“Cash is king”… yes, I am sure we are all familiar, if not bored of hearing the same line that seems to circle its way around every finance department. Truth is, cash is in fact, the lifeblood of any business, without it no there is no way a company would be able to survive within their market.

What Does The Cash Cycle Involve ?

Cash cycle begins with sourcing raw materials, and transforming them into good for products. These are then usually sold on credit, once the money is received suppliers will be paid. This whole process needs to be managed very carefully otherwise, delayed monies from credit customers will affect a ‘business’ ability to pay suppliers who may then only supply on a cash demand basis.

The impact of academisation

When the topic of academies makes the news headlines it always seems to be for the wrong reason.

At the time of writing, education headlines have been dominated by controversies related to ‘related party’ transactions, terminated funding agreements and allegations of false claims for building and maintenance grants.

Perhaps more significant, has been the current BBC2 documentary series ‘School’, which follows the struggle of a small multi-academy trust in South Gloucestershire to keep its schools afloat in the face of decreasing budgets, falling rolls and challenging Ofsted inspections.

It’s a bleak watch at times, but the overwhelming picture is of a group of professionals operating from a strong moral purpose in the interests of young people and families against what at times seem to be insuperable odds. Read more…..

I have the pleasure of coming to Salford in December to speak to FM professionals about “The skills shortage and shifting workforce demographics”

My brief is this:

• Attracting a diverse range of new talent
• Developing professional career pathways for the FM workforce
• How to measure performance in a meaningful way
• The transition from traditional hard FM models into customer-focused workplace solutions Read more…..

The World of Facilities Management

The world of facilities management is dynamic and evolving. We are seeing rapid progress in technology, social aspirations, and our work environments.

The need for FM professionals to innovate, adapt and deliver value has never been greater, as more and more organisations are recognising the importance of the built environment to their core business. Read more…..

As an organisational Director, Isle of Man law dictates that you must be able to exercise a certain standard of care in financial matters – regardless of whether you are holding a finance-specific role within the company or not.

The risk of personal liability

As seen recently with the Patisserie Valerie fraud case, the group’s multi-millionaire chairman, Luke Johnson, was forced to use £20m of his own money to keep Patisserie Holdings in business, after finding that it was nearly £10m in debt instead of having £28m in the bank, as it had last reported.

The Directors have said they were unaware until 10 October that Patisserie Holdings’ main trading subsidiary, Stonebeach, faced a winding-up petition from HMRC over a £1m unpaid tax bill. Read more…..

Last year the Prime Minister commissioned an independent review into mental health and employment led by Dennis Stevenson and Mind CEO Paul Farmer, as part of a range of measures aimed at transforming mental health support in our schools, workplaces and communities.

The review revealed 300,000 people with a long-term mental health problem fall out of work every year, a cost of up £99 billion to the UK economy. In addition, the human cost of failing to address mental health in the workplace is clear.

Every employer has a responsibility to support employees with mental health problems and promote the mental wellbeing of their entire workforce. Read more…..

Many businesses in the UK remain defiant against the critics who claim corporate growth is slowing down.

The consensus from a Flexspace Business Sentiment Survey found that 80% of respondents expect moderate or substantial growth in 2018, and 78% expect confidence in the UK economy to stagnate or grow for the remainder of the year.

This is despite economists forecasting a potential dip in GDP in Q4 of 2018 and Q1 of 2019.

So, where is this enthusiasm coming from?

With the rise of the internet, information is more accessible and with the right skills, strategy and experience behind you, you can make a big impression online without incurring high expenses for doing so.

Business owners are now becoming savvier, however, they still struggle to tackle all of the demands on their time. Being time-poor is one of the biggest barriers that many SME’s face when working to expand and grow their business.

This means that essential strategic planning stages can be missed, only to cause problems later down the line as too many directors are opting for quick wins over long-term sustainability.

The solution to this is learning how to implement time-effective and realistic strategic planning. Discover how you can do this here.

Read more…..

Many directors and CEO’s throughout the UK have a true passion for their business and a genuine feeling of responsibility towards their organisation, as well as the staff that help to make it work.

However, in difficult times, when cash flow isn’t quite balanced and money is tight, people can change…

The boss that was once an advocate for positive attitudes and working together to make progress, all of a sudden becomes the devil in disguise and makes the lives of their subordinates the equivalent to living in the pits of hell.

When push comes to shove and there are demons at your door, some bosses go into self-preservation mode and as a result choose to disregard the potential impact of their decisions on customers and suppliers, as well as staff.

This isn’t the case 100% of the time, but most of you will have heard horror stories of this occurring and been disgusted by the attitude of those involved.

Read more…..

Take a minute to picture your organisation as a boat navigating across the ocean. The ocean represents the financial world and like the ocean, the financial environment might have dull slow parts, and at times the waves may steer you out of control.

The most important thing you need to understand about sailing is that you don’t have control of the direction you go in, the ocean does. Unfortunately, in this oh-so-complex financial world, the same goes.

The question is do you just sit back let the river take you in any direction, or do you fight the tide? Read more…..

Mind the Gap Ladies!

Did you know that approximately less than 24% of women hold a senior role across the world in 2018?

I’m sure this isn’t news to you… since The Equal Pay Act 1970, we all know it’s illegal to pay women less than men for equal work; “an act to prevent discrimination, as regards terms and conditions of employment, between men and women”.

Clearly, the question isn’t about women being paid less than men. Instead, the question we ask is how many men hold higher paid positions in comparison to women? Read more…..