< Previous20 Business Link www.blmforum.net HEALTHCARE The size of the group that is meant to be covered by the plan is also influential on the price. Smaller groups can be less affordable to cover than larger, and small business owners might be reluctant to invest in business healthcare insurance or, if they have just a handful of employees, might prefer to provide them with individual insurance. Group healthcare plans however tend to be more convenient and able to provide business owners with a more comprehensive plan. The presence of healthcare plans and insurance in a remunerative package is an incredible asset for employers and an extremely attractive feature for potential applicants. Healthcare plans show interest, show the business cares about its staff and is willing to spend money to take care of it. This kind of care and interest will promote job satisfaction and will not only attract new hires but help boost retention of current staff. Hiring and training new employees is expensive and time consuming, but a crucial element like a healthcare plan can make the difference in the life of employees who will be reluctant to leave the healthcare benefits. Healthcare plans and insurance are not always tax-free, and employers can be taxed and be subject to national insurance charges on their premiums. But employers might also benefit from some degrees of tax relief as long as healthcare plans and insurance classify as business expenses. Overall, a healthcare plan is a demanding investment for a business, but although it is not necessary, it can improve business productivity. By offering employees high quality healthcare services that will make their lives easier, employers can increase job satisfaction and boost their own company’s success. © stock.adobe.com/bnenin 18-21.qxp_Layout 1 04/04/2022 15:14 Page 3Did you know? One in three of the UK workforce have been formally diagnosed with a mental health condition at some point in their lifetime. Poor Mental Health costs UK employers up to £45 billion each year… What is Mental Health First Aid? Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an internationally recognised training course which teaches people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis. MHFA won’t teach you to be a therapist, but just like physical first aid, it will teach you to listen, reassure and respond, even in a crisis. Adult MHFA courses are for everyone aged 16 upwards. Every MHFA course is delivered by a quality assured instructor who has attended our Instructor Training programme accredited by the Royal Society for Public Health and is trained to keep people safe and supported while they learn. Who should be a Mental Health First Aider? Although MHFA England courses are open to all, asking employees to apply for the training will help you to recruit the people within your organisation who are best placed for the role. Why Choose LIVES? Choosing LIVES to supply your Mental Health First Aid course will allow you to further your mental health awareness, help someone in need and promote positive mental health in the work place. You will also help promote our passion for sharing knowledge and increasing awareness and allowing people to speak openly about their mental health. You would care for someone with physical first aid needs, why not mental health needs? To find out more or to discuss your needs contact us on 01507 525999 or e-mail training@lives.org.uk “ The Mental Health First Aid training provided by LIVES was excellent. Our trainer was very informative and ensured everyone had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss in an open forum. He handled the topic of discussing Mental Health well and even shared his own personal experiences. LIVES are a pleasure to work with, and the courses they have provided for us over the years have always been well received. We would highly recommend LIVES to anyone who is looking to book Mental Health First Aid training. Lindum Group Absolutely excellent course cannot recommend enough. The trainer was very knowledgeable and passionate about the course which made it enjoyable. Very insightful will be recommending. The trainer made everyone feel comfortable, his tone in voice was easy to listen to & kept you engaged. He came across as very understanding, compassionate, making you feel very at ease. In my 21 years working within the NHS, attending both internal and external training, this two-day course was hands down the most professional, informative, and engaging training I have completed. The structure and content were excellent. “ 18-21.qxp_Layout 1 04/04/2022 15:14 Page 422 Business Link www.blmforum.net OFFICE SOLUTIONS T wo years ago employees were rushed out of offices into their houses as a result of the COVID- 19 pandemic, seeing a huge shift in what we perceive to be the ideal environment for work. Though the outbreak showed that people can work from home effectively to a certain extent, with tools like Microsoft Teams and Zoom helping bridge communication gaps, it has also illustrated that not everything can happen from bedrooms and dining tables, and of course not everyone has the space at home to be able to work successfully. With restrictions lifted, the return to the office is firmly on the agenda, but with a novel view on how these should look and function, existing spaces are being repurposed to become more efficient and effective for new ways of working, especially hybrid working. Traditional workplaces have been designed to hold the majority of staff at one time, however this is no longer the case, leading to smarter office design. Speaking to Chloe Sproston, creative and commercial director at Blueprint Interiors, about the future of the office, she explained to us: “It’s really now the case of answering the question: what is my office for? Generally the consensus is that hybrid working is here to stay, but the major trend we are seeing is a focus on activity. So moving forwards, rather than people just being allocated a desk in the office where they can come and sit and do similar things that could be done anywhere else, the office needs to provide a whole range of different settings for different tasks to take place.” Chloe continued: “What underpins everything is culture change, a shift from ‘you will be in the office from 9-5’ to ‘you are a knowledge worker and we trust you to meet your objectives how you want to get there’.” New priorities New priorities Post-COVID, new questions have arisen over the purpose of offices. Post-COVID, new questions have arisen over the purpose of offices. 22-25.qxp_Layout 1 04/04/2022 15:17 Page 1www.blmforum.net Business Link 23 OFFICE SOLUTIONS Offices full of desks are being repopulated with activity-based working, with a plethora of spaces that can accommodate how people work today, suit varying styles, and empower employees. Providing dedicated collaboration areas is of particular importance, with video calls less capable of recreating an effective environment for the melding of minds, and face to face interactions critical for ideas and innovation to happen. These might be furnished less traditionally and include smart tech such as interactive whiteboards. Learning spaces are also key, for information transfer, mentoring, and training groups of staff, which can be difficult over tech, as well as facilitating the social aspect of work, with a design and layout that brings your people together, fostering the idea of sporadic interaction and creating space that supports whatever it is people want to work through when they come into contact. To encourage interaction one must rethink spaces, looking at typical journeys through a workplace to optimise them, perhaps with breakout spaces, cafeteria style kitchen areas and coffee machines. Alongside these spaces, concentration zones remain essential, such as private meeting rooms and focus pods, and those that promote wellbeing, offering less formal spots to recharge. The flexibility of spaces is a further important trend in office design, particularly in the hybrid working world. As Chloe notes: “Rows and rows of desks don’t cut it anymore. Spaces need to be adaptable for the people who are coming in to use them.” This may involve a collection of tables that are actually mobile, can be unplugged from the floor 24 Á 22-25.qxp_Layout 1 04/04/2022 15:17 Page 224 Business Link www.blmforum.net OFFICE SOLUTIONS and rearranged into a group of four for a week and then into a group of ten next week, having writable surfaces that can be wheeled up to them, and a myriad of surfaces that you can perch and lean on. Alternatively one might consider walls that fold away to create more open space and can be brought back out for confidential conversations or meetings. In the design of these new offices, that provide spots for various activities and allow space to be used differently as and when required, with hybrid workers there is a crucial need to ensure the office can breed together the physical experience of being together and the technology that enables staff to join in remotely. Chloe indicated that as well as forming areas for, for example, in-person collaboration, these are also having high quality video conferencing technology added to them that is user friendly, letting anybody walk up to the tech and in a few clicks invite a colleague or client into that space. “The importance of the tech element will continue to grow,” she said. “Collaboration areas are getting more elaborate, with immersive suites.” Tom Bamford, commercial director, at TecInteractive reinforced this: “The world has changed a huge amount, especially in the tech industry. Everyone’s mindset has leapt forward around five years within the last year because of COVID, working from home, and people using video conferencing regularly to meet. Previously this tech was a nice to have, it’s now a must have for most businesses. From our perspective as an AV tech provider, there is huge opportunity. A lot of businesses we speak to simply don’t have the right set up in their office rooms, and conference rooms haven’t been a priority in the past, with the tech in them not necessarily a prime concern, whereas now it is a massive priority.” For the future of the office, tech that allows people to work together easily, even if everybody isn’t in the same place is vital. Tom added: “In most conference rooms that aren’t optimised for hybrid meetings, people joining from home traditionally have been just a tiny little square in the corner of the screen, not really able to hear what’s going on, not being heard and not really feeling engaged in the meeting. Most conference rooms might have a big screen at one end, with a camera view down a table in the middle - it’s not very personal in terms of how you communicate. However the tech is really advancing in terms of Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google Meet, plus the hardware can now make it feel like you’re in the room when at home or in another location. Smarter cameras and audio systems are making the experience more personal with certain cameras picking out when a person is talking and framing them for example. We should be aiming to create rooms where whether you’re in the room or joining remotely it 22-25.qxp_Layout 1 04/04/2022 15:17 Page 3www.blmforum.net Business Link 25 OFFICE SOLUTIONS Print and Design to promote your events this year Like many businesses, Lincoln Print & Copy Centre are looking forward to the return of business and cultural events in 2022 and are well placed to help organisations of all types to promote themselves and their programme of events this year. Leaflets, brochures, programmes and posters are ideal ways to inform and connect with customers, visitors and members old and new; especially those who are looking for new places to visit; new sports and activities; and new suppliers and customers. Why not try fresh design and print ideas from their graphic design team, using the latest printing presses and finishing equipment to create information leaflets, sports club handbooks, theatre programmes or product brochures. Perhaps try new ideas in shorter print runs, to enable businesses that are building up again to order smaller quantities as trade returns. Call, email or drop in to discuss your print and design needs for the year ahead. For more information visit www.lincolncopycentre.co.uk doesn’t matter, and everyone has a seat around the table. But to get to that stage you have to design the rooms correctly and you have to get the right hardware.” When incorporating tech into meeting rooms it is also important to consider how it will work with the furniture, acoustics, lighting, et al. For instance open plan offices with glass walls and hardwood floors are prone to excess noise, unable to reduce sound like softer materials, making hearing a person on a video call difficult. To overcome this, sound reducing panels are one option to absorb noise while soundbars and microphones can improve the audio- conferencing experience. It is not just in meeting rooms and collaborative spaces that remote workers need to be accommodated for though, with larger spaces not always necessary. Small pods are a popular alternative, giving privacy for people to connect, providing spots that are plug and play. © stock.adobe.com/Julia Vadi 22-25.qxp_Layout 1 04/04/2022 15:17 Page 426 Business Link www.blmforum.net PORTS Soaring fuel prices, net zero expectations and a 5p fuel tax cut. Yorkshire and Lincolnshire’s ports have been used to working under tough conditions for centuries, but things might just be getting out of hand. L incolnshire and Yorkshire have long been considered the logistics hubs of the country, connecting the south of England with the north as well as Scotland. Beyond that, we are a gateway to western Europe, with a large number of ports and commercial harbours between the two counties. The end of COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions should have, and has to a degree, made for a huge boom in business, but soaring fuel prices and a war between Russia and Ukraine have placed fresh pressure on the region’s ports. Add onto that Government targets toward Net Zero carbon emissions, and the sector has a lot on its plate. Ports are the backbone of UK’s economy and supply chain; their importance has always played a fundamental role in UK’s history and now that the country and government are focusing on reaching a better, more 26-29.qxp_Layout 1 04/04/2022 16:05 Page 1www.blmforum.net Business Link 27 PORTS © stock.adobe.com/Arild sustainable future, UK ports have recognised the pivotal role they could play in these transitional times and are all working towards achieving those goals. The ABP, Associatied British Ports, has been putting a lot of effort and resources towards the Net Zero goals set by the government; they understand the great impact ports have not only on British economy, but on carbon emissions too, and have realised how decisive their input could be on the path to sustainability. In 2020, at the Port of Hull, the ABP completed the UK’s largest commercial rooftop solar array, meant to produce 6.5MW energy, reducing carbon emissions by 2,600 tonnes every year. The ABP has also been investing in new electric vehicles for their fleet in the Humber to optimise their operations and reduce emissions at the same time. The Humber ports have also been playing a critical role in the route to decarbonise the region and achieve Net Zero targets; the ABP has partnered with the Zero Carbon Humber Initiative (ZCHI), which aims to build the world’s first Net Zero industrial region and decarbonise the North of England as part of the East Coast Cluster. The ABP, together with the other partners of the ZCHI have been developing new, more sustainable technologies such as carbon capture, 28 Á 26-29.qxp_Layout 1 04/04/2022 16:05 Page 228 Business Link www.blmforum.net PORTS utilisation and storage (CCUS), and hydrogen which are central to the Zero Carbon Humber initiative and that are all crucial for the achievement of the Net Zero goals. Continuing the environmental trend are fresh opportunities that have shown that ports may have more to look forward to than just trade. With the increase of renewable technology and offshore wind farms, a whole new industry has emerged around this sector, with many claiming it to be the future of the region. Renewable energy captures the imagination and promises to be an industry all countries will need to turn to in time. Many in the area have also found their success working alongside the industry, especially in fields such as specialist recruitment and marine engineering. This has built an entire supply chain dedicated to working on the environmental industry, and this in turn makes the area attractive to future investors, as they need not worry so much about suppliers, workforce and other amenities. In essence, Siemens did a lot of the hard work for the region, and now our ports may be in position to reap the benefits. That won’t come without much work however, and rising fuel prices due to the conflict in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia won’t make it easy. Though the Government has introduced a 5p reduction in fuel tax that has been hailed as ground-breaking, the reality is that logistics firms will not feel the savings all too keenly when fuel prices have almost doubled. More work needs to be done, either to locate alternative sources of fuel or offer incentives and help investing in alternative methods of fuelling ships entirely. Much of the country’s imports and exports depend on sea fright, and the ports in our region play a major part in that. According to Associated British Ports (ABP), the largest port operator in the UK, ports and shipping are central to levelling up. As some ninety-five per cent 26-29.qxp_Layout 1 04/04/2022 16:05 Page 3www.blmforum.net Business Link 29 PORTS © stock.adobe.com/ Tom Falcon Harding Keeping Your Business Moving Hire, Service & Repairs Commercial Trailer Specialists in Stallingborough, Grimsby of the nation’s trade enters or leaves the UK via the sea, with almost a quarter of that moving through the four ports on the Humber – Immingham, Grimsby, Goole, and Hull – our region is critical to the future health and prosperity of the nation. Back in March 2021, the Humber’s ports, which are all owned and operated by ABP, were granted Freeport status. This followed a successful bid from a consortium comprising the two Local Enterprise Partnerships of Greater Lincolnshire and the Humber along with the four local authorities of Hull, East Riding, North Lincolnshire and Northeast Lincolnshire (the latter of which is the accountable body for the Humber Freeports projects). The decision was hailed monumental at the time, and has seen much success for the region’s ports, but never could they have expected that fuel prices would rise so high so quickly. Only time will tell how long such lasts, but as the country looks to become less dependent on Russian oil and gas, perhaps the ports, too, will have their part to play. 26-29.qxp_Layout 1 04/04/2022 16:05 Page 4Next >