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NEWS T
Comment: After two years of enduring the pandemic, I think we all hoped for a better 2022. Unfortunately, that isn’t quite the way things have worked out. Dire economic/global
conditions, and the sad news of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing, have combined to create challenging times for us all. And now, SMEs are starting to brace themselves for widespread redundancies, new research from Citation has found. The employment expert saw
an 184% increase from June to July in the number of inbound queries from employers looking for advice about redundancies. Gill McAteer, director of
employment law at Citation believes that there are other options out there that should be considered before redundancy. She said: “Not only do business leaders owe it to their workforce to look at all options before redundancy, it can often end up costing them more in redundancy packages, than if they looked at other potential options such as a temporary change in working hours, reduced hours or changes to terms and conditions.” Sound advice indeed, if more
bad news is to be avoided. Michelle Lea - Editor
SPIRALLING COSTS PROMPT 40,000 SMEs TO SEEK FINANCE to
he current challenges around rising costs are expected to prompt more than 40,000 SMEs1 lean on finance providers to help support their
businesses according to new research from solution-led fintech lender Nucleus Commercial Finance (NCF). The study found that 15% of small and medium
sized UK businesses expect to need a loan to support the running of their business. While just 1% of sole traders expect to have to go down this route, it rose notably to 16% among smaller businesses, employing between 50-249 staff. Having weathered the Covid storm, business
uncertainty is back. Two thirds (66%) of UK SMEs are worried about the prospect of rising business costs over the next 12 months. Among small and medium sized businesses, this figure rises to 74%, with 29% of this group stating that they are very worried about costs going up over the next year. For those businesses that find themselves in an uncertain financial position, being able to get
A
lfa Laval focused on sustainability through service at its latest UK-based event. After the disruption brought about by the pandemic,
the company welcomed significant figures from a host of UK industries to its Advanced Service Centre in Camberley, Surrey, to explore how effective servicing and maintenance can help reduce the carbon footprint of industrial processes. Among the headline findings was that 2.5% of the
world’s carbon emissions could be prevented if the heat exchangers currently installed in process lines are properly serviced. Mikael Hellborg, Managing Director at Alfa Laval,
said: “It was heartening to see such a fantastic turnout on the day, reflecting businesses’ desire to push for more sustainable practice. We hope that the day was as informative for our visitors as it was enjoyable for us, and we can’t wait to see what new partnerships will grow out of the day.” The day opened with a short talk from Hellborg,
halfpage_processandcontrol_june22_clickplus.pdf 1 21/06/2022 12:53
access to funding is crucial. However, just 38% of businesses say they are confident about being able to access affordable finance in the next 12 months should they need it. The findings also reveal that confidence levels
increase in line with business size. 57% of medium sized businesses are confident that they could secure affordable finance, compared to less than a quarter (22%) of sole traders. Chirag Shah, Founder and CEO of Nucleus
Commercial Finance, said: “”
...businesses are not on their own. Having gone through the challenges of Covid, finance providers and government must work together to ensure that those lessons are learnt to deliver the necessary support. Doing so means that the UK’s battle-hardened SMEs can lead the
recovery on the other side.” 1
40,000 = 15% of 274,465 UK SMEs employing 10-249 employees ONS Business Industry & Trade data
www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade nucleuscommercialfinance.com
FOCUSING ON SUSTAINABILITY IN SERVICING
followed by a presentation from Cedric Domont, Global Service Sales Director at Alfa Laval, on the future of sustainability through service. Guests were then invited on a guided tour of the
site’s servicing facilities, with service engineers providing live demonstrations of each part of the servicing process. Lunch and networking followed. The afternoon concluded with talks from Baris
Butut and José Argiro on connectivity and digitalisation of equipment. Here, it was revealed that unplanned downtime can be rectified in a third of the usual time through digital services. Alfa Laval also offered virtual reality sessions,
allowing visitors to experience an internal view of a decanter of gasketed plate heat exchanger.
www.alfalaval.co.uk
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Lamonde Automation Limited Quality Products: Expert Advice
sales@lamonde.com |
www.lamonde.com | +44 (0)20 3026 2670 4 SEPTEMBER 2022 | PROCESS & CONTROL
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