, 2017).

Age Space also has a friendly online forum where users can ask questions and share experiences with like-minded people. There is also an online directory of contact information for relevant local services, businesses and charities.

Annabel James, Founder of Age Space said: “Our research shows the need for much better information and support for the generation that has the responsibility of ‘parenting their parent’.

“This is a major issue for employers, communities and families, and one which we need to confront collectively to ensure that our ageing population receives the very best care.

“When suddenly finding yourself responsible for the care of a relative, it’s natural for you to feel worried and not know what to do. Age Space is there for you to make this difficult time easier by providing practical, localised information to ensure that our ageing population receives the very best care.”

The Age Space website also features specialist content written by experts from Age Space’s partners Rix & Kay Solicitors LLP, Leaders Estate Agents alongside advice from charities who support the older generation which include Brighton & Hove Food Partnership, Impact Initiatives and Action on Elder Abuse.

If you would like more information or help with caring for an elderly parent go to www.agespace.org or join the Forum which can assist with any dilemmas you may have.

To become a partner or official supporter, please contact Annabel directly by emailing annabel.james@agespace.org.

Summer 2018 Wedding Packages at the Dome

These fantastic offers are available from May, through to August

Offer includes:

• 50 guests
  
• All day hire of the Main Lounge with inclusive use of the Whispering Gallery for two hours.
  
• Prosecco Reception
  
• Silver menu, three course wedding breakfast.
  
• Evening buffet 

Prices:

• Friday: £3499
  
• Saturday: £3999
  
• Sunday - Thursday: £2999