Ahead of Mental Health Awareness Week (9 -13 May) new research from Grant Thornton UK LLP shows that mid-market employers are looking to increase investment in supporting their people’s mental health over the next 12 months. From the 604 respondents to Grant Thornton’s latest Business Outlook Tracker survey, around half (47%) intend to increase their investment in mental health support in the coming year. Employer support for mental health has been an increasingly important investment priority for business leaders, with 51% saying they are investing more in their people’s mental health now than they did 12 months ago. The study found that the pandemic had increased employers’ awareness of the importance of investing in mental health, with half of respondents saying they currently arrange regular mental health check-ins with their people, and train and provide mental health first aiders. The prevalence of hybrid working is also having a positive effect on general employee wellbeing. Of the businesses surveyed, 310 were adopting a hybrid working approach and most of these businesses (65%) believe it is improving their people’s wellbeing. Whilst mental health is clearly high on the agenda for business leaders, more support is needed for mid-market employers in developing programmes and policies to do this effectively, with 21% of respondents saying they don’t currently have a clearly articulated mental health strategy. Sue Knight, partner and practice leader at Grant Thornton UK LLP in the Midlands, said: “We know that healthy people are more likely to have higher functioning cognitive capacity and therefore are better able to respond to stress. At Grant Thornton, our people take pride in delivering outstanding service for clients, and that can be challenging. When people have a high functioning, healthy stress response, challenge can energise performance, often enabling us to perform at our best by helping us to think quickly, solve problems and interact fully. “However, this balance can easily tip, so we need to be vigilant in looking out for the signs of burnout in ourselves and others, putting effort and conscious action in place to mitigate for that. If we care for our brain in the same way as we care for our physical bodies, it supports us to be more resilient to pressure and change, creating sustainable healthy performance in organisations. “Here at Grant Thornton, we are creating a culture of living well by investing in the psychological, physical and financial health of our people. To highlight the importance of mental health in the workplace in line with Mental Health Awareness week, we’re encouraging all our people managers to complete structured check ins (one to one conversations) about health and wellbeing with their direct reports within the month of May.”

Managing finances is critical in every aspect of life. From your personal finances through to those more professional, we have the utmost belief that you, the reader, are doing all that you can to keep yourself afloat. Following a period of financial difficulty throughout the pandemic, the country faces a new bout of stressors through the likes of energy costs and fuel increases. Ultimately, the first thing you want to do when reading this sort of information is to find a way to keep your costs low or find a way to manage increasing costs. This extends beyond your household finances, too; businesses are also feeling the impact of increased costs for services. While existing business owners might have a plan of action to weather the storm, those who are seeking to open an enterprise in the coming weeks or months might find themselves a bit more unsure. That being said, those of you in this position who are reading this piece have found themselves in the right place at the right time. We have compiled a helpful list of suggestions below, tailored towards keeping business costs low as a budding entrepreneur. Read on for more! Create and Manage Your Budget It goes without saying, but when wanting to keep your business costs low, you should make an effort to stick to any relevant business budgets you have set yourself. Going above and beyond in your spending will more than likely drive up your business costs and could be detrimental in the short and long term. Creating a list of your regular outgoings versus your income will give you a better idea of your finances and provide a foundation from which to work moving forward. However, any business owner and entrepreneur know that reductions have to be made in various areas of your company when keeping costs low. Unfortunately, this sometimes includes making redundancies within your business, which nobody enjoys. Should you be in a position where you have to make a decision like this, you are likely considering how to make the process run a bit smoother for all parties involved while also keeping your costs low. You should check how an outplacement works, for this is a useful resource to use in instances like this. It is also a resource that can save your company money; what more do you want? On the other hand, you should also be thinking of ways that you can improve your financial situation. Finding new avenues for generating revenue is something that most entrepreneurs do regularly but is something worth mentioning in this piece all the same. This takes us to the following section. Generate New Forms of Revenue This might not be the first thing you think about when intending to keep your business costs low; it is worth making a note of all the same. Generating more income for your business is a sure way to keep your business costs low and ensure that your company stays afloat for longer. Not to mention, you will have more budget to play around with and will feel confident in your ability to pay for any outgoings that your business may have. Thinking about what niches in the market you will be able to fill is the first port of call. Making adjustments in your business to accommodate this newly offered product or service is also required; should you be offering something similar to your existing services, this is a process that should run smoothly. Who knows, you might even find new and innovative means of undertaking a task within your business, which could reduce your operating costs. Regarding reducing operating costs, this takes us to the final section in this piece. Negotiate Costs of Production Particularly if you are a business with a significant manufacturing and operations budget, you will likely be spending a vast majority of your budget on the running and upkeep of certain machinery. Whether you have in-house manufacturing or outsource this elsewhere, you should think about how you can negotiate any costs associated as a means of saving yourself money and bringing your business costs down. Navigating a process like this can be challenging, and it is a skill that plenty of entrepreneurs work upon throughout their careers. Most people think of the negotiations on shows like The Apprentice when picturing a situation like this, but there are plenty more layers. It would help if you started by developing a working relationship and rapport with the person/s you intend to negotiate with. Being impersonal in your approach is sure to backfire, and you might even get a better deal with someone you have developed a working relationship with. Negotiating contracts and costs relating to the running of your business will leave you with more funds in your back pocket while also ensuring that your company is still able to run and generate an income.

The impacts of the COVID pandemic, and the lockdowns and worsening late payment culture which accompanied it, on the mental health of small business owners are today laid bare by new FSB findings. Its survey of 1,000 business owners finds that a third (34%) of all small business owners state that their mental health declined over the course of the pandemic. Latest Government figures show that there are 5.5 million small businesses across the UK, indicating that 1,800,000 have suffered a mental wellbeing hit due to COVID. Across all respondents, one in four (24%) report that they currently have a mental health condition such as anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress. Among disabled entrepreneurs, the figure rises to four in ten (43%). One in seven (16%) small business owners report having a mild mental health condition, with 6% and 2% respectively stating that they have a moderate or severe condition as defined by NICE. The new research flags the extent to which small business owners are struggling to make use of the workplace health support offered by government. Only one in ten (13%) disabled business owners or business owners with a health condition have used the Access to Work Scheme, aimed at providing targeted workplace help for both business owners and employees. More than a third (35%) have not heard of the scheme at all. A quarter (25%) are not aware that sole traders are eligible to access it. With loneliness the theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, the new study also highlights the ongoing impact of the UK’s poor payment culture on mental wellbeing. Six in ten (62%) small business owners state that they were subject to late or non-payment after COVID hit, with a quarter (26%) stating that dealing with poor payment impacted their mental wellbeing during the pandemic. Wider studies underscore the isolating effect of poor payment. Estimates of the sum collectively owed to small firms in unpaid invoices vary – one recent study puts the figure at £140bn. Findings from FSB’s Small Business Index indicate that 400,000 small businesses are under threat because of poor payment practice. The cost to the average small employer of having staff away from work due to physical or mental health conditions surpassed £3,500 last year, translating to a £5bn cost to the small business community as a whole. In light of the findings, FSB is encouraging the Government to:

• Improve Access To Work take-up by ensuring health professionals point patients towards the scheme when writing fit notes.
• Launch a new, ambitious alternative to the New Enterprise Allowance to help those with mental health conditions who are out of work to create start-ups.
• Make Audit Committees directly responsibility for supply chain practice, elevating the importance of prompt payment within corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) programmes, and place ending the UK’s late payment culture at the heart of BEIS’s forthcoming enterprise strategy.
• Develop “Pathways to Entrepreneurship” strategies aimed at dismantling the unique barriers faced by different entrepreneurs, including those with mental health conditions.
• Take forward FSB and TUC’s joint proposal for a small business statutory sick pay rebate, to help firms recover the cost of the millions of days lost to sickness absence each year.

FSB policy & advocacy chair Tina McKenzie said: “Whether it’s the migrant entrepreneur suffering post-traumatic stress, the aspiring start-up creator wrestling with depression as they struggle to find work, or the thousands of business owners who feel isolated and hopeless because of late payment, policymakers should reflect on the challenges faced by entrepreneurs during this Mental Health Awareness week. “By building on, and promoting access to, the support that’s already available to business owners and their teams, the Government can make a real difference to mental wellbeing. “Over the years, we’ve seen how a worsening late payment culture – which sees corporates use suppliers as free credit lines – has sucked the joy out of running a small business for millions, leaving many feeling completely alone, and forcing thousands to close. “At tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech, the Government can set down a clear pro-small business marker, with a legislative agenda that’s unequivocally pro-enterprise, and pro start-up. “The cost of having staff away from the workplace, including finding cover, ran into the billions for small firms last year at a time when cash reserves were stretched and the spectre of trading restrictions was ever present. “They urgently need more support to go on doing right by their staff. We hope to see the Government take forward our joint proposal with the TUC for a targeted statutory sick pay rebate.”

Sterling Commercial Finance has joined the sponsor line up for the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2022, backing the Residential Development of the Year category for another year. Nic Rotton of Sterling Commercial Finance said: “Sterling Commercial Finance is delighted to sponsor the ‘Residential Development of the Year’ Award for the fourth year at the Bricks Awards run by East Midlands Business Link. “This award is testimony to the fabulous house builders creating innovative and unique new homes across our region off the back of challenging conditions post-COVID. “Sterling Commercial Finance will continue our support by delivering property finance and development funding expertise to help get projects off the ground and new homes being built as the demand for property continues to rise across the East Midlands and beyond. Wishing all the finalists every success.” The awards, which will take place on Thursday 15 September at the Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, celebrate the outstanding work of those shaping the landscape of our region, recognising development projects and people in commercial and public building across the East Midlands – from offices, industrial and residential, through to community projects such as leisure schemes and schools. Nominations are now OPEN for East Midlands Business Link’s annual Bricks Awards. To submit a business or development, please click on a category link below or visit this page.