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businessupdate News…


Commercially speaking


By David Jones, surveyor,Hutchings and Thomas, Chartered Surveyors


There were more than 1,100 people pounding through the centre of our city on Sunday morning and no, they weren’t all running for the bus! After along time gestating and fine


tuning St David’s Hospice Care, with the unstinting, wholehearted support of ahost of local organisations including the South Wales Argus, staged its first City of Newport Half marathon and what a(please excuse the pun) runaway success it was. People from all over descended on Newport’s Spytty


Stadium for the start of the race which wound its way through Newport along the river bank past the Riverfront (which inexplicably was not open on Sunday morning!) and off past Crindau to Caerleon and back to the stadium for agrandstand finish.


Even our very own super fit Newport EastAMJohn


Griffiths, true to his word, took part in the event and returned with avery creditable time of 1hr 50mins. What abrilliant example to other politicians. The event brought cheering crowds onto the streets all the


way up to Caerleon to support the event. Competitors signed up to take part partly to be able to say that they took part in the first ever City of Newport Half Marathon and also to be in a marvellous event. It’s acredit to the city that such an event was able to be


staged and now, based on the success of the first, it’s likely to be bigger and better attracting even more entrants in the years ahead.


Now, if people can get together for acommon cause for


an event such as this, just think of the success the city could have in other areas with such support. And while Iamonmyfavourite subject of the city centre


may Ijust say how fed up (polite language here) with the way that some others, in particular in the more national media, always seem to choose Newport with stock closed shop images, as an example of acentre in terminal decline. OK, we have afew empty shops, well quite afew actually, but that’s missing the point. You only have to travel the short distance to Spytty, by


bus is best, to see what atransformation is taking place there –many new, aspirational shops have opened and others are on the way and the place is buzzing. Yes, admittedly, this isn’t the traditional centre of the city


but it is most certainly in Newport and providing superb retail outlets for the people of the city and others who come here to visit.


Indeed, recently Ihave been showing round visitors from


across Europe, yes mainland Europe, to Newport. Iam marketing one of the city’s most iconic buildings and the feedback that Ihave been getting from these visitors is nothing short of arevelation. Firstly, they really like the building and secondly they really


like Newport. Sounds odd? No, not really when you come into Newport and see it with fresh, unbiased and unaccustomed eyes.


Those of us who have grown up here see adecline in


what we knew. Those coming here for the first time see brilliant architecture, awe-inspiring river front, Transporter Bridge, castle, history literally coming out of every nook and cranny in the city and acanvas upon which they are confident they can successfully build. These visitors, without exception, ask about the Admiral


development and its promise of bringing hundreds of new professional jobs into the city and Pound or Dollar signs almost flash up in their eyes. Frankly, they can see what we or least some of us can’t –the brilliant opportunities that are here in the city of Newport. And let’s not forget the wonderful run that Newport


County are on and the fact that anew deal keeping County at Rodney Parade for at least the next 10 years has just been inked and, all being well with afew more results like last Saturday’s against Hyde, we could once more be in the football league under inspirational manager Justin Edinburgh and his team. C’mon County; Up the ‘Port


Newnameandnewhome


One of Abergavenny’s oldest businesses has undergone arebrand and moved to new premises as it reaffirms its commitment to the town. UHYPeacheys, which was


established in Abergavenny more than 80 years ago, has changed its name toUHY Hacker Young in order to align itself further with the national network the company is part of. The business will also move to new


premises next door to its previous home in Nevill Street to provide more office space as the business grows and to offer improved facilities for clients. With offices in Newport and Bristol,


the firm, which started out working for a handful of farmers and local shops in Abergavenny, has expanded its portfolio of services and counts some of Gwent’s


top businesses among its clients including Robert Price Builders Merchants, AnthonyADavies Limited and Randalls (Groundworks) Limited. The firm’s Newport head office will continue to operate under theUHYPeacheys brand. Steve Theaker, partner at the firm,


said: “The decision to rebrand and move to superior offices is aresult of the continued growth of theUHYteam. “We are confident that this growth is


set to continue under theUHYHacker Young brand, as we further increase our wealth management and tax planning services to the community which has supported our growth from humble beginnings. The relationship withUHY also means we can offerawider-range of services as well as access to specialist accountancy teams across the globe.”


Tuesday March 5, 2013


Council looks tosavetime


Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council has chosen the SIMS Financial Reporting Suite to simplify financial management in its schools. The council’s decision was based


on the time savings which will result in creating financial reports for schools and the fact that SIMS FRS produces reports which can easily be understood by governors, headteachers and aschool’s senior management team. Phil Neal, managing director of


Capita SIMS, said: “With schools being handed increasing financial freedoms, the need to keep on top of their spending is more acute than ever.”


Failure tomanage cashflow is at the rootofbreakdowns


As morehighstreet business


callinthe administrators, Debra Spedding, commerciallitigation lawyer withNewportand Pontypool’s EverettTomlin Lloyd and Pratt Solicitors, considers whatsteps


businessesshould taketo


maintain cashflowand avoid becoming anotherstatistic...


reportsoptimism among businessesfor the forthcoming year, unemployment figuresare downand the housingmarket appearstobeslowly turningthe corner. However, the start of 2013has seen


T


anumber of large, highstreet names, including HMV,Blockbuster and Jessops, callinthe administrators. Small businesseshavealsosuffered


with12,669 independent businesses closingduring 2012. Businesseswould be welladvisedto


consider adopting aspecific strategy whenreviewing the cashflow efficiencies of their business. The key points of any suchstrategy


should be: •Knowyourcustomer Ascertain as muchinformation as you can about yourcustomer. Acredit search is recommended. The overall costofasearch is nominalcompared to


he presenteconomic climate brings acombination of both encouraging and downbeat news. The Institute of Directors


Debra Spedding


the potential losstoyourbusiness shouldacustomer cease to be ableto pay their debts. •Credit Limit Eachcustomer is unique.Credit limits should be set based on their information. Mostimportantly the credit limit should be routinely maintainedand reviewed. •Credit Application Haveadetailed standard credit application thatincludes yourstandard


Terms and Conditions. Ensure thatsales staff understandthe importanceofthe credit agreement.Nocredit should be provided until the credit application is fully completed and returned to you, signed. •Immediate invoicing Raise invoices as soonasthe service and or goods havebeenprovided. Consider contactingthe customer to ensure receiptofthe invoiceand that there is no issue withthe invoice. This willpreventlatepayers disputing the invoiceafter the paymentdateisdue and promoteprompt dialogue before an invoicebecomespayable. •SystematicCredit Control Manysmall businesseshaveone person juggling roles which may see credit controlbeing pushed downthe listof things to do. Thiscan onlyhavea detrimental impact on the cashflow position as, if yourcustomers see that you are not vigorous in chasing outstanding invoices, theywillpay the invoices of those robustly chasingthem. It is vital thatthe credit controlsystem adoptedisadheredto, to makeyour invoiceatthe top of yourcustomer’spile to be paid. Haveastrategic collectionprocess


to be usedwheninvoices become overdue. Don’t waittochase unpaid invoices as prompt action increases your prospects of successfulrecovery. Protracteddelays willleadtothe information you haveabout yourclient becoming out of dateand it willbeless likely you willobtain payment.


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