Monthly Archives: November 2022

Data & Analytics, Marketing, News, PR and SEO

Using Analytics in Your Digital Marketing Plan

Digital marketing has never been more effective, thanks to the power of analytics. While traditional marketing techniques could often be hit or miss, digital marketing makes it so much easier for your brand to connect with its intended audience. Analytics makes it even more effective, allowing you to easily measure and track the success of a marketing plan, delivering better results and helping you optimise your marketing strategy.

Digital marketing is the use of digital and online technology to connect with potential customers. Because people now spend an increasing amount of time online, digital marketing techniques are becoming more useful than ever. Not only do they give your brand access to a wide audience, but they also help you connect to potential customers in new ways. In addition digital marketing can be combined with analytics to make sure every marketing campaign is successful. Here’s how you do it.

Learning About Marketing Analytics

The first stage to using analytics in your digital marketing plan is understanding what they are. Put simply, marketing analytics is the transformation of consumer behaviour into data that your business can use. By collecting the right data on customer behaviour, you can ensure your company makes the right marketing decisions and targets the right audience.

You can learn more about this topic with a digital marketing analytics online short course. Through this course, you can improve your understanding of how digital channels and marketing analytics can be leveraged to optimise marketing spend and produce better results. You’ll also assess the latest applications of artificial intelligence and how this can be used to drive marketing campaigns.

Understanding Digital Marketing Metrics

When using analytics to measure the success of a marketing campaign, it’s important to use the right metrics. These are statistical measures that can provide insights into how a campaign is progressing and how people are interacting with it.  The more specific a metric is, the more information it can tell you and the more useful it is. Therefore, it’s important to focus on these specific metrics and avoid vanity metrics that may be tied to ideas that are hard to measure.

Different metrics are used in different areas of digital marketing. For example, you might use traffic, page views, bounce rate and time on page for website marketing analytics. For lead generation, you’re more likely to use metrics such as conversion rate, call-to-action click-through rate and leads-to-close ratio. When measuring your marketing campaign, always ensure you’re measuring the right metrics that provide you with the most relevant information.

Personalise Customer Experiences

One of the best uses of data is in providing a personalised experience for your customers. By collecting the right data, you can improve their buying experience and ensure that you build brand loyalty and improve customer retention rates. Common data that you can use includes browsing behaviour, recently purchased items, items similar to those purchased and abandoned carts.

Providing personalised messages to customers based on this data can help to increase sales and keep customers coming back over time. In addition, it can be used to offer discounts and rewards to customers based on their personal habits and interests.

Create Better SEO

Search engine optimisation, better known as SEO, is one of the most effective forms of digital marketing. Most internet users today get information about products and services by using a search engine. This provides an excellent opportunity for brand awareness, and good SEO can push your website up the rankings.

By using metrics on keywords, you can find out how to optimise the content on your site for search engine results pages. In addition, looking at time spent on page and bounce rate give you an idea of how effective your site is at holding potential customers and providing information relevant to their needs.

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Image Credit: Campaign Creators on Unsplash

Charity & CSR, Charity News, News

Greg Culshaw of Toyota (GB) completes 24-hour cycle challenge to raise funds for the MND Association at the Company’s Head Office in Epsom

Greg Culshaw, General Manager, Customer, Network and Quality Support at Toyota (GB), has completed a gruelling 24-hour static bike ride at the company’s head office in Epsom, Surrey, putting him on course to raise more than £40,000 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Greg began his challenge at 10am on Wednesday 17 November and was joined by a number of colleagues, including Agustin Martin, Toyota (GB) President and Managing Director, who completed stints on static bikes alongside him, to give him encouragement. Paralympic cyclist, Jody Cundy, and Mark Chapman, Director of Finance of the MND Association, helped cheer him on at the start of his marathon.

Toyota (GB) is halfway through a three-year partnership with the MND Association and has so far raised more than £78,000 for the charity, which focuses on improving access to MND care, funding research and campaigning on behalf of the MND community.

Greg was inspired to take on the challenge in memory of a Toyota colleague, Rachel Rollason, who died from motor neurone disease earlier this year. He commented: “Rachel and I spent four years working together in the Customer Services Division and it’s fair to say that she made a lasting impression on me. Her boundless energy and devotion to getting things done were inspiring. She operated on ’no limitology‘ before I had even heard the phrase.”

He added: “This has been a brutal challenge, but at the same time I’ve been focused on completing it for Rachel and the MND Association. The idea started in a conversation with Rachel and in her last text message to me, she told me how proud she was of me for taking it on. She continues to inspire me and in turn, made me proud of her.”

To date, Greg has raised nearly £16,000 through his Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Greg24hrBikeRide. This will remain open for donations until the end of November.

Toyota (GB) has pledged to fund-match the total raised by Greg, which means the charity should receive around £40,000 to help it keep up the great work it does on its five key promises:

1.    To make MND treatable and ultimately find a cure.
2.    To ensure everyone gets the help they need, when they need it.
3.    To make every day with MND count.
4.    To ensure people with MND are heard
5.    To ensure that nobody with MND faces it alone

Mark Chapman, Director of Finance at the MND Association, commented: “Greg’s challenge is particularly poignant because he’s doing it in memory of his colleague Rachel. It’s brilliant to see so many staff members from Toyota rally behind him to honour her, knowing that every penny raised will make a huge difference to people living with and affected by MND.

Last year we provided £1.4 million of support grants for 2,479 people living with the disease.

The grants provided by the MND Association have helped people living with MND to maintain their independence and improve their quality of life, and we couldn’t do this without partnerships with companies like Toyota.”

Jody Cundy, eight-time Paralympic Champion (three swimming, five track cycling) commented: “It was a pleasure to join Greg for the first hour of his 24hour charity ride for MNDA. It was a tough challenge, but I hope my support and presence helped make it a little easier.”

Agustin Martin said: “Watching Greg complete this challenge while we went about our daily business has been humbling for all of us at Toyota.  We congratulate him for his for raising such a significant sum for the MND Association, our charity partner, and for helping to honour the memory of our much-loved colleague, Rachel Rollason.”

News, Property, Retirement

Making new friends is the number one benefit of retirement developments – new research from My Future Living

Making new friends and being socially active in later life is key to good mental wellbeing[i] and a new survey* from retirement rentals brand, My Future Living, has revealed that almost three-quarters of residents say making new friends is the number one benefit of living in a retirement development.

73% have made new friends and 46% are more socially active since they moved to a retirement community. Over half (54%) said living in a retirement community has made a positive difference to their mental health, and 45% said it has improved their physical health.

The research also looked at the activities that residents rated as most important in their retirement with maintaining an active lifestyle coming out top (66%); followed by spending more time with family and friends; enjoying a slower pace of life and meeting people, socialising or having a sense of community.

 

Commenting on this research, Dominic Stead, Property Director at My Future Living said, “Living in a retirement development has many benefits but with many older people living alone, making friends and being sociable is a priority. Being surrounded by a community of similar aged people is a big attraction.

“Retirement developments are sociable places to live offering communal spaces and organised activities. With more people expected to be living alone in the future, retirement living could be an ideal option.”

 

The King’s Fund highlighted that by 2032 11.3 million people are expected to be living on their own, more than 40 per cent of all households, and the number of people over 85 living on their own is expected to grow from 573, 000 to 1.4 million[ii].

A third (33%) of My Future Living’s residents sold a property before deciding to move into a rented retirement home, the option to rent securely on an assured (lifetime) tenancy was what attracted them to rent rather than own. The security of an assured tenancy is very important to the majority (86%) of residents, whether they had rented or owned prior to moving in.

Other things that are important for those renting are less property maintenance and upkeep; location and the 24-hour emergency call system in each apartment.

 

Dominic adds, “Assured tenancies are a game changer as they offer the same security of tenure as home ownership which people want when they are older. We anticipate with growing awareness of the benefits of retirement living many more will choose this option in the future.”

 

One man who has discovered the benefits of retirement living is Dutch-born retired stockbroker, Diederik (Rik) Schmull, who rents a two-bedroom apartment at Homecove House, a retirement development in Westcliff-On-Sea in Essex.

Having previously owned a flat, Rik was attracted to renting in a retirement community because it’s flexible, so he could quickly move back to Amsterdam if he wanted. He also has an assured tenancy so he can remain for as long as he wants, providing he sticks to the terms of his agreement.

He says, “Having rented a few places on shorthold tenancies before moving here, I ended up having to move twice at short notice. I didn’t want that to happen again, especially as I’m getting older. Having the security of tenure that I can stay as long as I want is really reassuring.”

Rik enjoys being part of a community and has made friends with people in the development. He never feels isolated or alone, and highly recommends renting in a retirement community.

 

Rik says: “For me it’s worked out really well and I’m very happy. It’s all about independent living but with the reassurance there is help available should you need it,” he adds.

To find out more about renting a home in a retirement development visit: www.myfutureliving.co.uk

 

* My Future Living’s latest annual customer satisfaction survey was carried out in August 2022 with customers asked about their thoughts on retirement living and renting, as well as how they feel about the service from My Future Living. There were 251 responses.

[i] https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/health-wellbeing/mind-body/staying-sharp/looking-after-your-thinking-skills/social-connections-and-the-brain/

[ii] https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/time-think-differently/trends-demography#:~:text=More%20people%20are%20living%20alone,573%2C%20000%20to%201.4%20million.

News

Get Stuff Sorted pre-death admin service launched by award-winning Settld

Award-winning end-of-life admin service Settld has launched a new pre-death preparation package aimed at individuals and families who want to get their affairs in order.

Settld has joined forces with various partners to deliver a ‘Get Stuff Sorted’ programme, offering hands-on advice and practical assistance to prepare paperwork and legal matters regarding end-of-life admin.

Over 31 million adults in the UK don’t have wills or Powers of Attorney in place to protect their loved ones and families, according to Canada Life.

Many also haven’t recorded their final wishes or put the rest of their affairs in order.

Vicky Wilson, co-founder and CEO of Settld, (pitured above) said: “Our online programme has been designed with various organisations to ensure customers can put their admin affairs in order.  Doing so, means that their partners and families won’t face as much emotional stress and unnecessary paperwork following their death.

“We want to make sure everyone’s safe, so we’re introducing a package of services to get all the ‘important stuff’ done, start to finish, in just four weeks.

“Our virtual training and advice sessions help people through the difficult legal and admin trails, and are tailor-made for each individual that signs up.”

The training module, including assistance with wills, powers of attorney, and storage of documents is the latest offering from multi-award winning Settld, which recently announced a new partnership with Starling Bank.

Launched in February 2021, Settld enables members of the public to notify a death to over 970 market leading service providers across the UK, from banks and insurers to energy firms, mobile providers, subscription services, social media platforms and others.

Settld’s online service also helps users close, transfer or amend accounts as well as obtaining date of death balances for probate.

For more information, or to apply for a place on the Get Stuff Sorted programme, please email: support@settld.care

Healthcare, Mental Health, News, NHS News

Healthcare assistant with mental health lived experience set to “achieve life-long dream” to train as a qualified nurse

A woman who struggled to hold down a job due to poor mental health has found a “fulfilling and rewarding” role at a psychiatric hospital. Leanne Thornton, who started having psychotic episodes at the age of 13, worked in retail but was unavailable to find a position that she enjoyed.

But everything changes for the 29-year-old when she started working as a Healthcare Assistant at St Andrew’s Healthcare in 2017.

 

She said: “From the very first day, I knew I had found the sector for me. Prior to St Andrew’s I had been unable to find a job that felt meaningful to me. But, I instantly connected with the patients and the staff here, which is why I’m still here and am fully committed to my work here.”

Leanne, who was made a Senior Healthcare Assistant last year, is hoping to continue to progress her career in January when she joins the St Andrew’s innovative ASPIRE programme which supports staff while they study for a degree in mental health nursing.

 

Aspire enables healthcare assistants to combine their learning and experience to jump straight into the second year of the University of Northampton’s Mental Health Nursing degree. This means they can continue to earn while studying, completing their nursing degree in two years.

Leanne said: “I became very unwell throughout my teenage years and I started self-harming and I experienced some pretty extreme mood swings. Eventually I got the right treatment and support and started to get better.

 

“But my experience with my healthcare team inspired me, their diligence, compassion and caring approach shone through and it made me realise that I wanted to become a mental health nurse so that I can do the same for someone else experiencing problems.”

Sadly, Leanne’s health problems had impacted her school attendance which meant she did not have the qualifications required to embark upon her career as a mental health nurse.

 

She added: “I had set my heart on working in mental health and helping others. I really wanted to be a nurse, but my academic track record was poor because I had been so unwell during my GCSEs. But when I saw the job come up at St Andrew’s I knew it was the role for me.

“My partner already worked there and had told me what a great place it was to work as the people were so welcoming and that the career progression was excellent. I was hopeful that if I worked hard, I might be able to achieve my dream and train as a nurse.”

Five years later and Leanne has managed it and she thinks her own experiences with mental health has made her better at her job.

 

She said: “I can empathise and understand a patient’s perspective, as I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to be in hospital and have your liberty taken away, which is traumatic. There is still a lot of stigma around mental illness, and even people I’ve worked with can sometimes find it hard to understand.

 

“I work in a non-judgemental way and I’m very mindful of not disclosing too much, but if for instance a patient that is self-harming sees my scars, they will recognise them. It can help break down barriers in a positive way and encourage patients to open up. My experience of mental illness has taught me a lot. I recognise behaviours in people that someone else might not spot. For patients going through a frightening time and struggling to cope, this can be a real relief.

 

“For me, the highlight of my job is my patient’s make progress in their recovery. When they get better, watching them be discharged is honestly the best feeling in the world. I’m always so proud of them and the team I work in for the care and support we have given them. I cannot wait to complete my mental health nurse training so I can continue working closely with the patients and helping to make a difference to their lives.”

 

Leanne starts her BSc in mental health nursing next year when she join the nursing Bank at St Andrew’s Healthcare. This means she can fit shifts around her studies. Although she has the option to reduce her shifts if she believes it is impacting her studying or wellbeing.

Emma Swain, ASPIRE’s Programme Lead at St Andrew’s Healthcare, said: “The ASPIRE programme has been extremely beneficial for students and St Andrew’s as those who graduate are guaranteed to walk back into a job -although technically, they never actually left the charity.

“ASPIRE is incredibly competitive programme as we’re looking for people who we know will commit. It takes a certain type of person to study in adulthood so we’re looking for someone who has gone above and beyond in their Healthcare Assistant role as this gives us a pretty good indication that they will make a decent and hardworking student.

 

“There are no nursing bursaries anymore so this programme is a great option for people that can’t afford to fund themselves. Also, it gives people like Leanne a second chance. There are many people out there, for whatever reason, who did not achieve the qualifications to go into nursing and rather than close that book, we’re encouraging our shining stars to start a whole new chapter with us and reach their full potential.”

St Andrew’s ASPIRE programme helps at least 20 Healthcare Assistants a year to gain a nursing degree. It is supported by a salary initiative of more than £17,000 per annum. It is open to those who have achieved either a Level 4 Certificate in mental health, or have a first degree in a health related subject. For more information, click here.

 

Accountancy & Accounts, Appointments, Finance and Banking, Newport, News

New Associate to drive growth at Kilsby Williams

Newport-based Kilsby Williams has appointed a new Tax Associate as it continues to consolidate its position as one of the country’s leading independent accountancy firms and business advisors.

 

Rob Meredith joins the firm from PKF Francis Clark in Bristol. He grew up in South Wales and trained as a Chartered Tax Advisor in Cardiff before spending 12 years with Big Four and Top 12 accountancy firms in London. He is a corporate tax specialist and will be providing tax technical and general business advice to the firm’s diverse range of clients. His appointment is the sixth into the firm’s growing tax team in the past few months.

Rob, who previously played rugby for Cardiff RFC and international age grade rugby for Wales, said: “I was attracted to Kilsby Williams by the opportunity to work for one of South Wales’s biggest independent and most highly respected accountancy firms. I’m really excited to be joining the team at a time when our clients, associates and the wider community need our guidance and assistance more than ever.

“I have led tax compliance teams in the UK and overseas and I specialise in mitigating tax risks and maximising reliefs for my clients. I am also an experienced advisor on restructuring projects and property transactions. I am looking forward to bringing my wealth of experience to the firm, its clients and wider stakeholders, helping the firm to continue to be a trusted adviser to entrepreneurial businesses across South Wales.”

 

Simon Tee, Managing Partner at Kilsby Williams, said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming an Associate of Rob’s calibre to the team. The last few years have seen the company grow at an exciting rate and we are constantly on the look out for new talent, especially potential future leaders for the business.

“With Rob in our tax team, I’m sure that the business will continue to go from strength-to-strength.”

 

Established in 1991, Kilsby Williams works with clients from across South Wales, the Midlands and London, ranging from sole traders to companies in international quoted groups.

 

Finance News, News, Tech

AYLIEN makes waves with trailblazing financial services innovation

Irish startup’s flagship risk monitoring application for new marketplace platform sends ripples through the Risk Tech space

AYLIEN, the award-winning news intelligence startup has today unveiled a pioneering breakthrough in financial services risk management which will send innovation shockwaves through the sector.

AYLIEN’s Risk Signals application has been selected as one of the first three applications to be offered via a first-of-its-kind procurement marketplace – the Innovation Data Platform or iDP, built by ORX, the largest operational risk management association in the financial services sector.

The world’s leading financial institutions are being given direct access to an AI-powered proactive risk monitoring solution, designed by the Irish-headquartered startup, which will turbocharge global innovation in risk management.

iDP is a ground-breaking platform providing banks and insurers one highly secure space to house and transform their risk data, as well as deploy pre-validated and accredited risk tech applications.

It’s designed to make innovating in risk management faster, cheaper and safer. Long procurement processes, different security standards and ways of handling data across financial services currently impact project development, increase costs and impede appetites to innovate.

 

Parsa Ghaffari, founder and CEO of AYLIEN, said: “The risk landscape is evolving faster than ever before, which means access to innovation is no longer a nice-to-have but a must-have in risk management. However, certain barriers such as long procurement processes hinder a financial institution’s ability to access the latest innovation. For risk professionals, a central marketplace of tried and tested specialist providers is a game changer as it will turbocharge innovation, reduce risks, and enhance opportunities, while empowering risk teams.

“We’ve worked very closely with the iDP team in developing Risk Signals and we are incredibly excited about bringing the solution directly to our target market via this cutting-edge platform. Being chosen as a flagship vendor by an industry leader in ORX has really bolstered our expansion in the financial services space.”

The launch of today’s commercial partnership between AYLIEN and iDP cements the Financial Service sectors in the US and UK as the primary markets for the growing Series A startup.

 

AYLIEN’s Risk Signals product is the first of three solutions to be offered through the new ORX iDP platform. The solution informs customers when a potential risk is emerging, provides the investigation capabilities to validate and assess the risks associated with events, and simplifies documenting and reporting on critical risks where necessary.

 

Simon Wills, ORX Executive Director, said: “We are delighted to be working with AYLIEN on this exciting new venture. ORX is built on a strong foundation of finding innovative solutions to shared industry challenges. That’s what led to the development of our loss data service back in 2002, and it’s what has continued to drive the work we’ve done with our members ever since.

“However, due to the relentless pace of change in financial services, the need for digital solutions is now greater than ever. That’s what led us to begin working on this pioneering new platform, and we’re pleased that with applications such as AYLIEN’s, we are now seeing it come to life in our 20th anniversary year.”

 

AYLIEN’s AI-powered Risk Intelligence platform ingests, understands, and tags more than 1.5 million news articles every day in up to 15 languages, providing a powerful search and alert capability that highlights critical news events based on a customer’s third parties, counterparties, competitors and risk types and topics that matter to them.

 

Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning identifies and contextualises emerging risk events related to an organisation’s risk landscape.

With AYLIEN, risk management teams in the Financial Services sector are able to streamline traditionally labour-intensive, manual monitoring processes and free up analysts for more high-value work.

The company’s customers identify 10 times more potential risks while reducing their identification and investigation time by up to 95%.

 

Ghaffari added: “At the moment the financial services market is messy and lacks standardisation because each financial institution is working with individual producers independently and reinventing the wheel. With today’s announcement, we are convinced the procurement and innovation wheels will turn much more smoothly.”

 

AYLIEN was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. It works with a range of international banks, including Wells Fargo in the US, the European Investment Bank and Fidelity.

 

Investment, Investment News, Investor Advice

Could Japanese equities be back on the table for investors in 2023?

Japan is one of the world’s largest economies but it is often overlooked by European institutional investors, However, as many of the developed world’s economies slow down, CAMRADATA’s latest whitepaper, Japanese Equity questions if it’s time for those seeking new return opportunities to think again.

The whitepaper includes insights from firms including Nippon Value Investors, Tokio Marine Asset Management, Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management, Linchpin Advisory Limited and Redington who all attended a roundtable recently hosted by CAMRADATA.

A combination of poor growth and inflation, blended with a relatively inward looking culture and business community, has often pushed any portfolio allocation to Japanese equities to the back of investors’ minds. One of the speakers said institutional investors also talk of having “been burnt before”.

However, this new report delves into how the Japanese equity proposition might be changing, and why institutional investors should have an allocation to the region, however small. It highlights signs of change around governance in Japan and “Abenomics” – the economic programme named after the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe[i].

The report also looks at the impact of currency fluctuations. With the Japanese Yen currently at a record low against the US dollar, it considers what this might mean for equities and for the different styles of investing, in terms of growth versus value.

It also discusses environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, where one speaker points out that Japan is neither “leading the charge”, nor a “laggard” when it comes to ESG investing, before ending with reasons to own Japanese equities.

 

Natasha Silva, Managing Director, Client Relations, CAMRADATA said, “There are many factors to consider with Japanese equities. From the fragile yen and the impact of this on the corporate landscape, to after decades of deflation how both the internal and export markets may react to higher prices for everyday goods, and how potentially higher revenues can be converted into better returns for shareholders.

“Yet, against this uncertainty, Japan’s tech and engineering sectors remain a constant for investors, especially in a world set on using them to reach sustainability and other business goals. Our latest whitepaper looks at the opportunities and challenges, and how investors can best place themselves to take advantage of any transformation of one of the world’s most significant economies.”

 

The whitepaper also includes two opinion articles from the sponsors:

  • Nippon Value Investors – ‘Reversal of Deflationary Mindset’
  • Tokio Marine Asset Management – ‘Flashpoint Taiwan: Where Japan Stands’

 

To read the Japanese Equity whitepaper, please click here.

 

For more information on CAMRADATA visit www.camradata.com.

[i] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62089543

Accountancy & Accounts, Charity & CSR, Thought Leadership

How to Create an excellent annual financial report that brings accounts to life

Written by charity auditors, Sayer Vincent’s Fleur Holden and Vivien Ma 

At the Charity Accountants Conference in September Sayer Vincent’s Fleur Holden and Vivien Ma presented a session on how to create an excellent annual report.

The annual report is an opportunity for a charity to tell its story through its financial reporting and the narrative around it and, bringing accounts to life for those who are not financial experts is a vital part of producing a great report.

 

The session began with a look at what SORP says. The Charities SORP (FRS 102) document sets out how charities are expected to apply international accounting standards to their particular activities and transactions, and explains how charities should present and disclose their activities and funds within their accounts.

 

The purpose of the annual report is to be publicly accountable to stakeholders, to demonstrate stewardship and management of funds and to consider the information needs of primary users. These include funders, donors, financial supports, service users and other beneficiaries.

 

A recommended order for the annual report is set out within the SORP, and starts with the objectives and activities, and what has been achieved throughout the year.  This really focusses the reader on the impact the organisation is having, leaving some of the more compliance driven narrative such as on the structure, governance and management of the organisation towards the end of the report.

 

The session highlighted that the level of financial and technical detail needed varies depending on the audience. For example, the public, beneficiaries, funders/donors and staff need top line performance and a summary, whereas the Trustees, Management and Charity Commission will need much more of a technical/compliance focus. This should be reflected in how the financials and narrative are presented and some examples were given for the different audiences.

 

The session suggested there are eight key questions charity finance professionals should ask themselves before putting together the annual report, which will help them when thinking about what needs to be included and the story they are telling. These are:

 

  1. What is our annual report for? Is it just a compliance document, or is it used for fundraising, too?
  2. Who is our target audience? A pure compliance document may not be suitable if you plan to attract funders/donors and supporters to support your charity.
  3. What do we want our audience to do? Donate to us? Fund us? Do we want them to better understand the problem we are addressing and our achievements?
  4. What other publications do you produce? Annual accounts and report, impact report, or a combination?
  5. How will readers access the report? (Hard copy, web, mobile)
  6. How do we demonstrate outcomes and impact?
  7. Who do we involve? Some charities rely on the management team to write the annual report and the board checks and approves, and some charities involve the trustees throughout the process.
  8. What’s our timetable? If you produce designed annual report and accounts, you will need to build in additional time for your comms team to design the document. Involving them too early in the process could lead to time-consuming revision; too late and the approval and submission deadlines could be missed.

 

Finally, the session ended by highlighting that good narrative reporting answers five key questions:

  • What are the benefits we are providing to the public?
  • What do we do to achieve them?
  • What are we achieving?
  • How do we know what we are achieving?
  • What are we learning, and how can we improve?

 

The key is to give a balanced view – celebrate your achievements, but also reflect the lessons learned along the way.

News

Organic farm boss wins entrepreneurship award for success of foraged beauty collection

THE man behind one of the UK’s leading organic farm estates has won a prestigious national award for entrepreneurship.

Lord Robert Newborough, owner of Rhug Estate, near Corwen, picked up the Health and Beauty Entrepreneur Award at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2022 Grand Final.

He was selected following the success of their popular Wild Beauty collection, created from natural ingredients foraged on-site.

“I am absolutely thrilled to win the award, it’s testament to our vision to create a high-quality brand centred around the environment and sustainability,” said Lord Newborough.

“Thank you to the judges and especially our hard-working Wild Beauty team, whom I share this with.”

Hannah and Sophie Pycroft from Spectrum Collections were on the judging panel and praised the “exciting” brand, adding: “We particularly enjoyed learning about it came to be, and all of its efforts into sustainability, both on the farm with renewable energy and when manufacturing its products and material choices. The existing retailers are all recognisable brands and the international growth plans seem to be well underway for what sounds to be a very exciting period.”

The Awards, organised in partnership with Starling Bank, recognised the UK’s most inspiring entrepreneurial success stories for a decade and developed a community-oriented network of alumni which grows year on year.

The ceremony was held at Grosvenor House in London and saw 1,400 entrepreneurs and colleagues unite to celebrate a collective £2 billion generated in turnover and over 17,000 jobs.

Great British Entrepreneur Awards founder Francesca James said the 10th anniversary event was the biggest and best yet: “Celebrating Britain’s ambitious, driven, and inspirational entrepreneurs for a decade has been an honour, and we’ve learnt so much from hearing all their unique stories and perspectives.

“The extraordinary circumstances of the last few years have tested the resilience of our business communities, and the challenges were enough to give many entrepreneurs an excuse to give up. Instead, our award winners did the opposite and, through ingenuity, innovation, and the ability to adapt, they thrived.”

Anne Boden MBE, Founder of Starling Bank, headline partner of the Awards, added: “Entrepreneurs up and down the country across so many different industries have shown just how innovative and resilient they have been in these uncertain times. The awards are a celebration of their success – congratulations to all winners.”

Lord Newborough’s accolade comes just days after Wild Beauty won two prizes at the Free From Skincare Awards for its Hand Wash and Lotion Duo Gift Box Set.

The product won the Best Bath and Body category and was named Overall Champion.

To find out more about the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, visit the website: greatbritishentrepreneurawards.com. 

For more information on Wild Beauty, visit www.rhugwildbeauty.com or follow them on social media @rhugwildbeauty.