Business leaders in the Midlands are voting with their feet and declining to work with clients because of their ESG credentials, according to new research from accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO. BDO’s ‘Rethinking the Economy’ survey found that 42% of businesses in the region are declining or discontinuing to work with clients or customers as a direct result of their ESG performance. When asked which factors business leaders considered most important when selecting or renewing contracts with customers or suppliers, 33% selected ED&I performance. The second most important consideration from 23% of businesses is the reputation of potential customers or suppliers with external stakeholders, including the media. Personal relationships ranked as the third most important, which was cited by 20% of companies. In regard to diversity and inclusion, improving social mobility and socio-economic diversity is a key priority for more than a quarter of businesses. The same proportion are focusing on diversity and inclusion relating to ethnicity and 28% are focused on gender diversity and inclusion. This mirrors the 27% of companies that are focusing on environmental commitments. Tim Foster, partner at BDO, said: “Business leaders are facing pressure from every angle at the moment, whether it’s the cost-of-living crisis, the lingering effects of a global pandemic, or geopolitical uncertainty. Despite this, businesses are clearly voting with their feet when it comes to weighing up commercial relationships and the ESG agenda. “With almost half of businesses revealing that they are already declining to work with clients due to poor ESG performance, all businesses will need to be prioritising ESG no matter what their size or sector.” He added: “It is positive to see such a high percentage prioritising diversity and inclusion around social mobility and ethnicity within their leadership teams and workforces. Improving social mobility in the Midlands is key to the future success of the region, and businesses will play a vital role in driving that agenda forward to create more equal opportunities across the board.”

For the first time, Lincoln law firm Shakespeare Martineau is to offer damages-based agreements (DBAs) as part of its portfolio of litigation funding options called ‘FeeManage’. DBAs – a fairly new addition to English law – are contingency-based agreements where legal fees are payable as a percentage out of the damages received in the event a case is successful. Shakespeare Martineau is proud to be in a position to offer DBAs as part of its FeeManage proposition. If a DBA is entered into and the pre-determined success criteria is achieved but the recovery from the losing party is relatively low, the DBA percentage fee from recovered monies may be a sum significantly less than that which would have been payable by the client on a normal retainer basis or pursuant to a conditional fee arrangement (CFA) – meaning an increased shared risk between client and legal advisors. In addition to DBAs, the firm is working with a variety of funders to offer third-party funding (TPF) and after the event (ATE) insurance in combination with CFAs as potential options. Unlike competitors, Shakespeare Martineau is not tied to a single funding provider in order to flex requirements and offer full or part funding for litigation claims. Barry Jervis, partner and litigation expert at Shakespeare Martineau, said: “Too often businesses are put off from pursuing debts and assets that are rightfully theirs due to the associated costs, impact on the balance sheet and risk. “Litigation was buoyant across the country before the pandemic and, as we emerge into a post-pandemic economy, we can expect disputes to increase further. However, the costs of litigation are climbing sharply, alongside increasing numbers of businesses experiencing cash flow issues as a fall out from the pandemic. “Our new ‘FeeManage’ service helps to reduce the financial risk of litigation. Every individual and every business is unique and while traditional CFAs might work for one client, third party funding might be more appropriate for another. Whatever the size or complexity of the litigation, we have an option that will suit. “We’re really proud to be taking a different approach to litigation funding. We’re not fixed to a single provider and we’re giving our clients every option available for funding their claim.”

Fiona Duncan-Steer, founder of RSViP Business Networking Agency, explains the importance of being ‘people’ focused instead of ‘customer’ focused.  Being customer focused isn’t always a good thing. I’ll explain. Wearing your sales hat and providing what you may class as top-notch customer service can and often will go against what you are setting out to achieve in the first place – from the perspective of the customer. Yes as a consumer we expect professionalism, honesty, a delivery on promises etc etc. That is standard for what we as business owners would like to think we provide consistently through our products and services, but as a customer, we also crave personability, personality and a bespoke service that makes us feel…well, exclusive and a little bit special. Not just another ring in the till, another tally on the chart and another invoice to process, because let’s face it, nobody likes to be ‘sold’ to. In fact, the best salespeople are those who sell to you without you even realising you are being sold to. This is why networking has become the new cold-calling – think about it. We as a customer want to feel valued, like the hard-earned money we are spending is appreciated. Some of the best experiences I have had when staying at hotels, dining at restaurants or even getting my car washed, are when I have had actual conversations and a bit of a laugh with the waiter/receptionist/bar tender, when they have taken the time to ask me questions, get to know me and make my experience just that little bit extra, going above and beyond the call of duty. That understandably overused cliché of ‘people buy people’ really comes into play here, as we wouldn’t spend our money with someone we didn’t like that much and if we did, it is likely we would feel regretful and unhappy about it, we’d wish we had gone with their competitor down the road who may not have been offering exactly what we were after, but who certainly would have made up for it with enthusiasm and appreciation. Sometimes this is all that it takes to bag the deal with me, in fact most of the time. As humans, we are continually on the quest for connection – even on a subconscious level, so the answer is simple – connect with your audience. We as businesses cannot afford to get it wrong anymore. With so many competitors out there doing what we do, most markets are saturated, so what stops someone walking a few yards down the road to give their money to your competitor who offers virtually the same thing as you, but just does it with a smile? Mistakes happen yes, no one is perfect, but as a business you cannot afford to be consistently complacent, blindly proceeding with lack of care in anyone or anything besides what they can do for you – particularly in a post pandemic world. ‘Service with a smile’ as they say is most certainly the way forward to capturing the attention of your audience and you’re seventy five percent of the way there in securing business if you have taken the time to get to know what it is your customer wants and needs. Most of the time people don’t even know what it is they need, that’s your job to work that out, so communicating effectively, in order to establish whether what they need is something you can offer them is ultimately very clever business. Granted you won’t be able to help everyone and again should you accept and admit this early on, it will save a lot of time, will not go unnoticed and will in fact be appreciated and you will be remembered for your honesty – instead of trying to manage expectations and not quite delivering on your promises, resulting in the opposite intention of business self-sabotage. Being people focused within your business and putting relationship building at the forefront of everything you do is a sure-fire way to laying a healthy and solid foundation for your business, which in turn will only grow and thrive from there. You will be remembered and recommended for your efforts, you will see longevity and higher customer retention and you will build a reputable brand with strong values with people at the core – something that many businesses don’t do because their tunnel vision for ‘bagging the sale’ overtakes everything else. So, ask yourself, instead of being ‘customer’ focused, could you be a little more ‘people’ focused instead? Fiona Duncan-Steer, RSViP www.rsvipnetwork.co.uk  www.fionaduncansteer.com   See this column in the May edition of East Midlands Business Link Magazine.

Architects and construction consultants, YMD Boon, have opened a new, larger office in Lincoln as part of growth plans to expand its business further across the Midlands. In the past 18 months, the company has expanded into new sectors, broadened its client-base and increased its employee headcount by approximately 35%. With offices in Market Harborough and Nottingham, the expanding firm will be replicating the success it has had in these areas with a new focus on Lincolnshire and surrounding regions. Shari Setayesh, director, said: “YMD Boon have established relationships with many clients in Lincolnshire, including Boston College, Boston Borough Council and several local schools, so a natural step for us was to open a larger premises here for our growing team.” Jonathan Warren, director, also said: “We are excited at the prospect of working with more organisations in and around Lincolnshire. The move to larger office space strengthens our capabilities within Lincolnshire at a time when the region is booming.” YMD Boon are now looking for talented individuals to join them at this exciting time. Are you looking for a new role? Get in touch today or visit their Careers page here.