<div class="editor-cover-image" data-dimensions="780:300" data-pmr-editor-image="" style="background-image: url(&quot;https://leaders-council-web.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/store/27faf3eff66f6544f6ad6fc74893c93d.jpg&quot;);"></div>

 <div data-pmr-editable="" class="medium-editor-insert-plugin"><a href="https://www.menta.org.uk/">MENTA</a> business support have announced that they will resume in-person networking events in May, with three host venues having already been selected across Suffolk. Business leaders will be welcomed back to MENTA events in Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill and Woodbridge over the coming weeks, and MENTA CEO, <a href="https://www.leaderscouncil.co.uk/members/alex-till">Alex Till</a>, is already relishing the return of clients and the opportunity to build business connections.Till said: “Our team are looking forward to welcoming clients and sparking business connections”.Although attendees will be able to enjoy the return of face-to-face networking for the first time in over a year, they will still be required to adhere to some Covid-secure regulations.Till explained: “We shall see elbow knocks [instead of handshakes], track and trace, a booking system for clients to book their networking in advance but human connectivity is something many of us has missed and what business leads thrive on, this is what these events are able to offer”.Business coaches will be present at all the events to offer their guidance on funding and growth for aspiring entrepreneurs in attendance.Monthly events will be hosted in Bury St Edmunds from May 18, with no booking fee required to end the opening event. Further networking sessions will then be hosted in Haverhill and Woodbridge each month.According to Till, MENTA has already seen plenty of interest in the events, despite the ongoing pandemic situation.“Having not staged such events in more than a year we are aware that some people may be reticent in returning to face-to-face networking events, but we have already seen several bookings for May 18 and the June events”.MENTA is also exploring the possibility of bringing events to venues in Norwich and Felixstowe later in the year.Anyone interested in attending any of the MENTA business networking events can book their place <a href="https://store.menta.org.uk/collections/events/products/menta-networking">here</a>.</div>

MENTA business support have announced that they will resume in-person networking events in May, with three host venues having already been selected across Suffolk.

MENTA to resume in-person networking events this month

<div class="editor-cover-image" data-dimensions="780:300" data-pmr-editor-image="" style="background-image: url(&quot;https://leaders-council-web.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/store/ff892c3a3d10ee478c8b39e52f9cff32.jpg&quot;);"></div>

 <div data-pmr-editable="" class="medium-editor-insert-plugin">Writing for the Leaders Council, <a href="https://www.global-tunnelling-experts.com/">Global Tunnelling Experts UK Ltd</a> Managing Director, <a href="https://www.leaderscouncil.co.uk/members/kevin-browning">Kevin Browning</a>, discusses the impact of tax-avoiding umbrella companies on the infrastructure sector and on individuals, and calls on the government to crack down on the issue.It is clear to me that we have reached a point where not only is the act of firms using umbrella companies and self-employed individuals bringing unfair competition into the infrastructure sector, but it is also burdening those self-employed people with immense risk and depriving the public purse of Income tax and National Insurance Contributions [NICs] when the country needs them the most as we bid to 'Build Back Better' from the Covid-19 pandemic.In layman’s terms, umbrella companies effectively act as the employer of agency workers. Agencies like finding people work assignments, they do not relish having to do all the HR/payroll admin for those people on their books, so they essentially outsource this to umbrella companies to deal with instead.Many of these umbrella companies act within the law and take the welfare of their workers very seriously. The sheer volume of them does make the market hugely competitive for one. However, the issue here is that a number of these umbrella companies are engaging in illicit activity by paying workers in the form of artificial ‘non-taxable’ payments, which are high risk and an act of tax avoidance - simply to save themselves and the employers they work on behalf of money - by not having to pay out Employers’ National Insurance Contributions.These unscrupulous companies are, therefore, making large profits on the back of sometimes unsuspecting self-employed people by keeping those contributions back for themselves, and it is the self-employed who shoulder a great deal of risk here.The individual is legally responsible for their own tax affairs and paying the correct amount of Income tax and National Insurance Contributions. As well as the fees people working under umbrella companies may pay to the company itself, illegal arrangements leave them liable to paying extra tax and interest, as well as other penalties.Individuals who fall victim to tax avoiding umbrella companies are not only in danger of being pursued by HMRC for unpaid tax if the operation is uncovered, but they also risk being ineligible to claim self-employment with the government in future and could even be faced with losing their homes.The losses in unpaid tax and National Insurance to the public purse is one issue that makes this whole practice morally wrong, but within the infrastructure sector, it is also leaving law-abiding businesses like mine at a huge disadvantage.By making these illegal savings, companies avoiding tax can offer tenders at least 20 per cent cheaper, and that is a very conservative estimate. With those going by the book having no choice but to ask for more since they pay their taxes and NICs, they are less likely to be awarded contracts.Our great country and our current government is leading the way in showing the world how to rise up from the recent catastrophic events of Covid by building ourselves out of debt. Our workforce, the people of this great nation who help make this possible, are those left in the firing line when these illicit tax avoiding operations are found. We cannot afford to let them be punished because we turn a blind eye to such things any longer.I would urge the government to make a clear statement and instruction regarding this issue as soon as possible: either all of us work illegally or we all work within the boundaries of the law to allow for a level playing field. What is going on is damaging competitions in our industries and leaving self-employed people shouldering immense risk, it must not go on.</div>

Writing for the Leaders Council, Global Tunnelling Experts UK Ltd Managing Director, Kevin Browning, discusses the impact of tax-avoiding umbrella companies on the infrastructure sector and on individuals, and calls on the government to crack down on the issue.

Killing industry competitiveness and leaving individuals at risk: GTE chief calls for government to crack down on tax-avoiding umbrella companies

<div class="editor-cover-image" data-dimensions="780:300" data-pmr-editor-image="" style="background-image: url(&quot;https://leaders-council-web.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/store/17d5abfe6e6f0697323e35c85ffd9f3a.jpg&quot;);"></div>

 <div data-pmr-editable="" class="medium-editor-insert-plugin"><a href="https://www.kiwimovers.co.uk/">Kiwi Movers</a> director, Regan McMillan, has written a guest blog for The Leaders Council, looking at the effects Covid-19 has had on the business over the past 12 months. Assessing the changes in working practices as well as knock on effects from hospitality closures and the need for self-storage as offices complying with social distancing rules. The company has a long history across Greater London and the South East working in storage, removals, transport and logistics.&nbsp;Our now year-long journey with Covid-19 has brought about many changes to our way of working at Kiwi Movers. Our staff, like workforces across the UK, have adapted to social distancing practices, remote working, additional hand hygiene measures and the requirement for face coverings. As well as adaptations to our working procedures there have been striking changes to the use of our services – the reasons for and durations of self-storage use have varied during this past year. The stamp duty holiday has seen a 7% increase in house sales in London and southern England since the summer of 2020. As a result, we have seen a higher than usual turnover of units. An increased number of people need space to store their home contents in between selling their house or finishing a lease and taking the keys to their newly purchased home. Additionally, with people confined to their homes, DIY has increased as people make the space they live in more appealing or start projects they have been putting off. This often requires the use of storage units while they undertake work. University students, in particular those from overseas, will often use our self-storage facility during summer holidays to safely contain those items that need to move with them year-to-year, but are not required during the 2-3 months of their summer break. Think about what a tome a multilingual dictionary is or what to do with a favoured reading lamp and a couple of treasured mugs – you don’t want to be without them when you move to your next digs, but neither do you want to ship them home each summer only to lug them back with you come autumn time.&nbsp;&nbsp;With COVID effectively closing campuses and many students moving away from their university to take up online learning from home, we’ve seen a rise in demand for smaller units to store these kinds of essentials until regular university life resumes. Self-storage is a more cost effective and secure solution than continuing to pay rent for a room.We have all become aware of the accelerated growth of e-commerce that this pandemic and the ‘stay at home’ requirement has fostered. Traditional brick and mortar retailers are going online or expanding their online presence due to stores being required to shut. A self-storage facility presents an opportunity for a range of retailers to operate their online sales from – we’ve seen everything from sweet sellers to furniture producers turn to us for help.&nbsp;Hand in hand with the growth in working from home has been a natural growth in home offices, with a recent enquiry for space from a company that is now booming with installing desks for home offices. Self-storage has also become a natural partner for ‘last mile delivery’ for small distribution hubs including the storage of PPE for NHS Trusts during the early part of the pandemic. People working from home are also seeking to streamline their spaces and are taking some of our smaller units to store what otherwise would have been occupying their newly adapted home office space. Indeed, much of the nation at large has engaged to greater or lesser degrees of de-cluttering on account of many of us now spending most of our time at home with the entire family.&nbsp;Some will have turned to eBay or Facebook Marketplace to find new owners for unwanted clutter. Others, not quite ready to part from their belongings, decide that a short-term solution at least is taking a unit at our self-storage facility to safely keep items until there is the need or space to have them back at home.The disruption to the retail and hospitality sector in particular has also led to significant changes in how they operate, limiting the number of customers they can have at any one time. This has meant that many have turned to self-storage to store retail equipment and tables and chairs. The Self-Storage Association UK reports that the industry has increased average occupancy at facilities across the UK from 76.2% to 82.3% year-on-year for 2020. This represents an 8% increase. Throughout the lockdowns of the past 12 months self-storage facilities have remained open and have been safe places for customers to visit requiring minimal, if any, contact with staff.Covid has also fast-tracked technological change within the Self-Storage industry. This includes the ability to reserve units online, contactless check-in including the signing of contracts, to the use of Bluetooth technology locks for accessing both facilities and individual units. This accelerated change in the use of technology is also influenced by our changing buying behaviour, be it through Uber, Amazon or Deliveroo, our phones unlock and control our homes, and self-storage is just an extension of this. 































Self-storage is not what you would consider a dynamic industry, but the last year has shown its resilience and increasing importance to the wider UK economy and personal lives.&nbsp;</div>

Kiwi Movers director, Regan McMillan, has written a guest blog for The Leaders Council, looking at the effects Covid-19 has had on the business over the past 12 months. Assessing the changes in working practices as well as knock on effects from hospitality closures and the need for self-storage as offices complying with social distancing rules. The company has a long history across London and works in storage, removals, transport and logistics. 

Kiwi Movers look back at a successful, yet challenging year 

<div class="editor-cover-image" data-dimensions="780:300" data-pmr-editor-image="" style="background-image: url(&quot;https://leaders-council-web.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/store/91bbb90db22e4d541cc3ced8b8042a69.jpg&quot;);"></div>

 <div data-pmr-editable="" class="medium-editor-insert-plugin">Throughout the coronavirus pandemic in the UK, London based online market research agency <a href="https://flyresearch.com/">FlyResearch</a> has been issuing weekly polls to its research panel of over 3000 people, to project how the outbreak and the implementing of social distancing and other restrictions has impacted the daily life of UK citizens.Up until the 32nd week of the Covid-19 tracker survey [published on November 6 and sourced from data collected on October 30, 2020], The Leaders Council published a weekly review of the findings provided by FlyResearch managing partner, Greg Ward. However, from that point on owing to the speed of changes to restrictions, the weekly tracker survey switched to a monthly poll with reviews of the findings coming every four weeks. The previous survey and review came in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.leaderscouncil.co.uk/news/flyresearch-poll-week-53-update">week 53</a> of the tracker poll, consisting of data sourced from March 23, 2021 to March 29, 2021.The latest review was sourced from data collected from April 23, 2021, by which stage outdoor hospitality, hairdressers, salons, and non-essential retail had resumed operations in England, and the rollout of Covid-19 vaccinations continued to be a success.These developments, according to FlyResearch managing partner, Greg Ward, had contributed to a significant uplift in mood among the panel. Ward highlighted: “We have seen 58 per cent of respondents now tell us that they are feeling ‘hopeful’ due to current circumstances, which is the highest level we have seen since the start of the pandemic over a year ago. 31 per cent are still feeling ‘concerned’, but again, this is the lowest level we have seen.”The change in mood has also correlated with a shift in opinion regarding the government’s handling of the pandemic, which was at its most positive since May 2020. Ward said: “We are seeing now almost an equal split of 27 per cent of people rating the government’s response positively, compared to 26 per cent negatively. The rest are occupying the middle ground.”The data surrounding personal health and employment also remained largely unchanged compared to the previous month, however there was a four per cent drop in the number of individuals who reported that they had taken a Covid test, which reflected a delay in the supplying of vaccines during the month of April.Commenting on the vaccine rollout, Ward said: “According to the data from our panel, 71 per cent of responding adults have now had at least the first dose of the vaccine, which aligns with the government target. 43 per cent of those who have taken it report no side effects and 53 per cent have informed us that they have experienced very mild ones. Unfortunately, five per cent of responders have said that they have suffered from severe side effects.”In acknowledgement of the fact that non-essential retail had been allowed to resume from April 12, the latest poll quizzed panel members on whether they had decided to return to their local high streets. The outcome suggested that footfall in physical retail settings remains largely subdued, with 61 per cent saying that they have not gone shopping in non-essential stores, while 31 per cent did visit their local high street or retail development and spend a small amount of money. Otherwise, five per cent did go to retail settings without buying anything, and a meagre three per cent enjoyed some proper ‘retail therapy’ and spent a significant amount of money.“The data does not look promising for the high street”, Ward warned. “We are not accustomed to queuing to enter a shop and the benefit of in-person shopping might be cancelled out by fitting rooms being closed, which actually means that the online experience remains a better option in many cases.”Respondents were also asked a question that has featured in previous surveys, surrounding holidays and feelings about potentially going abroad this year.Presenting the data, Ward said: “Nine per cent of the panel remain optimistic about being able to go abroad, while 33 per cent say they intend to holiday in the UK this year. Six per cent have said that they will look to do both. Meanwhile, 18 per cent are saving their holiday money and not going anywhere for the funds to go towards other things, 24 per cent said they weren’t planning to go away anywhere, and sadly nine per cent are not in a financial position to afford a holiday.”Within these numbers, Ward believes there may be a beacon of hope for the domestic tourism industry as it bids to recover from the effects of the pandemic. “It does look like foreign travel may be restricted still, or at least not as much of a convenience as we were used to, which may bode well for the UK tourism industry. “On the whole, news seems a lot more positive in the UK judging by the latest survey, which cannot be said for other afflicted countries like India that has featured heavily in the headlines recently for the wrong reasons. Our thoughts are, of course, with all those who are still suffering from the pandemic.”</div>

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic in the UK, London based online market research agency FlyResearch has been issuing weekly polls to project how the outbreak has impacted the daily life of UK citizens.

FlyResearch poll: week 57 update

Claire Dimpfl is the owner and head of Tadpoles Nursery School in Chelsea, west London which she founded in 1976.Dimpfl’s experience in early years’ education has helped create a unique learning provision for children aged between two years and five years, using a play-based approach to encourage children to grow and learn.

Leadership Matters: Claire Dimpfl

Adam Norsworthy is the Managing Director of Fusion Telecom, a company which supplies secure telecom and payment services to business and contact centres.Norsworthy is a serial entrepreneur, leading companies from the tech to travel sectors, and understands that leadership is a continual process of improvement.

Leadership Matters: Adam Norsworthy

Simon Severino is the founder and CEO of Strategy Sprints GmbH, a management consulting and coaching business which helps companies gain more and better clients, and comes with a promise to help double revenue in 90 days.To find out more go to: www.strategysprints.com

Leadership Matters: Simon Severino

Jim Gildea is the founder, managing director and owner of Rubbish Clearance and Waste Removal Ltd, a company based in Hampshire which offers domestic, commercial and industrial waste removal services, specialist cleaning services, asbestos removal and disposal, and rapid response services.Over the past year they have been the ‘go to’ organisation for all COVID-19 cleaning needs.

The Leaders Council of Great Britain & Northern Ireland

Latest News

MENTA to resume in-person networking events this month

Killing industry competitiveness and leaving individuals at risk: GTE chief calls for government to crack down on tax-avoiding umbrella companies

Kiwi Movers look back at a successful, yet challenging year

FlyResearch poll: week 57 update

Latest Podcasts

Featured Biographies

Lord Blunkett

Sir Geoff Hurst

Sir Andrew Strauss

Richard G Jones

What is the Leaders Council?

Chronicle your career

Appear on Podcasts

Access to Leadership Badge

News Driven SEO

Other Benefits

Event Organising

Content Creation

Consultancy & Advice

Research & Reports