Monthly Archives: August 2020

Appointments, Cybersecurity, News

Three big hitters join West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre Advisory board.

The West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre have announced the appointment of their first three Advisory Group Members.

The group will provide the WMCRC with guidance, advice and influence the direction of the Centre which is headed up by Director Alison Hurst.  The first three members are: Lisa Ventura from the UK Cyber Security Association, Paul Street from Colmore BID and Stuart Hadley from CyberQ Group.

LISA VENTURA – UK Cyber Security Association 

Lisa Ventura is an award-winning Cyber Security consultant and is the CEO and Founder of the UK Cyber Security Association (UKCSA), a membership association that is dedicated to individuals and companies who actively work in cyber security in the UK.

On joining the Advisory Group Lisa said; “I am very honoured to join the Advisory Group of the WMCRC, the West Midlands has a huge concentration of cyber security organisations and individuals who are doing great work in the industry to bring cyber security to the forefront of people’s minds. The WMCRC is going to be instrumental in providing collaboration with the government, the police, organisations, education and the National Cyber Security Centre which is something that is very much needed in the region to help combat the growing problem of cyber-crime.

“Getting everyone to work from home quickly earlier this year has left many organisations wide open to cyber-crime, and much more needs to be done to raise awareness of this and to stop organisations falling victim to cyber-crime. It is important that businesses recognise where they might need to bring in additional measures and to ensure that their employees are cyber aware to mitigate the risk of attacks.

“I look forward to seeing the WMCRC becoming a strong resource in the West Midlands for businesses to call on to help them against the growing threat of cyber-crime, and I’m proud to be a part of it from the get-go.”

PAUL STREET – Colmore BID 

Paul Street joined Colmore BID in January 2019 as a Special Projects Officer for the BID’s Safe and Sound working group.  Safe and Sound focuses on delivering a safe and secure Colmore Business District for everyone who works, visits or passes through.

Paul is looking forward to his new role, he said: “I’m honoured to be asked to join the Advisory Group of The West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre, on behalf of Colmore Business Improvement District.

“Colmore BID has a strong and proud history of collaborative partnership working within the community safety arena. I’m relishing the opportunity to offer my advice and feedback to the WMCRC’s public, private and academic cyber specialists to achieve our shared objectives of helping our businesses be more cyber aware and resilient to the very latest online threats and risks.”

STUART HADLEY – CyberQ Group

Stuart Hadley is the Global Commercial Director of Birmingham based CyberQ Group, an award winning cyber security services provider. Stuart has 23 years’ experience in the IT and security sector working in technical and project management roles.

Stuart explains why CyberQ Group wanted to work with the WMCRC: “Due to the recent global pandemic, the way the world conducts business has changed. The epidemic has had an immense impact on the ways businesses operate; increased adoption of remote working, increased use of Cloud platforms, SaaS, flexible working patterns, and an agile workforce. And as a result of these changes, there has been a significant increase in the number of cyber-attacks, affecting all businesses, large or small, with the consequences of financial losses, intellectual property theft, reputational damage and ultimately, business failure.

“Being cyber resilient is now not just a nice to have, but fundamental for a business to continue to exist and operate. By partnering with West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre, we see this as a great opportunity to give SME’s in the West Midlands advice and support based on what we have learned and experienced working with global organisations.”

Director Alison Hurst welcomed the new appointments saying: “We are delighted to welcome our first three Advisory Group Members to the WMCRC. It’s really important that we form a group of industry professions from all backgrounds to help support the growth of the centre. Lisa, Paul and Stuart all have different experience and their wealth of knowledge will be invaluable to me and my team.

“I have been overwhelmed with the amount of interest we have had in our Board and Advisory Group from businesses across the region and we expect many more announcements in the next few weeks via our website and social media.”

Find out more about the Advisory Group Members on the WMCRC website: https://www.wmcrc.co.uk/

Engineering, Logistics, News

Econ Engineering Ploughs £2m Into New Cardiff Service Hub & Parts Distribution Centre

Econ Engineering – which supplies 85 per cent of the winter maintenance vehicles used on the United Kingdom’s roads – has invested £2.1m into a new service hub and parts distribution centre in Cardiff, Wales.

From its new base in an industrial park on Brindley Road, Econ’s Cardiff hub will support customers from Wales to South Birmingham, right down to Cornwall. The hub will undertake one off services, as well as scheduled maintenance tasks, for the Econ product range.

It will also act as a parts distribution centre, enabling customers in close proximity to benefit when vehicle fleets need servicing, allowing Econ to ensure it maintains its’ high service standards as the company expands.

The 7,410 sq. ft site includes an office and parts warehouse and will initially employ six specialist staff, who will run and manage its service “pits” for any Econ vehicle maintenance work carried out in situ.

The hub will also provide a base for the Mobile Service Engineers who already provide a 24/7 breakdown and repair service for all Econ’s Contract Maintenance and Contract Hire customers. The new hub will also allow customers who are not covered by one of these agreements, access to expert Econ Engineers for repair, maintenance, spreader calibrations, services and repairs for all their Econ product range.

Previously housing a truck rental business, it has been chosen for its superior transport links. And being near the local bypass, will enable swift access to the growing number of Econ customers who will benefit from localised service and repairs.

Jonathan Lupton, Econ’s Director of Operations, said: “We are delighted to have invested in this new site in Wales, which will help us deliver an even better service to customers in Wales and the South West.

“With many customers located within this patch, servicing trucks from this new hub and having a hire fleet in situ, will bring significant benefits to them.

“Its location is perfect for us. It has great transport links and is large enough to support our operation as we expand.

“The site will help ensure that Welsh roads are kept clear and safe, as well as creating new jobs and making a positive impact on the local economy.”

Econ Engineering celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2019. It is the country’s largest producer of gritters and road mending vehicles, has a hire fleet of more than 800 and employs a 240 strong workforce. For more information on the company visit www.econ.uk.com

Energy, News

Businesses set to cash in as SSE opens up access to energy markets for smaller assets

Manufacturers, building managers, local councils and other large energy users could generate thousands of pounds of income from their assets thanks to a new service launched by SSE Enterprise’s distributed energy business.

SSE Enhance is a smart grid, aggregation and trading platform that allows users to get paid for helping to balance supply and demand across their local network and the electricity network. The platform will give customers access to the Wholesale market, Balancing Mechanism, and Ancillary Services.

Companies, public sector organisations and other customers can receive payments/make savings for reducing their electricity demand during peak periods, or they can reduce their own peaks through optimising and automating local demand against generation/storage. This will help customers manage local constraints, increase security of supply and optimise asset performance.

Customers could also be paid to feed excess electricity from their own assets – like combined heat and power units, solar panels, wind turbines or energy storage batteries – into the grid to help cope with spikes in demand.

Customers can set the parameters for the platform – such as the times of day that they’re prepared to vary their use of electricity on site – and then SSE’s market-leading optimisation software, coupled with its experienced trading team, will optimise and/or trade those assets in response to market events.

Users also receive access to a round-the-clock support and monitoring desk.

This new platform forms the basis of SSE Enterprise’s wider suite of services, that will enable them to partner with organisations to support them on their journey to Net Zero carbon emissions.

SSE Enterprise’s distributed energy business is currently adding specific customers’ assets to the system so that they can begin trading their energy.

Stephen Stead, Director of Strategy & Digital Services at SSE Enterprise’s distributed energy business, said: “Creating a platform that combines SGS’s smart grid capabilities with our energy and trading experience is not only a watershed moment for our customers but will also make a significant contribution to the wider efforts of tackling the climate emergency.

“Combining this new solution with our wider Distributed Energy offering will mean we can work with customers to ensure they have the best deployed solution to meet carbon reduction targets. We can offer the full solution – funding, deployment, management and now optimisation.

 “This will enable the deployment of more renewable energy generation – like wind turbines, solar panels, biomass plants and energy storage –which may have been inconceivable to customers previously due to capital cost constraints.

“This platform will help customers reduce energy demand at peak times which will help National Grid ESO to balance supply and demand, reducing the need for expensive upgrades to the wires, substations and other infrastructure.”

The platform was built using ANM Strata, a distributed energy resources management system (DERMS) developed by Glasgow-based energy software specialist Smarter Grid Solutions (SGS).

SGS’s programs are already used by companies in Europe and the United States – including UK Power Networks, Laing O’Rourke and Southern California Edison – to manage their energy systems.

SSE and SGS are also working together on Peterborough Integrated Renewables Infrastructure project (PIRI), a two year Innovate UK design project, that brings together energy generation, demand and storage, to unlock efficiencies not deliverable under our existing, traditional energy systems.

Graham Ault, Executive Director and Co-Founder of SGS, added: “The launch of SSE Enhance is a major milestone for both SSE Enterprise’s distributed energy business and ourselves.

“Building a platform around ANM Strata has brought our two companies closer together and demonstrated the benefits of harnessing our technology and SSE’s experience in the energy trading markets.

“Working with SSE in this way is a fast-growing part of our strategy to help customers gain access to markets for their energy assets.

“What’s more, we’re continuing to help connect more clean, decentralised, low-carbon power generation to the grid, which will help to tackle the climate emergency and bring Britain closer to its 2050 net-zero target.”

HR News, Law, News, Redundancy

BrightHR survey reveals 43% of UK business owners are not confident in making redundancies in line with the law

43% of UK business owners are not confident they could make redundancies in line with the law, a survey from BrightHR, a HR software and employment law advice service, revealed this week.

With a third of UK organisations expected to cut jobs in the next quarter of 2020, according to the latest Labour Market Outlook, the survey results are a big concern, as even the smallest mistake could result in employers facing employment tribunals and hefty legal penalties.

The survey of 2,000 small business owners also found that 51% of employers were not clear on the redundancy process during or after furlough, with lots of confusion surrounding whether redundancy pay is based on employees’ normal wages or their furlough rate of pay.

Alan Price, CEO of BrightHR and employment law expert, said:

“With the UK Government’s Job Retention Scheme winding down and many businesses having to let staff go to cope with changing levels of demand, redundancies are currently an unfortunate necessity for many companies. But you need to explore every other option first.

“Because if the worst happens and an employee takes you to a tribunal, a judge will expect to see a firm business case for why you had no choice but to make a role redundant. The tribunal will also want to see that you’ve followed the correct redundancy process. Failure to do so could lead to you making a big pay out to your former employee. None of this is easy. Contract changes and redundancies are among the most complicated areas of employment law. Therefore, it’s essential that employers either understand the redundancy process or they have the relevant tools and people to assist them with making the right decisions in line with the law”

Commercial Property, Midlands News, News

“COVID-19 will drive the rural working renaissance” proclaims Burrough Court

From homes to office accommodation, rural settings have well and truly come into their own this year. While plentiful fresh air and space have always held a certain appeal, the new need to socially distance due to COVID-19 is driving a significant rural renaissance.

As Prime Minister Boris Johnson encourages people back to work, Burrough Court in the Leicestershire countryside is one business hub that’s already feeling the impact of 2020’s trend for all things rural.

“We’ve seen a notable uptick in interest in rural business premises since the pandemic began. With remote working suddenly becoming so much more mainstream, there are plenty of companies that are now happy with their workers to be based at home or within regional hubs. Presenteeism in the city is rapidly losing its appeal.”

Fred Wilson, Director, Burrough Court

 

Set in 22 acres of woodland near Melton Mowbray, Burrough Court epitomises the kind of rural office accommodation that many are now seeking. The site is easily accessible by car, offers a COVID-secure environment and comes complete with a variety of walking routes around the farm, enabling socially distanced exercise to be incorporated into the working day. There is also a gym for keeping fit, along with The Studio, for Yoga, Meditation and Pilates classes and an on-site coffee shop for those all-important caffeine fixes.

Burrough Court has seen a notable rise in the number of clients returning to work on-site in recent weeks, with many companies arranging rotas and setting working days for different staff members to aid social distancing.

85% of the offices and 92% of the warehouses at Burrough Court are now occupied, with tenants hailing from a diverse range of sectors and industries, including training, property, charitable, creative technology, sports and many more. Tenants have remarked on how safe and well-managed the site is in the face of the challenges posed by COVID-19.

“Despite the lockdown I have continued to use Burrough Court as the place is quiet, spacious and I have always felt safe here. The team have managed the past few months incredibly well, maintaining a sense of calm and normality that has allowed me to crack on and focus on my business, which has been invaluable to me in these challenging times.”

Jim Overend, Managing Director, Gamechanger Consulting Ltd, tenant at Burrough Court

The push for rural office accommodation – and residential property – is likely to be a defining characteristic of COVID’s impact on the way that we work and live. Rightmove reported a 126% increase in enquiries about buying a home in a village in June and July, compared to the same months in 2019, while Knight Frank has made similar observations.

Nor is the rural renaissance limited to just the UK. UBS reports that a third of rich American and more than half of wealthy British, German, French and Italian investors now want to move to less populated areas.

In the East Midlands, business confidence is rising hand-in-hand with individuals feeling happier about returning to work. The Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking Business Barometer rose four points during July, reflecting the region’s growing sense of positivity.

“We won’t be getting back to ‘normal’ anytime soon, so that means there are plenty of opportunities for businesses to think rural when it comes to their future plans, both short-term and longer-term. Leicestershire has so much to offer both residents and workers when it comes to reconnecting with a more rural way of life. We fully expect this trend to continue at least throughout the rest of 2020.”

Fred Wilson, Director, Burrough Court

For more information, call 01664 454 690, email info@burroughcourt.com or visit www.burroughcourt.com.

News

Extremely Important News – Because Chocolate Rules!

M&S is set to make tastebuds tingle, as the retail giant recently launched FOUR new varieties of its extremely popular Extremely Chocolatey Biscuits.

First launched 18 years ago and known for being ‘more chocolate than biscuit’, this range is an absolute customer favourite.

Currently available in seven different varieties, including Milk, Dark and White Chocolate Rounds…over 7.5 MILLION packs of Extremely Chocolatey Biscuits have been enjoyed over the last year. That’s more than one biscuit eaten every SECOND. The range is so popular, it even has its own biscuit selection box and a spin-off cake range!

Perfectly paired with a cuppa or glass of milk, the four new flavours launching on 14th July are:

 7 Extremely Chocolatey Milk Chocolate and Orange Cookies 150g, £2

Indulgent all butter cookies with Belgian chocolate & zesty orange. Studded with milk chocolate chunks, coated in milk chocolate and finished with a dark chocolate drizzle

7 Extremely Chocolatey Double Chocolate Chip Cookies 150g, £2

Indulgent all butter cookies with Belgian chocolate. Studded with dark chocolate chunks, coated in milk chocolate and finished with a dark chocolate drizzle.

Extremely Chocolatey Dark Chocolate Squares, 125g, £1.50

Extremely Chocolatey Milk Chocolate Squares, 125g, £1.50

Nine buttery biscuits coated on one side with either creamy milk or rich dark chocolate. Perfectly snappable into little squares…and over 60% chocolate!

The Need to See IT publishing team were given a sneak preview of these chocolate treats and while all of them were delicious (let’s be honest – we’re all chocaholics) the Milk Chocolate and Orange Cookies is our official favourite.  Available in an M&S near you.

Benefits, Health, News

Mark Foster dives into Gympass Wellbeing Unplugged Webinar

Gympass is delighted to welcome ex-Olympian GB swimmer and highly respected sports media personality Mark Foster to the 5th edition of its virtual Wellbeing Unplugged events.  On Thursday August 27 from 4pm, Mark will take the hotseat in the Gympass Wellbeing Unplugged Happy Hour to share his incredible journey including representing Great Britain in the Olympics and world championships and swimming for England in the Commonwealth Games. A former world champion with multiple medals to his name, Mark is also a well-known and well-regarded sports commentator and a passionate motivational ambassador for wellbeing.

Mark’s swimming career spanned 23 years from representing England at the 1986 Commonwealth Games at the age of 16 to his final Olympic appearance in the 2008 Beijing Games where he was honoured as the flag bearer who led Team GB in the opening ceremony.  Mark has represented his country more times and has been more decorated than any other male swimmer and simultaneously held the World Record for 50m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly.

When he left competitive swimming, Mark found success as a sports commentator where his charisma and professionalism took him straight to the nation’s hearts.  His award-winning partnership with Clare Balding from the aquatics centre during the Olympics in 2012 made him a household name and Mark also co-hosted the BBC coverage of the World Swimming Championships from Barcelona with Gabby Logan and was part of the commentary panel at Rio 2016.

The ultimate ‘good sport’ Mark has appeared on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, Celebrity Juice on ITV2 for Sport Relief, the Paralympic special of the Channel 4 show The Million Pound Drop with Countdown Presenter Rachel Riley (where they won £50,000 for charity) and as one of the ‘Superstars’ athletes on ITV’s ‘Beat the Stars’.

He is also patron of The Anaphylaxis Campaign, the UK charity for people with severe allergies, and an Ambassador of Pools 4 Schools, a programme to increase participation in swimming amongst primary school children.

With such an illustrious and varied career, Mark will have plenty to say in the Gympass Wellbeing Unplugged webinar: to join him, register here: LINK

Cybersecurity, News, Technology

Preparing to Use New Information: Rapid Response in a Crisis

Written by Leon Ward, VP Product Management, ThreatQuotient

Society has experienced a phase of extreme change, with individuals and companies still being introduced to new ways of working, communicating, and conducting business. These changes also bring with them exposure to new cybersecurity risks that threat actors choose to exploit, along with novel lures that pull on our fears and inquisitive nature. And if we have learned anything over the past few months, I argue it is this: effective rapid response is required for any crisis.

 

To me, effective rapid response means being able to quickly understand and act on newly available information that will protect your business.

 

Most organisations today connect to a wide variety of security tools and commercial threat intelligence sources to achieve this level of security daily. However, one common thread during challenging – or as we have heard countless times, “unprecedented” – times is that from a data perspective, there is a strong uptick in new, disparate sources of threat information organisations are consuming.

 

In the face of COVID-19, many commercial threat intelligence providers are kindly providing freely available packages of threat data to help the wider community outside of their existing customer base. Governments at all levels share threat and outbreak-specific data. Data sharing via open source feeds expands greatly. This is a great thing to see to happen, because when we all work together and collaborate, we can all better defend ourselves.

 

This has happened before as well, when other specific threats gained global attention (e.g. Mirai, Wannacry, and NotPetya) but obviously not to such a scale as we experienced early on with COVID-19. I assume that this trend will continue in the future, we just don’t know yet what the next trigger will be.

 

As a result of upticks in available data to address a crisis, security teams are forced to think about three things, all at the same time: “There is new data available that may help my organisation in our mission; we need access to it now; and we need to assess how and if it can help to defend us.”

 

Becoming aware of new sources of information is one thing but understanding the data and enabling it as part of an organisation’s infrastructure and operations is a more interesting challenge. Especially since these sources look very different: Government provided advice and data; Lists of new ‘potential’ domains that could be used for malicious activity (but are yet to be observed to be malicious); Known good and clean sources of COVID-19 data, nobody wants to block access to something clean; Observed malicious content and infrastructure used in actual campaigns; Aggregated and interpolated datasets; etc.

 

There are three key capabilities a security operations team must consider to achieving successful rapid response:

 

  • Agility: Are the tools the organisation is using able to reliably consume and use new sources of threat data as quickly as possible?
  • Sustainability: Can their integrations be made in such a way that they are robust and stand up to long term wide scale use?
  • Accessibility: Are non-expert developers being empowered to create robust integrations, with integrated services for handling common external API error conditions, safe authentication, health alerts, detailed data logging, etc.?

 

COVID-19 has been one of the most unique security challenges in years, and it will not be the last. Successful rapid response is critical for defending against cyber-attacks during a crisis, and when preparing to respond to any future crisis, an organisation must be able to do so quickly. This will require having the right people, processes, and technologies in place to make fast use of new information that becomes available.

 

Law, News, Property

Are Turnover Rents the Answer?

Conexus Law, the specialist advisory firm that provides legal and commercial advice to clients who work in sectors where the built environment, technology, engineering and people converge, are tipping ‘turnover rent’ as a potential go-to model for the commercial lettings sector as landlords and tenants continue to experience unprecedented operational challenges. However, where historically turnover structures would see a landlord share in the good times with the tenant, measures undertaken on a global scale have had an unmatched negative effect on the performance of businesses with a necessary physical presence – cafes, bars, restaurants, and retail.

As would-be commercial tenants grapple over whether and on what terms to take on new leases, and existing tenants look for ways to adjust to difficult and unpredictable economic circumstances, Conexus specialists have tipped ‘turnover rent’ (where rent is linked to the turnover of the tenant) for a possible resurgence.

Across the sector parties are seeking to achieve a compromise, and there are no hard and fast rules steering the negotiations. Whilst some sectors have thrived – data, hosting, and connectivity, as well as e-commerce and the tech industry, others have seen their revenue decimated, and through no fault of their own.

Emma Cordiner, from Conexus Law, said: “Changes in consumer habits and routines, financial uncertainty and even fear, will no doubt continue to impact on the ability of commercial tenants to cover the rent following the recent and on-going upheaval, and this is where ‘turnover rent’ may play a part. Traditionally, turnover structures would see a base level of rent paid (usually around 75-80% of the open market value), and a top-up element which would be a percentage of the tenant’s net turnover over a given time period – usually between 5-12%. This would generally have been in tandem with a landlord option to fall back on a full open market rent if turnover fell below a certain threshold, and in some cases, keep-open covenants by the tenant such that turnover could be optimised, but in the current circumstances such measures would clearly defeat the object of assisting tenants.”

However, whilst pinning rental levels to the performance of a tenant’s business during this unique period of economic uncertainty may be one answer, turnover rent provisions in leases can be complex. Moreover, the task of gathering and providing evidence of turnover, as well as the verification or audit of calculations can be burdensome and even costly. These calculations also have the potential to lead to dispute, and any party considering a turnover rent structure, or indeed any change to existing rental or wider letting arrangements, would be advised to take expert advice.

Emma Cordiner added: “The turnover rent approach could prove a useful tool for both prospective and existing commercial tenants, as well as to landlords. If we assume a period of zero turnover, no longer unthinkable, a turnover rent structure with a base rent element would at least provide the landlord with some degree of certainty of continued rental income, and some capacity to continue to satisfy any related debt obligations and covenants. At the same time, the tenant might be cushioned from the very worst of any ongoing or renewed impact on its business. Then, whilst at first glance, a turnover-only structure will look hugely unpalatable to a landlord, faced with the dual prospect of tenants that simply won’t survive if they must pay a rent over and above a level linked to their income, and a potentially tough lettings market, this type of structure might begin to look more feasible.”

Hair and Beauty, News

After Losing Livlihood During Pandemic, Female Entrepreneur Creates An Inclusive Skincare Line

At the start of the year Emilia Makosa owned a successful short term corporate rental business, earning around £6,000 a month. But when lockdown was announced work dried up due to cancellations and refunds. Within weeks she not only lost her income, she also faced potentially losing a business she had built for six years.

Faced with the heartache of losing everything she had worked for she turned her attention to the skincare industry, somewhat out of personal need.

As a teenager Emilia suffered from terrible acne. When she was 18 it disappeared, but when she was 33 she experienced what she describes as ‘the worst acne ever’ brought on by stress, which had a huge impact on her skin.

“Being a businesswoman and mother means you go through stressful periods quite often so for me something as small as meeting a tight deadline could cause a flare up of acne on my cheeks so you can imagine the severity of a flare up I experienced in March”

She started a long, expensive and sometimes painful journey to find a product that would effectively treat the acne and resulting hyperpigmentation. Her search led to her trying many different products, both natural and medicinal, and sometimes a combination of both.

It wasn’t until after a lot of trial and error, and help from a private dermatologist, that she discovered her skin responded better to medicinal and clinical skincare products which were not only extremely expensive, they weren’t created specifically for black skin as some moisturisers would leave her with an ashy hue within an hour of application. Some clinical products where just too strong, making her hyperpigmentation worse. She didn’t feel included as a consumer.

Seeing a huge gap in the market by realising that she wasn’t alone, Emilia set about creating an affordable range of skincare products using ingredients that are effective and safely formulated to brighten and clear dark and sensitive skin.

The products contain clinically proven, effective ingredients and complexes that provide visible improvements in the appearance of dark skin, answering the call of all black women struggling with hyperpigmentation, and feeling as if there’s no brand that caters to them too, leaving them no choice but to use products with harmful chemicals that ‘whiten’ the skin or buying over the counter medical grade peels in an effort to have clear skin.

Explaining the reason behind her choice of business name, Emilia says: “Meilleurq is a French word that means ‘better’ or ‘best’ and that’s what our brand represents. Better skincare, with the best ingredients possible.

“The main skin concern among women of colour is hyperpigmentation because of the accumulation of melanin. When developing key ingredients for our skincare range, we wanted to include potent, but safe, ingredients that brighten dark skin without ‘whitening’ it.”

It may come as no surprise that when faced with adversity, Emilia picked herself up, dusted herself down and came out on top. Her first taste of the entrepreneurial life came when she was just eight years old living in her native South Africa, when together with a friend she sold lemonade to her neighbours. It was this spirit that led Emilia to Emeilleurq.

Despite not officially launching until next month, Emeilleurq has already generated over £5,000 of pre-sales and gained rave reviews during the pre-launch trial phase.

Emeilleurq is a premium skincare and lifestyle brand with 13 products, ranging from cleansers and toners, to spot treatments and an intensive moisturiser. The range will be officially released online from 20 August 2020 at emeilleurq.com