Arson Advice

It is the aim of Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, working with others, to make Surrey a safer place to live, work and do business.

Fire is but one of a spectrum of risks faced by businesses and the community today. We aim to work in partnership with communities to ensure resilience. The management of fire risk and the development of business continuity plans can add value to our communities.

Surrey County Council has published guidance from Surrey Fire & Rescue Service on this subject.
Please click here to view this information.

Fire Safety and Fire Risk assessment
for business premises

It is the aim of Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, working with others, to make Surrey a safer place to live, work and do business.

Fire is but one of a spectrum of risks faced by businesses and the community today. We aim to work in partnership with communities to ensure resilience. The management of fire risk and the development of business continuity plans can add value to our communities.

Surrey County Council has published guidance from Surrey Fire & Rescue Service. Please click here to view this information.

Business continuity

It is the aim of Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, working with others, to make Surrey a safer place to live, work and do business.

Fire is but one of a spectrum of risks faced by businesses and the community today. We aim to work in partnership with communities to ensure resilience. The management of fire risk and the development of business continuity plans can add value to our communities.

Surrey County Council has published guidance from Surrey Fire & Rescue Service on this subject.
Please click here to view this information.

Prepare for new regulations, says Business Link

Businesses in Surrey are being warned that they are running out of time to prepare for a new wave of Government legislation.

The 1st of October is 2009’s second Common Commencement Date, a twice-yearly event when the Government introduces new regulations and makes amendments to existing ones.

To help Surrey companies understand the new rules and how they might affect them, Business Link has a dedicated section on its website at www.businesslink.gov.uk/southeast/ccd

Forthcoming changes to regulations include:

• The national minimum wage (NMW) will increase; rising to £5.80 an hour for workers aged 22 and above and to £4.83 an hour to workers aged 18-21. The rate for those under 18 but above compulsory school age rises to £3.57 an hour. Tips paid to a worker through the employer's payroll will no longer count towards their wage.
• Companies will only need to make their records available for public inspection in one place, rather than multiple locations.
• Public companies will now need to file their corporate governance statement at Companies House (unless it is already included in the Directors’ report).
• It will become mandatory for cigarette retailers to sell cigarette packets with picture warnings.

Business Link’s David Spouncer said: “Leading up to the Common Commencement date, we are urging all businesses to look at our site and check whether forthcoming changes could affect their business. To secure peace of mind for the future, they can sign up to the free alert service so that they are automatically advised of changes to legislation every time. Adapting to laws after they have taken effect is often more expensive and always more stressful, so planning in advance is the best course of action.”

To view a summary of all the regulation changes and to sign up to the alert service visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/southeast/ccd. You can also call Business Link for guidance on 0845 600 9 006.
 

Financial Intermediary Service

Busines Link Surrey has shared with WABF details about the Financial Intermediary Service which was set up on 31st July. The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills tasked Business Link to set up this new service as the result of feedback and lobbying from business membership organisations.

The Financial Intermediary Service is being run as part of the existing Business Link operation. There are three functions of the service:

• Identify and monitor those businesses which are suffering from disruptive changes in their banking terms and conditions.
• Help from Business Link Advisers with a financial background for those businesses affected.
• Intensive support and mediation between a business and its bank where such intervention is likely to achieve a positive and workable outcome for both parties.

In August and September 2009, around 100 enquiries were raised. Of these only a handful warranted the full intermediary service including intensive support and liaison with the client and their bank.

The information gathered by monitoring the number of businesses in difficulty is extremely valuable and this is reported to central government to enable them to track trends and to challenge or influence lenders as appropriate. The Business Link core service has helped many companies to plan and adapt to changing banking conditions. The WABF encourage all trading businesses to have a comprehensive 'health check' which includes a financial review carried out by an experienced, accredited Business Link Adviser.

There is a strong business support network in the South East and we encourage members to take advantage of the services offered by the organisations to which they belong. We also encourage business owners to develop and maintain regular and open contact with their banks.

The Financial Intermediary Service delivered by Business Link can only intervene in a small number of cases and therefore it is necessary to be realistic about the support available to customers.

Any business which has been negatively affected by changing banking conditions should call Business Link on 0845 600 9 006 

10 July 2009: Pandemic Swine Flu - What's The Impact For My Business?

The Government announced on 2nd July 2009 that swine flu is now widespread in the community and the number of cases is doubling each week. The Chief Medical Officer reported that if this trend continues, the projection is that by the end of August there could be 100,000 new cases per day (This figure may change in the forthcoming weeks). During the pandemic flu planning process the predicted attack rate means you can expect to see up to 25% of the workforce being affected.

If 25% of your workforce was off sick, what impact would this have on your business? Swine flu mainly affects children and those of working age, so employees may be off ill themselves or looking after dependents. It is spread from sneezing and coughing in close proximity to others (up to 1 metre) who then breathe in the aerosol droplets. It is also spread from contaminated hands to the face or hard surfaces when people have not washed their hands after sneezing or coughing.

What can you do?

PLAN NOW for this situation and decide which aspects of your business need to be maintained if a significant number of your employees are ill.

PREVENT THE SPREAD of swine flu following these simple steps:

• Raise awareness of symptoms (must have fever and at least 2 of the following: cough, sore throat, runny nose, headache, joint/limb pain)
• Promote a working environment where employees are sent home as soon as they have symptoms, and encourage them to contact their GP by phone only, or NHS direct on 0845 4647
• Adults with symptoms must remain self isolated until they are fully recovered. (Children must remain isolated for at least 7 days or until fully recovered, which ever is longer)
• Promote ‘Respiratory Etiquette’ – sneeze and cough into a clean tissue which should be disposed of promptly in the bin ‘Catch it, Bin it’
• Promote ‘Hand Hygiene’ – wash hands after sneezing / coughing ‘Kill it’
• Ensure that sufficient hand washing facilities are easily available and frequently used.
• Clean hard surfaces frequently with normal cleaning products. Pay particular attention to work equipment that is frequently touched by hands, such as computer keyboards, phones, door handles.
• Discuss with contract cleaners any changes needed to cleaning practices that you have identified
• Consider alternative work practices such as home working, phone conferences instead of face to face meetings, if appropriate.
• Use prominently displayed signs to remind employees of the symptoms, and to emphasis respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene

Further information is available on:

www.dh.gov.uk -‘Pandemic Flu Guidance for Businesses’,

www.direct.gov.uk/swineflu- ‘Swine Flu - Everything you need to know’,

www.businesslink.gov.uk – Swine Flu

www.hpa.org.uk – Swine Influenza