Can AI Help Small Businesses Build Stronger Brands?

AI can produce a business name, logo and website in remarkably little time. 

But turning those ingredients into a brand that customers recognise, trust and return to requires more thought.

That is the challenge behind The Playbook for AI Brand Building, launched by Andy Parton, (PICTURED) founder of London AI marketing consultancy Destreza.

Designed for founders and lean marketing teams, the Playbook aims to make the structured brand-building methods used by major businesses accessible to companies with smaller budgets.

Parton brings more than sixteen years of brand-building experience, including roles at Diageo and BAT, alongside more than six years working with AI in marketing.

His central argument is straightforward: promising businesses often struggle because important research, strategy and planning decisions are overlooked. Faster content production alone cannot fill those gaps.

The Playbook begins by learning about the founder and their venture, tailoring examples, calculations and AI briefs to the business. According to Destreza, it can draw on 1,650 possible configurations.

Four foundation modules introduce marketing principles before users work through ten stages: Evidence, Insight, Strategy, Brand, Identity, Connections, Design System, Launch, Retention and Performance Cycle.

Each stage combines learning with practical tasks. Users give prepared briefs to their own AI assistant, such as ChatGPT or Claude, to help research markets, develop models, generate insights and create content.

A useful feature is the instruction for AI to source, date and label claims according to their reliability. That encourages founders to examine the evidence behind recommendations before making consequential decisions.

As they progress, users compile a “Launch Book”, bringing together their decisions, supporting evidence, resulting assets and launch requirements.

For small businesses, the appeal is clear. Many founders have products or services but limited access to marketing support. A structured workflow could help them identify weaknesses earlier and spend their resources more carefully.

However, the launch material’s headline failure statistics draw on different populations and research. They should not be read as a direct comparison or a guarantee of success.

Destreza says the Playbook costs less than its cited £2,500 senior consultant day rate. Buyers need their own AI assistant subscription, so should check the full costs before purchasing.

A free trial requires no payment card and includes the introduction, personalised setup and Stage 01. A 14-day money-back guarantee is advertised.

For founders curious about bringing more discipline to their brand development, that offers a practical starting point.

Find out more at theplaybookfor.ai.

Are Your Disabled Toilet Facilities Up to Standard?

Many businesses proudly display the familiar wheelchair symbol on the door of their accessible toilet.

But when did you last actually go inside and look at the facilities from the point of view of somebody who needs to use them?

Providing an accessible toilet isn't simply a matter of fitting a wider door and a couple of grab rails. 

Poorly positioned equipment can turn what is supposed to be an accessible facility into an obstacle course.

Can people actually reach everything?

One surprisingly common problem is the hand dryer or paper towels are mounted far too high. It might be perfectly convenient for an able-bodied person standing at the basin, but what about somebody using a wheelchair?

The same applies to the soap dispensers, mirrors, toilet paper and emergency cords.

Then there's the washbasin itself. Can a wheelchair user comfortably get close enough to use it? Is there sufficient space underneath? Are the taps easy to operate for someone with limited dexterity?

A beautifully fitted washbasin isn't much use if the person it was supposedly designed for cannot reach it.

Don't use it as a storeroom

Another complaint frequently made about accessible toilets is that they gradually become unofficial storage cupboards.

Cleaning equipment, spare chairs, boxes, highchairs and stock can creep into the room because there appears to be plenty of unused floor space.

Except that space isn't unused.

It is there to give wheelchair and mobility-aid users sufficient room to manoeuvre and transfer safely.

That red emergency cord matters

Emergency pull cords are another area worth checking.

They should be readily accessible to somebody who has fallen to the floor. Yet cords can sometimes be tied up, shortened or tucked away because somebody thinks they look untidy.

An emergency cord that cannot be reached in an emergency isn't doing its job.

Try looking at the room differently

Business owners and managers could carry out a simple accessibility audit.

Either ask a disabled friend to check it out, or sit in a chair and look around the room. Can you reach the soap, taps, dryer and toilet paper without standing up? Is the mirror usable? Could you get alongside the toilet? Could you reach the emergency alarm from floor level?

Better still, ask disabled customers and staff what works and what doesn't. Lived experience can identify problems that somebody following a checklist may never notice.

Accessibility also extends beyond the toilet itself. Is the route to it genuinely accessible? Is the doorway obstructed? Is it kept unlocked and available, rather than requiring customers to embark upon a hunt for the member of staff holding the key?

Accessibility is about people

Businesses can spend considerable amounts of money installing accessible facilities, only to undermine that investment with something as simple as putting the hand dryer six inches too high.

Good accessibility shouldn't be regarded as an inconvenience or a box-ticking exercise. It means considering how real people with different levels of mobility, strength, reach and dexterity will actually use your premises.

So here's a worthwhile challenge for every café, pub, restaurant, shop, office, hotel and visitor attraction:

Go and inspect your disabled toilet today.

Not while standing up and assuming everything looks fine.

Look at it from the position of the people it is actually intended to serve.

You might be surprised by what you discover.

That's Business believes good accessibility is good customer service, and often relatively small changes can make an enormous difference.

Why did I write this post? I visited a restaurant, checked the disabled facilities and thought: "No! This just will not do!"

Could Data Centres Help Heat Our Towns and Cities?

By Bryony Evans, Intermediate Environmental Consultant at chapmanbdsp

When we talk about data centres, we usually talk about electricity: how much they use and how demand for AI and cloud services is increasing the pressure on the grid. 

But there is another side to the story. Data centres also produce heat, much of which is released into the air.

Could that heat help warm nearby buildings?

That is the opportunity behind heat networks. These shared systems carry heat from a central source to buildings such as homes, hospitals, universities and offices. A data centre could supply some of that heat while continuing to provide the digital services on which businesses rely.

The idea is attracting greater attention as England develops heat network zoning. Under the Energy Act 2023, the government has powers to identify areas where networks are expected to offer a cost-effective, low-carbon way to heat buildings. 

It expects zoning regulations to go live later in 2026, with support for at least ten large towns and cities to establish zones soon afterwards.

For data centre developers, that could change an early planning question. Alongside access to power and suitable land, they may need to ask: who nearby could use the heat?

Making the connection is easier said than done. Heat is most useful when there is demand reasonably close to its source. The heat leaving a data centre may also need a heat pump to raise its temperature before a network can distribute it. Pipes cost money, and operators, network providers, councils and building owners need agreements that work over many years.

Timing matters too. A data centre might open well before neighbouring homes or commercial buildings are ready to receive heat. If each development is planned separately, the chance to connect them could disappear.

Heat zoning offers a way to spot those opportunities earlier. By mapping where demand is likely to grow, it can help developers and local authorities consider shared infrastructure while plans are still taking shape.

This will not make every data centre a practical heat supplier. Location, cost and future demand will determine whether an individual project works. But where the conditions are right, capturing heat could give a local community a useful benefit from the growth of digital infrastructure.

As the UK builds more data centres, their heat deserves a place in the conversation from the start.

Bryony Evans is an Intermediate Environmental Consultant at building services and environmental consultancy chapmanbdsp. 

https://www.chapmanbdsp.com

Years ago District Heating was held up as a model method of using industrial waste heat to provide heating for neighbouring homes. Let's hope data centres can re-activate this idea.

Are Your Employees Holding Back Their Best Ideas?

Over four in ten UK adults say their experiences at work have led them to contribute less than they are capable of. 

That is the finding behind this year’s Psychological Safety Week, which runs from 21 to 25 September. The organisers have a name for the problem: Talent Hushing.

Business psychologists Pearn Kandola use the term to describe what happens when organisations fail to hear, recognise or make full use of people’s ideas and abilities. 

It can be as simple as an employee deciding that a suggestion will be dismissed, or that raising a concern will make their working life harder.

According to Pearn Kandola, 43% of UK adults in its July research said they contribute less than they could because of their experiences at work. That figure should make employers pause. 

It does not tell us exactly how much productivity is lost, but it does suggest many organisations may be missing useful contributions from people already on their payroll.

Think of the colleague who spots a flaw in a plan but stays quiet during the meeting. Or the person with an idea for improving customer service who has learnt that suggestions go nowhere. Sometimes the cost of silence is a missed opportunity; sometimes it is a problem that grows because nobody felt able to flag it early.

Professor Binna Kandola OBE, Pearn Kandola’s co-founder, warns that employees may hold back when they believe their ideas will not be heard or that staying quiet is safer. 

He suggests the scale of the finding could make Talent Hushing a national productivity issue.

For managers, the first step is to look at what happens after someone speaks up. Are questions welcomed? Are concerns taken seriously? When a suggestion cannot be adopted, does anyone explain why? Inviting feedback means little if staff repeatedly see it ignored.

Psychological Safety Week is offering free online sessions and resources on leadership, trust and the conditions that help people contribute. This year’s headline sponsor is Personnel Today. The remaining live sessions include discussions of whose ideas get heard and how teams handle disagreement.

Employers and individuals can register for free through the Psychological Safety Week website. It could be a useful prompt to ask a deceptively simple question: whose ideas are we currently missing?

https://www.psychologicalsafetyweek.com

Are Your Premises Still Too Loud?

We’ve raised the issue before on That’s Business: why do so many shops, shopping centres, pubs, cafés and restaurants insist on being so loud?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be going away.

Background music can help create an atmosphere. In the right circumstances it can make a shop feel welcoming or give a restaurant or bar some character. 

But there is a considerable difference between pleasant background music and noise which forces customers to raise their voices simply to hold a conversation.

And music isn't the only culprit.

Hard floors, bare walls, exposed ceilings and large expanses of glass may look fashionable, but they can create highly reverberant spaces where conversations, clattering crockery, coffee machines and other everyday noises combine into an exhausting wall of sound.

As we’ve mentioned in our previous posts about noisy retail premises, shopping centres and eating places, this isn't merely about personal preference.

For people with hearing difficulties, tinnitus, sensory sensitivities or certain disabilities, excessively noisy premises can be particularly difficult. Older customers may also struggle to distinguish conversation from background noise.

On a personal note, I use hearing aids, and I know first-hand that they don't necessarily solve the problem. 

In some very noisy environments they can actually make matters worse. Instead of simply making the person I'm talking to easier to hear, they can also pick up and amplify background conversations, music, clattering plates and other surrounding sounds. The result can be a confusing jumble of noise in which following a conversation becomes extremely difficult.

That's worth remembering when businesses assume that customers with hearing loss can simply turn up their hearing aids and carry on as normal. Modern hearing aids can be remarkably sophisticated, but they cannot always compensate for a badly designed or unnecessarily noisy environment.

There is a business issue here, too.

If customers cannot comfortably talk to each other, hear staff or concentrate on what they are buying, how long will they want to remain on the premises?

A restaurant might spend thousands of pounds creating a beautiful interior and developing an excellent menu, only to undermine the experience with excessive noise. 

A retailer may carefully train staff to provide good customer service, yet customers can't properly hear what those staff are saying.

And what about employees?

Customers can leave. Staff may have to endure the same noisy environment for an eight-hour shift. Businesses therefore need to think about noise as both a customer-experience and workplace issue.

The good news is that reducing noise doesn't necessarily mean turning somewhere into a library.

Businesses could start by actually measuring sound levels at different times of day rather than relying on impressions. Managers should also experience the premises from a customer's perspective: sit at a table, walk around the shop or try having an ordinary conversation. You could even look at hiring a specialist noise consultation who is a member of the UK Association of Noise Consultants     https://www.association-of-noise-consultants.co.uk

Simple changes can help. Turn background music down. Introduce sound-absorbing materials where appropriate. Consider acoustic panels, soft furnishings and better positioning of speakers and noisy equipment. Most importantly, ask customers and staff what they think.

There is nothing wrong with a lively atmosphere.

But when lively becomes uncomfortably loud, businesses risk driving away the very people they are trying to attract.

Perhaps it's time to ask a very simple question:

Are your premises still too loud?

Could Smarter Employee Benefits Help Businesses Retain Their Best People?

With employers continuing to face rising costs, a Hampshire accountancy and business advice firm is urging businesses to consider tax-efficient rewards and benefits as a way of retaining valued employees.

HWB Chartered Accountants says organisations should look beyond simply increasing salaries and examine the wider range of incentives available.

The advice coincided with National Payroll Week, running from 7–11 September, and comes as employers prepare for the Chancellor’s Budget on 28 October and any further impact it may have on business costs.

Gary Brown, director at HWB (PICTURED) told That's Business that competitive salaries remain essential for recruitment and retention. However, businesses may be able to use their existing reward budgets more creatively to improve staff engagement and loyalty.

“For many businesses, the challenge is not simply attracting people but keeping the good people they already have,” he said.

“At a time when employers are facing significant cost pressures, increasing salaries across the board is not always the only, or most sustainable, answer.”

Options can include tax-advantaged employee share schemes, subject to eligibility requirements. These include Enterprise Management Incentives, Save As You Earn schemes, Company Share Option Plans and Share Incentive Plans.

Businesses may also use “trivial benefits” to provide small gestures of appreciation without creating an Income Tax or National Insurance liability, provided all relevant conditions are met.

Generally, a trivial benefit must cost no more than £50, cannot be cash or a cash voucher, must not form part of an employee’s contract and cannot be given as a reward for particular work or performance.

Long-service awards offer another opportunity to recognise loyalty. Qualifying non-cash awards may be exempt from tax where an employee has completed at least 20 years’ service and has not received a similar award during the previous ten years.

Other possibilities include employee suggestion schemes, recognition awards, staff social events, additional training, career development opportunities and flexible working arrangements.

However, businesses should avoid introducing benefits simply because they appear attractive. Employers need to understand what their employees genuinely value, what the business can afford and how each benefit will be treated for tax purposes. Professional advice may be appropriate before introducing a new scheme.

National Payroll Week is organised by the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals. It recognises the contribution made by payroll professionals who ensure millions of UK employees are paid correctly and on time.

HWB is based at Chandler’s Ford, near Southampton, and provides business and tax advice. Further information about its payroll services can be found at www.hwb-accountants.com.

From Royal Mail to ‘Royal Fail’: What Has Gone Wrong With Britain’s Postal Service?

There was a time when Royal Mail was regarded as one of those dependable British institutions. 

Post a First Class letter and there was a very good chance it would arrive the following morning.

Today, disgruntled customers increasingly refer to the service as “Royal Fail.” 

It is an unflattering nickname, but the official figures suggest that the dissatisfaction behind it cannot simply be dismissed as grumbling.

According to Ofcom, during 2025/26 Royal Mail delivered just 75.7% of First Class mail within one working day, against the then target of 93%. Second Class achieved 90.2% within three working days, against a target of 98.5%.

Even more strikingly, Royal Mail failed to achieve its local First Class target in any of the 118 postcode areas measured during 2025/26. It also completed only 77.4% of daily delivery routes against a 99.9% target.

There are some areas were mail deliveries have fallen from six days out of seven to once a week, or even worse.

Some areas report mail delivery staff repeatedly delivering mail to the wrong address which then has to be re-delivered to the correct addresses by residents.

So what has gone wrong?

Part of the problem is that Royal Mail is trying to operate a network designed for a very different age.

Twenty years ago it was handling around 20 billion letters annually. By 2025 that had fallen to approximately 6.5 billion. Yet Royal Mail still has to maintain a nationwide delivery network serving millions of addresses.

That creates a difficult economic equation: fewer letters travelling through a network that still has to reach virtually every home and business in Britain.

But declining letter volumes cannot excuse persistent poor performance. Ofcom fined Royal Mail £21 million in October 2025 for missing its 2024/25 targets, following fines of £10.5 million for 2023/24 and £5.6 million for 2022/23.

There is also the question of priorities. Parcels have become increasingly important commercially as online shopping has expanded. Ofcom's current investigation into Royal Mail's 2025/26 performance specifically says it will consider the issue of parcel prioritisation.

For businesses, meanwhile, unreliable letters aren't merely inconvenient. Late invoices, contracts, replacement bank cards, legal documents and appointment letters can have genuine consequences.

Are lower standards the answer?

Ofcom has now changed the Universal Service requirements. From April 2026, the First Class target became 90% delivered the next working day and the Second Class target 95% within three working days. Second Class letters can also move to alternate-weekday delivery.

Importantly, new safeguards require 99% of First Class letters to arrive within three working days and 99% of Second Class letters within five.

There is a danger, however, that continually changing targets can look suspiciously like redefining success rather than improving the service.

How can Royal Mail be fixed?

First, Royal Mail needs sufficient frontline staff and realistic workloads so that completing delivery rounds becomes the norm rather than the exception.

Secondly, modernisation is unavoidable. Sorting, route planning, tracking and automation should be used to make postal workers more productive rather than simply cutting costs.

Thirdly, regulation needs teeth. Repeated fines clearly haven't yet produced consistently acceptable performance. Indeed, Parliament's Business and Trade Committee concluded in May 2026 that Ofcom had failed to drive improvements quickly enough.

There are signs that change may finally be coming. Royal Mail has committed to investing £500 million over five years as part of its improvement programme, while the new delivery model is expected to be rolled out by Christmas 2026.

But ultimately the test is remarkably simple.

Customers buy a First Class stamp because they expect First Class service. Businesses use Royal Mail because they expect their post to arrive reliably. People should not have to wonder whether an important letter will take one day, three days or considerably longer.

Royal Mail doesn't need another slogan or corporate reorganisation nearly as much as it needs to rediscover something much simpler: reliability.

If that happens, perhaps the “Royal Fail” nickname will eventually disappear.

Until then, unfortunately, Royal Mail has given its critics plenty of ammunition.