Bournemouth Chamber of Trade & Commerce | Bournemouth Chamber of Trade & Commerce

10/05/202110/05/2021

Lewis-Manning ‘Loving Your Garden’ campaign and partners with Dorset horticulturist David Hurrion

Lewis-Manning Hospice Care has launched a brand-new campaign called
‘Loving Your Garden’. The initiative will run for 4 months, from 4 th May until
the end of August. The charity hospice is encouraging everyone to fall in love
with their outdoor spaces this Spring and Summer. With the help of David
Hurrion, acclaimed gardening journalist and associate editor of BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, and the charity’s fantastic prize draw, all of Dorset will be sure to achieve a space they love!

David Hurrion said, “For me, gardens and growing spaces are not just
somewhere to grow plants, but they are all about people and memories. They
help to forge links between the generations and allow us to grow plants that
remind us of loved ones, relations and friends. And these memories are all the
more important during end-of-life care, which is why I am delighted to be
supporting the Lewis-Manning Hospice Care ‘Loving Your Garden’ campaign
which is all about sharing our special places in our local area.”

Area Fundraiser Vicki Gray advised, “We are really excited to be launching
‘Loving Your Garden’ it’s an opportunity for people to showcase and celebrate
their favourite garden spaces, whether that be a garden, a kitchen windowsill,
balcony, prized allotment or a public space that inspires them. We will be
asking the public to share images of their favourite spaces on social media
using the hashtag #LovingYourGarden.

“We are delighted that last year’s Glorious Gardens judge and Dorset
horticulturist David Hurrion is supporting the charity again.
“Each month there will be a specific focus and theme; how gardens can help to
promote mental health, physical health, social and environmental health.
With David’s help we will also be providing monthly videos to support our
themes. He will be offering advice, hints, tips and guidance to supporters to
enable and encourage them to further develop, enjoy and love their gardening
spaces. We all know after the challenging year we’ve all experienced how
important being outdoors is and the mental health benefits it brings. Video
content will include items such as how to invite wildlife into your garden,
making your garden eco-friendly, staying fit in the garden and much more.
”As part of ‘Loving Your Garden’ we will be running a Summer Prize Draw, with
some fabulous prizes including a garden dining set, bistro table and chairs, a hanging egg chair, an Ooni pizza oven, plus many more garden goodies. We are extremely grateful for the generosity and support of local companies, including Dunelm, Eco Sustainable Solutions, Fire in a Box, Bex Triggs Yoga and Wilson PT, who have donated prizes for the prize draw.”

Tickets for the prize draw cost just £2 a ticket and can be purchased from the
website lewis-manning.org.uk/loving-your-garden #LovingYourGarden

About Lewis-Manning Hospice Care
Lewis-Manning Hospice Care is a charity established 29 years ago, providing
extraordinary care to patients and their families facing a life-limiting illness
across Poole, Purbeck and East Dorset. We offer a range of free hospice care
services aimed at helping people to live well through their illness, closer to
home.
These include:
– Day hospices, virtual and in person
– Creative arts & wellbeing support
– Lymphoedema clinic for cancer patients
– Better breathing clinic
– Family bereavement & support
Every year we support nearly 500 local people and we develop new services,
based on patient need and identified gaps in the area.
To do this we need to raise over £1.6m every year. Without these funds we
could not exist. Our important work increases people’s physical and social well-being, reduces isolation and loneliness, supports people to stay in their homes longer, and alleviates the huge pressures on family and carers.
Registered charity no. 1120193

06/05/202106/05/2021

Barker Dry Cleaning & Laundry shows incredible support for Lewis-Manning Hospice Care’s ‘Grow Some Sunshine’ campaign

Barker Dry Cleaning and Laundry has shown incredible support for Lewis-Manning Hospice Care and has purchased 3,000 seed packets to join in the hospice’s ‘Grow Some Sunshine’ campaign and give them to the business’s private laundry customers.

Matthew Barker, MD of Barker, the largest domestic laundry in the UK and a leading specialists Dry Cleaner said, “When I heard about the ‘Grow Some Sunshine’ initiative I felt it was a great opportunity to give a little gift to my customers whilst helping my local hospice. This amazing charity has recently helped the family of a member of our staff, and this is an opportunity to say thank you, whilst spreading the word so others can be helped.

“We will also be helping the Lewis- Manning Hospice Care ‘Grow Some Sunshine’ campaign to raise money by selling seed packets in our dry cleaning shops in Sherborne, Bournemouth, Ashley Cross in Poole and Ferndown.”

Corporate Partnerships Fundraiser Nicki Cluley added, “We are thrilled to have the support of Barker. Their generosity is wonderful and will make a huge difference to the lives of the patients that we are supporting.

“In these uncertain times, there is one thing we can always be sure of, which is Lewis-Manning nurses will go above and beyond to care for families across East Dorset and Purbeck. They bring sunshine into patients lives during some of the most difficult times they will ever face. The ‘Grow Some Sunshine’ campaign is all about bringing families and communities together to grow giant sunflowers this summer! We want to fill the gardens of Dorset and those of Barker customers with their bold, bright and summery faces as a huge thank you to all of our nurses, supporters and community who ensure we can keep providing much-needed hospice care.”

About Barker
Barker is a high-quality fabric care and manufacturing business specialising in the improvement of established markets, from laundry to shirt making. Fully traceable, ethically grown and woven cotton of the highest quality is used to manufacture its bed linen range whilst also being the global leader in the supply of starched dress wear to the legal profession and the film, TV and theatre industries. Their work can be seen in Downton Abbey, Poirot and Mr Selfridge, to name just a few. Barker are now the largest domestic laundry in the UK and a leading specialists Dry Cleaner, with a heritage dating back to 1861. www.barkergroup.co.uk

About Lewis-Manning Hospice Care
Lewis-Manning Hospice Care is a charity established 29 years ago, providing extraordinary care to patients and their families facing a life-limiting illness across Poole, Purbeck and East Dorset. We offer a range of free hospice care services aimed at helping people to live well through their illness, closer to home.
These include:
– Day hospices, virtual and in person
– Creative arts & wellbeing support
– Lymphoedema clinic for cancer patients
– Better breathing clinic
– Bereavement & family support
Every year we support nearly 500 local people and we develop new services, based on patient need and identified gaps in the area.
To do this we need to raise over £1.6m every year. Without these funds we could not exist.
Our important work increases people’s physical and social well-being, reduces isolation and loneliness, supports people to stay in their homes longer, and alleviates the huge pressures on family and carers. www.lewis-manning.org.uk
Registered charity no. 1120193

06/05/2021

June 8th Online: Find out what Bournemouth University can offer your business

BCP Council, Dorset Engineering, and Manufacturing Cluster & Bournemouth University working in partnership to support Dorset based business.
• Does your organisation need talent?
• Do you have a steady stream of talented Bournemouth University students applying to your organisation?
• Do you know what Bournemouth University can offer your business?
• Have your engaged with Bournemouth University in the last 12 months?

Find out how to support BU students, join the Council and University on Tuesday 8^th June 4.00 -5:00 pm. The event will be on line and using MS Teams.

Why should people give time to attend this event?
This is a short online overview of some of the areas Bournemouth University can help organisations looking for talent. If you feel that your organisation is going to grow or need new staff in the next 0-3 years this is for you.

Speakers will cover 2 main areas:
• Undergraduate placements and graduate recruitment from degree/masters students in the Faculty of Technology covering Design & Engineering, Computing & Informatics, Creative Technology, Life and Environment Sciences, and Psychology.
• The Graduate Employment Officer on how to access BU’s 19,000 strong student community for organisations who may wish to offer full-time, temporary, remote, or part time work via BU’s free jobs platform.
Target audience.

This event is being organised in partnership with BCP Council Economic development team. Therefore businesses will need a physical presence within Dorset (or just over the border). We want to keep talent local.

To register your place please email Duncan.newman@bpccouncil.gov.uk by close of play on Friday 4^th June.

03/05/2021

Lewis-Manning Hospice Care and Care South form Charity Partnership

Lewis-Manning Hospice Care and Care South have formed a charity partnership and will be working on a series of initiatives together.

Care South’s CEO, Simon Bird said, “The two charities, Care South and Lewis- Manning Hospice Care share very similar values, which is why we are so pleased to cement our relationship with this partnership. There is so much that we intend to achieve together over the coming months and years, starting with our office and care home teams taking up the initiatives of Lewis-Manning and helping to raise funds to support the incredible work that they do in the communities, which our care homes sit at the heart of. Those initiatives build on the food, fun and friendship that is so apparent at all Care South’s care homes. The team are going to be busy getting involved in Lewis-Manning’s “The Great Dorset Tea Party” and “Grow Some Sunshine” in the next few weeks to kickstart our fundraising for the charity.”

Lewis-Manning Hospice Care CEO, Clare Gallie added, “We are absolutely delighted to be working with Care South, it is such a valued and important partnership to have. We have been so appreciative of everything that Care South have supported us with in the past and are delighted to be further strengthening our relationship by working and collaborating with them in the future. Their support will make a huge difference to the lives of the patients and families with life limiting illnesses that we help and support in Poole, Purbeck and East Dorset.”

These include:
– Day hospices, virtual and in person
– Creative arts & wellbeing support
– Lymphoedema clinic for cancer patients
– Better breathing clinic
– Bereavement & family support

Every year we support nearly 500 local people and we develop new services, based on patient need and identified gaps in the area.
To do this we need to raise over £1.6m every year. Without these funds we could not exist.
Our important work increases people’s physical and social well-being, reduces isolation and loneliness, supports people to stay in their homes longer, and alleviates the huge pressures on family and carers.
Registered charity no. 1120193

About Care South
Care South is a not-for-profit charity and leading provider of residential, dementia and nursing care, with 16 care homes as well as Care at Home services, across the south of England.

https://www.care-south.co.uk/about-care-south/care-south-heart-values/

03/05/2021

Investors attention piqued by a digital fundraising business and a personal safety solutions company at Dorset Business Angels pitch event

Dorset Business Angels met for their 2^nd online pitch event in 2021 with some 40 attendees from across the UK & abroad. Pitching businesses have 10 minutes to present to the Angels, after which there is 5 minutes of Q & A, followed by discussions between the would-be investors on their decision to carry out further due diligence with a view to invest. Investors register their interest by taking part in an online polling system.

A company providing digital fundraising services that ensures that charities and funders are able to replace collecting cash donations with a digital solution made a compelling pitch. With UK charities receiving over 50% of their £10B revenue in cash every year, the business is planning contactless donation terminals for later on this year, with the ambition of making the total package a ‘one-stop shop’ for any community organisation’s digital fundraising needs. Identifying a huge addressable market of 1.5 million community organisations, the business advised that it can deliver urgently needed additional funds, more ways to raise funds and broader funding options to this underserved sector, and all from a single provider and ‘build a digital fundraising eco system’. 2 expressions of interest were made.

A Personal Safety Solutions business whose service has been thrust into the limelight by a number of recent tragic events has achieved 450,000 downloads this year, against a 250,000 target and its strapline was quoted to the investor audience – ‘Safety isn’t expensive, it’s priceless’. The founder described his motivation for creating the App, which was achieved after his daughter in law was the victim of an assault and led to family members pulling together their skills to develop and achieve the safety App, which aims to be a leader in female safety.

The business, whose mission is to offer the public a means to control their own personal safety, recently received over 300,000 downloads in a matter of days and in March achieved No. 1 on the App store. At a time when knife crime, assaults, mugging and sexual harassment are increasing, their platform provides a map showing all the recent crime spots, allowing users to plan routes, away from streets with regular crime histories. The app can also scan the road ahead whilst users are walking or exercising and will alert them if they are walking towards a danger zone.

It is the company’s belief that the development and commercialisation of their platform will change the world of personal security. The founder director reported that 1,228,500 violent crimes were reported by police in 2020 and that increased knife crime and assault remains a major issue and a real opportunity for a personal safety app. Seeking to raise £250,000, the funds would be used to commercialise and monetise the app, with the ambition of growing its users, to trigger subscriptions and achieve a high value exit through acquisition – targeting map software such as Google Maps, Apple Maps, Uber, Deliveroo, dating apps etc. 5 expressions of investor interest were made.

DBA zoom host, Frank Guinn said, “Once again, this was a well- attended event online. We are thoroughly looking forward, however, to moving our pitch events back to ‘in person’, albeit alternating with online events in the coming months.”

Roger Wareham, Head of Office and Partner at DBA Sponsors Saffery Champness advised, “DBA always choose an excellent, wide range of businesses to pitch. It is also really encouraging to see the level of interest and potential appetite from the investors attending.”

DBA was formed in 2013 with the aim to bring investors and entrepreneurs together to accelerate the growth of early -stage businesses. DBA provides quality, private equity investment opportunities to local high net worth (HNW) and sophisticated investors (SI).

Four times a year companies are invited to attend an event at which they pitch their business to the savvy Angels in a Dragon’s Den type scenario. Angel investment might come from a single investor or it could be 2 or 3 Angels pooling funds together to support a company. Any investments are in the form of an equity investment and not a debtor’s loan. Investments are made across all sectors.

DBA is sponsored by Saffery Champness Accountants, Ellis Jones Solicitors and Investec Wealth and Investment. To find out more about Dorset Business Angels visit www.dorsetbusinessangels.co.uk

01/05/202101/05/2021

Bounce Back Challenge Fund – One week left to apply

Local businesses of all sizes and types (including charities) have until Friday 7 May to submit a grant application for our Bounce Back Challenge Fund.

A limited number of grants are available for projects which demonstrate innovation, provide clear benefits for the local economy, generate pride in the place we live and are deliverable. We may award:

Up to £15,000 – for smaller projects or individual business ideas
Up to £70,000 – for larger projects which can include partnership or cross-sector working

All projects and proposals should be carefully considered. Please check the criteria and include as much detail as possible within your application.

Find out more and apply here.

26/04/202126/04/2021

New Head of Office at Saffery Champness Accountants in Bournemouth

Saffery Partner Roger Wareham has been appointed as the new Head of Office at Saffery Champness Accountants in Bournemouth, taking over from senior Partner Nick Fernyhough, who previously held the role for 5 years.

Nick Fernyhough said, “It has been an honour to lead our office through such a significant phase of its journey with the office having almost doubled in size since I took over the position. I feel it is important to now hand over this role to Roger who is ideally placed to lead the office through its next exciting chapter.”

Roger Wareham commented “I am very proud to succeed Nick as Head of Office. We continue to see significant growth, with some really exciting opportunities in front of us. Our industry is in a period of significant change, both in the mix of firms operating within it but also from technology. We are well placed to take advantage of both of these.”

About Saffery Champness LLP
Saffery Champness LLP is a firm of chartered accountants that advises individuals and families, not-for-profit organisations and businesses across a range of sectors. As a member of Nexia International, it is part of a worldwide network of independent accounting and consulting firms.

For over 160 years, the firm’s success has been founded upon providing clients with a genuinely partner-led service and working with them to create bespoke solutions that help them to achieve their personal and business objectives. For more information visitwww.saffery.com or see Twitter @Safferys

25/04/2021

Don’t miss these Export Academy events

The Department for International Trade is running a series of ten, free virtual workshops for new and novice exporters (SMEs) with ambitious international growth plans. These will cover the following themes:

•   The Benefits and Barriers of Export
•   International Market Research
•   Customs Procedures
•   Pricing Strategy and Routes to Market
•   Getting Paid
•   Understanding Incoterms
•   Export Controls
•   Selling Services

25/04/2021

Funding innovative local economic recovery projects

BCP Council are looking to provide funding for projects which demonstrate innovation, provide clear benefits for the local economy, generate pride in the place we live and are deliverable.

Businesses of all sizes and types (including charities) within the area can apply for a grant through our Bounce Back Challenge Fund.

Open until 7 May, the competitive application process will be used to unearth and provide grants for a limited number of projects. We may award:

Up to £15,000 – for smaller projects or individual business ideas
Up to £70,000 – for larger projects which can include partnership or cross-sector working

Your proposal must be carefully considered and include as much detail as possible.

Click here for more information and how to apply.

20/04/2021

Saffery Champness Accountants review big tax benefits to switch to lower emission vehicles

The move to drive down the UK’s carbon footprint is increasingly evident in the taxation of low and zero-emission vehicles – not only in terms of the taxable benefit in kind falling on employees for such vehicles provided by employers, but also with regard to vehicle excise duty and capital allowances.

Ian Harlock-Smith, Tax Director, Saffery Champness, and member of the firms Professional Practices Group, highlights the tax benefits of switching to lower emission vehicles, as the incentive to switch strengthens. He says:

“The benefit in kind rate for low and zero emission vehicles is now structured to make buying electric vehicles much more attractive. The taxable benefit for electric only cars is just 1% in 2021/22, and 2% in 2022/23. The road tax rates for pure electric vehicles have been reduced to nil until at least 2025.

“For hybrid vehicles with CO₂ emissions from 1-50 g/km, the taxable benefit rate increases gradually up to an annual charge of 14% of the list price, as the electric range decreases. These vehicles can also benefit from reduced rates of road tax.”

Businesses can claim 100% of the cost of a zero-emission electric vehicle, as a first-year allowance against the taxable profits of the business in the year of purchase. There are no restrictions on the value of the vehicle, or annual expenditure limit, but the vehicle must be purchased new and unused.

Companies can also now benefit from the new ‘super-deduction’ which offers a 130% first year allowance on qualifying electric charging points for cars. To qualify for the relief, the company must use the charging point in its own business. The super-deduction is only available for companies and for qualifying expenditure up to 31 March 2023.

Ian adds, “There is also the government plug-in car grant which is designed to promote the uptake of electric vehicles in the UK. The government will now provide a grant of up to £2,500 towards the cost of an electric plug-in vehicle, where it costs less than £35,000. It is applied at the time of purchase and is usually given as a discount from the price of the vehicle. The vehicle must have an electric range of at least 70 miles and, if a plug-in hybrid, must also have combined CO₂ emissions of 50g/km or less.

“It should be noted, however, that VAT is not recoverable on the purchase unless it can be demonstrated that the vehicle is only available for and used solely for business purposes, which in practice is usually very difficult to achieve.”

A 100% first year allowance is also available for businesses installing charging points for electric vehicles up to 31 March 2023 and, where employees have had free use of an employer’s charging point at or near the workplace to charge their own electric vehicle, there is no taxable benefit for the employee. Where the employer reimburses employee costs for charging their own electric vehicle away from the workplace however, a taxable benefit will arise. There is no taxable benefit where an employer pays for the cost of charging anemployer provided electric vehicle.

There are other points to note with regard to vehicle charging, reimbursement, and VAT recovery, and a discussion with your tax advisor would be beneficial if considering investing in low-emission or electric vehicles, to ensure the correct tax treatment.

Further information from:
Ian Harlock-Smith
Saffery Champness
T: 01202 068494
E: ian.harlock-smith@saffery.com

About Saffery Champness LLP

Saffery Champness LLP is a firm of chartered accountants that advises individuals and families, not-for-profit organisations and businesses across a range of sectors. As a member of Nexia International, it is part of a worldwide network of independent accounting and consulting firms.

Bournemouth Chamber of Trade and Commerce

BELONG. CONNECT. PROSPER

Author: Bournemouth Chamber of Trade & Commerce