VOICE CONNECTOR RICHARD TO LEAD NEW INITIATIVE FOR THE REGION FUTURE OF UK BUSINESS THE. Shropshire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire

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1 Shropshire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire Your Development Manager: or call May/June 2016 CONNECTOR RICHARD TO LEAD NEW INITIATIVE FOR REGION FSB Connect is an initiative that aims to increase the diversity and number of young people joining FSB. It provides networking tools, opens new types of partnership working and explores ways to encourage a broader and younger range of people connected to FSB and its experienced membership. A key focus is to introduce FSB to students at different levels of education, recognising that they represent the potential entrepreneurs and business owners of the future. The programme has delivery strands at national, Regional and Branch levels and, crucially, there is a growing network of Regional Connectors. These are FSB members who are well-placed to promote the Connect programme and to engage pro-actively with young people with diverse backgrounds. In this Region, that role will be undertaken by Richard Nuttall, Business Centre Manager and mentor for Shropshire Youth Support Trust (SYST), who manages and runs their Enterprise Centre. SYST exists to help young people, aged 18-30, to start a business and the Business Centre offers a fully- equipped, professional shared workspace with access to computers, desks and meeting spaces which can be rented on a daily or monthly basis. The centre also has 14 self-contained offices in a range of sizes and which can be rented on a monthly basis at subsidised terms. Richard said SYST, in partnership with the London Youth Support Trust, has more than 15 years of experience of working with young people and helping them to get their business up and running successfully. In addition we provide support, advice and introductions to other businesses and organisations that provide start up support. I am sure that these connections will help me deliver the FSB Connect programme and I look forward RICHARD NUTTALL to helping more young people discover the benefits of FSB membership. HAVE YOUR SAY ON FUTURE OF UK BUSINESS In addition to providing a great range of cost-effective member services, FSB is recognised as one of the most effective and respected business lobbying organisations. It is important that as a member you have the opportunity to make your voice heard on issues that concern you. Many of you have recently written to your MP about the proposals for mandatory, quarterly online tax returns or sent us a case study on how remaining in or leaving the EU might affect your business. Some have joined the Big Voice community to take part in online surveys. To find out more visit LET S GET SOCIAL AND TWEET One of the easiest ways to find out what is happening at FSB Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire is to follow us on Twitter. Our provides a range of up-to-date information including issues affecting local businesses, events taking place in the Region and changes to Member Services. You can also find out what is happening with our national lobbying and campaigning and our social events/benefits It is simple and only takes a moment to go online and follow us. So, if you are not doing so already, why not join in the conversations today? REGIONAL NEWS 2, 11, 14 BUSINESS UPDATE 3-10 REGIONAL CONTACTS 14 TO ADVERTISE CALL

2 Shropshire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire FROM YOUR REGIONAL CHAIR FSB helps businesses achieve their ambitions by offering members a wide range of high-quality finance, legal and support services, writes Regional Chairman, Richard Ashgar-Sandys. However, as mentioned elsewhere in this edition of The Voice, FSB also plays a vital role in representing members views by giving you a powerful voice in Government and influencing the policies and regulations that affect your business. The Budget demonstrates how important our lobbying role is and how effective we have become as a lobbying organisation. It included a number of measures to help smaller businesses. For example, changes to business rates will see many small businesses taken out of paying rates altogether. We have consistently called on The Chancellor to make the temporary doubling of Small Business Rates Relief permanent so were delighted that the measure was included in the Budget. This means that firms with a rateable value of less than 12,000 will pay no business rates at all. Further assistance will be provided to those with a rateable value of under 51,000. This is just one example of a recent, significant win for FSB. It shows what we can achieve when we speak with one, powerful voice. This is why we encourage members to be actively involved in our lobbying work. I know that running a business leaves little time to take on anything else, but with big asks on infrastructure investment, tax simplification and devolution deals it is more important than ever to get involved in FSB lobbying activities whenever you can. EDITORIAL: This publication is produced by and published for the Federation of Small Businesses, Sir Frank Whittle Way, Blackpool Business Park Blackpool, Lancs, FY4 2FE. Copyright 1996 Federation of Small Businesses all rights reserved. Editor: James Connor. Tel: james.connor@fsb.org.uk. Whilst every care has been taken in the compilation of this publication errors or omissions are not the responsibility of the Federation of Small Businesses and opinions expressed are those of the authors and are not necessarily the policy of the Federation. PAGE 2 EARN CASH FOR GENERATING LEADS Research suggests that the most effective method of producing quality leads is by recommendation. Now, FSB members can register to become a Lead Generator. That means they become eligible for a 30 incentive payment. It is payable when the lead has become a FULL FSB member for a minimum of three months. DYSLEXIA EXPERT ELI WELCOMED BY SHROPSHIRE Elizabeth Wilkinson (Eli), The Dyslexic Dyslexia Consultant (The DDC), has recently joined FSB Shropshire Branch as a Committee member. She has also been nominated for the National Diversity Awards: Role Model Award for Disability. Since 2007, The DDC has been responsible for raising awareness of dyslexia, training professionals and offering support and guidance to dyslexics, their families and the people they come into contact with. Elizabeth, known as Eli, works tirelessly to raise dyslexia awareness locally and is passionate about empowering local dyslexics. She is also extremely supportive of organisations who work with and empower young people and is an avid sponsor of Young Enterprise. This year The DDC is sponsoring the True Grit award. In 2008, Eli founded Dyslexia Information Days (DiD) and these events provide free dyslexia information advice and guidance for people of all ages. The DDC has just launched Dyslexia Awards which will take place for the first time at Enginuity in Coalbrookdale We continually review our offer to members, both to add new services and to improve those that are long-standing favourites. If it has been a while since you checked out To qualify for the incentive payment you must be a member and a registered Lead Generator. The lead must be input into our system and the prospect must become a FULL member of FSB and have had their membership for a minimum period of three months. To comply with HMRC regulations, Lead what is available you might find that you can save yourself time, money, or maybe even both, by going online to find the latest advice, finance and support services available Generators are sent an invitation to invoice for the amount due for leads provided they are eligible for payment at that time. Registered Lead Generators are eligible to receive 30 for every member referral they provide who becomes a full member of FSB. For further information please visit the website at on 26 November Nominations are now open at dyslexiawards. Dr. Harold Hackie Reitman, author of Aspertools and a leading authority on autistic spectrum disorders, was so impressed with the work Eli is doing that he asked to do an interview with her via Skype which appears on the www. differentbrains.com website. It is likely that many FSB members may be dyslexic. According to dyslexia Action, approximately ten per cent of the population is estimated to have dyslexia, which equates to more than 6.3 million individuals. Famous dyslexic entrepreneurs include Lord Sugar, Anita Roddick, Richard Branson, Jamie Oliver and Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad. They have all created successful businesses and research suggests dyslexics are disproportionately represented among entrepreneurs. Julie Logan, Emeritus Professor of Entrepreneurship at Cass Business School in London, said that 20 per cent of the UK s business self-starters have the condition. MEMBER BENEFITS, HAVE YOU CHECKED? to you through your FSB membership. For more information and to maximise your member benefits make sure that you visit org.uk/benefits.

3 Shropshire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire RAY HICKINBOTTOM, CHAIRMAN OF FSB SHROPSHIRE; GILL HAMER, MARCH LEP DIRECTOR AND PAUL HINKINS, CHAIR OF TELFORD BUSINESS BOARD A BUDGET FOR BUSINESS? When Chancellor George Osborne delivered his Budget on March 16, FSB members were scrutinising his every announcement as they were streamed live to a Regional/Branch event at Sixways Stadium in Worcestershire and to a Shropshire Branch event at Wroxeter. These Budget events have proved popular in the past and the latest ones continued the tradition of affording members the opportunity to listen to the budget live in the company of like-minded business people and FSB colleagues. This year the events also attracted seniorlevel attendance from local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and Regional educational establishments. At the event in Worcestershire, FSB member John Elliott, a business and personal tax adviser from Haines Watts Accountants, provided a line-by-line summary analysis of the key announcements and explained the implications for small businesses. At the Shropshire event, County leaders were joined by telephone link to The House of Commons to discuss the implications of the Budget for Shropshire with Owen Paterson, MP for North Shropshire. He commented: Shropshire needs better trains, roads, broadband and mobile signals. Civil servants down here don t really understand how Shropshire works. He did however welcome the lowering of Corporation Tax, saying this will bring in foreign investment. There was broad agreement amongst attendees that it had indeed been a Budget for business. There was a very positive reception for the business-friendly measures announced on business rates, Corporation Tax and the freeze on fuel duty. Attendees recognised that the vast majority of these positive measures had been influenced successfully through the sustained and effective lobbying of MPs, Ministers and Government departments by FSB. VIEW OUR WEBSITE FOR REGIONAL EVENTS As an FSB member you are welcome to attend any FSB event anywhere in the UK. In this Region, we hold a variety of networking-focused events at both the Regional and the Branch levels. Recent events include Strictly Networking and a County Connections event, which was hosted by Redline Communications. We also host themed events, such as the A Budget for Business? event and the Regional Chairman s Summer Regional Reception. A calendar of events is included in the weekly Bytesize e-newsletter and a fuller listing is available from the Regional pages of the FSB website at fsb.org.uk/regions/shropshireherefordshire-worcestershire Both are continually updated. DON T GET LEFT BEHIND IN SOCIAL MEDIA BATTLE FOR CUSTOMERS At FSB events and meetings there is one subject that nearly always gets a mention, the growing importance of social media for businesses of all types, shapes and sizes. For example, on Twitter 500 million Tweets are sent out every day and a large percentage of them are from businesses seeking to interact with existing clients and win new ones. So, if your business has so far avoided using Twitter, the evidence shows you are taking a gamble because most of your competitors are now active and they are using it to chase customers, including yours. When you also consider that 83 per cent of the world s political leaders have their own Twitter accounts and major businesses take their social media extremely seriously, then clearly, Twitter and social media more generally are phenomena that will not go away. Getting involved in social media can be quite daunting for businesses more used to face-to-face connection with customers and suppliers. However, in today s fastmoving business environment having a presence on social media is increasingly important. With a seemingly endless proliferation of social media channels the issue becomes not should we be on social media but which social media channels should we be on? At the moment, FSB prioritises Twitter, You Tube, Facebook and LinkedIn. However, we keep the situation under constant review as it is possible that other channels may offer up newer and better opportunities for us to engage more effectively with our membership. PAGE 11

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5 ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES WHAT COULD YOUR FSB MEMBERSHIP DO FOR YOU? We re always looking at ways to help your business fly and constantly review the benefits of membership, to ensure they deliver what you want. Over the last 12 months, a lot has changed and we don t want to you miss out. We ve introduced new member benefits including; Vehicle leasing and purchasing services, a business and domestic energy broker and have replaced our workplace pension provider, making the product even more competitive. Are you making the most of your membership? We could have done with FSB earlier in the company s history, we would have been able to expand at an earlier date. When we were looking at employing our first apprentice last year, it was FSB employment documents that helped cut through the red tape and navigate us through a minefield of paperwork. Having somebody like FSB behind you is fantastic. There is a whole team behind the organisations, whatever is required: support, advice, finance, you know that you re not alone, you ve got FSB. Mark Woodward, Member for seven years and CEO of the Printed Cup Company. Liz McNaughton, Member for seven years and Director of Ecce Media. Mubarak Chati, Member for five years and Managing Director of 1 Events Media. Make the most of your membership Call or visit fsb.org.uk/benefits

6 Shropshire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire NEW DEVELOPMENT MANAGER JOINS OUR REGION Mike Goodall is FSB s new Development Manager for the Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire Region. He was previously Regional Manager for a national trade association and, prior to that, spent more than 20 years leading the communications and partnership development functions in economic development and regeneration agencies. Regional Chairman, Richard Asghar-Sandys commented: I am delighted to welcome Mike on board at this crucial time for small businesses. He is joining a team that is committed to addressing the challenges and opportunities faced by small businesses in this Region, from dealing with flooding and strengthening business resilience to securing tangible support to drive business growth and develop the region s economy. Mike added: I am looking forward to championing small business issues and helping members to make the most of the excellent services available from FSB. I hope that my economic development and trade association background, coupled with extensive experience of working with challenging issues in complex and highly-regulated environments, will bring real value to the role and to FSB members in the Region. REGIONAL OFFICERS YOUR GLOBAL BIZ HUB The potential of global trade for small businesses is to be explored by FSB at the International Festival for Business 2016 (IFB2016), the biggest business showcase in the world this year. IFB2016 takes place from Monday, 13 June to Friday, 1 July, with the main events hosted at Exhibition Centre Liverpool. A fringe programme, The Edge, takes place in venues across the city. There will be more than 80 top-class events with internationally-acclaimed speakers, world-renowned business leaders and 30,000 delegates, all ready to do deals. As a global showcase for great British industries and sectors, the festival is a key three-week highlight in the UK and international business calendars. It will focus on three key sectors that are transforming the business landscape of Britain and beyond. They are manufacturing, creative and digital and energy and environment. In addition to FSB s main event From Northern Powerhouse to Global Markets on Monday, 20 June, our business support roadshow will feature during The Edge. FSB representatives and service FSB produces Bytesize, a weekly update on key issues and events that might be of interest to members. It is sent out every Thursday but if you are not receiving a copy it could be because we don t have your correct or most recent address or your permission to use it. FSB providers will play a major part in the Meet The Specialist Advisor programme alongside a number of other organisations such as UKTI, Exporting is GREAT, British Library and London Stock Exchange. Information, guidance and support will cover topics ranging from international market research to export tax, the tender process including the latest export opportunities to logistics, finance and legal. The newly-launched International Festival for Business Club will help companies access thousands of potential deals during this summer s festival. The free-to-join International Festival for Business Club will provide access to IFB2016 s Meet Your Future Deal programme, a digital matching service that will make introductions to thousands of potential buyers, partners, investors and suppliers, offering an opportunity to win new business. The Business Club is your free ticket to the festival which has a proven track record as more than 280m worth of export deals and overseas investment was secured as a result of the inaugural IFB in Sign up at ifb-business-club STAY IN TOUCH BY GIVING US YOUR BRANCH CONTACTS will not sell, lend or share your contact details so if you want to start receiving Bytesize please call FSB customer services on Chairman: Richard Asghar-Sandys richardas@coachlogistics.com Vice-Chairman: Ray Hickinbottom Ray.hickinbottom@fsb.org.uk Secretary: Judi Brazkiewicz Judi.brazkiewicz@fsb.org.uk Treasurer: Peter Silver broad_oaks@hotmail.co.uk National Councillor Richard Asghar-Sandys richardas@coachlogistics.com SHROPSHIRE Chairman: Ray Hickinbottom Ray.hickinbottom@fsb.org.uk Secretary: Barbara Rainford bar@strawberryfields.com HEREFORD Chairman: Richard Asghar-Sandys richardas@coachlogistics.com Secretary: Richard Beale mail@bookkeeping4u.biz WORCESTERSHIRE Chairman: Judi Brazkiewicz Judi.brazkiewicz@fsb.org.uk Secretary: Alex Brazkiewicz info@holoshealthcare.co.uk DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Mike Goodall michael.goodall@fsb.org.uk PAGE 14