Business

Rehab. the innovative haircare brand which has been making waves in the industry since its launch last year has announced that TV personality Stacey Solomon has joined the company as a partner and Investor.

The female-founded company aims to transform tired hair to its full healthy, glossy potential with their effective, eco-friendly products. Key best-sellers include their hair oil, heatless curler and shampoo sheets.

REHAB. founders, best friends and mothers Vicky Ellis & Anastasia Tozer are absolutely thrilled to be the first brand Stacey has personally invested in.

Talking about the new role, Stacey Solomon said:  “A long while ago, I used a small business’s haircare product and absolutely loved everything about it. I met up with the women who started it and fell in love with their collection, work ethic, company values & morals and their ideas for the future.

Supporting small businesses is so important to me. I’ve seen how hard people work to get their products out there and be seen, and often there’s so only far you can go without the right financial support and audience reach.

For the first time in my career, I have decided to invest my own money into a small business that I believe in so much. I can’t put into words how incredible it feels to say that I am going to start a whole new chapter in my life, championing incredible women in business.

I’m so excited to say that as of today, I am officially a co-owner of Rehab.”

Vicky Ellis & Anastasia Tozer, Rehab. Founders comment:  “As two best friends who had a vision to create an eco-conscious haircare brand, we’ve been incredibly proud of REHAB’s rapid growth since we launched in 2022.

From multiple sell-out products to working with content creators across the globe, we want to thank all of our customers for believing in and supporting our small business.

Having sent Stacey some of our products to try last year, we were thrilled to hear how much she loved them. On top of this, she engaged entirely with our company ethos and everything we stand for as female business owners. Therefore, it’s no surprise we felt Stacey’s greater involvement was the perfect alignment for the brand’s future success.

To be the first brand Stacey has personally invested in is an absolute honour.

We’ve been working on a number of new product launches behind the scenes and cannot wait to reveal all later this year!”.

Read more:
Stacey Solomon to become official Business Partner and Investor of British haircare brand, REHAB

Almost nine in 10 voters who intend to switch their support from Conservative to Labour candidates in the next general election believe that “green growth” is important for the future of Britain’s economy, according to a poll.

Carried out by pollsters Opinium, the survey found that 82% of all respondents backed the growth of Britain’s green industry to boost the economy, in the same week that the prime minister announced a series of U-turns on the government’s green commitments in an attempt to create a dividing line with Labour before the election.

The survey of more than 5,000 adults found support for the green economy was even stronger among swing voters who supported the Conservatives in 2019 and are now planning to switch to Labour, at 88%.

The survey was carried out between 8 and 20 September, when the prime minister confirmed a major about-turn on the government’s climate commitments. Rishi Sunak said the UK would push back the ban on selling new petrol and diesel cars and the phasing out of gas boilers. He also plans to dilute energy efficiency standards.

Business leaders and green groups criticised the move for undermining Britain’s green economic agenda, while senior members of the Conservative party raised concerns that Sunak’s gamble may cost the Tories voters in the upcoming election.

When asked which of the chancellor’s five “priority sectors” of the economy were most likely to encourage growth overall, twice as many people thought green industries would have the biggest positive impact on overall growth than any other sector, including life sciences, digital tech and advanced manufacturing.

Growing investment in renewable energy was backed by 71% of respondents, according to the poll, which was commissioned by trade association Renewable UK. Only 40% of respondents agreed that the Tory party had even partially delivered on this commitment. Renewable UK is expected to reveal the findings of the poll at an event at the Conservative party conference.

The Conservative MP, Alok Sharma, president of the Cop26 climate change conference in Glasgow in 2021, said: “The prime minister’s recent call for the UK to embrace the incredible opportunities of green industry with even greater enthusiasm is clearly backed by people across the country.

“However, attracting inwards green investment does require further action and I therefore look forward to the government’s promised response in the autumn statement to the US’s Inflation Reduction Act which is hoovering up many billions of pounds of private sector investment and causing some companies to think about prioritising expanding in the US ahead of the UK,” he said.

Sunak’s green U-turn came just weeks after the government’s annual renewable energy auction failed to secure bids from any offshore wind developers. Greenpeace described the outcome as “the biggest disaster for clean energy policy in the last eight years” because it risked jeopardising the UK’s plan to triple its offshore wind power capacity by 2030, and cast doubt on Britain’s climate targets.

Nathan Bennett, a director at Renewable UK, said the polling demonstrates “very clearly that people see the success of green industries as vital to the UK’s economic growth”.

“Although we welcome the prime minister reiterating his support for green industries in his net zero speech, this has to be backed up with tangible measures to make the UK a more attractive market for green investment or we will see factories and jobs which could have been in the UK go overseas,” Bennett said.

“This polling shows not only that there is a wealth of public support for new incentives to secure renewable energy projects and manufacturing, but that people be would disappointed if we fail to secure these investments,” he said.

Read more:
Tory swing voters switch to Labour after Sunak’s green retreat, poll finds

On current predictions, business rates bills look likely to rise by a total of £1.56 billion next April, giving unsustainable rises to all sectors of the economy.

Rates bills rise in line with inflation and are based on the CPI figure for the previous September. With CPI announced at 6.7% for August, Colliers are expecting to see CPI figures at around 6% for September 2023, with the result  the total tax take from this tax will rise from around £26 billion in 2023/4 to £27.56 billion 2024/5 from next April.

This is unless the government steps in and freezes the business rates multiplier.

Last year, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt froze the multiplier for the current tax year, keeping it at 51.2p for every £1 of a commercial property’s rateable value, and 49.9p for small businesses.

Forty-four major British retailers have already written to the Chancellor ahead of his Autumn Statement, urging him to do the same again, otherwise they estimate an extra £400m will be added to the retailers cost base next year, particularly as Covid related reliefs come to an end.

However, as John Webber, Head of Business Rates at Colliers, points out, retail is not the only sector that will be penalised by this unsustainable tax. The logistics/manufacturing sector now pays 26% of the total business rates tax bill and has seen steep rises in its rates bills, as a result of the 2023 Revaluation. With inflation at 6%, Colliers estimate the sector will see its rates bills rise by around £406 million in April. Combined with the revaluation increases, Colliers estimates the Amazon London distribution park in Tilbury, for example will see its rates bill rise from around £4.7 million in 2023 to £6.7 million from April 2024- a massive £2 million increase- unless something is announced.

Similarly, the offices sector is expected to face an extra £354 million in its total rates bill. Barclays Bank in 1 Churchill Place in Canary Wharf, for example, will see its rates bills rise from around £9.1 million this year to £9.6 million in April 2024- a half a million pounds rise. At a time when companies are considering their office space requirement, this is certainly not going to help the “case” for investing in the office.

According to Webber such rises are unsustainable. “All sectors are suffering from increased costs, whether from increased wage bills, materials or energy costs. They cannot cope with the hike in rates bills too. Higher occupation costs will only dampen expansion and growth plans and for many businesses might be the last straw. The government must do something. Freezing the multiplier for 2024/5 is the first step, but only really papers over the issues. Ultimately, we need proper business rates reform.”

Webber has been an ardent campaigner for business reform and critical of successive governments that have totally failed to grab the nettle and just tinkered around the system or put it in the “too difficult box”. He believes the current system which provides £32billion gross (£26 billion net) for local authority funding is just unsustainable in current form, with the main issues being that rate bills are just too high and increasingly unaffordable for many businesses.

Webber continued, “In its 2019 Manifesto, the Conservative Party promised, “To cut the burden of tax on business by reducing business rates. This will be done via a fundamental review of the system.“ With rises of over £1.5 billion looming next year, it clearly has not fulfilled this promise. We urge the Chancellor to make a statement and to do it soon.”

Read more:
Businesses forecast to pay an extra £1.56 billion in rates bills next April 

Changing an industry to be a force for good comes from knowing that something is inherently broken and needs fixing.

It wasn’t until Guy and Abi Fennell were thinking of starting a family that they became aware of the damage that the baby industry creates – they were appalled at the amount of nappies that ended up in landfill and wipes from leading brands, that still to this day, contain plastic.

After running a wholesale business, buying branded FMCG products and supplying them all over the world, Guy felt certain that they had the right knowledge, contacts and drive to challenge the industry.

Just three years old, Pura is now knocking household names off the shop shelves and gaining much deserved respect. The brand has carried on in the face of much adversity – it launched during the global pandemic in June 2020 – innovating and paving its own path, driven by its belief that baby care should not harm the planet.

Guy takes the time to share Pura’s journey with us …

In terms of timing the market, how did you know it was the right time?

We started research about five years ago now and there was a lot of change happening at that time. Greta Thunberg had come on the scene and David Attenborough and the BBC were making some fabulous documentaries, such as War On Plastic alerting us to the devastating impact of plastic pollution. I just felt that there should be a real change. 90% of wipes in the UK contain plastic, and 3 billion nappies go into landfill annually. Looking around at other emerging brands and current brands that were adopting new methods, I just felt in my bones that this was the right time to drive change in the baby industry.

How long was the process from idea to launch?

It felt like ages! But in fact, it was just over two years. Designing a wipe for UK families that contained zero plastic and that wasn’t imported with a huge footprint from China was a huge challenge. We also needed to ensure it was high quality and good for babies’ skin. Our research went on and on – getting the formulation right, getting the wetness right, the size of the wipe, how the wipe comes out, the packet …

You brought Amanda Richards in as CMO from day one, what was behind your decision there?

Alongside R&D, getting our brand proposition right was crucial. Amanda is our CMO and a highly skilled marketing leader with 26 years of global brand marketing, media and innovation experience in FMCG and Health Tech for Unilever and Philips. And, after meeting her, I didn’t think that there was anyone better suited for the role and to bring Pura to life. How we talk to parents is so important. Instead of Abi and I on a soap box with a megaphone, calling out the issue of plastic pollution, Amanda helped us connect with the right creative agencies who could help us navigate the marketplace and create a tone of voice to get our message across without being preachy or patronising.

What is the attitude of your customers towards sustainability?

Research shows that families genuinely want to make the eco-friendly choice, yet when they hear eco-friendly, they assume it’s 25 to 45% more expensive than mainstream brands. So for us to succeed, we have to ‘democratise eco’ and make these products affordable for everybody.

Disrupting a marketplace is no mean feat, how is business going?

We’ve got tremendous listings here in the UK with the likes of Asda, Tesco, Boots to name only a few. And we’ve just recently launched in Walmart and Amazon across the US – so we’re doing something right! We will continue disrupting the market with baby products that are high quality, eco-friendly and affordable.

What keeps you striving forwards?

Our desire to really make a genuine change. Each time we get a new wipe listing, for example, we see it as a major success in providing parents with an affordable alternative to plastic wipes. This just pushes us forward to do more. So, you know, we’ve just got to stay nimble and make decisions fast. More and more retailers in the UK are banning plastic wipes. Tesco’s have banned plastic wipes on the shelves, Boots have banned them too, and more and more retailers will follow.

How do you rally your team?

I keep saying to the team in the office, it’s as if we’re a little electric speed boat and these big brand owners are in massive tankers. So they just take a very long time to make decisions or bring new products to market, while we are fast and agile and can speed ahead. This can mean life at Pura is very fast paced. When it comes to month end, quarter end, or year end, and we need to put in extra hours everyone is willing. But then, on the flip side, if the weather’s nice on a Friday and we’ve done well that week, we might take the afternoon off. It’s all about give and take. Everybody in the business has share options too, which was important to us.

Have you noticed a change in your business since becoming a B Corp?

Sustainability is at the core of every decision we make as a business and being a certified B Corporation means we’ve been officially acknowledged for meeting the highest standards of social and environmental impact. In simple terms, we’ve been recognised for putting people and the planet first!

The global B Corp certification scheme was created to people give transparency on the ethical, social and environmental performance of brands.

During the assessment, companies are scored on the positive impact they have on the planet, their staff and the communities they operate in. Based on the B Impact assessment, Pura earned an overall score of 82.1! The average score for businesses who complete the assessment is currently just 50.9.

As a B Corp we’ll be held accountable as we continually push ourselves to improve our impact, measured through our B Impact Assessment score every three years.

How do you stay on top of who your customer is?

Ongoing market research confirms that our core customer group is young parents who genuinely care about the planet and want to leave it in a better place than it is today. But they are super busy and face time and money constraints. That’s where we come in to provide an affordable alternative that suits their busy lifestyle and helps them take care of their families and their planet at the same time.

Outside of physical sales, how are you actively promoting change in the industry?

Our whole team is invested in achieving great things – we convinced Mumsnet to stop advertising brands who have plastic in their wipes, which is a mega step forward.

We’re also educating people on the benefits of nappy recycling through our Pura NappiCycle partnership. Nappy recycling is already happening in Wales and, last year, we held a trial in Bristol. We saved an impressive 6.3 tonnes of nappy waste from landfill – that’s the equivalent of more than 31,000 nappies – it was insane! The used nappies were given a second life and repurposed as engineered fibre for road surfaces, notice boards, panelling, insulation under laminate flooring. It was the first trial of its kind in England, and it was supported in an awareness drive by ASDA. We will conduct another, larger trial, next year. The success of this phase of the trial is just the start – we want to bring a nappy recycling service to households throughout the UK. This requires investment and government backing which, as a business, we will continue to lobby for, for the sake of our children’s futures.

Is more of your marketing budget spent on educating your customers as opposed to actually talking about the products themselves?

Yes – definitely. A lot of our social media and our paid digital is pushing the educational aspects, but we’re trying to be different and clever about how we do it as well. For example, we’ve also got a children’s book, Lily and The Wipe Monster where the lead character, Lily, is taking on fatbergs – masses of congealed grease and non-biodegradable matter including plastic wipes found blocking in sewers and drains. We gift our children’s book to nurseries across the UK and when anyone takes out a nappy or wipes subscription on mypura.com, they also get a copy as well.

What elements have been crucial to you in starting up with a mission as big as yours to disrupt an industry?

Firstly, ensuring we’ve had the funds to grow. We’ve got a fabulous CFO, Andy Johnson, he’s the former FD of AO.com. His job is to make sure that we’ve always got the right level of cash and that funding is there to enable us to grow and develop new categories. In February 2022, we received £4.25m through a funding round led by Maven Capital Partners. We’re raising funds again now, and we’ll be completing this raise very soon.

Secondly, making sure that the team members around me aren’t burning out, because taking on the big boys can be relentless! I’m constantly making sure that the team is on board and that we’re recruiting the right people at the right time. On that note, another sign of growth is that we’re attracting the best people within the business, which is then helping us grow further and that’s what makes me very proud.

Any other brands out there at the moment that you’re loving seeing come to life in the sustainability space?

Yes – a brand called Wild. They’re in the refill deodorant business and they’re doing what Pura is doing in the baby sector and taking on the big boys. They’re doing really well, their ethos and sustainability mission is pretty much mirrored to ours, we’re two brands aligned but in two different categories.

Read more:
Want to know how to change an entire industry? Ask Guy Fennell, Founder and CEO of Pura

In a transformative development for the construction, infrastructure and energy sectors, Igne emerges as a result of the consolidation of industry titans with over 350 years of combined experience, who are determined to reshape the sector’s approach to operational resilience, affordability and sustainability.

The six companies that have now merged to form the foundation of Igne are renowned for their excellence in delivering critical services, and are listed as follows:

SafeLane Global’s UK-based unexploded ordnance business in Gillingham, with a rich history of providing exceptional UXO management services
WB and AD Morgan, who are recognised for their expertise in water well, geothermal and complex drilling services
Raeburn Drilling and Geotechnical, including Raeburn Drilling Northern, with its strong track record in site investigation
Terra Tek, one of the largest providers of in-situ and laboratory geotechnical and chemical testing services in the UK
Allied Exploration & Geotechnics, specialists in ground investigation
DTS Raeburn, boasting extensive experience in geo-environmental services

This new entity is a testament to the industry’s commitment to evolution and excellence. By combining the strengths of these leading companies, Igne is uniquely positioned to deliver integrated solutions that address the multifaceted challenges within construction, infrastructure and energy ecosystems. Officially launching today, 2nd October 2023, Igne’s mission is to enhance the built environment, foster sustainable communities and drive positive transformation.

SafeLane’s international land and marine divisions will retain the SafeLane Global brand, while its German operations will continue as SafeLane Deutschland.

Rob Hunter, CEO at www.igne.com, spoke about the launch: “Igne is not just a merger, it’s a promise to redefine how we deliver services to our clients. By combining the strengths and talents of multiple industry leaders, we are now better equipped than ever to provide a holistic, integrated approach to addressing the complex challenges within the construction, infrastructure and energy sectors. This merger signifies our commitment to innovation, sustainability and excellence, and marks the beginning of a new chapter in our journey. By delivering our collective expertise and solutions through one supplier, not many, the formation of Igne will enable us to shape the future of these vital industries, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

Read more:
Igne goes live – merging six brands into one to re-shape the pre-construction services industry

Tens of thousands of benefit claimants will face lower payments if they fail to look for work, under a clampdown to be announced by Jeremy Hunt.

In a move to create a dividing line with Labour, the chancellor will set out plans to reduce state support for unemployed people who do not actively look for work or fail to accept job offers.

The sanctions regime will form part of a package of welfare measures to be announced by Hunt in next month’s autumn statement.

About 90,000 people who have been sanctioned for failing to look for work will find it harder to make new claims for universal credit. The move is designed to focus on those who do not “engage” with job centres or attend appointments with work coaches.

At the same time Hunt will announce that the government has accepted a recommendation from the Low Pay Commission to increase the national minimum wage from £10.42 to at least £11 an hour. The chancellor will say that the decision will benefit two million of the lowest-paid workers as part of a target for the national minimum wage to reach two thirds of median hourly pay by October next year.

But in an attempt to make welfare reform an issue in the general election he will tell the Conservative Party conference that at the same time he will make it harder for people to claim benefits if they refuse to take “active steps” to move into work. He will argue that while the benefits system needs to act as a “safety net”, since the pandemic too many people were leaving the workforce “for a life on benefits”.

He will say: “Paying for that safety net is a social contract that depends on fairness to those in work alongside compassion to those who are not. Since the pandemic, things have been going in the wrong direction. While companies struggle to find workers, around 100,000 people are leaving the labour force every year for a life on benefits. As part of that we will look at the way the sanctions regime works. It is a fundamental matter of fairness.”

Government sources said that details of the sanctions regime were being finalised between the Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions. “There are too many people who can work but are choosing not to,” they said. “It is a problem that has been growing since the pandemic.”

Hunt is not expected to announce any tax cuts today despite calls from the right of the party. Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary, said he wanted to “see the tax burden reduced before the next election”, adding he favoured tax cuts for working people over scaling back inheritance tax.

Read more:
Hunt tells jobless: Make more effort to find a job or face benefit cuts

A technology company has cancelled its trial of a four-day working week after finding the scheme increased staff stress, made them unhappy and did not improve productivity.

Krystal, an internet services firm in London, introduced a four-day operation in June, saying it would run the experiment for six months. The aim was to improve staff wellbeing and therefore provide a better service to clients. It cited research saying a four-day week raised productivity by 40 per cent.

However, Simon Blackler, the company’s founder, has admitted it had failed. He said staff had become more stressed as they tried to complete the same amount of work in less time, and that customer service via its helpline had worsened.

In an email to customers Blackler wrote: “While team members did have the benefit of an extra day off, we discovered that the extra recovery time did not increase output by the 20 per cent necessary to replace that which had been lost.”

He added: “While the team fought admirably to keep on top of work and turned around responses as quickly as possible it came at a cost — work time was now much more stressful than before. The opposite of what we were trying to accomplish. During the trial you may have experienced support that was slower than you’re used to or not the usual quality. If that’s the case then I’d like to apologise and can reassure you that things will be returning to normal next week.”

The return to a five-day week starts today, he said, adding: “While the outcome isn’t what we expected, I’m glad that we tried. Our heart was in the right place and the exercise hasn’t been a total failure. After listening to feedback we’ve made a major adjustment I hope will improve staff work-life balance with fewer trade-offs — staff can now finish at 5pm instead of 6pm and have more evening time.”

Earlier this year, the results of the world’s biggest four-day working week pilot were revealed and academics and companies involved in the project hailed it as a “resounding success”.

The study by the University of Cambridge and the campaign group, 4 Day Week Global, reported that switching to a four-day week increased revenue while also improving staff happiness and reducing burnout. However, Liz Watts, the chief executive of South Cambridgeshire district council, which was involved in the study, is said to have edited a report on the scheme to make it more positive.

She was accused of a “cover-up” after she asked for the removal of a quote by a manager, who said that at the beginning of the trial they were doing unfinished work on their day off and it had a negative impact on their wellbeing.

Cambridge academics also faced questions about the independence of their glowing assessment of the scheme after it emerged that they allowed the council to edit their report.

Read more:
Four-day week made staff more stressed, says tech firm

The Royal family’s official website was forced offline after being targeted in a cyber attack for which Russian hackers have claimed responsibility.

It is understood that the website was down for about an hour and a half on Sunday morning but that no access to the site, systems or content was gained.

Russian hacker group Killnet took responsibility for the denial of service (DoS) attack, which is when sites are disrupted because they are bombarded and overloaded with superfluous traffic.

The Royal family’s website was up and running again by midday but had earlier displayed an “error” message to anyone attempting to access it. DoS attacks differ from hacking in that the people targeting the website do not actually gain access or control of the site.

Buckingham Palace insiders suggested that it was impossible to know at this stage who was responsible for the attack.

KillMilk, the leader of Russian hacking group Killnet, claimed responsibility for the attack on social networking site Telegram.

Responding to the news, cyber expert Oseloka Obiora, CTO, RiverSafe said: “Whether you are a prince of pauper, cyber criminals are coming for you and this incident is another reminder of the dangers posed by sophisticated online attacks.

“Moving forward, organisations of all shapes and sizes need to urgently update their cyber defences, both in terms of skills and software, to prevent malicious hackers from achieving their insidious objectives,” he added.

Last year the group was named in a joint warning about cyberattacks on critical infrastructure from the “Five Eyes” alliance, made up of intelligence agencies in the UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

By 2.00pm on Sunday, the Royal website appeared to be working only intermittently and was sometimes slow to load.

Read more:
Royal Family website targeted in cyber attack

82 per cent of businesses have changed their office space needs to accommodate a flexible working approach which includes more than half of businesses opening offices or working spaces outside of city centres, according to a new survey from IWG.

The survey of 500 businesses found that 54 per cent of organisations now have offices or co-working spaces outside of main city centres while 38 per cent have second locations in commuter towns as businesses attempt to accommodate staff who desire more flexible working.

Employers are said to face challenges regarding the new flexible approach and the statistics support this claim as businesses attempt to accommodate the needs of staff, while organisations such as HSBC have said they would move their global headquarters away from Canary Wharf to smaller office after more than two decades.

Assessments on current productivity when compared to pre-pandemic levels show no clear sign of change and the research found that 73 per cent of businesses have been able to cut their office space costs as a result of reduced central city office space needs while 36 per cent say they are paying less in expenses for staff travel.

Sridhar Iyengar, Managing Director for Zoho Europe, commented:  “Working models have changed in recent years due to the pandemic. Businesses should focus on adapting to new working models to accommodate the needs and wants of their workers and improve employee experience, in order to stay competitive. The emergence of hybrid working as a long-term working model has begun to reduced reliance on city centres. It’s good to see some businesses now relocating outside of city centres, which saves money and brings further benefits to employees and communities in addition.

“Locating outside of traditional busy, overcrowded cities can help distribute economic wealth more effectively. Opportunities can be brought to more rural areas, rather than the usual drain of talent seen with workers moving away to where the opportunities exist in cities. Quality of life is improved for employees, who can be nearer their families, enjoy a more affordable lifestyle and enjoy more space and less crowding in their surrounding areas.

“Businesses need to consider several factors carefully when developing effective hybrid or remote working models. Cost, employee experience, company culture, communication and productivity all play a key part. Technology plays a crucial role in any remote work as employers should look to create a seamless working experience for their employees whether they are home or office based, and wherever they may be located. Robust and unified systems incorporating a variety of ways to communicate and collaborate make a huge difference, as well as having the ability to access real-time data to make informed business decisions. Ensuring employees are able to deliver just as effectively in their roles whether they are in the office or working remotely, not only helps with staff motivation but it boosts productivity, ultimately enabling a business to drive success.“

Joanna Kori, Head of People at Encompass Corporation, commented: “Today, flexibility is a key differentiator, with an increasing number of people favouring a hybrid model of working, so it is no surprise that organisations are making changes to accommodate the evolving needs of the workforce.

“While a return to the office, as we have witnessed across many sectors, can bring significant benefits, including in areas such as productivity, team collaboration and engagement, many employees still value all that comes with being able to have some level of choice in where they work.

“Employers should ensure employee satisfaction is top of the agenda by offering work arrangements that take these needs and wants into consideration, or risk losing staff for whom salary and job title are no longer the sole deciding factors when considering their career paths. The battle for talent continues and without prioritising policies that support employees in maintaining the work-life balance they desire, businesses will ultimately lose out.”

Mark Dixon, chief executive of IWG, commented:  “It’s clear that the old ways of working, with a daily unproductive and expensive commute, are long gone. Businesses are realising that not only does hybrid working make sense for their bottom lines, it also benefits their workforces.”

“It’s encouraging to see that businesses are translating their hybrid working savings into real benefits for employees. Not only does this help in the immediate term, with improved productivity and wellbeing, but it will also help them retain and recruit the best talent.”

Read more:
Over 80 per cent of firms have changed to accommodate hybrid working

With the news that FTSE bosses received an average 16 per cent pay rise last year, relations between senior leaders and employees in the corporate world are becoming increasingly strained.

Whilst this widening pay gap is not currently reflected among SMEs, the need for smaller businesses to monitor and nurture internal relationships is equally necessary in the face of continued economic challenges such as the cost-of-living crisis.

Eman Al-Hillawi, CEO of business change consultancy, Entec Si, explains that unlike big corporates, SMEs are particularly susceptible to the smallest of business changes, such as the introduction of a new digital tool, which can have a detrimental impact on the workforce and the personal relationships employees have with their senior leaders. Continually evolving the workplace culture is one vital solution to ensure that everyone remains on the same page. In adopting a back-to-basics approach through collaboration, listening exercises and sharing a deeper understanding of the workforce, SMEs can help to strengthen internal bonds throughout the most complex of change journeys.

Leveraging transparency

The years that followed the pandemic have proven challenging for many SMEs. Last year, over two thirds of SMEs were reportedly fighting for survival worldwide and thinktank data has estimated that by 2024, debts accrued during the COVID-19 crisis, high borrowing costs and the squeeze of the cost-of-living crisis could spell the demise of 7,000 businesses per quarter in Britain. These pressures have caused cost cuts and redundancies and gradually magnified workplace tensions.

Amid such disruption, it is crucial for SME leaders to address employee pain points as part of a wider effort to stimulate continuous cultural change and maintain healthy professional relationships. Transparency is fundamental in this regard, allowing problem areas to be discussed and solutions to be established. Instead of prescribing a set agenda of activities to draw out workforce hang ups, it can be more effective for senior leaders to encourage openness in a simple discussion.

Aligning with the back-to-basics approach, this could include setting aside time for the entire business to divulge concerns in one place. In contrast to the surveys that are often distributed in corporates to capture this feedback, such meetings often prompt honesty more effectively, removing anonymity and enabling individuals to provide context to the issues raised. This transparency goes both ways too, as senior leaders can use this opportunity to outline business objectives, articulate the implications of long-term strategic changes and collaborate with workers to mitigate problems that could arise from such transformations.

Addressing negative dynamics

When endeavouring to sustain working relationships throughout a business change, it is equally important that unhealthy dynamics are addressed. For SMEs, where senior leaders often make personal sacrifices and are generally closer to the workforce than their big corporate counterparts, emotional attachments and parent-child relationships between leaders and workers are common. As a result, these family-like dynamics can inherently give rise to disputes and negative feelings toward leaders and create widespread unhappiness throughout the business.

It follows that such relationships must be balanced with the empowerment of workers to actively take part in decision-making and adopt greater autonomy overall. This can be achieved by increasing the responsibilities of workers in their strength areas and having a shared knowledge of the unique characteristics and working styles of each individual. Conducting personality tests is an easy and proactive measure to take; and will provide individuals with a greater awareness of their working styles and subsequently prevent interactions which could pre-empt conflict. Identifying the unique traits of workers will also help to ensure strategic changes, such as the recruitment of new employees, cause minimal disruption to business outcomes in future.

Managing intergenerational conflict

Another source of disturbance to relationships between senior leaders and workers are generational nuances. The coexistence of up to five generations in the workplace, each of which possesses different values, perspectives and experiences, can inevitably lead to potential conflicts. This can be particularly difficult to navigate when generational rifts occur between senior leaders and workers, which can aggravate existing pain points. Such is the impact of generational conflict that research has even shown that failure to acknowledge generational differences can bring about breakdowns in communication, reduced productivity and poor employee wellbeing.

To overcome these obstacles, it is necessary to identify the real cause of tensions rather than focusing on stereotypes. Establishing clear lines of communication and avoiding templated solutions will support this by allowing individuals to openly work through difficulties. Creating intergenerational harmony stems from managing expectations of how people work and promoting honesty to dispel preconceived ideas or biases.

Encouraging self-governance

When it comes to bridging the gaps between leaders and workers in the SME world, redundancies and dismissals require particular sensitivity. Unlike large corporates, SMEs often do not have the luxury of moving employees into a different role when their current position is no longer suitable, meaning senior leaders are faced with the difficult decision of laying off staff when needed. Due to the close-knit environment of SMEs, this can have wider ramifications for the business including worker disengagement and feelings of being undervalued.

Whilst senior leaders have a duty of care to carry out the necessary legal procedures and prioritise honesty when dismissing employees, there is a degree of responsibility that lies with workers to understand if their current occupation aligns with their own aspirations. Often, senior leaders in SMEs are under pressure to develop the careers of their employees due to the parental role they occupy and whilst this is not misplaced, it is important that workers feel equally empowered to drive their own change journeys.

Collaboration and clarity are therefore essential. Workers should reflect on the challenges they experience in their role and communicate these honestly with leaders to determine if such barriers can be overcome or are an indication to move on. Equally, leaders should aim to facilitate transparency and ensure that workers are able to explore their opinions in a safe space.

Given that SMEs represent 90 per cent of businesses worldwide and contribute to more than half of the GDP in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, reinforcing the working relationships between senior leaders and workers is critical. Driving an ongoing evolution of cultural transformation is a must and will ensure that SMEs can weather strategic business changes in the long term.

Read more:
Stability in SMEs: Why is cultural change key to bridging leader-worker gaps?