< Previous East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk INSURANCE While every business owner knows some insurance policies are required by law, there are some additional coverage options that could prove useful, particularly if you ever plan on expanding your business operations. www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link INSURANCE © stock.adobe.com/thodonal A s business owners will know, there are certain insurance policies that are required to operate. Primarily, employers are obligated by law to have employers’ liability insurance, and this requirement remains unchanged in the proposed regulatory reform. This insurance policy will bear the expenses associated with work-related injuries or illnesses, encompassing both employee compensation and pertinent legal fees. Additionally, if a company utilizes motor vehicles for transportation or deliveries, it must obtain business motor insurance. The minimum coverage required is ‘third party only,’ which safeguards against damages and injuries inflicted upon third-party vehicles and drivers. It is also legally mandated to provide coverage for employees who will be operating company vehicles. But what about additional policies? Public and product liability insurance, whilst not mandatory, are standard policies taken out by a growing business. Public liability insurance is to provide financial protection to individuals or businesses if they are held liable for causing injury, property damage, or other losses to third parties. This insurance coverage is designed to cover legal costs, compensation claims, and any associated expenses that may arise from incidents occurring in public spaces or on third-party premises. Public liability insurance ensures that individuals or businesses are adequately protected against the financial risks and potential legal liabilities that may arise from accidents or incidents involving members of the public. Product liability insurance is to provide financial protection to businesses or manufacturers should their products cause harm or damage to consumers or users. This type of 32 Á East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk INSURANCE insurance coverage is specifically designed to cover legal costs, compensation claims, and any associated expenses that may arise from product- related incidents or defects. Product liability insurance helps safeguard businesses from potential financial losses and legal liabilities that may result from claims related to product defects, manufacturing errors, design flaws, inadequate warnings or instructions, or other product-related issues. It provides reassurance and financial security to businesses by mitigating the risks associated with potential product-related claims and ensuring they have the means to address any resulting legal or financial obligations. The downside to the above is that they would constitute two separate policies, meaning higher premium payments. Acquiring public liability insurance comes with a premium cost. The exact amount depends on various factors such as the nature of your business, coverage limits, and claims history. For some businesses, especially smaller ones with limited budgets, the cost of insurance may be perceived as a disadvantage. Furthermore, these policies are by their nature restrictive. Public liability insurance policies often have exclusions and limitations. Certain high-risk activities or types of claims may not be covered, or coverage may be limited in specific circumstances. It is crucial to thoroughly understand the policy terms and conditions to ensure that you have adequate coverage for your business needs. Public liability insurance may attract false or frivolous claims, potentially leading to increased premiums or reputational harm. While insurance providers have mechanisms to investigate and defend against fraudulent claims, the process can still be time- consuming and may impact the business’s operations. Once again, the usefulness of such policies depends on the nature of the business. Public facing businesses, particularly those that deal in advice or specialist services, may benefit from the specialist cover that public or product liability insurance provides. For businesses less prone to defamatory actions, general liability insurance will often suffice. General liability insurance is a broader term that encompasses a wider range of liabilities faced by businesses. It includes public liability coverage, but it also extends to other areas such as product liability, completed operations liability, and advertising liability. General liability insurance provides coverage for a variety of www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link INSURANCE potential risks and claims, including bodily injury, property damage, personal injury, and reputational harm. It is a more comprehensive insurance policy that addresses a broader spectrum of liabilities that businesses may face. As may be expected, the more comprehensive cover of general liability insurance typically comes at a higher cost. For new businesses, reputation is worth everything. When choosing which assets to protect, opting for a more specialised cover at a lower cost may make more sense. However, if your business is in manufacturing or product sales, a more generalised policy to cover defective products is advised by experts. For company directors, it may also be prudent to consider extended coverage which reaches to defamatory claims against the person rather than exclusively against business operations. Directors and Officers Liability Insurance, often abbreviated as D&O insurance, is a type of liability insurance that provides financial protection to directors and officers of companies in the event they are personally sued for alleged wrongful acts committed in their capacity as company leaders. This insurance coverage is designed to protect directors and officers from legal expenses, judgments, settlements, and other costs associated with such lawsuits. The purpose of D&O insurance is to safeguard the personal assets of directors and officers, as well as attract and retain qualified individuals for leadership roles within organizations by offering financial protection against potential lawsuits. It helps mitigate the financial risks associated with legal actions, promotes confident decision-making, and provides peace of mind to directors and officers in fulfilling their duties. It’s important to note that D&O insurance, by necessity, has specific policy terms, coverage limits, and exclusions. Finally, for businesses that trade in consulting or advice, Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance may be useful. PI insurance provides protection to professional businesses against claims made by their clients due to any harm caused by professional negligence. Obtaining this type of coverage is considered good practice for consultants, especially for national or global clients. Your contractual agreement may necessitate the acquisition of PI insurance, with the minimum amount of coverage required also being specified. One should note that those who operate as sole proprietors will likely be personally responsible for financial damages without PI insurance. © stock.adobe.com/StockPhotoPro East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk PUBLIC RELATIONS Caution, the following information may dramatically improve your chances of winning an award but only if you use it. The reason I say this is because I absolutely KNOW that awards are on umpteen marketing new year’s resolutions lists but all too often, come the mid-point of the year (now), nothing has been done! Why is this? Awards are one of the least used tactics in marketing and PR and I find this really interesting. Seriously, who doesn’t fancy some industry recognition? Local, regional or even national profile? What about a motivated workforce that is proud to be a part of your success? Nevermind the major leverage an award win can give to the rest of your marketing – if you harness the dark arts of PR! So why don’t more people enter awards? I suspect the main reason is Our commitment to SOMETHING or OTHER bland and jargon heavy issue and our inevitable PASSION (because nobody is going to say ‘APATHY’) for innovation is what lies at the heart of our success.” Stop. It. Right. NOW! Can you imagine a judge reading that and thinking “whoa, we’ve got a live one! Let me get a coffee and settle in, there’s gold dust here.” You want this bit to sound like they are about to announce the best thing since sliced bread! Try this: “20 years ago we discovered a problem. Not just a wrinkle. Not an inconvenience. We had unearthed one of the biggest issues to ever face our Greg Simpson, founder of Press for Attention PR, delves into the role of awards in marketing strategies. time. However, you need to consider these as a major part of your marketing and PR campaign, not an afterthought. Sure, there is a bit of science to it and some art (the creative bit) but basically it comes down to reading the criteria CAREFULLY and then making it as easy as possible for the judges to consider your case. Now is NOT the time for florid prose! Although…there is a place for this (warning, secret sauce alert). Ssssshhhh…it is right at the start. This is the bit the judges read first and tends to be the part they will read out IF you get to the final and you are waiting there, glass of wine in hand, as the names are read out. So, if yours sounds like this: “We were established in 2002 to provide added value services to the Widget industry. www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link PUBLIC RELATIONS industry. If it could be overcome (and we thought it could), it would save Widget manufacturers across the globe millions in costs, whilst also massively reducing the impact on our environment. So, we got to work. Two decades on…we did what follows below and it changed EVERYTHING!” Do you see the difference? You’d at least read the next para or two! You actually WANT to know what they did. Like all good marketing, awards are all about storytelling. Our clients see entering awards as part of their wider marketing strategy – they see the ROI. It is a fantastic way to gain objective third- party endorsement (a major goal of PR), great coverage and one of the best ways to foster employee and company relationships. People proudly point to articles in the press and say: “I work there.” Other highly-skilled people start thinking “maybe I should work there?” So, start to think about what awards you might enter. They might be local, regional, national or industry based but you can bet that once you integrate them into your marketing, the effects can really make a difference. P.S. I am on the judging panel for “The Bricks” this year...you know how to get my attention now! A former business journalist, Greg Simpson is the author of The Small Business Guide to PR and has been recognised as one of the UK’s top 5 PR consultants, having set up Press for Attention PR in 2008. He has worked for FTSE 100 firms, charities and start-ups and conducted press conferences with Sir Richard Branson and James Caan. His background ensures a deep understanding of every facet of a successful PR campaign – from a journalist’s, client’s, and consultant’s perspective. East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk LOGISTICS The East Midlands may be a key logistical region but that does not mean it’s free from the challenges faced by the industry – challenges that the Government is not helping with. T he East Midlands is indispensable when it comes to logistics, with its strong air and rail links and the ‘Golden Triangle’ of logistics for road. Owing to its central location, the region is within a four-hour drive of about ninety-five per cent of the UK population, giving it a major advantage over other regions. Not only is East Midlands Airport the busiest pure cargo hub for air travel in the country. This has served the East Midlands well, but like with the rest of the country, the current economic climate and the recession has not made business easy – and the war in Ukraine has hit the logistics and fright industries especially hard on account of the sharp rise in fuel prices. The price of fuel spiking has put everyday commuters into untenable situations, so the impact on those to thin thin Stretched Stretched www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link LOGISTICS which transport is their entire business is far worse. While schemes and initiatives are in place for alternative-fuel vehicles such as electric or gas, the infrastructure isn’t there yet. Perhaps the current crisis could have been mitigated if more had been done to explore that in times of plenty, but hindsight is 20-20 and the expenses were hard to justify for many in the industry. The issue of rising fuel costs compounds a further issue the industry is facing; that of the shortage of HGV drivers. That problem of staff shortages is even less likely to go away despite plans to “bridge the gap” and train more people to become hauliers. Such has been said for a hundred other sectors including STEM sciences, medicine and teaching, and it’s unlikely that the initiatives will achieve much more in that regard than bandaging the wound. Questions then must be asked on what can be done within the industry to appeal to potential employees to take up the profession. If the issue is of cost and wages then it’s unlikely the spiking fuel prices will allow for better pay, but if it is something else that drives people away then perhaps that can be addressed. 38 Á © stock.adobe.com/malp East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk LOGISTICS On the staffing side of things, matters grow worse when the age of the workforce is considered. Almost 40% of the transport and logistics workforce is over 50 years old, which means they are all soon to retire but also the group of people classified most susceptible to COVID, influencing people to leave the workforce. Additionally, younger people and women have always been discouraged from or not attracted to roles within the logistics industry; the environment appears to be almost exclusively male dominated, and most of the drivers and staff are older men, portraying a workforce that does not engage well with change and does not relate to women and younger generations. Unfortunately, these features limit the talent pool substantially and add many new challenges for the industry when it comes to new hires. Roles like warehouse staff or HGV drivers are very demanding, exhausting, and sometimes even dangerous; the lack of attractive qualities has not made the remunerative packages particularly appealing to potential applicants, who have only witnessed small increases in wages and limited training opportunities. These elements have been influencing people’s tendencies to leave the roles or not to apply for them. The most prominent reason behind the workforce shortages however has been Brexit. Since the results of the referendum, many non-UK natives have www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link LOGISTICS © stock.adobe.com/Image'in been fleeing the country to either go back to their families, or to go look for work elsewhere as they felt the UK could not offer them the same job security it had been giving them anymore. This sense of uncertainty has pushed many people away from the country, seeing the logistics industry, which used to be one of the industries that benefitted from the non-UK workforce the most, lose an incredible asset. The application of new borders, new rules and new regulations as a result of Brexit, has made circulation of not only goods, but people too extremely difficult, and hence it has made it challenging for drivers to move between the European Union and Great Britain. These new challenges have really discouraged drivers to embark on journeys across borders that were most likely to be problematic and emphasised an initial shortage of skills and talent even further. Already, businesses whose owners voted for Brexit are asking for migrant workers to be allowed into the country, but right- wing sentiment is staunchly preventing that, and already many Conservative MPs have threatened to walk out if Rishi Sunak were to attempt to negotiate a Switzerland-style deal for the UK. It is unlikely that any improvement on bringing migrant workers in will happen in the coming years, leaving the UK to try and make the most of its existing – and stretched thin – workforce. Next >