Offering all that you require for a great day of networking and business generation, attend The Property & Business Investment Lincolnshire Expo to forge new connections. A well targeted, free to attend event aimed at the Construction, Property, Business, Investment, Finance, Professional Services and related B2B markets, for which Business Link is a proud partner, the expo will take place on Wednesday 27 April 2022 at The Bentley Hotel, Lincoln. Opening at 9am, as the exhibition closes (circa 2pm), it will roll directly into an informal network lunch – tickets are just £25 plus vat and can be ordered and paid for directly online. Meet more potential clients in one amazing cost effective day, than it would take months out on the road. To attend the event, register for free here. To generate opportunities by exhibiting at the event, click here. Purchase tickets to the networking lunch here.

Experts in office design, fit out and refurbishment, APSS is celebrating 25 years of supporting businesses across the country to create inspirational and impressive workspaces. Founded in 1997, Darren Crookes started out on his own with two fitters to install office partitions and storage solutions for local businesses in the Lincoln area. Laurence Barrass, Managing Director for APSS said: “We now employ over 35 people and still work in partnership with our very first customer, Siemens. It’s incredible to think we have now completed over 10,000 different projects for our customers which span from Cornwall to Aberdeen. “Since the start, we have always helped smaller businesses as they remember the quality of service they receive from us, they grow as a company, then they turn into some of our biggest customers over the years. The partnership and bond we have with them is fantastic. It’s where we want to be – recognised as the company you can trust.” APSS has naturally evolved from a partitions and storage solution company to provide a full design and fit out service across a range of sectors. It has adapted to include its own in-house joinery department to speed up delivery time on projects and decrease overall costs for customers. Recently, the company has seen a change at the helm as Laurence Barrass became the new Managing Director, taking over from Darren who took a step back from the day to day running of the company, but remains as Chairman. “To reach 25 years in business is a huge milestone for any company,” Laurence said. “We have survived recessions and a pandemic which no one could have prepared for. There was a worrying time when offices nationally were closed to workers and this being key to our business. But thanks to the knowledgeable skill of our staff and the flexibility it allows for, as a company we were able to adapt to better support our customers who were going through exactly the same challenges we were facing. “We helped businesses which sold online to adapt their warehouse to cope with the additional stock levels required. Many of our key customers, like Wren Kitchens, used the down time in the offices to create a better and safer working environment ready for the post pandemic return to the office. “It’s been a bumpy ride, but an exciting one. We know many companies have had to shift to a more flexible, hybrid way of working thanks to the pandemic. It has been great to support so many in transforming their current office space to better suit that style of working.” When the company was first founded, it was all about trying to get the message out. The location in the Yellow Pages was an important consideration. Everything was faxed and drawings were all done by hand. To build up the business founder Darren Crookes knocked on every door he could find to obtain local clients. Many of which we are still working with. However, after a while, customers started saying ‘you know you’re doing that, well can you get carpets, and can you get furniture?’ It was a natural progression from the partitions, racking and storage the company originally provided – and still does. It opened up the marketplace and APSS began to offer more of a service driven product. “During the recession, APSS helped businesses to utilise their existing workspaces, similar to now after the pandemic. The only difference back then was it was about how we could squeeze as much in to the space as possible. Now it’s more about how to create a flexible working environment with space for people to move around the office without being crowded,” Explained Laurence. APSS works with a wide range of companies across the UK including Wren Kitchens, Slimming World, Octopus Energy, Siemens, University of Lincoln and Bakkavor to name just a few. “Over the years we have installed all sorts of different and quirky things from hidden bathrooms to Google inspired slides. As fun and different as these things are, our primary focus has always been ensuring our customers have a productive, efficient workspace that leaves a great impression.”

No one said it would be easy taking over a business. But the challenges of the last two years were never meant to be part of the story for the Willoughby Book Club. Director Marianne Chala faced a fire that destroyed the premises then a global pandemic. The latter also led to discovering some hidden weaknesses in the business causing further plot twists. Willoughby Book Club began in 2012 as a family business operating from a kitchen table in the south Leicestershire village of Willoughby Waterleys. Today, it is a leading bespoke book subscription service, based in Blaby, that caters to all reading tastes and ages with around 5,000 subscribers. Marianne, who has a background in book retail, took over the business in 2019 with friend Danielle Rowley. Danielle was an employee at that time. However, just before taking over, the new owners faced their first major challenge when a fire broke out at their premises making the business ‘homeless’. The fire was a huge blow, but they managed to secure premises with a neighbouring business, M3 Create Print, where they remain to this day. However, no sooner were they back on their feet and beginning to get to grips with the organisation, the pandemic hit. Marianne said: “With many people having more time on their hands during lockdown, there was a surge in interest which was fantastic, but we were struggling with all the same issues as everyone else. We had to change everything about the way we worked and there was one month when no books went out at all. “The pandemic struck just as we reached our first anniversary. Although it was a period of financial success it showed up every weakness in the company and gave us visibility on what needed to change.” Marianne reached out to the Business Gateway Growth Hub before the pandemic and had already started working with adviser, Joanna Moore on developing growth strategies. However, during the pandemic, a different kind of support was needed as the focus shifted from growth to survival once again. “Joanna gave us just what we needed at the time. During the COVID-19 crisis, I was regularly advised on the furlough scheme. I was supported with helping staff return to work, arranging a socially distanced workplace, flexible hours and working from home options.” During the lockdown, the business donated books to local care homes and schools to help where they could. Support from the Business Gateway continued after the initial distress and upset of the pandemic as new challenges began to present themselves. Marianne continued: “We didn’t have any business experience and Joanna provided that continual voice of sanity in the madness. It’s taken a long time to get through just learning about the day-to-day survival to now having more confidence and thinking strategically. “We’re working more efficiently now too, half the team of 10 work from home successfully and we’ve cut our costs. There were some cultural and workforce issues within the organisation and an understandable nervousness about the COVID situation. With Joanna’s help, we’ve improved communication and implemented better HR practices. “There’s also been concrete support on putting together financial and business plans. She’s made me focus on the stuff I don’t really like, or know, but is necessary. That gentle accountability was very good for me.” The next major challenge for the business is around sustainability and reducing their carbon footprint, as well as delivering on their commitment to being a socially responsible organisation. They already have a long-standing partnership with Book Aid International which means a book is donated to the charity with every subscription sold. As a result, Marianne has taken advantage of other Business Gateway services including the Peer Networks programme and has joined the Zellar sustainability platform pilot. She has also attended many online courses to grow her business skills. She adds: “Some of these things I would never have known about or got involved with had it not been for the process we have gone through. We are a different organisation, in a good way, to the one we were a few years ago. We are more professional operationally and staff wise. I also personally feel like I’ve transformed from having an employee to a leadership mindset.” Joanna Moore added: “The initial aims we identified were to help the business grow through sales and profits and become sustainable. We spent time on what was happening in the organisation and the way they worked so we could really understand the challenges and barriers to growth and identify solutions. “As well as general discussions on running a business we revisited some areas in much more depth like putting a marketing plan together and human resources. They’ve also made changes to their website because of our funded digital marketing support. “It’s very rewarding to see their hard work has led to increases in productivity, different ways of working and a more harmonious workplace. I’m delighted to have been part of their growth story.”

Leicestershire Innovation Festival launched with a packed event at Space Park in Leicester. An extended schedule of events for 2022 commenced on Monday with a morning themed around innovation and sustainability. It saw a series of public, private and university leaders from the East Midlands and beyond describing the region’s opportunities against the backdrop of Levelling Up and Net Zero. Dr Nik Kotecha OBE, chair of the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) Innovation Board, opened the event by presenting innovation as being about continuous improvement and open to all sizes of businesses. Leicester and Leicestershire’s £23bn GVA – the largest economy in the East Midlands – is built largely upon SMEs. Dr Kotecha, recently named chair of CBI East Midlands, talked about ‘Beacons’ – economic clusters in core local sectors – and their role in upskilling people to make the products of the future. He also described the Government’s interest in innovation as a means of improving productivity and global competitiveness. Dr Kotecha concluded by setting out the Innovation Board’s priorities, which included defining innovation, signposting funding opportunities, removing barriers and collaboration between public, private and academic innovators to the benefit of all. He drew the example of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as an example of what can be achieved when the three combine. Julian Bowrey, regional manager at Innovate UK, described Leicester and Leicestershire as a “happy hunting ground” for his organisation in the issuing of awards to support innovation projects. He made a case for increased communication, whether it be locally, nationally or internationally, to ensure conversations in a language that business understands are supporting collaboration and creativity. Dennis Hayter, of Loughborough University spin-out Intelligent Energy, described how collaborations with the likes of Suzuki and London Taxi Co were developing and trialling world-leading projects in the use of hydrogen fuel cells for transport. It was a theme continued by Robert Evans, CEO of Cenex, a consultancy for low carbon and fuel cell technologies which is also based on the Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park (LUSEP) campus. His not-for-profit organisation formed in 2005 and works between industry and customers in getting emerging fuel cell technology into general transport use. Peter Ware, chair of the Midlands Engine’s Green Growth Board was next, pointing out that the Midlands’ £250bn economy was larger than that of Denmark. He outlined its 10-point plan for growth, based on three themes of Place, Energy and Enablers. Net Zero transport was again part of the plan, alongside buildings, low carbon, smart energy and nature recovery. The event concluded with a Q&A, led by Charlotte Horobin, the membership director for Make UK and Operating Board member of the Midlands Engine, who steered audience questions about cyber, skills and effective communications to a nine-strong panel. The event speakers were joined on the panel by Will Wells, commercial director at the University of Leicester, Sue Tilley, the LLEP’s head of business and innovation, and Business Gateway Growth Hub manager, Rachel York. Describing work being done at De Montfort University, including as GCHQ’s only accredited institute, Helen Donnellan talked about the importance of communication and making connections, adding: “Innovation comes in all shapes and sizes and is across the board – we have this festival to celebrate that.”

• Leicestershire Innovation Festival runs until February 25. Events are both online and at venues across Leicester and Leicestershire. Anyone can register to attend now at https://bit.ly/LeicsInnovation22.