BUSINESS REPORT
Jo Ferredey
VIRTUAL ASSISTANT CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY
As the administrative and business support services sector continues to grow, one Northamptonshire virtual assistant is proving business start-ups can succeed during a pandemic. Sarah Damani, from Wellingborough, is celebrating
HYBRID EVENTS ARE HERE TO STAY
A venue finding, event support and hospitality booking firm believes hybrid events are the future as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Like many businesses in the hospitality and events industry, Sheer Edge, had to find new ways of working last year to balance its clients’ desires to continue holding events with the national restrictions that prevented business as usual. Long-standing client, GSE
UK had previously turned to the firm for help when it outgrew the venue for its popular exhibition and needed a larger space. Their experience of working with Sheer Edge was incredibly positive and when their annual event had to be cancelled they asked Sheer Edge to deliver the event virtually. Sheer Edge managing
director Jo Ferreday said: “We knew we had to approach this virtual challenge as we would any other event. The beauty of having such a skilled team meant it was easy for us to transfer the format online and focus on helping the client get to grips with doing things virtually.” The online event was so
successful GSE UK has asked Sheer Edge to pull together a hybrid solution to complement their in-person Conference and Exhibition in November. Jo added: “We were thrilled
that attendance numbers at the virtual event were double the number that had previously attended in person. When people are unable to come along on the day, they can still log in, as either presenters or visitors, which has opened up a world of possibilities for increased participation. As restrictions are lifted, we believe that hybrid is here, and it’s not going anywhere.”
Visit:
www.sheeredge.co.uk 16 inbusiness FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021
her first business birthday having launched her Alchemy Virtual Assistance (VA) Hub in December 2019. Through her Virtual Assistance franchise Hub, Sarah supports multiple business owners with their PA, marketing and administration, reinforced by the award-winning Alchemy brand. Sarah says her success highlights
how much opportunity there is despite Covid-19, and how more businesses are opening up to the idea of outsourcing. “As a new business I could either
Sarah Damani
sink or swim when Covid-19 hit, but I’ve managed to achieve in one year what I set out to achieve in three. The backing of Alchemy VA has empowered me, it could have easily been a different story if I had gone it alone,” said Sarah, who has just hit ‘Executive Status’ – the highest rung on the Alchemy franchise development framework. Sarah has recruited a small team of high calibre
‘I’VE MANAGED TO ACHIEVE IN ONE YEAR WHAT I SET OUT TO ACHIEVE IN THREE’
virtual assistants to help her, renovated a tailor-made home office space, left her job as a business advisor to focus entirely on growing her Alchemy VA franchise hub, and more recently became a finalist in the ‘Rising Star’ category in the PA Life Star Awards 2020 programme. “More people were fearful and somewhat untrusting of remote working pre-COVID, but they’ve now seen it
works. Most clients who have begun working with us in the last year started out wanting one thing and ended up realising we can assist with so much more. Many of our contracts have grown when clients realise the vast skillset of our VAs and how much time and headspace we can free up.”
Visit:
www.alchemyva.co.uk AN EGGS-CELENT NEW PARTNERSHIP
A sustainable egg producer has selected Cawleys as its exclusive recycling partner at a time when business is growing. As a Bedfordshire-based family
business, Bird Bros are extremely proud of their environmental achievements, including low-carbon production, solar energy, tree planting, drastic plastic reduction and eco-friendly packaging. Cawleys is one of the UK’s
leading independently owned waste and resource recycling companies. The company ethos is ‘local recycling, global responsibility’ and the company celebrated its 70th anniversary in business in 2017. The appointment of fellow family
run local business, Cawleys, has allowed Bird Bros to further improve their green credentials by ensuring that all of their waste will now be segregated and sorted for recycling using a Cawleys state-of- the-art Materials Recycling Facility (MRF). This facility uses fans, blowers, magnets, hand pickers and an
industrial trommel to extract any waste item that is suitable for second life production. The items are then separated, collected and baled for transportation to relevant recycling facilities. Any excess waste that is not suitable for traditional recycling is baled and used for conversion to fuel. Cawleys head of customer
services Anna Cawley said: “We’re delighted to have been selected as Bird Bros’ recycling partner. It’s
lovely to hear that a client of ours is doing so well in these difficult times and we’re excited to be working with this fantastic egg producer to ensure the sustainable treatment of all their waste. “Supporting businesses and the
local economy is vital right now and we are extremely pleased that the team at Bird Bros recognise the value we can add.”
Visit:
www.cawleys.co.uk
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