< PreviousT he role of the finance director or finance lead continues to evolve rapidly. As businesses face a perfect storm of geopolitical disruption, digital transformation, cyber threats and rising costs, finance leaders are stepping far beyond the boundaries of traditional reporting and compliance. Their remit now spans strategic insight, risk management and operational leadership. New US trade tariffs: time to reassess your exposure With Donald Trump now back in the White House and new US trade tariffs already announced, UK businesses, particularly those with US-facing supply chains or export markets, are being forced to re-evaluate their international exposure. For finance directors, this means quickly modelling cost increases, understanding margin pressures and scenario-planning the wider impact on pricing, procurement and revenue. Currency volatility and logistics disruption may also follow, requiring strong financial resilience and flexible forecasting. Cyber threats and ransomware: more than an IT issue Ransomware attacks and data breaches are becoming more frequent, more sophisticated and more financially damaging. Increasingly, finance teams themselves are being targeted by cybercriminals through invoice fraud, phishing and social engineering. Cyber risk has become a board- level issue, with finance directors playing a critical role in response planning, fraud controls and cyber insurance decisions. As the threat landscape intensifies, financial oversight and resilience planning must keep pace. AI in finance: driving automation and deeper insight Finance functions are rapidly adopting AI technologies to streamline processes, detect anomalies and provide richer, real-time insight. AI is being used for everything from invoice matching and expense processing to predictive forecasting and reporting. For finance leads, this shift offers a chance to free up time for value-added work while also introducing new responsibilities around data governance, integration and ethical use. The ability to harness AI effectively will increasingly separate progressive finance functions from reactive ones. 30 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk TAX Beyond the balance sheet: the expanding role of today’s finance director Robert Anderson, partner at Streets Chartered Accountants, delves into the evolution of the finance director’s role. Finance functions are rapidly adopting AI technologies to streamline processes, detect anomalies and provide richer, real-time insight.www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link 31 TAX Rising employment costs and tax changes The increase in Employers’ National Insurance contributions adds further pressure to cost bases already stretched by inflation, wage expectations and economic uncertainty. For finance teams, this means reviewing workforce models, optimising payroll strategies and ensuring compliance with evolving HMRC regulations. There’s a growing need to balance cost control with talent retention and investment in growth areas. The expanding finance leadership remit Finance directors today are expected to lead far beyond the finance department. Studies from the ACCA and others show that finance leaders are now increasingly responsible for areas like IT strategy, ESG reporting, operational risk and even HR and legal oversight. They are trusted advisers to business owners and boards shaping strategy, influencing transformation and helping drive long-term performance. Supporting strategic finance leadership The finance function is no longer just about compliance it’s about enabling better decisions, safeguarding the business, and identifying opportunity amidst complexity. For many organisations without a formal CFO, the finance director is stepping into that strategic leadership space. At Streets, we work with finance directors to support them through every stage from audit and tax planning to risk management, digital transformation and growth. Our aim is to help finance leaders confidently meet today’s demands and tomorrow’s challenges. 32 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk MEET THE EXPERTS E ngaging with experts is essential for businesses to navigate the complex landscape of today, to make informed decisions, innovate, and thrive. While business leaders may be expected to be the masters in their chosen field, they cannot master everything, which is why it is important to tap into the knowledge of experts, whether it be an accountant to help tackle a tax issue — such as the upcoming changes to Inheritance Tax and Business Property Relief set to hit family businesses — or an SEO specialist to improve a website’s ranking and a business’s online visibility. However, with myriad people and firms labelling themselves experts in their marketing and on their websites, how can one find a true specialist able to provide the insights and guidance for your needs? Online platforms and directories are often a first port of call when seeking an expert, although with many companies buying a membership to these resources, due true expert With “experts” abound nowadays, how can business leaders find a true specialist for their needs? Finding a www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link 33 MEET THE EXPERTS Company Profile: For over 40 years, Frontier Software has been a trusted partner for Payroll and HR, offering secure and easy-to-use solutions that simplify workforce management. With a suite of fully integrated software modules and expert support from knowledgeable staff, we deliver Payroll and HR solutions designed to help your organisation thrive. Product Profile: ichris (International Comprehensive Human Resource Integrated Software) is a powerful solution designed to streamline and automate Payroll and HR operations. Modular, flexible and feature rich, ichris supports the entire employee lifecycle – efficiently and with ease – cloud or on premise. Prefer to outsource? Expert payroll services give you the benefits of an in-house solution without the hassle of managing infrastructure or resources. Whether you choose software or managed services, Frontier Software ensures accuracy and compliance while saving your business time and money. With 24/7 access to real-time data, built-in reporting, and flexible deployment options, we’ve got the right solution to fit your needs. www.frontiersoftware.com 01276 456902 | sales@frontiersoftware.com HR AND PAYROLL SOFTWARE/SERVICES Sills & Betteridge LLP 4 George Street Hockley Nottingham, NG1 3BE Tel: 0115 941 1469 Web: www.sillslegal.co.uk Email: info@sillslegal.co.uk Company Profile: Sills & Betteridge LLP is a full service law firm with 16 offices across Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and the East Midlands. With one of the region's leading commercial departments, it has a portfolio of domestic and international clients drawn from a wide range of industry sectors including agriculture, engineering, renewables, property and construction, insurance, and retail. Key specialisms are corporate transactions (including mergers and acquisitions) and tax, succession planning, banking and finance, commercial property, commercial litigation, employment law, contracts, partnerships, insolvency and business recovery. The Expert: Partner James Conduit, Head of Corporate With a focus on technology, green energy and regulated businesses, James’ work covers all aspects of corporate law, intellectual property and tax, including business acquisitions and sales, demergers, joint ventures and management buyouts. Transaction values typically range from £500,000 to £20 million. Recent deals have included the demerger of a national care group and partial MBO sale, purchase of an agricultural machinery manufacturing business, and advising on an international research and development joint venture agreement. With extensive experience in technology and software development, James often takes the lead on intellectual property heavy transactions. He is renowned for being 'exceptional with his knowledge' and is listed in the Legal 500 as a Leading Individual. SOLICITORS SOLICITORS diligence to back up claims of expertise is required. Looking for relevant certifications and affiliations and detailed reviews and testimonials is crucial. Many businesses are proud to highlight these on their homepages to show off their credentials, sometimes with case studies. To validate these, professional networks like LinkedIn are invaluable, providing the ability to connect with other businesspeople to ask their thoughts on or experiences with a supplier. Platforms like LinkedIn can even be a good starting point for finding an expert, offering search features to filter professionals by industry, location and experience, as well as other criteria. Upon connecting with an individual or visiting their profile, you can further see what insights they are sharing on the platform, as well as what topics they have been tagged and endorsed as experts on by other LinkedIn users to assess if they might fit your requirements. Connecting with professional organisations and associations in the field you are looking for can also be useful, to find specialised consultants or recommendations, while attending industry events presents a great venue to meet and network with experts, whether they be other attendees, exhibitors, or speakers and panellists. In the case of the latter, attending their appearances at the event can be a good way to narrow down if they are worth engaging with. To further gain an understanding of how expert an expert is, one should arrange an in-person visit or a call to discuss your needs and their experience. Though it can be a time-consuming process, it offers a prime opportunity to ask about their background, skills, approach, timelines, costs, and for references. One of the simplest methods to find and validate experts, however, is to start with people you know and trust. This may be to complete the work itself or to provide introductions to potential experts. Ask colleagues and fellow professionals if they are aware of any experts on the topic you require help with. With the approval of someone you trust, that has worked with the expert in the past, you can more confidently enter a new relationship with a specialist expecting a successful result. Doing your own checks on this person or firm is still recommended, to ensure they are the right expert to solve your needs. With the right expert — whether it be legal, recruitment or financial — they should benefit your business actively, not only providing the necessary service, but deep, specialist knowledge, strategic guidance, new perspectives, innovative solutions, and heightened levels of efficiency that can solve and prevent problems or provide the insight to allow a business to run more effectively. 34 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk HEALTH AND SAFETY Rethinking workplace safety Once seen as a box-ticking exercise, health and safety is now a frontline priority for East Midlands businesses. With rising fines, stricter regulations, and more public scrutiny, the region’s industrial, logistics, and construction sectors are rethinking how they manage risk. Rethinking workplace safety www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link 35 HEALTH AND SAFETY W ith rising litigation and stricter regulations, effective health and safety management is essential. Companies that fall short risk million-pound fines and lasting damage to their reputations, especially in today’s hyper-visible business environment shaped by social media and increasing public scrutiny. Across industries, safety failures are no longer seen as isolated incidents but as indicators of wider operational negligence. That scrutiny is magnified in regions where high-risk sectors are concentrated, like the East Midlands. The regulatory environment surrounding health and safety in the East Midlands has undergone significant transformation in recent years. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has intensified its focus on regional enforcement, with particular attention paid to sectors where the risk of serious injury or illness is highest. In the East Midlands, that means manufacturing, logistics, and construction, industries that are deeply embedded in the region’s economy and identity. The 2016 amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines marked a major turning point. While they were implemented nationwide, their full impact is now being felt in regions with a high concentration of industrial activity. Large fines, sometimes exceeding £1 million, are becoming more common for serious breaches. Even small and mid-sized firms are being hit with six-figure penalties for safety lapses that could have been avoided. This shift has been especially significant for the East Midlands’ manufacturing sector, which is more prominent here than in many other UK regions. The area’s industrial base remains broad and diverse, ranging from aerospace and automotive components to textiles and chemicals. Recent enforcement cases in the region highlight the real-world consequences of failing to maintain safe workplaces, from machinery- related accidents to hazardous material exposures. 36 Á36 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk HEALTH AND SAFETY In the construction sector, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, commonly known as CDM 2015, remain central to how businesses operate. These rules define responsibilities clearly, placing duties on clients, designers, and contractors alike to ensure safety is considered from the planning stage onward. Meanwhile, the introduction of ISO 45001 as the new international standard for occupational health and safety has driven further change. Replacing the older OHSAS 18001 framework, ISO 45001 takes a more holistic, integrated approach to managing risks. Technology is also reshaping how businesses assess and manage risks. Digital tools are becoming increasingly central to health and safety strategies, especially in manufacturing. At Rolls- Royce’s Derby facility, one of the region’s largest and most influential employers, predictive risk assessment has contributed to a reported 43% reduction in workplace incidents over the past three years. By analysing operational data in real time, the company is able to identify patterns and risks before they result in injuries. Supporting this shift is a growing network of expert organisations. More than 120 health and safety consultancies operate across the East Midlands, many of them offering tailored, sector-specific advice. These services range from helping companies achieve compliance with ISO standards to designing bespoke training programmes and incident response plans. Technology providers are also playing a critical role. Leicester-based SafetyTech Solutions has emerged as a regional leader in wearable safety technology. Their devices monitor employee exposure to harmful substances and environmental conditions in real time, sending alerts when thresholds are exceeded. This is especially valuable in sectors like textiles, chemicals, and heavy manufacturing, where traditional monitoring can be inconsistent or delayed. www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link 37 HEALTH AND SAFETY Local universities are increasingly embedded in the region’s health and safety landscape. The University of Nottingham’s Centre for Workplace Health is conducting ground-breaking research into occupational respiratory diseases, a legacy issue for many in the East Midlands, where older manufacturing practices often exposed workers to hazardous dust and chemicals. Meanwhile, De Montfort University’s Safety Innovation Hub is working directly with businesses to apply academic research to real-world challenges, accelerating the adoption of evidence-based safety solutions. East Midlands organisations are also broadening their focus beyond physical hazards. There is growing recognition that comprehensive health and safety includes mental wellbeing, ergonomic design, and long-term occupational health. NHS trusts in the region are helping to lead this evolution. This integrated approach is helping businesses take a more complete view of employee safety and wellbeing, an approach increasingly expected by stakeholders, regulators, and clients alike. For companies operating in highly competitive supply chains, robust safety credentials are fast becoming a commercial necessity. Major regional employers such as Boots, Next, and JCB now include comprehensive safety audits in their supplier selection processes. In a region where safety standards are shaping both legal exposure and market positioning, East Midlands organisations that invest in modern, proactive health and safety strategies are laying the foundation for long-term resilience and success.38 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk PUBLIC RELATIONS B efore we talk about PR, I need to discuss the laundry. Or at least a little light housework. You see, when I started working with Nigel Botterill on the PR for Entrepreneurs Circle (last month), the first thing I did was hit the brakes. You see, Entrepreneurs Circle is a big deal. There’s well over 3,000 members and Nigel is a major figure in the business world. He’s created 10+ £1m businesses for a start and written 3 best- Pre-Rinse, in fact. That’s the first step in my SpinCycle™ methodology — and before we went public with anything, we had to get EC’s house in order. I audited every media asset they had. Nigel’s showreel? Needed sharpening. The bio page? Tweaked. Random bits scattered across the site? Pulled together with purpose. Then we got to work building a fully loaded Press Page — the kind that makes journalists go “Ah, these guys get it.” Why I wouldn’t let one of the UK’s biggest business gurus send out ANYTHING to the press…until he’d done his homework selling business books. So, after a merry dance in the office and BELLOWING upstairs to Mrs S that I’d won the account, I immediately STOPPED EVERYTHING. No press release. No announcement. No shouting from the rooftops. I didn’t even mention I’d won it. Why did I do this? Why pause? Well, because PR isn’t something you do once, when you’ve “got news.” It’s a process. A system. A cycle. And like any good cycle, it starts with a rinse. A Greg Simpson, founder of Press For Attention PR, shares the importance of doing your homework before going to the press.www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link 39 PUBLIC RELATIONS It’s now home to: * 15+ beautifully backdated stories (2024’s EC Awards, Events, Budget reactions, EC highlights… all rewritten through a media lens) * Proper images that show energy, not just headshots on a beige wall. Pictures of the members that made the news and the guests on stage and screen * A downloadable Press Pack packed with stats, bios, and tasty soundbites Only after all that did we go live with their 15,000 sq ft £5m office move! Because if you want to look credible in the press, you need to look ready before you open your mouth. So, here’s the lesson: If Nigel had to do his homework before going public, maybe you should? If you need help getting ready, let me know and I’ll set you some assignments. A former business journalist, Greg Simpson is the author of The Small Business Guide to PR and has been recognised as one of the UK’s top 5 PR consultants, having set up Press For Attention PR in 2008. He has worked for FTSE 100 firms, charities and start-ups and conducted press conferences with Sir Richard Branson and James Caan. His background ensures a deep understanding of every facet of a successful PR campaign – from a journalist’s, client’s, and consultant’s perspective. Next >