Businesses as well as domestic clients should shop around for energy

SHOPPING around for the best energy deal is vital for business electricity users as supplier profits continue to rise, so says the Energy Advice Line. It's important for domestic and business energy users to get the best deal they can.

Comparing the market and switching to the best available deal is the quickest and cheapest way for firms to take control in a volatile and challenging energy market, the UK’s leading energy switching and advice service for business said.

Big Six energy supplier Scottish and Southern Electricity (SSE) has just announced a 38% leap in half-yearly earnings, a month after increasing energy tariffs for householders by 9%.

Centrica, parent company of British Gas, announced it was set to make profits of £1.4 billion this year on the same day the utility giant hit customers with a 6% rise in their energy bills.

Suppliers have also come under fire following allegations that they have been involved in price rigging of the wholesale gas market.

“Customers might be fed up with the energy market right now, as suppliers hit the headlines yet again with rising profits and questionable practices,” EAL spokesman Mr Morgan said

“But it’s vital for firms to remember there is no benefit in being loyal to a utility company. In this environment they need to take control of their energy supply and energy costs by comparing the market to get the best deals.

“It’s really the quickest and cheapest way to find the lowest business energy prices and to play energy suppliers at their own game.”

Mr Morgan said that many firms underestimated the amount of money they could save by switching suppliers as soon as their fixed-price energy contracts ended.

The Energy Advice Line had helped thousands of firms substantially reduce their business electricity spend.

“Depending on the amount of business electricity a firm uses, we can slash hundreds and sometimes thousands of pounds off its annual energy spend by finding a better deal than the tariff offered by their existing supplier.

“Energy suppliers don’t want businesses to shop around because that’s partly how they make such big profits – from firms who stay with them year on year.

“We’ve helped thousands of customers to move to cheaper rates through simple non-pressure and impartial advice about the energy market and the suppliers that operate in the market.”

The Energy Advice Line is the UK’s leading business electricity price comparison site and switching services for business, and enables firms to compare the market for the best possible business energy deals at the touch of a button.

The service has a team of business experts who can give advice about business energy contracts and how to avoid expensive contract rollovers. It also offers a free contract management service to help firms throughout the duration of their energy contracts.

For further information visit www.energyadviceline.org.uk

New fix for Corporate Compliance

Compliance challenges for organisations are now one giant step closer to being greatly reduced, due to the latest version of an enterprise wide solution that’s ticking all the boxes for organisations of all types and all sizes.

RuleSafe® v4.0 uses a potent combination of personalised and targeted communication, special benchmarked measuring and enforcement to maximise awareness of and conformance with company policies among all employees.

Companies using this latest version of the RuleSafe® policy management and awareness solution can expect to make great strides in the management and improvement of critical GRC hotspots such as protecting data assets, corporate governance, health and safety, risk management, incident management, quality management and document management.

The RuleSafe® v4.0 framework uses up to the minute technological features and management thinking that are designed to genuinely improve real understanding and awareness of all of the main GRC matters all employees.

Each individual user has a personalised dashboard which shows their performance and what needs to be done to improve that performance in areas like acceptance of applicable policies, passing company GRC quizzes and knowledge tests and keeping in touch with new developments. Employees are also measured on how often they pick up and keep up to date on messages sent to their dashboard and keep up to date on required tasks.

Secoda Risk Management’s Charlie Fairbairn says “I believe this to be the most powerful policy management and awareness solution in its class. The benchmarking aspect of it is a very powerful motivator. For example managers can view the performance of managers and units below them, managers of business units or divisions can see the compliance status and progress of all their direct reports, and all employees can measure their own performance ratings against the averaged ratings of peers, or across the organisation as a whole”.

“Real up to date learning and understanding can take place with RuleSafe® and this system even features quiz editors and libraries to enable fast creation of fixed or randomised knowledge tests. These are a great way to verify employee understanding of your requirements. Companies tell me that they also really appreciate the flexibility, agility and configurability of this system” says Charlie.

The RuleSafe® Governance Risk & Compliance solution has of course proven to be a very good investment for organisations operating in challenging and heavily regulated industries such as banking and finance, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, utilities and energy, transportation and the public sector.

Secoda develops, sells and maintains the RuleSafe® suite of GRC software applications, and provides support and consulting services on which many thousands of corporate users depend for their employee GRC programmes.

For more information call 08456 4 27001 or visit http://www.secoda.com

Win for Vin

Vin Murria, the CEO of AIM-listed Advanced Computer Software Group plc (Advanced), has been named Entrepreneur of the Year at the AIM Awards 2012. Vin was presented with the award at the AIM Awards dinner on 11 October 2012 at Old Billingsgate, London.

Sponsored by PwC, the AIM Awards identify and reward the quoted companies and entrepreneurs who have harnessed AIM - the London Stock Exchange’s international market for smaller growing companies - to help them fulfil their ambition and growth potential over the last twelve months.

Vin was named Entrepreneur of the Year by a distinguished judging panel from the UK financial investment community. To win the accolade, Vin had to demonstrate that her vision, flair, drive and business acumen is driving AIM-quoted Advanced Computer Software Group forward at a pace impossible without access to AIM’s investor funding base. The award also acknowledged the supportive management team behind Vin’s success.

Vin Murria, CEO of Advanced Computer Software Group, says, “It is an honour to be named AIM’s Entrepreneur of the Year. Advanced has grown from zero to close to £110 million revenue in just a few years with a market cap of £230 million. None of this would have been possible without the dedication and drive of the Advanced team.”

David Snell PwC’s head of AIM and chair of the voting panel says, “This was a particularly fiercely fought award and the competition was extremely high. Vin was a very worthy winner having shown the entrepreneurial spirit that encapsulates what AIM is about.”

Advanced Computer Software Group plc is a supplier of software and IT services to both public and private sectors, which help organisations to improve efficiencies and reduce costs.

Duttons appointed offline design agency by Friends Life

Duttons has been appointed to the Friends Life agency roster, following a rigorous and competitive selection process. The company will be one of two agencies overseeing offline design across Friends Life, a leading provider of pensions, life insurance and investments to over five million customers.

Duttons has a strong track record in financial services and won the fiercely contested position as part of a three stage competitive pitch process, which included a written response, face to face chemistry meeting and strategic pitch presentation.

Commenting on the appointment, Emma Van-Heusen, Account Director at Duttons, said, "This is fantastic news for Duttons. We’re delighted to be working with Friends Life at what is a dynamic time for the financial services market, especially pensions, and we’re looking forward to working closely with the Friends Life team to build the brand’s offline communications."

Commenting for Friends Life, Karen Burrell, Head of Marketing Services said, “We are delighted to be welcoming Duttons aboard. They impressed us throughout the pitch process and we’re looking forward to a long, beneficial relationship with this energetic and insightful agency.”

Face-to-Face nets more business, study finds

Dealing with contacts in person, rather than via email or social networking, is helping the UK's successful entrepreneurs and business owners generate a potential £9.45bn revenue a year, says new research from moo.com.

Small businessmen and women may use a variety of online and offline ways to deal with clients, customers and suppliers, but many feel they do better when they can 'see the whites of their eyes', the study shows.

In particular, they are better able to judge a person by how they look or dress or the firmness of a handshake than anything they provide via Facebook or Twitter, according to business card experts MOO.

The firm interviewed 152 owners of small businesses in the UK about how they networked to help their ventures grow They found 42% believe if they were to hand out 100 business cards, it would generate £5,000 a year or more in revenue.

Spread across the UK's 4.5 million small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) it adds up to a staggering £9.45 billion a year netted through personal contact in business.

Modern business leaders do however combine this with social networking on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn to stay in touch with a wider audience, and use these tools and others, like Twitter, to maintain a business presence online.

But when it comes to marketing, old fashioned methods work best. While one in four (25 per cent) consider their website to be their most important tool, 32% say word of mouth/referrals and 21% believe their business cards are their most important marketing tool.

Out of the 152 small business owners, good places to network show that some traditions remain unchanged with 47 per cent naming the pub and 61 per cent suggesting conferences. For those looking after their figures, 29 per cent said they network at the gym, according to the survey.

Richard Moross Founder & CEO of MOO, said: “Physical contact works better because it can often reveal more about the person they are dealing with than anything revealed on social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

"Social media and other technology is incredibly helpful for keeping in touch, building relationships and just reminding people you are around and what you are up to. But if you want to win business and develop new contacts then nothing quite beats a face-to-face meeting it seems. Judging by the number of business owners who do business over a drink, at a social function or even on the daily commute, the informal atmosphere seems to encourage better networking."

Coinciding with the findings, MOO has recently launched a new facility on its website moo.com/pickup offering event organisers free business cards for their attendees/delegates (excluding shipping). Business card orders are sent to organisers to distribute at their event registration. With many organisers already taking advantage of the new service at high-profile events like SXSW and Startup Weekend, it reinforces the importance of face-to-face networking and business cards as the definitive personal marketing tool.

Additional MOO survey statistics:
• Reasons for networking include developing new contacts (74 per cent), getting new business (72 per cent), and keeping in touch with current trends and developments (66 per cent)
• Just over half (53 per cent) admit it also helps them when they come to look for a new job
• Almost half (49 per cent) say networking has brought ‘a lot of new business’ for their company
• When it comes to having a strong business identity, nearly three quarters (73 per cent) said their business card made an important impact when networking, and 72 per cent said it was important to have a presence on social media sites
• Seven in ten (72 per cent) admitted they were influenced by what a person looks like and 72 per cent by a firm handshake; while others admitted they were put off by a person’s bad breath or unkempt physical appearance.

The survey was conducted by Ipsos Observer between 30 July and 8 August 2012 on behalf of MOO. A sample of 152 small business owners out of 510 UK respondents was interviewed online.

Turbine cuts through your paperwork

Turbine® responds to the needs of small and medium-size companies with a sleeker, more responsive version of its bureaucracy-busting online application.

“We’re taking the work out of paperwork,” says Matthew Stibbe, founder and CEO of Turbine (http://TurbineHQ.com) as he announced the official launch of Turbine Version 8.

The new version of the web-based application makes it even easier for growing businesses to manage purchase orders, expense claims, time-off requests, HR records and staff feedback and performance reviews.

Turbine lets companies manage their staff more efficiently, save time, take control of spending and give employees convenient online self-service for routine paperwork chores. No more paper forms or misfiled requests!

Driven by customer feedback, Version 8 improves the look and feel of the site as well as its usability. New features include:

• A responsive interface. Turbine resizes automatically to fit the screen you are using, whether you are requesting time off on your smartphone, or submitting a purchase request on your laptop.

• Beautiful design. Subtle animations, elegant graphics and other grace notes make the new version look great. For example, it automatically takes advantage of the Retina display on the latest iPads and iPhones.

• Split-screen displays. The new list view mimics email clients and other popular web-based applications by letting you see a list of requests on the left in chronological order and the details of a selected request on the right.

• Faster, better. Version 8 adds powerful technology behind the scenes, such as client-side caching which makes the site snappier to use, as well as improved localisation settings and the ability to comment on requests.

The new version will make it easier and faster for employees and managers to take care of their admin so they can spend more time on their job and less time on necessary but unproductive tasks.

“It’s an all-in-one, Swiss Army Knife to cut through red tape at a fraction of the price of bespoke or big-company systems,” says Matthew Stibbe. Prices start at just $8 a month for up to five users and there’s a 30-day free trial.

“We love the paperwork you hate,” says Matthew Stibbe, “and TurbineHQ.com Version 8 is a big step towards the paper-free, hassle-free office.”

Fellowes Shredders at Robert Dyas

This week is National Identity Fraud Prevention Week where a number of organisations from the public and private sector highlight the fact that identity fraud is on the rise in the UK and could affect anyone of us.

During this week Action Fraud is reminding us how to keep our identity safe with some simple tips:

• Don’t throw out anything with your name, address or financial details without shredding it first.

• Be careful about what information you share on social networking sites, and check your privacy settings.

• Monitor your credit status by getting regular copies of your credit report from a credit reference agency.

As part of this campaign, from this week, Robert Dyas is offering a wide range of Fellowes Shredders products in their shops across the UK. The company believes that Fellowes products will be a valuable addition to their own exclusive products and famous brand names such as Brita, Energizer, Karcher, Kenwood, Morphy Richards, Tefal, Durcell, Brabantia and Vax, to name just a few.

Fellowes and other entities including Action Fraud, Cifas, Equifax, Symantec Norton, Get Safe Online are the organisers behind the annual campaign ‘Don’t let it be You’ which highlights the actions that can be taken to protect against identity fraud.

The scale of the fraud in the UK is alarming; according to Members of CIFAS, the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service identity fraud increased by 30% during the first quarter of 2012.