The Business Gateway Growth Hub has launched a new Peer Network specifically aimed at helping early-stage business owners in Leicester and Leicestershire. The new programme, which starts on 27 October, will support the growth and development of businesses trading for over six months and less than two years. Peer Networks have been the success story of recent years enabling business owners to build and strengthen their organisations through a trusted support network. The Early Business Peer Network will be facilitated by Maria Peggs of Vispera, an award-winning growth specialist. It will provide an opportunity for early-stage businesses to share ideas, collaborate and network with fellow entrepreneurs who are at the same stage in their business journey. There will be 10 online sessions of two hours each covering topics such as:

• Start with the end in mind
• What are your foundations
• Knowing your numbers
• What resources are available to you
• Marketing channels and what is your why

This kind of programme would normally cost over £1,000 but is fully funded for eligible businesses. Find out more and book a place now.

Mental health is something we all need to be aware of in the workplace. With one in six British workers affected by problems like anxiety, depression and stress every year, it’s not surprising when a company invests in its staff, it gains rewards in staff loyalty and commitment to the job. Lincolnshire-based specialists in interior design and fit out, APSS, look at how you, as an employer, can help your staff have a more positive mental health attitude and know the risk factors. According to the Mental Health Foundation, there are signs you can spot at work:

• Being more tired than usual
• Making uncharacteristic mistakes
• Finding it hard to motivate others
• Timekeeping slipping
• Short-tempered
• Trying to isolate themselves from others
• Speeding up and becoming more chaotic
• Intruding on other people’s conversations

People talking about mental health is getting better, but it still has a long way to go. There is still the worry that they will be judged by their mental health or discriminated against for it. So as an employer how can you create the right atmosphere to help your staff with their mental health? How can line managers help? Keep Staff Active Mental health services suggest that regular exercise is proven to help those who are at risk of depression and anxiety. It can boost self-esteem, help with concentration, sleep and with generally improving health and wellbeing. As an employer, you can’t force your staff to exercise, but you can make it easier for them to do so. Allowing them an hour lunch break can enable staff to take a walk after eating lunch, or you can introduce a bike-to-work scheme, a social exercise group like running or cycling on lunch breaks or after work. There are plenty of ways to help without any physical changes to the workspace. However, there are changes within the office which can help too. Simple adjustments like Sit-Stand desks where the user can adjust the height to amend their position throughout the day. This slight adjustment has proven to help with productivity across the day. Installing a small gym in an unused room or area can help your staff get that exercise in without feeling like they are going out of their way to try and fit it in. Just 30 minutes of exercise, five days a week can really help, and an on-site gym can make it easier for them to do this on their lunch break. The Right Break Space It’s impossible to keep 100% focused all day, every day. When you work in an office, you’re often staring at a computer screen and that can be mentally exhausting. If you’re working in a customer-facing environment, it’s mentally exhausting to be putting on a happy face when you’re not feeling your best. Ensuring your staff have a good space to get away from their desks and customers will help recharge and refocus them, providing a fresh boost of energy to be more productive for the rest of the working day. These spaces could include a soft seating area, a games room, anything that is welcoming and has enough space to accommodate the staff who use it at the same time. Engage with your staff to ask them what they want in a breakout area. Would they benefit from soft seating, would they rather have a larger table so everyone can get around it or would they rather have multiple tables if it’s a larger company with lots of departments? Do they have any hobbies that could easily be incorporated? As a company, you could provide mental health days, where staff can take a day off with no questions asked to look after their own wellbeing. Simple things like taking holiday can be hard for some. They feel they still need to keep on top of work emails and deal with issues whilst they are away from the office. This does not allow them to fully recharge as they are still dealing with the stress of the office, only now they are doing it on their personal time. Creating the Right Work Environment Your staff work hard and need the right environment to be able to do their jobs. As much as APSS promotes making the workspace attractive and fun to work in, if you don’t have the basics in place, you are going to be off to a non-starter. Having an open-plan office design is great for teamwork and knowing what’s going on around you, but they can get rather noisy at times. By creating a few quieter working areas, like a bookable private hot desk, staff will have the flexibility to get away from the noise and concentrate on their project, helping reduce personal stress levels and improve productivity. Office temperature can also be a big influencer. When the workplace is too hot, staff quickly become demotivated, frustrated, and lethargic. When it’s too cold, people physically slow down, lowering productivity as well as the ability to focus, especially if they don’t have an active job. Ensuring you have the right sort of air conditioning (HVAC) system and keeping it maintained will help your workplace remain at a temperature you feel is appropriate. However, as we all know, you can’t please everyone when it comes to the temperature, and we are sure there will still be at least one person saying it’s too hot whilst another says it’s too cold. Boosting Natural Light in the Workplace Natural light is a great way to help improve motivation and well-being. By maximising natural light in the workplace, you can help reduce issues including headaches, eyestrain and blurred vision by up to 84%. It promotes vitamin D, which combats depression and diabetes amongst other things and it also helps to provide a connection to the outside natural world. Installing skylights, larger windows and curtain walling in a building can quickly become costly. However, by switching solid walls with glass partitions, you can easily expand the reach of natural light. If you’re worried about privacy, on-brand manifestations will still let the light in whilst preventing peering eyes. Simply, by better planning the space in your office, you can shuffle the layout to allow staff to have more access to natural light. In the winter, the days get shorter and it’s harder to utilise the natural light. By installing LED lighting, it reduces harsh lighting and appears as bright white light, just like daylight. It’s the next best thing to the sun. If you are looking to make changes to your workplace to help encourage a more positive environment, APSS has trained staff in space planning and design to make the most of your space. Call us today or visit our services page to see how we can help.

Midlands Connect will be awarding £50k of funding to Derbyshire County Council. This award is for the authority to make a business case to the Department for Transport for work to the A61 Corridor (South of Chesterfield). The council will contribute by matching the award, making a pot of £100k. Midlands Connect will provide the funding to research and develop a business case to submit to government and will also supply support to the local authority. This allows the council to explore all options available to improve the corridor, which may include improved access for pedestrians and cyclists or enhanced public transport provision along the route. Swati Mittal, strategic roads manager at Midlands Connect, said: “We are so pleased to be able to give Derbyshire County Council this funding and to help them make their case to government. “This scheme is exactly in line with Midlands Connect’s values and objectives for the region, and could benefit from a great variety of improvements, which we look forward to exploring with the council.” Lee Rowley, MP for North East Derbyshire, said: “I hugely welcome this additional funding that has been announced today. “We remain at a pretty early stage in terms of how to mitigate the long-term challenges on the A61 but the work that we have done locally in recent years is now starting to be recognised more broadly – including through grants such as this – and I hope it will allow us to make progress in the years ahead. Thank you to Midlands Connect for being willing to support this important work.” Councillor Carolyn Renwick, Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet member for infrastructure and environment, said: “We are grateful for the funding from Midlands Connect which will help us to develop future plans for the A61. “This busy road is important for so many people living between Chesterfield and Clay Cross, and for commuters. The road is likely to get busier as new housing developments and business growth brings more people to the area, so it’s vital we look at what we can do to manage congestion and reduce emissions. This money will enable us to further develop our plans.” The A61 corridor is a crucial part of the major road network in Derbyshire, connecting the county to Chesterfield and beyond into South Yorkshire. The area for improvement spans from the Horns Bridge roundabout in Chesterfield to the A6175 junction in the centre of Clay Cross. The road is one of the most congested in the county, with several “pinch points” at key junctions as well as Horns Bridge roundabout. During peak hours, average delays of up to twelve minutes affect travellers along the route in either direction. New housing developments are being built along the corridor and once completed their residents will benefit from the improvements. Two key construction sites in the vicinity will deliver up to 2,100 new dwellings. Improvements to the corridor would support better air quality in the surrounding residential area, which includes housing estates and schools. There are also plans to improve pedestrian and cyclist accessibility, by looking into drop-kerbs, crossing points, and cycle parking. The business case will build on the outcome of a public consultation undertaken by the council. The consultation runs from 25 July to 16 October 2022.

The time has come for “actions, not words” from politicians, says East Midlands Chamber – as a new study shows confidence is nosediving among businesses. This week, the chamber of commerce for Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire will publish the results of its Quarterly Economic Survey (QES), which is delivered in partnership with the University of Leicester School of Business and gauges the health of the region’s economy, for the third quarter of 2023. Data will show a steep fall in optimism among the region’s business community for an improvement in turnover and profitability amid rising cost pressures for energy, people, raw materials and fuel. MPs return to Parliament from tomorrow (11 October) after party conference season, which followed Parliamentary recesses over the summer and early autumn for the Conservative leadership election and period of mourning following Queen Elizabeth II’s death. Chris Hobson, director of policy and external affairs at East Midlands Chamber, said: “The on-off pauses in parliamentary activity – for reasons fully understood – over the past few months have led to a bottleneck in decision-making from the top of Government. “At the same time, a cost-of-doing-business crisis has tightened its grip on firms, which are under huge pressure to get through a difficult winter and beyond. Businesses are telling us that alongside the increased costs they face, cashflow is worsening and demand for their products and services is now dampening for the first time since pandemic restrictions were removed. “We have heard lots of rhetoric from our MPs during a summer characterised by internal politics but as we enter the final quarter of the year, the vacuum of policy decisions must be replaced with actions, not words. “This will help businesses to get on with doing what they do best – creating jobs, wealth and opportunities, and helping the economy get out of the difficulties it’s currently in.” Mini-budget measures are a good start – but market uncertainty a concern Some of the announcements in Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget aimed at growth and putting money back in the pockets of companies at a time they most need it are welcomed, said Chris. But these measures – alongside a commitment to streamline planning processes, develop infrastructure and incentivise meaningful business investment – have yet to be pushed through. “If we are to truly get the economy moving again, as the Government says it wants to do, it needs to stop the log-jam of policy ideas and turn them into legislation to give businesses the confidence to invest,” Chris added. Following recent turmoil with sterling and in bond markets, he called for “clear reassurance about its plans to ensure that as a country, we are taking a responsible approach to managing our finances and aren’t viewed as a risk by external investors.” Chris added: “Further detail on the costings of recent proposals, along with anticipated growth returns and timescales for this, is now needed. “The current market uncertainty damages consumer confidence and doesn’t support those that are looking to invest in their businesses. As such, the current proposal from Government of giving further details and costings towards the end of November feels too far away for businesses to wait.”

Business output, optimism and employment all fell in September as increased uncertainty amid mounting inflation takes its toll on businesses across the UK, according to the latest Business Trends report from accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO. The latest numbers mark the first time all four of BDO’s Business Trends indices have fallen together since the first national lockdown in April 2020. BDO’s Output Index fell for the second consecutive month to 94.30, its lowest reading since February 2021 when the UK’s output was curtailed by the third national lockdown. The index now sits below the 95-point mark, indicating a move into contractionary territory for UK output. Output has been hit with shocks from both the demand and supply sides as high input prices increase costs for businesses and the cost-of-living crisis weakens consumer spending power. This has been reflected in the manufacturing and services output subcomponents which both recorded negative readings simultaneously for the first time since the lockdown in February 2021. This slump in output coupled with growing economic headwinds have driven the sixth consecutive monthly decline in business optimism. BDO’s Optimism Index saw a significant fall of 4.48 points to 96.32 in September with further decreases expected over the coming months as the impact of a recession sets in. Optimism is lowest amongst businesses in the services sector as firms grapple with the cost-of-living crisis curtailing discretionary spending, impacting the retail and hospitality subsectors in particular. Optimism across this sub-component now stands just above the 95-point contraction mark at 95.62. As a result, businesses are exercising caution and slowing their employee headcount growth in the face of these hardships. This signalled the end of a 10-month positive growth streak for BDO’s Employment Index which declined for the first time since October 2021. The index fell 1.14 points in September to 114.19 as hiring intentions reached their weakest level since Q3 2021. BDO’s Inflation Index also saw a marginal decline of 0.05 points in September but the index remains high at 119.00 points. This decline was driven by a drop in input inflation caused by falling commodity prices as global markets adjusted to a ‘new normal’ of weaker energy supplies. This outweighed the pressures from the depreciating pound towards the end of the month following the reactions to the government’s fiscal announcement. Kyla Bellingall, head of the Midlands at BDO LLP, said: “A fall across output, optimism and employment is a stark warning sign for the economy, and it’s likely that there is further upheaval ahead. “With energy prices expected to accelerate inflation towards the end of this year, and unemployment rates set to peak in mid-2023, we’re only just starting to see the recessionary impacts set in. “Clearly businesses are in a bind. They’re already facing soaring costs and with a great deal of uncertainty ahead, hiring intentions are now taking a hit too. The past few years have shown the resilience of companies in the UK, but with increasing political uncertainty they need reassurance that they will receive the right support across the next few months and longer-term.”

With businesses signing up in droves to the East Midlands Expo, register now for the long-established event! A well targeted exhibition and networking opportunity, aimed at the construction, property, business, investment, finance, professional services and related B2B markets, the crowd will descend on the East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham on Monday 14 November 2022 for the free to attend expo. It has everything you require for a great day of business generation, with the chance to meet more potential clients in one amazing cost effective day, than it would take months out on the road. The day, for which Business Link is a proud partner, will begin with exhibitor breakfast networking, with the exhibition opening to attendees at 9am. A seminar will take place between 10:45am and noon with BSP Consulting’s directors Mark Rayers and Tony Goddard lined up to present ‘Sustainability and how engineering plays its part’. Not to be missed, a special networking lunch (for which tickets can be purchased here) will then take place between 12:15pm and 2:15pm, and the exhibition will close at 3:30pm.

For more information on exhibiting at the event click here.

To register to attend the event for free click here.

To secure tickets for the networking lunch click here.

From property agents to developers, architects, contractors, investors, PR firms, and more, see the list of current exhibitors here.