Innovative and ambitious startups in the East Midlands are being offered the expertise of dedicated disruptor entrepreneurs to help drive transformation and resilience – as well as access to multiple perks including more than £70,000 worth of hardware and software credits – as part of the CBIT Venture Builder programme at Nottingham Business School (NBS), part of Nottingham Trent University.

The fully funded Venture Builder is a core part of the Centre for Business and Industry Transformation (CBIT) at NBS. It focuses on nurturing entrepreneurs who are looking to challenge and disrupt industry norms and revolutionise their business operations to propel them from the early stages to scalable and sustainable growth.

CBIT Venture Builder’s sparring partner approach delivers a customised journey tailored to each startup, featuring four key offerings: in-depth business model clinics and innovation; business process and product road mapping; strategic growth hacking; and investment readiness. This personalised journey ensures that a business’s growth is strategically guided and robustly supported at every stage.

Start-ups gain access to an array of perks, including advanced hardware and software technologies such as drones, AI development-ready stations, 3D printers for prototyping, and credits for essential services like Notion, Miro, AWS, Stripe, and other essential tools.

Professor Xiao Ma, director of CBIT and an internationally recognised thought leader and educator in entrepreneurship, business transformation, and digital economy, said: “Our role at CBIT has been pivotal in assisting numerous startups in pivoting and understanding their unique value propositions, aiding them in transforming business norms.

“We are committed to nurturing more businesses, helping them to innovate and challenge conventional industry standards, with the aim of establishing them as leaders in their respective fields.”

Businesses supported by the Venture Builder so far include IoT workforce and security management business, Jakin ID, and its parent company, Actatek, which has just won a major contract for the supply of state-of-the-art access control and workforce management hardware and software solutions, and UK grooming brand BarberBoss, which is currently working with the programme on a £230,000 Knowledge Transfer Partnership to improve supply chain efficiency and reliability through the use of artificial intelligence.

Recent additions to the portfolio are Freeaim VR, whose groundbreaking virtual reality shoes offer a highly immersive experience in virtual reality environments, and Healthy Air, a Nottingham-based venture pioneering in the field of air purification technology. Its advanced air purifier product is designed to significantly improve air quality in both workspaces and homes, effectively addressing the critical challenge of air pollution and ensuring a healthier environment.

The Venture Builder has also assisted DOCK-Y, a technology innovation company with a mission to make micro-mobility safer, smarter, and more secure. Experts from the programme helped DOCK-Y through the process of developing and launching its Advanced Rider Assist System (ARAS) that leverages artificial intelligence, computer vision, and machine learning to revolutionise the safety of e-scooters and e-bikes, among other micro-mobility device.

Manish Pillay, founder and chief executive of DOCK-Y, said: “DOCK-Y’s journey in the CBIT Venture Builder program has been significantly beneficial. This opportunity has allowed us to have access to valuable expertise, aiding in the refinement of our business model and processes, and enhancing our growth tactics. CBIT has been more than just a collaborator; they’ve been a valuable partner, propelling us forward in Dock-Y’s journey towards having a strong foot in the micro-mobility sector.”

The CBIT Venture Builder is fully funded but businesses must meet selection criteria as places per year are limited.

It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.  It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years. Here we speak to Edward Grant-Salmon, Managing Director of Xtra Express Logistics. I believe that businesses, particularly those in the logistics sector, will need to work hard on their sales pipelines in 2024. Interest rates and inflation on fuel have massively impacted cash flow for businesses in our industry in 2023, so logistics companies need a steady flow of new contracts coming in to negate this and be sustainable. The businesses that are cash rich and not paying high interest rates on business debts will weather any further storms that 2024 sends our way. Ultimately, the 2024 economy will be driven by government decisions on fuel duty, inflation, interest rates and other changes to legislation such as rises to the living wage and National Insurance contributions. Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and eco/sustainability will be key considerations for logistics firms in 2024 too, with many prospective clients looking to them to demonstrate what they are doing to reduce their carbon footprint and tackle climate change.

Flexible working, continuous personal development and maintaining a work-life balance are top of the list for the next generation of business, according to a report by East Midlands Chamber’s network for young professionals. A healthy work-life balance was ranked as the most important aspect of a job by employees aged 18 to 35 in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, with 34% citing this as being above all other considerations in a survey by the Generation Next network. This was followed by salary (30%), entrepreneurial freedom (20%), benefits (10%) and innovation (7%). When asked how important hybrid and remote working is to securing a role, respondents gave it an average score of 7.3 out of 10. Generation Next, which runs professional development events and mentoring services for 18 to 35-year-olds, carried out its first-ever Young professionals in the East Midlands survey, with the aim to help businesses and other key stakeholders in the region understand the development needs and preferences of the future and existing workforce, as well as to align the network’s offering to members. The findings, which also covered challenges encountered by young employees and the type of learning they desire, will be discussed at the inaugural Generation Next Conference, held at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground stadium, on Friday 12 January. Lucy Robinson, director of resources at East Midlands Chamber and Generation Next lead, said: “Undertaking this survey has been a really important piece of work for us, not only to help the wider East Midlands business community to retain and attract young talent, but also to ensure our services are still relevant in developing the region’s skills. “Our Generation Next board of champions, chaired by Daniel Nikolla and featuring young professionals representing a broad range of sectors across the region, have spearheaded this work as they felt it was integral to giving a voice to young people working in our businesses, while enabling the network to stay committed to our mission of helping the young business community in the East Midlands to thrive.” Other key findings in the survey, which was completed by 116 participants, included: · While four in 10 of respondents use to LinkedIn for career development opportunities, 22% look to their own organisation, with local business groups and education institutions also accessed. Some 77% said a company’s training policy is an important driver for recruitment. · Continuous learning was valued by 82% of respondents throughout their careers, with 32% interested in accredited learning. · Networking was found to be either a somewhat or incredibly significant driver of career development for 98% of respondents, and 82% expected their employers to finance a subscription to a membership organisation, such as the Chamber or Generation Next, to support their skills development. · Thirty-six people said they had been mistreated for being young or inexperienced, with other challenges reported including a lack of resource, disrespectful behaviour, a lack of self-confidence, resistance to change from their employer and restricted flexibility. Generation Next chair Daniel Nikolla added: “I’m delighted to launch the results of our first survey, and I’d like to thank everyone who took part in the study. It is important to give young professionals a voice among our community to ensure we are retaining the top talent for the future of business.” Daniel commissioned the survey as part of his goals during his first year heading up the board. Fellow board member Harsh Shah, who is a data analytics manager at East Midlands Chamber, created the survey.

The uncertainty surrounding when a General Election takes place must not get in the way of businesses’ ability to drive forward the growth that will bring down inflation and boost wages. This was the view of business leaders speaking at East Midlands Chamber’s Annual State of the Economy Conference, held at the University of Leicester School of Business yesterday (Thursday 14 December). On the day the Bank of England kept the base rate at 5.25%, the highest point in 15 years, and 24 hours after the latest economic data showed the UK’s GDP shrank more than expected by 0.3% in October, speakers made the case for cross-party consensus on key economic issues such as skills, productivity, and research and development – which they said are crucial to raising business investment from its current low bar. Among the business leaders and economists were Institute of Directors director-general Jonathan Geldart, Barclays global head of transactional FX sales Sat Khuntia, PwC East Midlands partner Alex Hudson, Freeths Leicester managing partner Lisa Gilligan, Future Life Wealth Management founder and divisional director Jillian Thomas, and Mukesh Bulsara, partner at business advisory services firm Coadax and vice-chair of Leicestershire Business Voice. Data from the Chamber’s latest Quarterly Economic Survey, run in partnership with the University of Leicester School of Business, was presented to give a snapshot of the past year. It showed how after a general improvement in activity and sentiment throughout the first half of 2023 there has been an overall slowdown towards the end of this year. Historical trends show activity often slows ahead of a General Election East Midlands Chamber director of policy and insight Chris Hobson said: “Our Quarterly Economic Survey results for 2023 can be viewed as a game of two halves, with the recent slowdown underpinned by a decrease in advanced orders – both at home and overseas – along with a weakening labour market, flat investment intentions and a decline in cashflow performance. “Driving this has been, firstly, fiscal pressures from 14 consecutive increases in the base rate by the Bank of England. It may be the lag time between rate hikes and subdued consumer demand has now passed and we are experiencing the full impact of that prolonged, proverbial belt-tightening. “Away from this, we’re also experiencing an unpredictable political environment, with multiple ‘resets’ as the country gears up for a General Election. This has meant an increase in policy announcements, arguably with more of an eye on positioning as opposed to meaningful growth strategies for UK plc. “Looking at historical trends via our State of the Economy Index, it’s not unusual to see things slow down ahead of an election, but the concern is that continued uncertainty about when this might take place could act to lengthen the duration of this for businesses. “Sentiment is an incredibly powerful – and often underestimated – factor in economic activity. As businesses seek surety over the environment into which they’ll be investing over the coming 12 months, it’s incumbent on all parties to ensure we don’t allow the nature of our political cycles to mean we are found wanting. “But one note of confidence – this time 12 months ago, many were predicting a recession in 2023 that never materialised. And when talking to individual businesses, the big picture trends we see are hiding many, many positive stories of growth and success.” East Midlands Chamber Quarterly Economic Survey Q4 2023 findings Key findings from the Quarterly Economic Survey Q4 2023 for the East Midlands, which was completed by 370 organisations between 6 and 30 November 2023, included: · UK and overseas sales have each remained steady throughout the year, increasing by a net 2% between the third and fourth quarters, but there were declines in advanced orders for a net 9% and 10% for UK and overseas respectively · Recruitment has slowed with a net 8% drop in businesses that added to their headcount in the prior three months compared to the previous quarter, although there was a net 1% rise in firms expecting to increase their workforce in the next three months · Many employers continue to face challenges with filling job vacancies – 55% of organisations attempted to recruit and, of those, more than seven in 10 (72%) experienced problems in finding suitable staff. Skilled manual and technical, and professional and managerial roles were the most difficult to fill · After easing throughout the year, price rises are back on the agenda. In Q1, 54% of businesses had expected to increase their prices due to cost pressures from energy, raw materials, people and fuel. This fell to 30% in Q3 before rising again to 40% in the final quarter of the year, with increased labour costs the main driver · A net 7% of firms reported cashflow was down in Q4, a 6% rise from the previous quarter · There was no difference in intentions to invest in plant and equipment between the third and fourth quarters, but investment intentions for training increased by 5%. Both indicators have remained very low throughout 2023, with the total proportion of firms intending to increase their investment never climbing above 20% · Business confidence shows a mixed picture, with confidence in profitability prospects down by 2% compared to the previous quarter but up by 4% for turnover expectations.

Ensuring the protection of employees’ hearing in manufacturing settings is imperative for ethical and practical reasons. Factories, marked by the pervasive hum of machinery, expose workers to continuous noise levels that, if unaddressed, pose substantial risks to auditory health. Beyond meeting regulatory obligations, implementing effective measures becomes a strategic investment in the workforce’s well-being. The sustained exposure to elevated noise levels can lead to irreversible hearing damage, impacting employees’ overall health and productivity. Responsible industrial management involves adopting comprehensive hearing protection measures for a safer work environment and the workforce’s long-term health and resilience. What are some of the measures that can be implemented? Keep reading to find out more. Understanding Hearing Hazards In Factories Factories inherently expose workers to a symphony of noise, potentially leading to irreversible hearing damage. To comprehend and mitigate these hazards:

1. Undertake a meticulous noise assessment.
2. Utilize precision tools such as decibel meters to pinpoint areas with elevated noise levels.
3. Identify the specific machinery or processes contributing to these levels.

This analysis forms the foundation for a targeted hearing protection strategy, allowing you to tailor solutions to the unique acoustic landscape of your factory. A thorough understanding of your auditory environment empowers you to make informed decisions and implement precise measures for effective hearing conservation. Assessing The Factory Environment Conducting a thorough noise assessment is paramount for an effective hearing protection strategy. Pinpoint areas where noise levels peak and identify machinery contributing to elevated decibel counts. Use precision tools like decibel meters to ensure accuracy in your assessment. This process enables you to create a tailored protection plan. Implementing strategic noise control measures in identified high-noise zones contributes significantly to the overall effectiveness of your hearing protection strategy. Regularly reassess the factory soundscape to adapt measures to evolving conditions, ensuring sustained protection for your team. Selecting Appropriate Hearing Protection The quest for effective hearing protection begins with the selection of appropriate equipment. Earmuffs, earplugs, and other devices vary in effectiveness and comfort, but prioritise proper fitting to ensure long-term use without compromising comfort. Establish a comprehensive training program to educate your team on adequately using and maintaining hearing protection equipment. Offering a range of options and ensuring their correct usage fosters a safety culture, empowering individuals to make choices tailored to their unique needs. Consider The Choice Of Equipment Strategically investing in silent, quiet, and low-noise air compressors is a pivotal choice in hearing protection. Recognize the contribution of air compressors to overall noise levels and explore options designed to minimize their impact. Prioritize equipment known for its quiet operation without compromising efficiency, such as the Champion Air Tech. This investment extends beyond fulfilling operational needs; it creates a quieter work environment. Making informed choices about your equipment means you actively enhance hearing protection measures, fostering a workplace where your team’s auditory health is prioritized. Implementing Hearing Conservation Programs Establishing a comprehensive hearing conservation program requires proactive measures. Educate your team about the risks of high noise levels and the importance of hearing protection. Develop a structured training program to familiarize individuals with the correct use of protective equipment. Regular awareness campaigns reinforce the significance of hearing safety, promoting a culture where employees are actively engaged in their auditory well-being. By instilling a sense of responsibility and understanding, your team becomes integral to the hearing protection program, contributing to a safer and healthier workplace environment. Utilizing Engineering Controls The implementation of engineering solutions serves as a pivotal step in noise reduction. Identify specific noise sources and introduce controls such as barriers, enclosures, and soundproofing measures. Tailor these engineering controls to the unique requirements of your factory environment. Regularly assess the effectiveness of these measures and adjust as needed. Strategically integrating engineering controls means you address noise at its source and contribute to a sustainable and comfortable work environment. Regular Monitoring And Maintenance Continuous monitoring of noise levels is imperative for sustained hearing protection. Implement routine maintenance for hearing protection equipment, ensuring optimal functionality. Regular reviews of the hearing conservation program guarantee its effectiveness. Utilize feedback from employees to make necessary adjustments and improvements. By adopting a proactive stance in monitoring and maintenance, you address emerging issues promptly and demonstrate a commitment to the ongoing well-being of your team. This iterative approach ensures that your hearing protection measures remain robust and adaptive to changing workplace conditions. Compliance With Regulations Adherence to regulatory standards is non-negotiable for hearing protection in factories. Familiarize yourself with industry-specific requirements and proactively ensure compliance. Regular audits and assessments guarantee that your factory meets or exceeds stipulated standards. Non-compliance can result in severe consequences, including fines and potential legal repercussions. By prioritizing regulatory adherence, you not only mitigate legal risks but also affirm your commitment to creating a workplace that prioritizes the health and safety of your team. Preserving your team’s hearing in a factory environment demands a focused and strategic approach. By making informed choices and fostering a culture of hearing safety, you meet regulatory obligations and prioritize the well-being of your most valuable asset – your team. Implement these practical steps today and secure a sound future for your workforce.

It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.  It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years. Here we speak to Greg Guilford, CEO of HR Solutions. 2024 is set to be a big year with the introduction of many new pieces of employment legislation. We’ll see the introduction of a new law that will entitle employees with caring responsibilities to unpaid time off to provide care, as well as greater protection for pregnant workers and those on family leave, and amendments to the Equality Act. Changes to flexible working rules will come into force and also industry specific legislation such as the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act and the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act. The most significant development in employment law will come with the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023. We will see reforms to the Working Time Regulations, such as record keeping, and how holiday entitlement and pay is managed and changes to our existing TUPE laws. It is vital that companies are aware of the changes and make changes themselves to accommodate the new regime. The new year is also likely to see a continuation of the cost-of-living crisis which is impacting both businesses and its employees. As companies navigate the challenges of the current climate and candidate demands, recruitment and retention of staff will continue to be a top priority. Challenges can be eased using apprenticeships, skills-based recruitment, and AI solutions, but candidate demands coupled with an ongoing talent shortage mean recruitment is arguably more competitive than before. Company culture is vital. You must ensure that your business values are aligned with your employees to retain and attract top talent. The key is to create a culture within your business that makes employees want to stay, and encourages potential candidates to join, as well as showcases your team, gives the world an insight into your day-to-day operations and recognises top performers.