Today's Boardroom Issue 4

ISSUE 4 • WWW.TODAYSBOARDROOM.CO.UK 

IN THIS EDITION: 

THE MERITS OF FINANCIAL PLANNING, 

AS WELL AS GDPR ONE YEAR ON 

AND ITS IMPACT ON CEOS 

Today’s Boardroom • Issue 4 

1

Clean up with 

Geesinknorba 

6 FINANCIAL PLANNING 

IN THIS EDITION: 

6 FINANCIAL PLANNING: 

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED 

9 BUSINESSES MUST DO 

MORE TO PROTECT FROM CYBER 

SECURITY BREACHES 

22 HR LESSONS 

10 Mistrust in the Numbers: The 

Global Scale of Financial Data 

14 GENDER PAY GAP REPORTING - 

AN OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE 

YOUR ORGANISATION’S SUCCESS? 

14 GENDER PAY GAP 

16 TRANSFORMING FLEET MANAGEMENT 

WITH THE USE OF DATA 

18 WORRIED ABOUT ULEZ? THE AA 

IS HERE TO HELP 

Need to cut diesel emissions while 

maintaining operational efficiency? 

Let us help you clean up. 

Geesinknorba has been developing 

environmentally-friendly alternatives 

to diesel since 2003, culminating in 

our tried-and-tested Li-on battery 

technology. 

We use it in our hybrid vehicles for 

clean, efficient, fuel-saving operations in 

rural and longer rounds. 

30 BUSINESS FINANCES 

34 GDPR 

22 FOUR HR LESSONS CEOS CAN LEARN 

TO HELP THEIR BUSINESS GROW 

24 MIND LAUNCH MENTAL HEALTH 

TRAINING TOOLKIT FOR SMALL 

BUSINESSES 

26 Praxis Centre: 

unique leadership solutions 

30 FOUR DIFFICULTIES FACED 

BY CEOS WHEN PLANNING THEIR 

BUSINESS FINANCES 

34 GDPR ONE YEAR ON - 

HOW HAVE CEOS RESPONDED? 

And we use the same technology in 

fully-electric vehicles for cost-effective, 

quiet, emissions-free collections in 

shorter urban rounds. 

With a wide range of vehicle bodies 

designed to work with maximum 

efficiency with Li-ion technology, we 

offer hybrid or fully electric vehicles to 

suit every need. 

Cut costs. Cut emissions. Clean up with 

Geesinknorba, the experts in hybrid and 

electric vehicles. 

Llantrisant Business Park Llantrisant Pontyclun CF72 8XZ 

Tel: +44 (0)1443 222301 Fax: +44 (0)1443 237192 

www.geesinknorba.com sales.uk@geesinknorba.com 

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: 

Sales & Advertising: 

01625 682017 

sales@todaysboardroom.co.uk.co.uk 

Design: Adrian North 

adrian.north@todaysboardroom.co.uk 

Editor: John Train 

john.train@businessbritainmedia.co.uk 

Dynamic Business Media 

The Ropewalks, Newton Street, 

Macclesfield SK11 6QJ 

ABOOUT: 

Today’s Boardroom is a unique 

business to business marketing 

platform aimed at bringing together 

the best of British Business and 

providing the opportunity to showcase 

products and services relevant to the 

development and success of British 

companies in the domestic and 

international market place. 


3

GEESINKNORBA’S ALL ELECTRIC JOURNEY 

From climate change to clean air, pressures to reduce 

our impact on the environment are mounting in 

every walk of life. But in the waste recycling industry, 

Geesinknorba has for many years been leading the 

way towards an emissions-free future. 

And that future arrived earlier this year 

as the first all-electric refuse collection 

vehicles (RCV) glided onto the UK roads. 

The new Li-on Power Pro uses 

Geesinknorba’s GPM IV body, which 

had been electrically powered in its 

hybrid vehicles for several years, but 

now mounted on a chassis that is 

also battery powered. 

It is developments in lithium-ion 

battery technology that have now 

enabled batteries to store enough 

energy to drive the chassis too. 

Geesinknorba developed its own 

battery packs and the software to 

manage them produced a vehicle 

that has sparked interest across 

the industry. 

UK Business Director Mick Hill 

said: “Geesinknorba was the first 

company to bring hybrid RCVs to 

the UK – as far back as 2009 – and 

these vehicles, with bodies powered 

by electricity from battery packs, 

have since become familiar across 

Europe, from London to Barcelona. 

“But it is the driving around of a heavy 

RCV that is the real energy-sapping 

part of a waste collection operation. 

“While early batteries were powerful 

enough to operate the lifting, 

compaction and tipping aspects 

of waste collection, the range they 

allowed RCVs without having to 

be recharged was so small that it 

wasn’t a commercially viable option. 

“But recent developments to both 

lithium ion batteries and RCVs mean 

the sums now add up. 

“Our GPM IV body ¬– launched 

back in 2015 – was designed to be 

thoroughly energy efficient. The 

designers significantly reduced 

weight of the body – which is made 

with one-piece, high-strength pressed 

steel sides – without compromising 

on strength or durability of the body. 

“And they further reduced weight 

and redistributed it for greater 

efficiency by moving key electronic 

and hydraulic components closer to 

the elements they are serving and 

away from the tailgate. 

“The battery technology followed 

a similar pattern and we now have 

smaller, lighter battery packs storing 

enough electricity to power the allelectric 

Li-on Power Pro on a complete 

round without recharging.” 

The all-electric RCVs are currently 

targeted at urban rounds where 

vehicles travel relatively short distances 

before they’ve collected enough 

material to need emptying. 

But urban areas are where action to 

reduce emissions is most urgently 

needed. Earlier this year, doctors 

warned that lives of people in 

the UK were being cut short by 

particulates and nitrous oxides from 

diesel engines. 

It is estimated that a typical, 

conventionally powered RCV will 

consume around 70 litres of diesel 

fuel a day, adding up to the annual 

emission of 52 tonnes of CO2, 

160kg of CO and 380kg of NOX 

gases – plus particulates. 

In comparison, the Li-On Power Pro 

will produce none of these directly. 

Instead, its batteries will be charged 

by electricity which is increasingly 

likely to be produced from renewable 

energy sources. Several larger 

operators are already considering 

the installation of wind turbines at 

their own depots. 

“Many local authorities are already 

taking action to reduce the problem 

with more than 200 towns and 

cities in 14 countries across Europe 

already operating or about to 

introduce low emission zones (LEZ) ,” 

said Mick Hill. 

“In the UK, London introduced its LEZ 

in 2008 and will introduce its ultra-LEZ 

in 2019 and many others are planning 

to introduce clean air zones (CAZ). 

“Geesinknorba is at the heart of 

the waste and recycling industry. 

As an RCV manufacturer, we have 

a key role to play in cleaning up the 

streets, minimising our impact on 

the environment and boosting the 

circular economy. We should be part 

of the solution – not contributing to 

the problem. 

“So it’s down to use to produce vehicles 

that have as little impact on the 

environment as possible. We led the 

way with hybrid vehicles and we’ve done 

it again with all-electric Li-On Power Pro. 

“We can’t wave a magic wand and do 

away with diesel vehicles overnight 

– they will still be needed for the 

foreseeable future. But we’re now giving 

a lot of customers a genuine option of 

operating emissions-free RCVs. And 

the technology that enables this is 

only going to continue to develop.” 

4 Today’s Boardroom • Issue 4 Today’s Boardroom • Issue 4 5

companies. For these organisations, 

cross-function communication is 

even more difficult, but vital to a 

good planning process. 

FINANCIAL PLANNING: 

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED 

For the last three decades, Metapraxis has 

helped businesses through its unique financial 

analytics capability. 

Simon Bittlestone, 

CEO, 

Metapraxis 

But, how can analytics be used 

by CEOs to ensure their financial 

planning is sound and sensible? 

Simon Bittlestone, CEO of Metapraxis, 

reveals all. 

Today, more than ever, CFOs and 

management teams have to plan 

properly and effectively to ensure 

they achieve their strategic goals. 

Whilst the traditional challenges 

remain, the board is also dealing 

with an unpredictable political 

and economic climate, which 

not only affects the markets in 

which they operate but also how 

they plan for the future. With so 

much uncertainty ahead, it’s key 

that business leaders know what 

these challenges are and how to 

address them. 

RECOGNISING THE CHALLENGES 

Financial planning starts with target 

setting. Companies need to outline 

their goals for the upcoming year 

in line with the overall business 

strategy. To ensure success, it’s vital 

to keep these targets realistic and 

achievable. However, more often 

than not, businesses underestimate 

the importance of historical and 

market performance data. Building 

a model of the business that allows 

the board to see the performance 

trends across products and services 

in the context of the market 

performance means it stands a much 

better chance of getting the right 

starting point as it plans for the year 

ahead. Furthermore, by painting a 

better picture of the company, and 

understanding the various business 

nuances, companies can plan to 

mitigate potential business risks from 

the outset. 

The next hurdle is actually putting 

a plan in place that delivers upon 

the business objectives. Often, this 

means finance teams embarking on 

the painful process of setting the 

goals from the top and the rest of 

the business responding with plans 

from the bottom, with repeated 

iterations until they meet. However, 

this approach throws up numerous 

red flags. 

First, it shows a lack of collaboration 

between teams. So much of 

what makes a plan effective 

lies with good communication 

between departments to make 

sure everything is aligned. Poor 

communication is a common 

problem, only exacerbated by the 

global reach of a growing number of 

Second, whilst Excel is often the 

tool of choice for businesses, it is 

simply not sophisticated enough. 

To reduce the time and resources 

taken up by the planning process, 

businesses must take advantage of 

the technology at their disposal. The 

ability to run quick ‘what if’ top-down 

scenarios and show the impact of 

them is key, especially as CFOs need 

to be more agile in today’s world. 

This is just not possible with the use 

of Excel. 

The influence of politics and socioeconomic 

factors, as well as the 

speed at which today’s digitally 

enabled world makes things happen, 

makes markets far more uncertain. 

As a result, CFOs need to be far more 

agile in their approach to financial 

planning. With fast-moving markets, 

there’s a big case for implementing 

a rolling planning process given 

that there’s the technical capability 

and data inputs to do it. By running 

multiple scenarios and sensitivity 

analyses, CFOs can adapt plans 

according to the reality of the market 

at any given time. 


SAFEGUARD THE FUTURE 

From Brexit to Trump, there are 

so many uncontrollable factors 

influencing the current market and 

causing financial uncertainty. Despite 

being uncontrollable, CFOs don’t have 

to resign themselves to being unable 

to plan for them. In fact, doing so will 

help safeguard business performance. 

One of the best ways to help 

companies adapt quickly to external 

change is having a rolling budget and 

flexible plan. It’s no longer sensible, 

or necessary, to run a one-off 

annual planning process. The ability 

to successfully achieve set goals 

increasingly depends on the ability 

to identify future uncertainties, risks 

and changes, and react to them. 

Fortunately, financial analytics 

technology can make this a reality. 

By mapping all the key driving factors 

of performance across the business, 

they can effectively undergo scenario 

modelling. This allows the board to 

analyse how various future scenarios 

might pan out and what the impact 

might be on the business, and 

then use this information to inform 

decisions. This can be done for both 

business performance or internal 

structure changes as well as how 

various external events might affect 

the business. 

For example, scenario modelling 

can be used to test the impact of 

a divestment or acquisition in the 

existing product portfolio. Having 

this technology in place also 

consolidates data from across the 

business, making it easily accessible 

and improving communication 

between management and financial 

accounting and ensuring all areas of 

the business are on the same page. 

Should there be any unexpected 

changes in leadership, trends and 

insights can be accessed quickly 

and easily, limiting the impact 

on performance. Keeping these 

models updated is vital to ensure 

the company can act on the most 

relevant information. 

TAKING IT ONE STEP FURTHER 

There are other practical steps 

management teams can follow 

to help safeguard the business. 

Planning on lower base growth rates 

is sensible as it will give greater 

room to manoeuvre whilst regional 

diversification, where possible, 

allows CFOs to take into account the 

performance of different products 

or services in different regions, both 

within the UK and globally. Not all 

services will perform in the same 

way everywhere, and each region 

is likely to be affected by different 

external factors. By understanding 

these nuances, business leaders 

can get a better grasp of the current 

climate and plan accordingly. That 

said, it’s vital that the board doesn’t 

get bogged down in data and 

planning for every single eventuality 

– context and communication are 

always the most vital elements of 

any business plan. 

This aside, CFOs and leadership 

teams should always keep the cash 

flow at the heart of any decision. 

Having full transparency on the 

all products and services means 

they can increase the emphasis on 

products and services with more 

positive cash flows, making the 

business more profitable and able to 

deal with fluctuations. 

SUMMING UP 

The purpose of financial planning is 

to set out the business goals for the 

years ahead in order to work towards 

achieving the overall strategic 

objectives. This used to be a very 

insular process – there was no need 

for management to take anything 

other than its own internal factors 

into account and planning according 

to the business’ own financial year 

was very much the ‘norm’. 

Now, with change all around the 

ability to adapt to fluctuations is 

hugely important to any board 

member, particularly the CFO, when 

it comes to successful financial 

planning. Scenario modelling and 

financial analytics allow for rolling 

plans and CFOs to be more agile in 

their approach. This, along with more 

prudent base planning assumptions 

will allow the board to prepare the 

business to weather most storms. 

BUSINESSES MUST DO MORE TO PROTECT 

FROM CYBER SECURITY BREACHES 

Businesses in the UK – and in particular, 

small firms – must do more to protect from 

cyber security breaches. 

The data from the Cyber Security 

Breaches reveals a worrying lack of 

planning for any potential hacking. 

According to the available 

information, 43% of businesses 

experienced a breach in cyber 

security over the last 12 months; 

the fact that almost three quarters 

of businesses say security from 

data breaches and hacking is a high 

priority for senior management in 

their organisation would suggest an 

understanding of the problem, and a 

willingness to get a handle on this. 

However, the number of 

organisations with a cyber security 

policy in place has worryingly fallen 

over the last 12 months covered by 

the government’s data. 

And the figure for small firms is even 

worse; only 26% of these businesses 

have a formal policy in place. 

This is surprising when you consider 

that 42% of SMEs – that is those that 

are employing less than 50 people 

– have been breached over the last 

year, with 20% of these businesses 

taking more than a day to recover 

from the breach. 

What is even more shocking is that 

less than 20% of small firms actually 

train their staff to be cyber aware. 

It highlights the need for 

businesses to undertake a few 

techniques that will help to protect 

their organisations from all but the 

most determined and sophisticated 

hackers. 

The government recommends 

employees should download 

software and app updates as soon 

as they appear; strong passwords 

should be put in place – all different 

from the last – with numbers, 

symbols, upper and lower case 

letters all included. 

Elsewhere, emails that are deemed 

suspicious need to be deleted; 

malicious emails are one way in 

which security breaches are initiated, 

so removing them immediately 

would prevent this. 

Crucially, businesses should always 

update staff and other stakeholders 

about the importance of security, 

therefore spreading good practice. 

8 Today’s Boardroom • Issue 4 


9

in the news could be just the tip of a 

larger financial inaccuracy iceberg. 

Not only are reporting errors 

prevalent, but many of these 

inaccuracies remain hidden below 

the surface. In fact, 26% of survey 

respondents stated concern over 

errors they know must exist, but of 

which they have no visibility. 

stretch into the tens of millions of 

dollars (or more), then the number 

of hidden inaccuracies across the 

global business community could 

be staggering. 

WHERE’S THE ACCOUNTABILITY? 

COUNTING THE COST OF HIDDEN 

INACCURACIES 

MISTRUST IN THE NUMBERS: 

THE GLOBAL SCALE OF FINANCIAL 

DATA INACCURACIES 

In an age of increasing global competition and 

unpredictable economies, the pressure to ensure 

accurate reporting and make informed business 

decisions is mounting. 

And yet, nearly 70% of global 

business leaders and finance 

professionals claim their 

organisation has made a significant 

business decision based on 

inaccurate financial data. Over 55% 

are not completely confident they 

can identify financial errors before 

reporting results. 

These findings are from a global 

survey of over 1,100 C-suite 

executives and finance professionals, 

commissioned by BlackLine to gauge 

confidence levels in financial data 

and the perceived impact of errors 

on the business. 

Maintaining trust is important at 

all levels of an organisation. But, 

trust in Finance—in the numbers— 

is the first step toward a healthy, 

trustworthy company. 

And that’s exactly why this issue 

keeps so many C-suite executives 

awake at night, wondering whether 

the numbers are right. 

Our global survey explores how 

the C-suite feels about their own 

numbers: whether they have 

adequate visibility into potential 

inaccuracies, how prevalent 

inaccuracies are within their own 

organisation, and the perceived 

implications of getting it wrong. 

Below are some of the key results. 

You can get your copy of the full 

report here. 

BETTING YOUR BUSINESS ON 

INACCURATE FINANCIAL DATA 

Executives are tasked with making the 

best decisions for the business every 

day, and they rely on financial data to 

inform many of those decisions. It’s 

alarming to discover that nearly seven 

of every ten respondents believe 

that their organisation has made 

significant business decisions based 

on inaccurate data. 

While 71% of C-suite respondents 

claimed to completely trust the 

accuracy of their financial data, only 

38% of finance professionals said 

the same. 

Additionally, almost seven in 10 

respondents think that either they 

or their CEO has made a significant 

business decision based on out-ofdate 

or incorrect financial data. 

It’s also concerning that so many 

organisations are not confident in 

their ability to identify errors and 

ensure accurate reporting. The highprofile 

misreporting scandals we see 

The consequences for inaccurate 

reporting are severe. Nearly all the 

C-level respondents agreed that if 

inaccuracies in financial data were 

not identified prior to reporting, the 

impact would be negative. 

This impact includes significant 

reputational damage, potential 

inability to secure additional 

investment, and increasing debt 

levels, with almost a third fearing 

fines and jail time. 

Additionally, many large organisations 

are constantly fixing financial errors in 

their accounts. Almost 22% of C-suite 

respondents said it takes up to 10 

days per month for their organisation 

to identify errors and make 

adjustments, potentially wasting as 

many as 114 days each year. 

“ What’s interesting about this research 

is that it highlights a real desire 

for more accountability across the 

industry,” says Wendy Shapiro, 

Senior Vice President, Finance 

Transformation at Teladoc Heath. 

“ Finance professionals are tired of 

unacceptably high margins of error 

and are becoming far more aware 

of the risks associated with incorrect 

reporting. Clearly it is time for a 

culture change; one that sees every 

level of an organisation become more 

transparent and accountable.” 

If just one company’s unseen 

accounting discrepancies can 

According to the survey, 41% of 

respondents are more aware 

than ever of the risks of incorrect 

reporting, and ready to see more 

accountability in the industry. Over 

three fourths (77%) of respondents 

went so far as to say that audit 

committees should have the same 

accountability as the CFO for 

reporting inaccurate financials. 

These metrics speak to an 

underlying mistrust in the numbers, 

specifically by finance professionals 

who are not in upper management. 

Moving forward, it’s imperative that 

CFOs regain this lost trust and make 

moves to ensure the reliability and 

accuracy of financial data. 



11

In this vein, 38% of respondents 

have reviewed internal and external 

audit processes, with 28% claiming 

to have changed their company’s 

reporting processes. 

While this type of reform certainly plays 

a role in renewing trust in the process, 

finance automation is the logical next 

step to ensure accountability when 

reporting financial data. 

The right technology enforces 

accountability by maintaining 

complete audit trails for transactions. It 

bolsters integrity through segregationof-duties 

controls, so a single user 

can’t perform both the preparer and 

reviewer function on the same account 

reconciliation, for example. 

functions. Reports are consistent in 

content and style, and accompanying 

documentation is available to all users. 

It also elevates Accounting and 

Finance’s confidence in the 

company’s future, and ensures that 

important business decisions are 

made based on the most accurate 

and relevant information available. 

and updated technology mitigates 

the reliance on clunky spreadsheets 

and outdated processes that lead to 

inaccurate data and increased risk. 

WHAT’S A CFO TO DO? 

This survey illustrates a desire for 

more accountability, quality data, 

and trust in the numbers by finance 

leaders, which perfectly positions 

Accounting and Finance to implement 

digital automation into their processes. 

And while it’s a positive sign that 41% 

of CFOs surveyed claim that they 

have implemented technology to 

mitigate the risk of inaccuracy, this 

number illustrates room for growth 

within the industry. 

“ Unlocking the value of information and 

financial data is much more important 

than routine reporting, and if done well, 

a key competitive advantage,” says Tony 

Klimas, Principal, Global Performance 

Improvement Finance Leader at EY. 

“ Yet many companies still haven’t 

implemented technology to enable this 

capability, despite the many advances 

in automation and cloud-based 

solutions, which reduce the required 

investment and time to implement. 

“ It is time for businesses to treat their 

financial data like an asset and invest 

in the technology, tools and people 

to turn information and data into 

strategic insights.” 

ENSURING QUALITY WITHIN THE 

MASSIVE QUANTITIES OF DATA 

Implementing the right technology 

is equally essential to head off high 

margins of error, particularly now 

that the business world is generating 

more data and greater business 

complexity than ever before. An 

integrated automation platform helps 

maintain the integrity of numbers and 

processes in several ways. 

For one, it keeps a centralised database 

of all accounting information, updated in 

real time for use by various accounting 

Of those who do not completely trust 

the accuracy of their financial data, 41% 

cited manual inputs leading to human 

error as their top concern. But, the 

C-suite’s top perceived challenge was 

disparate data sources, and uncertainty 

that all data is accounted for. 

Implementing a digital finance solution 

addresses both concerns. Manual inputs 

are enabled but not required, and all 

financial data is stored and updated in 

a centralised repository that is readily 

available for all reporting needs. 

Automated checks and controls 

enable vast amounts of data to be 

collected and processed in real time, 

“ As business gets more global and 

complex, the definition of accuracy 

also becomes more complex,” says 

Ralph Canter, managing director of 

financial management at KPMG. 

“ Whether something is accurate depends 

on the question being asked. Today’s 

strategy is challenged by dimensions 

beyond reporting legal entity. Customer, 

market, and product line information 

are required by executives to compete 

in today’s environment. 

“ Enhanced data models augmented 

with new cloud technology can be 

a key component in the response to 

accuracy.” 

FURTHER INFORMATION 

Get your copy of the full survey 

report to go deeper into what our 

research revealed. You’ll also learn 

how new technologies can enable 

continuous visibility and accuracy 

of your financial data. 

PROCESS BLISS RESEARCH REVEALS NEED 

FOR GREATER HR AND LEADERSHIP 

New research from Process Bliss has underlined 

the need for good HR practices in SMEs. 

This is because the research from the 

process management firm revealed 

that almost half of SME employees 

have quit a job because they felt 

management professionals did not 

treat them properly. 

Approximately 40% have also 

cited a lack of trust and value from 

their current employers, which will 

ultimately add to poor employee 

retention figures outlined by 

Process Bliss. 

The firm also said that 60% of 

employees within UK SMEs say they 

believe they would work better if 

their managers would allow them to 

get on with their work. 

Elsewhere, 40% of respondents 

revealed they believe employer 

interference is affecting company 

productivity, whilst 42% even think 

they could do a better job. 

What is not open to debate is the 

fact that better management, 

stronger leadership and improved 

HR methods could stoop many of 

these issues at source. 

Alister Esam, CEO at Process Bliss, 

said: “Being a strong and effective 

SME leader is one of the toughest 

challenges someone can face. 

“People always assume that because 

someone is ‘the boss’ they know 

exactly what they are doing, but the 

truth is that many bosses are simply 

making it up as they go along. 

“A good leader will support the 

business and make sure it has what 

it needs to be successful, ensuring 

that employees are empowered to 

make their own decisions and are 

motivated and happy in their role.” 

It is certainly advice that CEOs 

within SMEs – and in larger 

companies too – would be wise to 

adhere to; if these organisations 

could bring improve their own 

leadership standards, it would lead 

to a much happier workforce. 

Similarly, employees need to feel 

empowered to air any grievances 

they feel. Whilst the short term 

may be awkward if any conflict 

manifests, it will surely lead to long 

term success and stability. 



13

GENDER PAY GAP REPORTING - 

AN OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE YOUR 

ORGANISATION’S SUCCESS? 

As this year’s deadline for gender pay gap 

reporting passes for both public and private sector 

organisations, progress is proving very slow. 

Rachel Mapleston, 

Payroll Legislation, 

MHR 

Rachel Mapleston, payroll 

legislation expert at leading HR 

and payroll provider MHR explores 

what can be learned from this 

year’s reports and outlines three 

areas to consider to improve your 

organisation’s gender equality. 

Fewer than half of the UK’s biggest 

employers have succeeded in 

narrowing their gender pay gap, 

according to the BBC. 

Across 45% of firms, discrepancies in 

pay increased in favour of men, and 

a further 7% reported no change. 

Overall, 78% of companies who 

published their reports had a pay gap 

in favour of men. 

The Government’s legislative scheme 

of gender pay gap (GPG) reporting may 

seem like just another statutory hurdle 

for HR and payroll professionals; an 

additional compliance exercise, 

diverting HR’s energy from 

adding strategic value. And with 

no financial sanctions for noncompliance, 

some organisations 

may even be questioning whether 

it’s worth the hassle. 

While it is legally permissible to simply 

report on the pay differentials each 

year, organisations not taking steps 

to address an identified gap are 

likely missing out on an attainable 

competitive advantage, which is 

backed by substantial research. 

The Gender 3000 report by Credit 

Suisse charted the economic success 

of more than 3000 companies 

worldwide. It found that large 

organisations with at least one woman 

on the board financially outperformed 

those with less gender diversity. 

The average increased return on 

equity investment was 5%. Further, 

the McKinsey Global Institute looked 

at the GPG from a more macro 

perspective. Their ‘power of parity’ 

report concluded that £28 trillion 

would be added to the global GDP by 

2025, if the GPG was closed. 

Forward-thinking HR professionals 

are not just looking at their GPG but 

are seeking to reduce it. 

The legislative reporting requirements 

around GPG are viewed by these HR 

strategists not as a burden, but as a 

mechanism for measuring success. 

A CHANCE FOR CHANGE 

The reporting process is an opportunity 

to gain valuable insights into your 

organisation’s pay structure and culture. 

The vast majority of employers likely see 

themselves as forward-thinking when 

it comes to embracing and supporting 

equal opportunities for men and 

women, but due to deeply ingrained 

assumptions around gender roles and 

expectations, pay gaps persist. 

The reporting process helps 

organisations shine a light on their 

gender pay practices, and from 

that comes an opportunity to effect 

positive change. 

CREATING A NARRATIVE 

In addition to publishing a gender 

pay gap, this is also an opportunity to 

explain the steps you have taken or will 

take to address the gap – something 

your employees and customers will no 

doubt take a keen interest in. 

Without this narrative, we are left 

only with a number – often strikingly 

large – with no way to unravel the 

many contributing factors. As a 

result, organisations that publish 

their gender pay gap results without 

a supporting narrative risk a more 

negative response. 

The process of explaining the 

measures you are taking to address 

it is not just for the public, it’s also a 

chance for your organisation to better 

understand its own practices and seek 

new ways to modernise its culture. 

Not sure how to tackle your gender 

pay gap? Here’s three things you can 

consider to improve your organisation’s 

gender equality: 

1. CONSIDER FLEXIBLE WORKING 

Flexible hours, remote working and 

job sharing allow for a healthier 

work-life balance and could help 

reduce your gender pay gap. As 

women predominantly take on the 

responsibility of childcare, flexible 

working provides them with the 

opportunity to take on more senior 

roles without it conflicting with their 

childcare commitments. 

And there are additional benefits to 

offering flexible working conditions: 

research has shown that companies 

that adopt a flexible working 

policy typically see an increase in 

productivity and profit. 

2. EVALUATE YOUR RECRUITMENT 

PROCESS 

Preconceptions about certain roles 

or industries may lead to fewer 

women applying for positions than 

men – for example in engineering 

or the sciences. This results in 

candidate shortlists that are 

dominated by men. 

The introduction of unbiased training 

for those involved in the selection 

process, as well as predefined 

shortlist splits, could improve the 

number of women being interviewed 

for positions in male-dominated 

industries. After all, gender-diverse 

organisations, and particularly senior 

leadership teams, have been proven 

to increase performance. 

3. TAKE SUCCESSION PLANNING 

SERIOUSLY 

Succession planning is the 

identification and development 

of employees who could step into 

senior roles when a person leaves or 

retires. This is strategically beneficial 

to employers, as it allows them to 

continue with ‘business as usual’ 

when a role becomes available. 

For employees, this provides them 

with a sense of being valued, which 

is likely to increase their loyalty and 

productivity, and allows targeted 

training to aid their progression. As 

women are more likely to take on 

roles with less responsibility due to 

childcare commitments, succession 

planning can highlight those with 

potential and put in place a career 

path to those senior roles. 

THE ROLE OF HR SOFTWARE 

Gender pay gap reporting may 

seem a daunting task, but HR 

software can make the process 

much easier, while ensuring that 

your data is accurate and complete. 

Set yourself up with a reliable 

software provider, and make sure 

you fully understand the gender pay 

gap functionality available. 

While the aims of the new legislation 

are about transparency, the rational 

for change is not purely about 

fairness. There are sound business 

reasons to tackle the issue head 

on and the best organisations are 

trailblazing in this field. It is these 

organisations that are reaping all the 

employee engagement and talent 

attraction benefits that go with 

closing the gap. 


GDPR 

DATA 

DATA 

TRANSFORMING FLEET MANAGEMENT 

WITH THE USE OF DATA 

How fleet management be revolutionised 

by using data? The Commercial Director of 

LeasePlan UK, Chris Black, explains what fleet 

data can do for your business. 

Chris Black, 

Commercial Director, 

LeasePlan UK 

If you haven’t looked at fleet 

software recently, you might expect 

basic functionality and static, twodimensional 

data. However, the 

reality is very different. It’s now 

an instant, real-time service that 

genuinely adds value and can even 

inform your strategic planning. 

Fleet data today can provide a broad 

picture of how a fleet is performing, 

with trends, indicators and problem 

areas all in one place. If used 

correctly, it has the potential to save 

time, taking some of the stress out 

of a fleet managers day-to-day role, 

particularly when it comes to safety, 

sustainability and compliance. 

Fleet data can offer information about 

various aspects of a fleet in different 

levels of detail, such as overall status, 

cost centre data and analysis of specific 

drivers. This can help businesses 

reduce costs by spotting problems 

earlier, which means down-time can be 

reduced through proactive servicing. 

There are advantages for drivers as 

well. Using this actionable insight can 

encourage better driving habits, as 

well as having the potential to reduce 

accidents and make drivers more 

efficient, saving costs in the long 

run. The software can even make 

recommendations based on the 

data it has access to, such as alerting 

businesses to those drivers that might 

not be driving in the most efficient way. 

The industry has invested heavily to 

improve its capabilities when it comes 

to data collection and connected, 

portable devices, such as smartphones 

and driver PDAs have made these 

developments possible. These devices 

and the apps they run are a great way 

to enhance a fleet’s operations. 

The best apps are two-way and the 

most effective way to enable this is 

to give the user all the information 

they need at their fingertips. For 

example, LeasePlan’s My Vehicle 

Check helps with compliance by 

reminding drivers to complete their 

daily vehicle safety checks. If this is 

not completed, a notification is sent 

to the fleet manager, who can send a 

push notification to the app that will 

remind the driver to complete the 

necessary checks. This helps drive 

a culture of safety, as punctures 

or issues with bodywork can be 

identified, reported and resolved. 

Another LeasePlan service – Risk 

Aware is even more focused on 

driver safety. It highlights people 

with the highest risk levels and 

recommends ways to help reduce 

these in the future. The benefits of 

this approach are clear – for one 

client, this service has cut incident 

rates from 33% to 25% by increasing 

awareness of individual driver risk 

and recommending ways to target 

it. In addition, total losses have 

halved and vehicle off road time has 

reduced by 15%. 

The real value of these apps can 

truly be seen when it comes to 

measurement, as they can accurately 

log metrics, sending the data back 

to a central database where it can 

be used to monitor faults or predict 

trends. In addition, this data can be 

used to report on the current state of 

any vehicle at any time. This makes 

proactive fleet management possible 

by alerting managers to possible 

issues when an affected vehicle is 

close to an approved maintenance 

workshop. By utilising this data, it’s 

possible to help minimise vehicle 

downtime by fixing problems as soon 

as they arise. 

It’s clear that there are significant 

advantages in making the most 

of fleet software and the data 

it can provide, but one extra 

benefit is perhaps less obvious. 

Services are only going to become 

more intelligent, which means 

organisations who are already 

realising the benefits of employing 

fleet software could see the greatest 

benefits as this technology develops. 

For instance, it’s likely that we’ll 

start to see the use of AI integrated 

into these systems which could 

significantly enhance functionality, 

as fleet management software still 

relies heavily on people. 

As this technology advances, 

those that take the opportunity to 

embrace this will reap the benefits 

by identifying potential risks sooner, 

saving time and money, as well as 

creating a safer environment for 

drivers. With access to so much 

data, whilst it may seem confusing 

to begin with, it’s certainly worth the 

investment in the long run. 


est for your fleet. Remember, the 

AA can advise you if you get stuck. 

WORRIED ABOUT ULEZ? THE AA 

IS HERE TO HELP 

As many of you will be aware, the ULEZ charge is now 

in force in central London. With potential charges of as 

much as £100 a day, it’s important that you check the 

current emission status of your fleet and ensure that 

any high-polluting vehicles are scrapped and swapped 

for greener alternatives. 

If you’re a bit unsure of the details, 

here’s a quick refresh. ULEZ, which 

stands for Ultra-Low Emission 

Zone, operates in the same area as 

the congestion charge and applies 

24/7. Don’t get the two confused, 

though: the congestion charge only 

applies from 7am to 6pm, Monday 

to Friday. Under ULEZ, the following 

charges will apply: 

• £12.50 a day for vehicles under 

3.5 tonnes (e.g. cars, motorcycles 

and vans) 

• £100 a day for vehicles over 

3.5 tonnes (e.g. lorries and buses) 

• £100 a day for coaches over 

5 tonnes. 

Even if you don’t operate in London, 

you still need to be aware of clean 

air zone (CAZ) charges and plan 

accordingly. Birmingham and Leeds 

have already received the green light 

for their own CAZ charges, and I’m 

sure cities such as Manchester and 

Liverpool won’t be far behind them. 

It’s understandable that many 

fleets are worried about the impact 

of ULEZ. The AA’s Operational Fleet 

Insight Report has revealed that 

19% of fleets cannot afford to buy 

or lease new vehicles, while 68% 

are more convinced by the quality 

and functionality of electric cars, 

than they are by larger or heavier 

electric vehicles. 

Remember, though, that the 

introduction of ULEZ won’t force 

you to switch immediately to an 

electric-based fleet. ULEZ charges 

will be enforced based on a vehicle’s 

declared emissions, rather than its 

age. This means petrol cars registered 

after 2005 are likely to meet 

emissions standards, as are diesel 

vehicles sold after September 2016. 

That being said, with only 49% of 

fleets believed to be compliant with 

January 2020 emissions regulations 

(the targets for which are 95g CO2/ 

km for passenger cars and 147g CO2/ 

km for light commercial vehicles), it’s 

worth implementing changes now to 

avoid higher charges in the future. 

As a starting point, consider auditing 

your fleet to identify the worst 

offenders. Transport for London has 

a useful compliance checker tool to 

help you do this – simply input your 

vehicle’s number plate. 

If you want to make the transition 

to alternative fuels, such as electric, 

hydrogen or bio-fuel, make sure you 

research your options first. You need 

to consider a number of variables, 

such as average journey durations 

or payload weights, to decide what’s 

Many fleet managers will also be 

concerned by the costs of both ULEZ 

charges and any necessary fleet 

upgrades. Financial support is available 

for certain fleet sizes, including the 

Mayor of London’s scrappage scheme 

and the cleaner vehicle discount, but 

you’ll need to check your eligibility 

before applying. For larger fleets, 

consider making small changes in the 

most high-risk areas of your fleet – 

the results of your audit will help you 

prioritise in this respect. 

At the AA, we’re working hard to make 

sure that alternatively-fuelled fleets 

can benefit from the same standard 

of service as petrol and diesel fleets. 

Our hybrid training rig, for example, 

is helping more patrols fix hybrid 

vehicles at the roadside. We’ve also 

implemented support services to 

keep our electric vehicle customers 

moving, including the Zap Map app 

and the Polar network card. 

When it comes to avoiding unexpected 

charges, preparation is key. If you 

do decide to make the switch to a 

low-emission fleet, the AA has you 

covered. And if you’re not sure what 

to do next? We’re also here to help. 

Get in touch today and start your 

journey towards a greener fleet. 


TALENT POOL IN UK FINANCIAL 

SERVICES IS ‘NARROWING’ 

The UK financial services talent pool is narrowing, 

according to KPMG UK. 

or asset management employees 

saying they like their jobs. 

We’ll keep your fleet 

Reputation and lack of social mobility 

have been given as reasons for 

narrowing of talent in financial 

services, according to research from 

the auditor. 

“Technology and customer 

engagement is a priority for most 

of my clients right now, so people 

working in retail, leisure or IT could 

have a huge amount to offer. 

There is also the argument that the 

perception of the sector needs to be 

changed; figures show 41% of those 

working in finance had parents in 

the same sector, with the national 

average at 12%. 

working for you 

From 24-hour breakdown cover to accident assistance, 

with mobile technical services and connected solutions 

that help keep your wheels in motion. 

KPMG say the sector has an image 

problem that needs to be addressed. 

Tim Howarth, Head of FS 

Consulting, commented: “There 

is clearly a gap between what the 

public think, and the realities of 

working in financial services. 

“That has to be addressed if we are 

to attract the diverse mix of skills and 

experiences needed to navigate the 

changes going on in financial services 

and society. 

“But, the sector has an image 

problem that’s putting off that talent.” 

According to the research, in a time 

where there is fierce competition 

for talent, almost two thirds of the 

UK population (65%) would not 

work in financial services because it 

‘sounds boring’. 

That being said, those people 

working in the sector are happier 

on average than employees in other 

sectors, with 87% of bank, insurance 

In addition, 16% of those canvassed 

between 25 and 34 years of age said 

they wouldn’t consider a job in the 

sector because they don’t have the 

contacts to break into the industry. 

This suggests more needs to be done 

to include people into the sector. 

And at a time when the talent pool 

is narrowing, engaging these people 

so that they want to work in financial 

services is “a big challenge for the 

future of the sector.” 

Talk to us today about Business Breakdown Cover 

Call 0800 294 2994 

Or visit theAA.com/business 


Employees should be entrusted with 

responsibility and accountability. 

Regular feedback from all directions 

should be par for the course, 

encouraging people to perform to 

the best of their ability at all levels. 

Communication is absolutely key to 

building an open culture; employees 

should understand the commercials 

and financials of the business, both 

good and bad. It doesn’t need to be in 

fine detail, but enough to provide staff 

with a clear idea of “where the business 

is”. If staff are left to second guess, 

they may feel insecure and this could 

have a knock-on effect on employee 

engagement. Great CEOs are those can 

be authentic and transparent about 

the business as well as showcasing 

resilience when they face challenges. 

FOUR HR LESSONS CEOS CAN LEARN 

TO HELP THEIR BUSINESS GROW 

In today’s fast-paced world, CEOs can often find 

themselves mired in the day-to-day challenges of 

running a business, but it’s also crucial that they put in 

place the building blocks to ensure the company builds 

momentum and grows over the longer term. 

Aliya 

Vigor-Robertson 

Co-founder, 

JourneyHR 

COMMUNICATE YOUR VISION 

AND VALUES 

The importance of communicating 

your vision and core set of 

company values should not be 

underestimated. Both guide 

decision-making, provide employees 

with a sense of purpose and tell the 

wider industry and customers what 

the business stands for and where it 

is headed. 

Turning that vision into a reality, 

however, needs more than 

sweeping statements; it requires 

buy-in and enthusiasm from 

employees. Regardless of whether 

the company is big or small, every 

team member should be involved in 

creating a shared path to achieving 

that vision. If everyone understands 

how their role contributes to the 

success of the business, they are 

much more likely to feel motivated 

and engaged. 

Similarly, defining company values 

should also be a collaborative effort, 

with all employees responsible for 

shaping the identity and standards 

of the company. As the business 

grows, it can become harder to set 

values together, but it’s vital that 

new joiners understand and respect 

those values from the outset. 

Regular meetings, where everyone 

comes together to discuss ideas and 

bring those values to life, is a great way 

of embedding them into the day-to-day 

business. The same goes for external 

relationships; companies should 

highlight both their vision and their 

values during pitches with potential 

new customers and in new business 

meetings to make sure clients are in 

line with how the company operates. 

HIRE SMART 

People are the backbone of any 

business and hiring the right people 

is what helps CEOs build their 

brand. Often, management have 

preconceived ideas of what boxes 

someone should tick, but it’s important 

to understand what attributes will 

really help the company thrive. 

Research found that nearly two thirds 

of business leaders cited experience 

and technical skills as the most 

important aspects, despite almost nine 

in 10 (87%) admitting that in practice, 

the most successful hires occurred 

when they considered the cultural fit 

as well as potential. 

Diversity is key when it comes to 

recruitment, but there is one thing 

all candidates should share – vision. 

Hiring managers should be clear 

about the company’s vision and 

values to prospective candidates and 

look for people who reflect those and 

who share their passion. 

CREATE THE RIGHT CULTURE 

A culture that makes employees 

feel valued, trusted and an integral 

part of the organisation sets 

the foundations for growth. The 

‘control and command’ style of 

leadership is a thing of the past; 

a collaborative culture where 

everyone works together creates 

a much happier, more satisfied 

workforce who will ultimately strive 

to do better for the business. 

KEEP SYSTEMS SIMPLE 

There are some practical 

considerations as well. Companies 

often invest millions of pounds in 

the latest systems, then attempt to 

mould them to their way of working 

only to find out that they don’t 

do the job they wanted them to. 

Technology has undoubtedly come 

a long way and is a great enabler 

of business, but CEOs should try to 

avoid becoming over-reliant upon or 

bogged down in overly-complicated 

systems that can actually slow 

processes down. 

Keeping things simple will often 

mean that people will be more likely 

to use them and use them in the 

right way. 


MIND LAUNCH MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING 

TOOLKIT FOR SMALL BUSINESSES 

The mental health charity, Mind, has launched a 

Mental Health for Small Workplaces toolkit. 

A new training toolkit, it will help 

organisations make a significant 

step change in its mental health 

training provision. 

Research shows that much more 

needs to be done, as many 

organisations do not have any 

mental health training schemes for 

its management. 

The information from the Institute 

of Directors (IoD) reveals that small 

and medium organisations often fall 

behind their larger counterparts in 

the provision of training to guard 

against mental health illness. 

Given that small and medium-sized 

enterprises account for 99% of the 

businesses in the UK, the lack of 

adequate training presents a serious 

problem. 

Elsewhere in the survey from the IoD, 

60% of respondents say no training 

is currently offered to management 

within their organisations. 

A number of factors can contribute to 

this – lack of information, constraints 

of budgets which could certainly 

affect smaller businesses, while time 

constraints can also play a part. 

In order to address this serious issue, 

Mind has launched a toolkit that 

includes a free online-based training 

programme that comes complete 

with three modules that each take 20 

minutes to complete. 

These focus on building awareness, 

looking after yourself and supporting 

each other. 

All subjects are explored through a 

mixture of text, illustrations, interactive 

activities, videos from employees, and 

practical tips that can be put to use 

straight away. 

Employers and managers can also 

access a free PDF guide with tips 

and advice on deploying Mental 

Health for Small Workplaces in their 

organisations. 

Faye McGuinness, Head of Workplace 

Wellbeing Programmes (Strategy and 

Development), explained the benefits 

of the new initiative. 

She said: “We know that, as a small 

workplace, people are your most 

valuable asset. 

“Paying attention to their mental 

health has never been more 

important and it’s easier than you 

think to get started. 

“Mind has worked with the Federation 

of Small Businesses and with people 

in smaller workplaces across the 

UK, to create some free, quick 

online training to build your staff’s 

confidence in thinking of talking about 

mental health. 

“Accessing help and advice should be 

straightforward, but our research tells 

us that only 23% of employees working 

in small organisations felt comfortable 

disclosing poor mental health. 

“We hope the Mental Health for Small 

Workplaces toolkit is a step in the 

right direction to everyone having 

access to better mental health.” 

BUSINESS COMMUNITY CRITICAL OF 

“FUNDAMENTALLY UNFAIR” UK TAX SYSTEM 

Research conducted by the British Chambers of 

Commerce (BCC) reveals the business community 

believes the tax system is “fundamentally unfair,” and 

called for more support. 

The BCC conducted an online 

survey of more than 1,000 UK 

firms between 28 January and 11 

February, with 96% of participants 

identifying as SMEs. 

And it highlighted the majority of 

respondents from the business 

community (58%) feel the UK tax 

system is unfair to organisations 

like theirs, signalling concerns about 

how HMRC applies its tax rules to 

different types of firms. 

More than two thirds of respondents 

say that they don’t feel HMRC applies 

tax rules fairly across the board, 

regardless of size of business; of the 

respondents who felt this way, 70% 

are micro-businesses, and 59% are 

medium and large enterprises. 

The business community also 

commented on concerns 

surrounding the quality of service 

provided by HMRC, with 49% of 

respondents saying they don’t get 

the support needed to be compliant. 

As a result of this feeling about 

the fairness or otherwise of the 

UK tax system, the BCC is calling 

on the government to make 

improvements on HMRC’s service 

to business by matching the level 

of investment in tax avoidance with 

funding for support and advice for 

businesses. 

The recent introduction of Making 

Tax Digital and changes to autoenrolment, 

in addition to other 

upfront business taxes and costs 

are adding to the administrative 

burdens on firms, and therefore 

reinforcing concerns over the 

current tax regime. 

Suren Thiru, Head of Economics 

at the BCC, said: “These results 

reflect a strong impression among 

businesses that the current UK tax 

regime isn’t a level playing field. 

“HMRC must step up efforts to 

provide better support to smaller 

businesses to get their tax right, 

rather than simply pursuing and 

enforcing penalties. 

“This should include matching 

investment in frontline HMRC help 

towards SMEs, with their work on 

non-compliance and tax evasion. 

“More also needs to be done to 

address the escalating burden of 

upfront costs and taxes to provide 

firms with much needed headroom 

to get on and invest, train their staff 

and compete on the global stage.” 


PRAXIS CENTRE: 

UNIQUE LEADERSHIP SOLUTIONS 

Established for more than 35 years, the Praxis Centre 

provides a unique mix of technology and leadership, 

changing the way organisations think, work and 

ultimately grow. 

Part of the School of Management 

for more than 35 years, the 

Praxis Centre targets personal 

development of the individual – 

or group of individuals. 

Globally recognised for its leadership 

development, Cranfield prepares 

senior leaders and people managers 

with the knowledge and knowhow to 

develop their skills, resulting in real 

benefits for their organisations. 

According to one of the many 

beneficiaries of the courses, they 

provide “true insight into your 

leadership potential, help you value 

what you bring to an organisation, 

and give you clarity on what your 

leadership journey could look like.” 

In particular, the work of the 

Praxis Centre has been invaluable 

for the School of Management, 

dedicating itself to leadership and 

management development. 

The Praxis Centre’s list of 

programmes covers advanced 

aspects of leadership management 

through five key programmes: 

High Performance Leadership; 

Personal Transformation for 

Leaders; Developing Leadership 

Practice; Women as Leaders; and 

Impact & Influence. 

The Praxis Centre is particularly 

focused on what happens after 

learning general management and 

business function skills and knowledge. 

Its approach has given the Praxis 

Centre an enviable reputation due 

to the impact it has on individuals 

through experimental and 

innovative learning techniques. 

Designed to complement existing 

programmes in the School of 

Management portfolio, the 

programmes place organisational 

awareness as a priority, building on 

specialist skills to elevate individuals 

to the next level of development. 

The varied leadership programmes 

on offer at the Praxis Centre help 

individuals to extend and refine their 

existing experience, whether this 

is providing additional ‘polish’ after 

a promotion; improving an aspect 

of their leadership skills; or just 

enhancing their own impacts as a 

leader through their own conduct, and 

also managing leadership presence, as 

media and virtual presence increases. 

PRAXIS CENTRE LEADERSHIP 

PROGRAMMES 

Because of the changing nature of 

leadership and management, the 

School of Management has developed 

a number of programmes designed to 

fit all needs; the nature of the courses 

means that they can be tailored to the 

wide range of individual needs. 

Continuously developed for 

more than 30 years, Cranfield’s 

programmes for senior leaders 

are its longest running, focusing 

on experienced leaders at director 

level or equivalent, who already 

understand traditional business skills. 

Though these individuals will already 

understand strategy, innovation, 

finance and other aspects of 

leadership, the programmes at 

Cranfield powerfully explore existing 

leadership practice, and how these 

directors and senior figures can 

improve within their current and 

future challenges. 

At the Praxis Centre, the programmes 

explore the origins of current 

leadership; the effects of this 

leadership on others; the drivers 

underpinning the leadership style; 

and how this can be managed and 

adapted where necessary. 

By moulding programmes around 

individual needs and challenges, the 

courses develop ways to inspire and 

motivate, increase engagement and 

achieve aspirational goals; and deepen 

resilience and resourcefulness. 

The Praxis Centre also run 

comprehensive programmes for 

experienced people managers, 

offering and equipping these 

experienced professionals with vital 

support when transitioning into 

leadership positions. 


The programmes were developed 

specifically for busy individuals who 

are vastly experienced at managing 

people, shaping them meaningfully 

into powerful leaders of people. 

Cranfield design these programmes 

meticulously to incorporate into 

them actual challenges experienced 

by participants. The result is a 

practical and immediately impactful 

management course, with a range of 

development areas. 

Participants of these programmes will 

benefit from a broadened outlook 

beyond their initial areas of expertise; a 

development of their own network; and 

will be given the tools to get the best out 

of people by identifying their motivations. 

The programmes teach participants 

the importance of self-awareness and 

increased insight, in order to improve 

personal performance; organisational 

performance will be upgraded 

through effective leadership of 

individuals and teams; role model 

behaviours are built; as are methods 

to deal with increased responsibility 

and pressure. 

PRAXIS CENTRE MANAGEMENT 

PROGRAMMES 

Specific programmes that have enjoyed 

significant success for business 

professionals over the years include 

High Performance Leadership – a 

programme that harnesses powerful 

approaches to help individuals 

develop leadership potential and 

find the pathway to sustained high 

performance. 

Organisations from all walks of life can 

benefit from the behaviours set out in 

this programme; Willen Hospice is just 

one of those who have been enriched 

by High Performance Leadership. 

The programme – about developing a 

unique leadership style, helped Maya 

Joseph-Hussain, Director of Business 

Development at the Hospice, who 

chose the programme to enhance 

leadership skills. 

Individuals will have access to a 

diverse range of insights from tutors 

and references to real life situations, 

while Maya was interested by the use 

of models, quotes, experiences, video 

clips and music. 

As a result of the course, Maya 

explains how her leadership approach 

has changed. 

She said: “I take the time to consider 

and reflect when leading my teams 

and I am better able to deal with 

difficult situations and provide clarity. 

“As a resilient leader, I’m better 

prepared to support my team. I also feel 

more in control of my own leadership 

journey, and I’m enjoying the journey 

rather than rushing to the next step.” 

For those who are considering 

the High Performance Leadership 

programme, Maya added: “If you’re 

looking for a course which gives you 

true insight into your leadership 

potential, helps you value what you 

bring to an organisation and gives 

you clarity on what your leadership 

journey could look like, then this is 

absolutely the course for you.” 

Cranfield’s Personal Transformation 

for Leaders programme is important 

for the business community because it 

provides valuable tools for professionals 

that are moving away from managerial 

roles and into leadership positions; by 

equipping them with transformational 

experience, it allows people to identify 

their own authentic leadership style. 

The reputation of this programme’s 

success has driven professionals 

to enrol, with previous participants 

espousing the experiences they 

enjoyed throughout the programme. 

One such beneficiary was Jeremy 

Speirs, Managing Director of Edrington 

Nordics; the company prides itself on 

continuous improvement which comes 

from great leadership. Jeremy chose the 

course in order to “gain a fundamental 

and deeper understanding of myself 

and the skills I need to become a truly 

effective leader.” 

He opted for the Personal 

Transformation for Leaders programme 

because of the feedback received 

from others on the course and his 

experiences were equally fulfilling. 

He said: “I perhaps underestimated 

the journey of self discovery that the 

programme takes you on, but found 

the experience extremely educational 

and highly rewarding. 

“It helped me to better understand what 

makes me who I am and what I can use 

to help be the leader I want to be.” 

Thanks to the programme, Edrington’s 

Managing Director has, in his own 

words, become “a more engaging, open 

and genuine person,” changes that have 

been adopted more widely, ensuring 

greater engagement on a more 

informed and understanding level. 

The Praxis Centre’s programmes 

cater for all needs, and all levels of 

management and leadership; take 

the Cranfield Women as Leaders 

programme for example; this 

provides sound positive thinking 

regarding developing leadership 

practices that fit suitably. In the 

business world, women as leaders are 

under-represented in boardrooms; 

this programme helps to develop 

practices that fit better with these 

values and preferences. 

For those managing at a higher level in 

organisations, the Impact & Influence 

programme arms professionals with 

greater clarity on their everyday 

personal presence, which becomes 

ever more significant and important. 

Cranfield also excels through its 

Developing Leadership Practice 

(DLP) programme, which explores 

three leadership practices using a 

blended and networked learning 

approach that allows professionals to 

achieve the position of ensuring they 

are the very best leader possible. 

For those who are offered leadership 

roles in the higher echelons of business, 

this programme is ideal; Ipsos MORI 

Scotland’s Emily Gray made full use of 

the programme after her elevation to 

Managing Director; replacing a previous 

incumbent of 13 years was no mean 

feat, and Emily identified that help 

would be required. 

The programme offered Ipsos MORI’s 

new Managing Director the best 

possible route to transition into the role. 

Emily said: “Having spent three 

months in the post, the Cranfield DLP 

programme came at the ideal time.” 

With its focus on coaching Emily’s 

specific situation, it helped to identify 

the challenges she faced in order to 

become the leader required for that 

particular role. 

After completion of the DLP 

programme, Emily explained what it 

provided. 

“It reinforced some of the things I’d 

already been doing, but also gave me 

a wider range of tools. Most of all, it 

gave me the confidence to ‘own’ my 

leadership style.” 

FURTHER INFORMATION 

We’d love to discuss your individual 

or organisational development 

needs with you. Please contact: 

T: +44 (0)1234 754500 

E: execdev@cranfield.ac.uk 


without considering overseas 

opportunities. Savvy companies, 

however, try to protect themselves 

against falls in domestic demand 

by gaining popularity with foreign 

customers, spreading their risk. 

FOUR DIFFICULTIES FACED BY CEOS WHEN 

PLANNING THEIR BUSINESS FINANCES 

Shishir Khadka, who has been instrumental 

for entrepreneurs looking to build a successful 

business, outlines the challenges ahead. 

Shishir Khadka, 

CEO, 

Boost Accounting 

If you run a business, you know 

that one of the significant 

challenges that you face is financial 

planning. Not only do you have to 

manage cash flow, but you also 

have to set aside money to satisfy 

government workplace regulation 

and the taxman. 

In this article, we’re going to take 

a look at some of the common 

financial difficulties that CEOs face, 

as well as some of the changes 

that have come into place since the 

beginning of the new tax year in 

April 2019. 

CHALLENGE #1: LACK OF 

FINANCIAL SKILLS OF BUSINESS 

OWNERS 

One of the main challenges is 

business owners’ lack of financial 

skills. You don’t have to be an 

accountant or a bank manager to 

start a business, and so there’s no 

reason why for company leaders to 

have the skills to manage company 

finances ahead of time. According 

to data reported in the Financial 

Post, more than 83 per cent of small 

business owners would struggle to 

pass a basic financial test. 

Financial literacy should, therefore, 

be a top priority for company 

managers going forward. Company 

owners need to find ways to give 

their organisations the ability 

to manage finances effectively, 

whether for tax, investment, or cash 

flow purposes. 

CHALLENGE #2: KEEPING UP 

WITH CHANGES TO TAX RULES 

Keeping up with tax rules can be 

a challenge. The government is 

continuously tweaking the tax code 

in response to the wider needs of the 

economy, trying to extract as much 

money from business as possible 

while at the same time trying not to 

discourage commercial activity. 

Several changes came into place at 

the beginning of April 2019. 

These include: 

1. An increase in the workplace 

pension contribution to 8 per 

cent. Companies must now pay 

a larger share of the workplace 

pension contribution out of their 

own pockets. If you run a small 

business, this needs to be taken 

into consideration in your financial 

planning. You may need to hold 

off on wage increases next year or 

increase your prices to cover the 

additional, mandatory expense. 

2. Tax becomes digital in 2019. The 

government wants it to be easier 

for companies to pay tax - hence 

making tax digital. All you need is 

an HMRC Government Gateway 

account, and you can submit your 

accounts online, pay corporation 

tax, and report and pay VAT. As a 

business, you’ll need somebody in 

your organisation who understands 

MTD (Making Tax Digital) 

compatible software. Hiring a new 

employee to do this or training your 

existing staff will require both time 

and money, so that affects financial 

planning too. You’ll need to factor in 

these extra costs to get an accurate 

picture of your financial position for 

the year ahead. 

You can keep up to date with 

changes to tax rules by visiting the 

GOV.UK’s corporation tax rates and 

allowances page. This shows you all 

of the present and past rates of tax 

that you’re expected to pay, including 

special rates for unit trusts and openended 

investment companies. 

CHALLENGE #3: ECONOMIC 

UNCERTAINTY AND BREXIT 

How should CEOs be planning 

financially to safeguard these 

businesses in the current era of 

political and economic uncertainty? 

In general, small business owners 

have a couple of options. The first 

is to diversify risk. Currently, many 

domestic business owners focus 

exclusively on the UK market, 

Small business owners can also invest 

in a “Brexit fund,” should the decision 

to leave the EU lead to acute problems 

in the wider economy. If negotiations 

do not go as planned, then there is 

a chance that Britain could lose its 

current trading arrangements with 

the European bloc, leading to shortterm 

cash flow issues as the economy 

adjusts. Small businesses may need 

funds in 2019 to buffer against any 

potential downturn. 

CHALLENGE #4: EXPLAINING TO 

BANKS WHY THEY SHOULD LEND 

Banks used to be institutions that 

provided the capital for start-ups. But 

banks have a problem: they often lack 

the internal skills to determine whether 

a business idea is good in 2019. The 

world is a very different place, and 

consumer needs have moved on 

tremendously, especially since the 

advent of the digital economy. Banks 

stuck in the old economy often struggle 

to identify new value, making it hard 

for entrepreneurs to get the longterm 

cash they need. 

Business leaders, therefore, need 

to find lenders that “get them” in 

2019 so that they can secure their 

finances. Such a lender could be a 

well-informed bank, but it’s more 

likely to be an investment fund of 

some description if you’re doing 

something genuinely novel. 


Assessing trade risk means seeing 

the complete picture 

Risk tends to be in the eye of the beholder. We all use 

a mix of instinct and personal experience to decide 

whether to take a risk or defer major decisions 

until a better time. 

Andrew Share, Commercial Director, Coface UK 

How often have we looked back ruefully on 

a business decision and thought “if only I 

had known that at the time”? 

Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing and 

there is no such thing as a risk-free decision. And 

yet, there are also some disturbing examples 

of companies whose wilful blindness made 

them the author of their own downfall, from 

RBS’s disastrous decision to acquire ABN Amro 

at an inflated price which left it dangerously 

overstreched, to Carillion’s strategy of debtfunded 

acquitisions and overseas expansion 

which was later described as “reckless in the 

pursuit of growth”. 

While these are extreme cases, they highlight the 

danger of making tough financial calls without 

considering the bigger picture. Company 

decision-makers therefore have a responsibility 

to shareholders, staff and suppliers to ensure 

they have a reliable source of accurate and upto-date 

information about trade risk so they can 

steer their business in the right direction. 

Assessing Sector Risk 

The most immediate concern for any business 

will be what is happening in their own and 

associated sectors. Levels of sectoral risk tend 

to fluctuate in line with factors such as the cost 

of raw materials, consumer demand, production 

capacity and confidence. 

But they need to be seen in conjunction with 

global economic trends and even geopolitical 

developments, which can have a positive 

or negative impact on payment default or 

insolvencies in a particular sector or market. 

The automotive industry is an example of a 

sector where trade risk needs to be viewed 

within the context of the wider economy. 

Manufacturers in the automotive industry are 

operating under a number of constraints which 

has prompted Coface to downgrade its sector 

risk assessments across Western Europe, Central 

and Eastern Europe, Latin America and North 

America. These include the need to adapt 

to new environmental pollution standards; 

changing consumer tastes (e.g. concerns about 

diesel) and the need to invest in new electric 

and driverless technology to keep pace with 

new entrants in the market. 

In the UK, the automotive sector had been seen 

as a manufacturing success story in 2016, when 

the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders 

(SMMT) revealed that new car registrations had 

hit a record annual high of 2.69million. But by 

January 2019, the SMMT warned that British car 

production in the previous year was at a fiveyear 

low and inward investment had fallen by 

46.5%. Commentators have been quick to blame 

Brexit for the downturn in the UK automotive 

sector but businesses should understand that it 

is not the only risk factor. 

We all use a mix of instinct and personal Adapting experience to risk to decide whether 

to take a risk or defer major decisions until a better time. Sometimes our 

A better understanding of wider risks is critical 

risk decisions pay off, but there is also a chance we will fall back to earth 

with a bump. 

Global Risk 

Coface’s latest analysis of country and sector risks 

predicts global economic growth to slow to 3% 

in 2019 because of a number of factors, including 

volatile commodity prices, supply constraints in 

advanced economies and the drag-effect of the 

continued slowdown in China, where household 

consumption is faltering. While this may sound 

like a modest downturn, it will still have an impact 

on business credit risk: Coface forecasts that 

corporate insolvencies will increase in 24 of the 39 

countries for which this data is available, including 

the UK. 

Another continuing concern is the trend towards 

protectionist policies. In the first three quarters 

of 2018, trade restrictions were placed on 12% 

of US imports, while 8% of US exports were hit 

by retaliatory measures. An all-out trade war 

between the US and China may yet be averted 

by a trade deal but the protectionist rhetoric 

from the White House is still having an impact 

on business confidence, particularly in Europe 

where there has been a decline in new orders. 

And closer to home, leading figures within the 

manufacturing and services sectors have voiced 

concern about the uncertainty surrounding 

Britain’s post-Brexit trading relationships. 

to trading safely as it enables financial decisionmakers 

to be proactive and measured in 

reducing their exposure to payment default and 

customer insolvency. This is likely to include 

practical steps such as beefing-up due diligence 

checks on prospects, reviewing customer 

credit limits and could also extend to obtaining 

credit insurance protection, particularly for 

strategically important clients. 

As this brief overview shows, there are always 

a number of interplaying risk factors to take 

into account when making big decisions. It 

therefore makes sense for companies to work 

with a reputable specialist who can provide an 

insight into the financial health of individual 

customers and a broader perspective on 

economic and sectoral risk. 

And even when the risk environment is 

challenging, businesses that get the big picture 

are best placed to target their resources on the 

most promising markets and prospects and 

grow sustainably. 

A world leader in credit insurance for more than 70 years, 

Coface’s value comes from its ability to proactively 

provide its clients with detailed risk analyses, 

allowing them to make the right decisions 

at the right time in order to manage 

their credit risks. 

For more information, visit 

www.cofaceuk.com 

Coface is authorised in France by the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution. In the UK Coface is subject to limited 

regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority and in Ireland Coface is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. 


GDPR 

DATA 

DATA 

GDPR ONE YEAR ON - 

HOW HAVE CEOS RESPONDED? 

On 25 May 2018, the General Data Protection 

Regulation (GDPR) EU law on data protection and 

privacy came into force. 

Paul Breitbarth, 

Director of 

Strategic Research and 

Regulator Outreach, 

Nymity 

Affecting all individuals in the EU 

and European Economic Area, 

GDPR’s main aim is to hand control 

over to individuals regarding their 

personal data and also simplify 

the regulatory environment for 

international businesses by unifying 

regulation within the EU. 

Data controllers have to provide 

an overview of the categories of 

data that are being processed, if 

requested. 

This will undoubtedly change the 

way businesses can use data and 

information of their clients. 

So, with that in mind, Paul 

Breitbarth, Director of Strategic 

Research and Outreach at Nymity, 

has explained how CEOs have 

responded since the changes came 

into effect. 

It is almost one year since the 

European Union’s General Data 

Protection Regulation (GDPR) came 

into effect. In the months that have 

passed the number of complaints 

registered by Data Protection 

Authorities (DPAs) for breaches 

of the Regulation has exploded 

and a multitude of sanctions have 

been issued, including several high 

profile fines. 

However, smaller and less known 

organisations rarely in the public 

eye, if at all, have also experienced 

enforcement as DPAs across 

Europe have clamped down on 

failures to comply with GDPR. 

What effect has this had on how 

CEOs run their businesses? Has 

it resulted in a step change in 

thinking or a shift in mindset? 

What is clear is that buy in from the 

board for continuous compliance 

is a significant challenge for 

companies. When the GDPR was 

first announced and conversations 

focused on the threat of huge 

fines and sanctions for failing to 

comply, it immediately captured 

the attention of CEOs. While fines 

have a significant impact on the 

reputation of companies involved, 

even if the companies impacted can 

comfortably afford it, other risks 

including suspension of processing 

activities can potentially pose even 

bigger issues. However, as the 

months have passed, keeping data 

protection front of mind has become 

an ongoing challenge. 

GDPR compliance requires constant 

attention, which in itself brings its 

own set of significant challenges; 

the principal of which has been 

resourcing, both financial and in 

personnel. Identifying the right 

people to do the work is not always 

straightforward and the demand 

for seasoned privacy professionals 

is increasing. 

However, when faced with the task 

of addressing up to 55 compliance 

requirements, most CEOs have 

appeared to have taken action. 

According to the latest IAPP-EY 

Annual Privacy Governance Report, 

89% of EU respondents have 

appointed a Data Protection Officer 

in response to the GDPR. 

Businesses that have invested 

heavily in a GDPR compliance 

project or associated infrastructure, 

are now looking for opportunities 

to leverage those initiatives to 

both comply with additional laws, 

including the GDPR-related laws 

at national level, and to create a 

sustainable privacy programme. 

Many of these come from sectors 

that already faced (and continue to 

face) high compliance specifications 

pre-dating the GDPR; for example, 

healthcare, financial services and 

food & drink. The environmental, 

health & safety and financial 

requirements in place for these 

industries to both meet and report 

against has meant they are more 

likely to be better positioned to meet 

the GDPR requirements. 

One such example is a multinational 

bottling company operating in one 

of the largest Fast-Moving Consumer 

Goods sectors, which implemented 

a dedicated GDPR project across the 

business to integrate with its existing 

privacy programme. This started 

with a gap assessment to examine 

the pre-existing set up for GDPR 

readiness and identify what already 

existed versus what needed to be 

done, before entering project mode 

to ensure delivery of the essential 

building blocks for GDPR compliance. 

However, what’s just as important is 

the subsequent shift from a project 

approach where the processes 

have been put in place to meet 

GDPR requirements, to where the 

newly implemented controls align 

to an accountability framework and 

translate into ongoing compliance. 

Awareness in boardrooms on 

the issues of data protection has 

undoubtedly increased since the 

GDPR came into effect. Indeed, 

more than three quarters (78%) of 

respondents to the latest IAPP- 

EY Annual Privacy Governance 

Report said the Board wants to 

hear about privacy. Progress on 

compliance (83%), data breaches 

(68%) and progress on privacy 

initiatives (61%) feature highest on 

the agenda. Pleasingly, investment 

in training is on the rise according 

to the results of the survey. Nearly 

eight in ten respondents noted 

training investments as their top 

GDPR compliance priority for the 

coming year. 

As a CEO it is ultimately your 

obligation to be aware of who 

within your organisation have the 

responsibility for ensuring the 

business is GDPR compliant, and that 

the steps taken to ensure compliance 

are carried out appropriately. 


CEOS IGNORE HR AT THEIR PERIL 

A CEO has a lot on their plate. When running a 

business of any size there are a lot of different 

departments and teams that need attention and it 

can be tempting to leave HR to be self-sufficient while 

focusing your attention to areas of crisis within the 

wider organisation. 

Geoff Watts 

Scrum Alliance 

Certified Enterprise 

Coach at 

Inspect & Adapt 

In my 14-year career as a Scrum 

Alliance® Certified Enterprise 

Coach, I have supported a variety 

of organisations to help them reap 

the benefits of agile so as to develop 

the resilience to thrive in volatile 

and turbulent times. Along the way, 

I have learned a lot, specifically 

the importance of putting people 

first. Here for Today’s Boardroom 

readers, I explain why agile should 

be a priority for the modern 

CEO and why the HR team is an 

invaluable ally when carrying out a 

change within a business. 

FIRSTLY, WHAT IS AGILE? 

Agile refers to a specific set of values 

and principles that foster the mindset 

and skills businesses need to succeed 

in today’s ever more fast-changing 

times. The values, outlined in the Agile 

Manifesto – proposed an alternative 

way of thinking when approaching 

the management of projects, 

team engagement and product 

development to deliver consistent 

value in a shorter timeframe. 

THESE CORE VALUES ARE: 

• Individuals and interactions 

over processes and tools 

• Working software over 

comprehensive documentation 

• Customer collaboration over 

contract negotiation 

• Responding to change over 

following a plan 

From these set of core values, agile 

- and the frameworks that form part 

of it such as Scrum - are an incredibly 

powerful set of principles and 

practices that enables cross-functional 

teams to deliver products and services 

in short cycles, enabling fast feedback, 

continual improvement, and rapid 

adaptation to change. 

While the Agile Manifesto has its 

roots in software development, the 

authors also drew inspiration from 

the automotive industry and, as such, 

the principles are universal and have 

proven to be consistently effective in 

transforming how businesses adapt 

to volatility across a broad range of 

sectors. Agile is increasingly recognised 

as a valuable mindset to adopt, with 

the Forbes Insights and Scrum Alliance 

Report finding that 81% of the 1,000 

C-suite executives surveyed recognised 

the value of organisational agility and 

out of those who had adopted agile, 

87% stated that it improves their 

quality of work life. 

As a coach I have seen first-hand the 

positive changes adopting an agile 

framework has brought businesses 

such as British Telecom, Man Group, 

the UK’s Government Digital Services, 

American Express, Capital One and 

many others; not just operationally 

but also with employee engagement. 

AGILE IS NOT JUST AN HR FAD 

87% of executives view the CEO as the 

biggest proponent of organisational 

agility . Change starts at the top and 

an organisation’s leaders have a 

crucial role in ensuring the proper 

implementation of agile, however, 

executive buy-in alone is not enough. 

Agile principles must be recognised 

and valued throughout a business, 

company culture needs to adapt, 

and the focus must be on fostering 

a culture of resilience to reap the 

benefits of agility. 

HR plays a crucial role in fostering an 

agile culture because any evolution 

in a business (especially an agile 

transformation) involves instilling 

new ways of working, establishing 

new roles and responsibilities 

and setting new expectations 

and opportunities. To make the 

transformation work, it will involve 

a mix of training, coaching and 

recruitment as well as potential job 

redefinition across all areas of the 

business. HR professionals have the 

skillset and employee relationships 

that senior executives may not have 

to help smooth any transitions, so it 

is important to work collaboratively 

with HR to implement agile. 

As a Scrum Alliance® Certified 

Enterprise Coach, I have learned how 

invaluable an HR teams’ expertise is 

in a successful agile transformation. 

Below are two of the most important 

lessons to consider when embarking 

on your agile journey: 

Culture is key - culture is key to 

supporting an agile enterprise: 65% 

of respondents to the Forbes insights 

report in collaboration with Scrum 

Alliance® agree that their culture is 

an asset to the organisation, and 66% 

consider agility an essential part of 

their company’s DNA. As early as the 

beginning of the recruitment process 

be sure to work with your HR team 

to establish what skills and values 

potential employees should bring with 

them, and which can be developed 

through training programmes. 

For example, because agile teams 

are inherently self-organising, 

people-skills are just as important as 

technical skills (and some say even 

more so) which can be a big change 

in the recruitment of the more 

technical roles. Adaptability, creativity 

and resilience are also important 

factors when recruiting people into 

an organisation that is looking to 

harness the benefits of a more agile 

way of working. Understanding this 

can help make the selection process 

faster and easier, as well as enabling 

teams to focus on finding candidates 

with the right agile mindset who will 

contribute to the transformation of 

culture and business quickly, even as 

they learn the requisite skills through 

your training programme. 

Do not make assumptions - it is not 

always the long-term employees who 

are opposed to change, nor is it always 

the creative directors who embrace 

it. Despite the report finding that 66% 

of respondents state that agility is an 

essential part of their company’s DNA, 

57% describe their company’s culture 

as resistant to change. Your HR team 

can be your biggest advocates in the 

transformation process across all 

teams in your business. They will also 

help you gauge employee sentiment 

and performance throughout and 

offer practical strategies as to how to 

increase agility and boost employee 

empowerment. 

If you want to become a more 

resilient organisation, one that 

harnesses the benefits of an agile 

approach such as Scrum to help you 

grow during challenging times, there 

is a lot to consider. My advice to 

executives who are pursuing agility 

is to work with your HR department 

to understand your employees and 

put them first. Start with the goal of 

fostering an agile culture and work 

closely with your HR team to train 

existing staff to work in an agile 

manner. When recruiting, look out 

for prospective employees who align 

with agile values. The most important 

lesson I can give is to be patient: 

any business change, particularly an 

agile transformation, is a marathon, 

not a sprint. There will be mistakes 

but focus on small incremental 

improvements and with time you will 

get there. 


FINANCIAL PLANNING IN AN 

UNCERTAIN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT 

Financial Planning is critical to the success of any 

business, particularly for small- to medium-sized 

business owners who often use their personal 

finances to start and run their companies. 

Janine Edwards 

Director, 

Principal Partner Practice 

of St. James’s Place Wealth 

Management, and 

Vistage Member 

In my experience, I have found 

that while business owners and 

leaders have done some elements 

of planning, many do not have a 

holistic view – i.e. a robust review 

of their finances, legal and tax 

situation – of the entire business 

and how changes to their personal 

circumstances could impact the 

organisation and vice versa. 

This is a very common theme 

among business leaders who prefer 

to focus their time and energy into 

the day-to-day running of their firms 

and creating value. I have met great 

CEOs at my Vistage network group 

who readily admit to falling into this 

trap too. However, this is a mistake. 

With the current business and 

political climate, there are plenty of 

reasons for boards and owners to 

prepare and plan to safeguard the 

business against future headwinds 

– these include regulations and 

taxation, retirement, business goals 

setting and succession planning. 

It is also necessary to have a 

personal review of the business 

owners’ circumstances to ensure 

that their personal interests can 

be separated from the company. 

But, no personal planning, 

such as a will, may contradict 

business planning methods such 

as shareholder agreement. It is 

important to get an honest and 

independent look into how changes 

within the company would impact, 

not just the value of their business, 

but their personal income and 

plans. However, this critical aspect 

of the review is often overlooked. 

For instance, according to a 2019 

study by Royal London, it is estimated 

that half of UK adults are not aware of 

‘Power of Attorney’. Shockingly, many 

SME business leaders fall into this 

category because they believe they 

have no need to put in place a plan for 

a trusted ‘agent’ to make decisions on 

their behalf if they are unable to do so. 

What happens when you don’t have 

a power of attorney should the 

worst happen? You will be putting 

your family members and business 

partners or board in a difficult 

situation – as sometimes family and 

board interests might not align. 

And, if your company’s shareholder 

agreement require your input for 

key decisions, without your ‘agent’ in 

place, those critical moments may be 

delayed and potentially jeopardise the 

future of the company or its value. 

It is crucial that business leaders 

seek the right advice from the right 

specialists for a 360 degree financial, 

legal and tax review and seek 

support where necessary. After all, 

this is about business continuity, and 

importantly for business owners, 

it is about your retirement and 

building a valuable company. 

HERE ARE THREE MAJOR FISCAL 

CHANGES THAT EVERY SME CEO 

OR OWNER MUST BE AWARE OF 

IN THIS FINANCIAL YEAR. 

• Change in Dividend Taxation 

While there are no changes in the 

dividend tax rate in this fiscal year, 

future changes will significantly 

impact business leaders who pay 

themselves through dividends. A 

reduction in the threshold for taxfree 

dividend could potentially leave 

you out of pocket. It is also worth 

considering if this is the most taxefficient 

way to raise income and 

save for your future. 

• Pension Taper Rate 

The pension tax allowances have 

changed. As of this financial year, the 

pension lifetime allowance rises from 

£1,030,000 to £1,055,000. However, 

the overall annual allowance will 

remain the same. These include the 

annual allowance taper which reduces 

pension relief for those receiving a 

yearly income above £150,000. 

This means that business owners 

would no longer be able to defer 

their income into their pensions 

contributions as the taxable threshold 

is extended. The annual allowance tax 

charge could see top earners paying 

up to 45 per cent tax on pension 

savings beyond the threshold. 

• Auto-Enrolment Rates 

Figures published by The Pensions 

Regulation in 2019, show that 

automatic enrolment has now seen 

10 million people enrolled into 

a workplace pension since 2012. 

From April this year, employers 

contribution rates will go up from 

5% to 8% raising the business’s 

obligations to staff. Falling foul 

of this rule can incur severe 

punishment from regulatory bodies. 

• Inheritance Tax 

With the introduction of the 

Residence NI Rate Band many 

people have seen an increase 

in the amount they can pass on 

to their descendants tax free. 

However, many business owners 

do not realise that if your total 

estate value is over £2 million you 

start losing this allowance. Even 

though your business may qualify 

to pass without inheritance tax, the 

value counts toward the £2million 

threshold - a detail many business 

owners miss. 

The levels and bases of taxation, and 

reliefs from taxation, can change at 

any time. The value of any tax relief 

depends on individual circumstances. 

Powers of Attorney involve the 

referral to a service that is separate 

and distinct to those offered by St. 

James’s Place and are not regulated 

by the Financial Conduct Authority. 

Janine Edwards Wealth 

Management Ltd is an Appointed 

Representative of and represents 

only St. James’s Place Wealth 

Management plc (which is 

authorised and regulated by the 

Financial Conduct Authority) for 

the purpose of advising solely on 

the group’s wealth management 

products and services, more details 

of which are set out on the group’s 

website www.sjp.co.uk/products. 

The title ‘Partner Practice’ is a 

marketing term used to describe St. 

James’s Place representatives. 


LEADERS DRIVE PERFORMANCE AT 

STANDARD CHARTERED 

The most successful companies create and nurture 

a culture that allows every employee to realise their 

full potential and make a positive contribution to 

the organisation. 

Dr Simon Hayward 

Culture is led from the top, which 

goes some way towards explaining 

why some businesses are more 

successful in not only creating this 

culture, but in sustaining it. Many 

leaders aspire to introduce a more 

supportive - yet no less ambitious 

- and ultimately more productive 

culture, but require guidance and 

support to make it a reality. 

Standard Chartered is an excellent 

example of what can be achieved 

when leaders are committed 

to delivering positive change. 

Working with Cirrus, the bank 

implemented an award-winning 

leadership development programme, 

transforming its culture and changing 

the way its leaders behave. 

Following the 2015 appointment of 

new CEO Bill Winters there was a 

strong desire within the organisation 

to drive smarter growth in a volatile, 

continually evolving world. The 

bank sought to develop increasingly 

positive, values-based leadership 

behaviours alongside the capability 

to collaborate and respond to 

customers and market changes. 

To achieve this, it had to become 

more agile and develop a culture of 

innovation. 

In line with strategic goals, a shift away 

from its existing culture was vital - 

it’s safe, comfortable environment 

required wholesale transformation 

in favour of a culture of challenge 

and disruption, with direct feedback 

welcomed and acted upon. 

Creating a programme to 

drive change 

The answer to delivering wholesale 

cultural change was a series of 

leadership learning and coaching 

programmes to achieve the 

transformation it needed. 

Leaders Drive Performance (LDP) 

focused exclusively on the bank’s 

middle managers, who are collectively 

responsible for thousands of people. 

The goals of the LDP programme 

were clear: 

• Deliver a cultural shift through the 

adoption of a performance mindset 

and common language 

• Increase accountability and a 

stronger client focus 

• Introduce strong conversation habits 

• Increase explicit exploration and 

constructive challenge in meetings 

and conversations based on ‘VUCA’ 

(Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and 

Ambiguous) world challenges 

• Increase engagement levels of 

leaders so that they in turn can 

engage others 

• Increase employee retention 

The programme used disruptive, 

immersive techniques to change 

behaviours and deliver a cultural shift 

in line with the organisation’s overall 

growth agenda. Practical, immersive 

and experiential, it was designed 

to build the leadership capability of 

each manager, creating proactive and 

accountable leaders striving to deliver 

strategic goals. 

A four day ‘design lab’ engaged key 

stakeholders prior to the rollout of 

the programme across the business. 

A 100-day leadership learning journey 

then followed, beginning with an 

immersive two-day workshop. 

Continued support throughout any 

leadership programme is essential 

to achieving a successful outcome. 

All managers received coaching 

support alongside the Cirrus Strata 

digital platform to facilitate online 

collaboration, with video and 

animation maintaining engagement. 

The programme provided a rich 

environment for learning through 

challenging, context-rich, immersive 

programmes, as well as just-in-time 

introduction of blocks of learning 

content. 

Engaging a global audience 

For global organisations like Standard 

Chartered, it’s essential to have a 

wide range of locations available 

during the face-to-face element of the 

programme, while also considering 

cultural nuances - learning must be 

appropriate for different territories. 

Building on success 

The Learning Development 

Programme had a significant impact 

on the way Standard Chartered 

leaders now perform – they are able to 

deal with the challenges faced today, 

and better equipped for the future. 

Yet in a fast-moving world with 

constantly evolving markets, 

leadership development is never 

‘complete’ - the most successful 

organisations remain committed to 

continued investment in their leaders; 

the key to a culture that rewards 

excellence and ambition, while 

providing a nurturing, supportive 

environment in which everyone can 

realise their potential. 

Cirrus is a global leadership 

consultancy founded by Dr Simon 

Hayward, author of The Agile Leader 

and Connected Leadership. 


own card with a spending limit. This 

will also make it less likely that they’ll 

need to spend their own money. 

A clear expense policy 

Create and implement a clear 

and structured expense policy for 

employees to follow. That way, 

everyone knows exactly what they 

can and can’t spend. Manually 

submitting and filing receipts is 

laborious and time-consuming. 

In fact, it can stop people from 

spending money on the business, 

or force people to spend their 

own money, in order to avoid the 

process. The implications of staff 

members spending money out of 

their own pockets are vast – it can 

damage their trust, morale, and 

financial wellbeing. 

WHY BUSINESSES STRUGGLE 

WITH EXPENSE MANAGEMENT - 

AND HOW TO FIX IT 

In a fast growing business, staff need to be trusted 

and empowered: if they’re not, key decisions can’t be 

made quickly, money can’t be spent effectively and, 

perhaps most importantly, productivity is damaged. 

Darren Upson, 

VP Small Business 

Europe, Soldo 

As a business leader, knowing 

your numbers and keeping control 

over company finances is key to 

forecasting future growth, and 

securing investor confidence. This 

means making sure that money 

is correctly allocated to the right 

parts of the business, with relevant 

people being able to spend on the 

things that they need to do their job. 

But that doesn’t mean that all 

involved in the business should be 

given free rein with a credit card. 

Those in charge need to empower 

employees to make spending 

decisions that support growth, while 

at the same time maintaining a firm 

sense of control. Remember that you 

shouldn’t just be concerned with the 

money coming into the company – 

you need to know about the money 

leaving it, too. It’s essential to spend 

the time and effort implementing 

an effective expense management 

system, so that your team can work 

productively and efficiently – and so 

that your cashflow remains healthy. 

Better spending control 

According to research from 

Soldo, 40 per cent of employees 

would be more responsible with 

their spending if they had tighter 

controls or a monthly limit. So, 

the first thing to do is give your 

staff pre-paid cards with specific 

budgets that match their needs. 

This means that their spending will 

be limited, but they’ll still have the 

autonomy to make spend as and 

when they need to. 

Once you’ve got these cards in 

place, you’ll need to figure out who 

to give them to. Some businesses 

like to give every staff member a 

card with a certain limit, but others 

like to give one only to those who 

really need it. The important thing 

is to make sure those who make 

purchases have the money that they 

need, when they need it. 

Dedicated cards 

Small businesses (and startups 

in particular) often want to use 

a credit card to pay for activities 

across a number of different 

channels, including digital 

promotion and advertising. But 

some businesses struggle to 

qualify for them to begin with and, 

if they do, issuing credit cards to 

employees is still very risky because 

it can lead to unauthorised and 

uncontrolled spending. 

On the flip slide, there is also the 

issue that these cards normally don’t 

have high enough credit limits to 

pay for large advertising campaigns 

and other strategically important, 

yet expensive, activities. 

In short, credit cards fail to meet the 

needs of growing businesses, and this 

is where dedicated, pre-paid cards 

for each department come in handy. 

They give complete visibility into 

what’s being spent, on which channel, 

while giving each department the 

resources they need to be productive. 

It also helps the business spend 

strategically, as they can get a bigger 

picture view of which department 

needs more money to spend. 

Give every employee who needs to 

spend money on a company payment 

card. Rather than sharing one 

company credit card, give everyone 

some autonomy by giving them their 

Digitised reporting 

Setting up a clear reporting system 

and training everyone on how to 

use it is essential. Once the system 

is up and running, you’ll be able to 

review and analyse spending data, 

giving you better insight into the 

financial health of your company. 

From there, you’ll be able to make 

more informed business decisions. 

Staff shouldn’t have to waste time 

recording expenses themselves – 

it should be automated as far as 

possible. Keeping track of expenses 

should be an efficient digitised 

process that the whole business 

can get onboard with. In addition, 

everyone needs to feel accountable 

for their purchases – and having 

a transparent source of spending 

history will help. 

Keep an eye on expenses 

With a robust expense management 

system in place, you can maintain 

a certain level of control to stop 

dodgy expenses, while continuing 

to empower staff to spend where 

they need to. Tightening up your 

processes won’t only save your 

business time and money - it’ll also 

make it more productive. 


We’ll keep your fleet 

working for you 

From 24-hour breakdown cover to accident assistance, 

with mobile technical services and connected solutions 

that help keep your wheels in motion. 

DELOITTE’S EUROPEAN CFO SURVEY 

FOR SPRING IS RELEASED 

Deloitte has released its European CFO Survey for 

spring, which revealed the mood and concerns shared 

by CFOs across the continent. 

More than 1,000 CFOs were canvassed 

for the survey across Europe, who gave 

their view on hiring and investment 

intentions, current strategic priorities 

they deem vital to success, as well as 

views on critical business risks. 

It provides a reliable indicator on 

sentiment throughout Europe. 

This is the nineth version of the 

European CFO Survey, which shows 

how expectations surrounding key 

business metrics has deteriorated 

further from what was recorded six 

months ago. 

Tellingly, it reveals businesses are 

less willing to invest in and add to 

their workforce; a decline in demand 

and the weaker overall economic 

outlook are the main concerns faced 

by CFOs in the continent. 

Based on responses from the 

European CFO Survey, the outlook 

in terms of increased revenues and 

operating margins is much gloomier 

than from the survey six months ago. 

Optimism in UK CFOs regarding 

financial prospects was recorded at 

-24% in the survey; that is to say that 

24% fewer respondents in the UK said 

they were more optimistic, than the 

ones that said they are less optimistic. 

The report from Deloitte found that 

confidence and risk amongst CFOs 

in the UK remains muted; financial 

leaders believe there will be a decline 

in revenues, and therefore, a tighter 

focus on cost pressures and tight 

credit conditions is expected. 

It’s perhaps an indicator of the mindset 

of the UK’s CFOs that there is a greater 

emphasis now on cash accumulation 

than at any point in the last nine years. 

David Sproul, senior partner and 

chief executive of Deloitte North West 

Europe commented: “Large businesses 

are clearly looking to protect 

themselves against risk by raising cash 

levels and bullet proofing balance 

sheets. 

“They appear to be battening down the 

hatches for tougher times ahead.” 

Talk to us today about Business Breakdown Cover 

Call 0800 294 2994 quoting 0818 

Or visit theAA.com/business 

44 Today’s Boardroom • Issue 4

WWW.TODAYSBOARDROOM.CO.UK CEO CFO CIO SOLUTION PROVIDERS

Today's Boardroom Issue 4

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