FOCUS FEATURE


UNSUNG HEROES heroes Praise for


There is an army of businesses across the East Midlands that carry out the vital work and look after the essential processes that help businesses function effectively. They look after the behind the scenes work – from payroll and accounting to HR and facilities management – that makes industry tick. Business Network shines a light on these unsung heroes – the small cogs that help keep the wheels of business turning.


When most people think of business, their thoughts tend to turn to some of the more glamourous aspects of the private sector – the manufacturers whose innovations inspire wonder, the retailers whose products have helped shape our lives, or the entrepreneurs whose simple ideas have changed the world. What sometimes gets overlooked is the network of


support that businesses must build around themselves to enable them to do what they do best. As any business owner will tell you, there are many


things that you need to think of when it comes to running a successful enterprise. To use an engineering analogy, a business is like a finely


tuned machine. For it to work properly, all the individual components must not only fit together in the right way, but function effectively too, for things to run as they should. Sometimes, in business, people only see the bigger cogs


– the products made, or the services offered to customers. Often, however, there are dozens of smaller cogs whirring away behind the scenes, away from the gaze of the outside world, powering the big cogs and allowing the business to move forward. These smaller cogs of business are kept turning by an


army of unsung heroes who take care of the vital – but often overlooked – functions that a business needs to survive. Some obvious examples include HR, payroll and


accounting, all of which play a crucial role in ensuring that a business can look after and pay its employees properly and comply with all the relevant legislation. Some less obvious examples of unsung business heroes might be businesses coaches, who help develop and


improve the performance of a business and its leaders; the IT helpdesk, usually the first port of call for any computer users suffering a dreaded frozen screen; or even cleaning or maintenance staff, without whose contribution, whole factories and offices would surely have to close. Their contribution, while vital, often goes unappreciated. Yet events of the past few months, as the coronavirus


pandemic started to bite, have bought the important role they play into sharp focus. Gary Parsons, founder and Managing Director of people


consultancy group Talk Staff, is acutely aware of the vital role his business has played in helping many of its clients navigate the coronavirus crisis. Since lockdown began, Talk Staff has continued to


provide essential services to employers of varying sizes, giving important HR advice to those having to make difficult decisions about their people and supporting businesses with much-needed payroll processing - including reclaiming cash from HMRC. He believes that the services provided by Talk Staff, and


other businesses which provide outsourced support to firms, are one of the major keys that keep the economy moving. Without the support Talk Staff has provided, more than


100 employers would have been unable to pay their employees each month during the pandemic. The knock-on effect of this would have had a huge


impact on thousands of individuals, their families and the communities they live in. However, like other firms in the sector, Talk Staff has


received less financial support than businesses that are currently closed, despite facing higher costs as it has


38 business network June/July 2020


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