Stress in the workplace

Introduction

Recently, I have visited a number of organisations to discuss their Healthcare insurances and when I raise the topic of Mental Health, the response is often along the lines of “we’re all mad here!” It always draws a little smile but there is a serious side to the stresses of work and home life and it is a subject that many employers choose to ignore or don’t fully understand.

Encouragingly, evidence suggests that there has been a decline in work absence from stress over the last decade. However, statistics still demonstrate that this is the largest single factor for sick days, accounting for 37% of work related ill health and 45% of days lost in 2015/16 in the UK. Put into perspective, this represented 11.7m days in 2015/16.

Stiff upper lip

Close to a third of UK workers say they are not able to talk openly with their line manager about their stress and only 45% of those that have been diagnosed had told their employer.

After being diagnosed, 40% of individuals admitted that they wouldn’t speak about it to their colleagues because they don’t want to be treated differently. The stigma surrounding mental health means that employers have typically neglected to address it and still struggle to see mental health in the same way they see physical health.

Developing a workplace culture, which changes attitudes and prioritises the mental wellbeing of staff, may seem burdensome to employers who need to get the day job done and remain efficient. However, in the rapidly fluctuating and competitive global economy, healthy and productive employees are crucial to an organisation’s success.

Addressing the issue

It’s vital that open lines of communication are created, developing a greater understanding of the symptoms, causes and treatments of mental illness.

Following the recent pledge by Prime Minister Theresa May to transform support for mental health in the workplace with extensive new review, there is a nationwide drive to encourage employers to lead the way and promote and facilitate healthier lifestyles.

4 easy steps to follow

· Consider whether any mental health stigma exists within your workplace and question why.

· Train Line Managers and Senior Management so they are comfortable to talk openly about the subject.

· Improve the awareness of the issues; conduct staff surveys, launch awareness campaigns and champion non-judgemental attitudes.

· Utilise existing or introduce a Private Medical Policy, Health Cash Plan and/ or Employee Assistance Programmes to offer a number of wellbeing benefits to your staff. This includes counselling, debt management, legal advice and information on eldercare or emotional and work-life issues.

To discuss how Sutton Winson can help your employees contact Chris at chris.hickey@swib.co.uk or call 07813 673 546.

Building A&W goes live: new magazine shows Adur & Worthing is growing places

Adur and Worthing’s reputation as a place on the move towards a better future is to be underlined in a new publication.

Building AW is a bright, informal 26-page online publication which will keep residents and businesses across both areas up-to-date with all the latest development in their communities. 

With updates coming every few months, the aim is for Adur & Worthing Councils to keep the public fully informed of the change that is taking place at pace.

Within this first edition is an interview with Ben Cheal, of Roffey Homes, the company behind the redevelopment of the former Aquarena site.

Features on the Adur Tidal Walls scheme in Shoreham, the £3.5 million redevelopment of Worthing Museum and Adur District Council’s successful planning application to create a new office block on the former Civic Centre car park are also enclosed.

The online publication will also include regular updates on some of the major projects across Adur and Worthing which are moving forward at speed.

 Councillors heralded the publication as a vital way to communicate with local residents the ongoing work that the Councils is driving forward.

Councillor Brian Boggis, Adur District Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, said: “It is clear that the towns and villages across the district are about to begin an exciting new chapter.

“Major redevelopment schemes such as the Tidal Walls scheme in Shoreham are very much in the public eye at the moment and have the potential to bring increasing investment and prosperity to the district.

“We are also keen to maximise the use of our own council assets to drive regeneration forward, as you will see from the projects currently underway on the old Civic Centre site in Shoreham.

“However, we remain conscious of our obligations to retain the individual character and traditions of the various parts of our district.”

Councillor Kevin Jenkins, Worthing Borough Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, said:“Worthing is emerging as one of the most exciting destinations on the south coast. With a growing reputation as a place to live and work, a new generation of investors, start-up businesses and young families are discovering what makes Worthing great.

“Worthing Borough Council has been developing a new vision for how the town will continue to be transformed in the future.

“Creating a sense of place in the heart of the town, improving the public realm and infrastructure, developing the retail and hospitality experience and growing the tourism offer is vital to this vision.”

To see the publication, visit this link.

Budget investment in city transport welcomed by Greater Brighton

Investment in transport links in UK cities are a welcome boost, claim Greater Brighton leaders - though they warn the Chancellor could, and perhaps should, have done more to improve South East infrastructure.

Following the budget yesterday (Wednesday November 22), Councillor Andy Smith, chairman of Greater Brighton Economic Board, which represents nearly one million people and more than 35,000 businesses, welcomed the announcement of a £1.7 billion transport investment fund for UK city regions.

However, with half of this restricted to the devolved combined authorities - most of whom are in the Midlands and North, Cllr Smith said more was needed to bring about lasting change to transport links across the Greater Brighton region.

Cllr Smith said: "While it is great to see the Chancellor's support for devolution and the City Regions, it is disappointing that half of the £1.7 billion transport investment is restricted largely to the Midlands and the North.

"Anyone who has used our over-stretched and unreliable rail system in recent years will know how much it is damaging business and restricting growth across our area. The same can be said for our congested highways, with the A27, A23 and A259 reducing productivity among our hundreds of thousands of workers.

"Greater Brighton look forward to being able to look in detail at how to access the remaining £850 million. And we will continue to campaign and lobby for improvements to the Brighton Mainline, as well as the A23 and A27."

The issues of a congested road and rail networks which are hampering growth across the Greater Brighton region were raised with leading Government officials in September. Whitehall officials were informed it currently takes more than two hours to get to Heathrow Airport by train and over 80 minutes to travel 34 miles to Guildford from the City Region.

Further research shows more than 35,000 people currently travel between Greater Brighton and Gatwick/Central London every day showing a reliance on north-south links. There is also a high number of people that rely on key transport links for jobs, with 2011 Census figures showing 32% of Lewes-based workers and 33% of Adur workers commuting to Brighton & Hove.

With the population increasing by 98,000 and 48,000 jobs being created by 2030, Greater Brighton leaders believe now is the right time for the government to invest.

For more details on Greater Brighton visit here.

Sir Robert Woodard Academy December Performing Arts Events

• The Academy drama production of Wendy and Peter Pan  on 5^th, 6^th and 7^th December, 7.00pm in the Academy’s Alan Strong Theatre.  
• The SRWA Christmas Carol Concert at St Michael and All Angels Church, Lancing on 11^th December, 7.00pm.  Tickets for this are for charity and the £2.00 ticket proceeds go to the Worthing Churches Homeless Project.
• The SRWA Christmas Celebration on 14^th December, 7.00pm in the Academy’s main hall.
• The SRWA Junior Band Christmas Concert on Saturday 16^th December, 10.30am in the Academy’s Alan Strong Theatre.   Free event.
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Rampion announces £4 million community fund

• £3 million fund for local projects to benefit the Sussex community
• £800,000 investment in Rampion Visitor Centre to be located in Brighton
• £100,000 donation to local RNLI stations who help save lives at sea

Rampion has announced it is to launch a £4 million Community Fund, which is set to benefit communities across Sussex.

As well as incorporating a £3.1 million community benefit fun to support local community groups, charities and not for profit organisations, £800,000 will be invested in a Rampion Visitor Centre to be located in the seafront arches just east of the i360 in Brighton. A charitable donation of £100,000 is also being made to the local RNLI stations. 

The Rampion Fund at Sussed Community Foundation has been made available to support the local community, from Littlehampton Habour in the west, to Beachy Head in the east and up to the A272 near Twineham in the north close to the wind farm's onshore substation. It is designed to help fund local projects particularly those with links to the environment and ecology, climate change and energy, as well as those that work to improve community facilities.

Chris Tomilnson, Development and Stakeholder Manager for the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm, said: "We are delighted to be able to launch the Rampion Fund being managed by the Sussex Community Foundation. Our aim is to make a real difference to people living in the area surrounding the wind farm and we hope many organisations will apply to the fun to support their local Sussex projects.

"We're also happy to be able to announce the location of the Rampion Visitor Centre, due to open later next year. The newly refurbished seafront arches in Brighton were chosen due to their view of the wind farm, high football location and excellent public transport connections, as well as their size of floor space, which will allow us to house exhibitions and interactive displays for visitors to learn more about wind energy and discover the whole Rampion story.

To read more click here

Care For Veterans Christmas Bazaar

Annual Christmas Bazaar at our Boundary Road, Worthing facilities on Saturday 2nd December, 1.30pm – 4.00pm.  Come along for stalls selling Christmas presents, decorations and cards, mulled wine and mince pies, cakes and crafts and all sorts to keep you entertained.  Santa will be in his grotto and there will be a choir singing.  We are also selling real Christmas trees (Nordmann non-drop variety) at very competitive prices, with all profits going to the care and rehabilitation we provide to physically disabled ex-Servicemen and women.

General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

What is GDPR?

This new set of regulations will have an impact across many areas of your business including IT, HR, Marketing, Sales and Compliance. GDPR is designed to provide safeguards to individuals’ data and asks questions, surrounding how you manage, store and process personal data. They supersede the UK’s Data Protection

Act and harmonise the various laws within each of the EU member states. The UK will retain these obligations despite exit plans from the EU.

Businesses will need to document and evidence the decisions that they make, have processes in place that properly seek permission to contact consumers and other businesses, be aware how they capture data, where this is stored and demonstrate their security features to prevent network or data breaches. The Regulations come into effect on 25th May 2018 and your business not being ready could lead to significant fines.

What do you need to do?

There are 5 key steps to help you start the review process:

Nominate

Nominate senior person(s) that will be accountable, normally a Board member, and allocate responsibility including a Data Protection Officer where applicable.

Audit

Carry out an information audit to ascertain where your data comes from, how you store it and why it is used. At the same time, review your privacy notices and the process for deleting personal information or setting up a common format for responding to requests.

Supervision

If your organisation operates in more than one EU member state (i.e. you carry out cross-border processing), you should determine who your lead data protection supervisory authority is.

Consent

You should review how you record and manage consent and whether you need to make changes. You need to be able to verify a person’s age and to obtain parental consent as required.

Detection

You should make sure you have the right procedures in place to detect, report and investigate a data breach.

Insurance implications

As of November 2017, there are elements of GDPR still in consultation. This includes, for example, guidance on the contractual responsibility between Processor and Controller, which could impact Professional Indemnity and Cyber policies.

Although insurers have yet to set out their stall, there could be 3 major implications:

1. We can expect insurers to be asking for more information about your business processes and procedures. This is because many clients now buy Cyber 3rd Party Liability and related 1st Party insurance (costs of notifying the data subjects or having to provide credit-monitoring services, for example). In addition, many policies now cover ‘Civil Fines’ imposed by Regulators, which could all result in increased exposure under your insurance policy.

2. Insurers are likely to require policyholders to declare, to the best of their knowledge, that they have taken all reasonable steps to be compliant with GDPR. Failure to fairly represent how the organisation is managing their risks could allow an insurer to a void a claim.

3. If existing or potentially new insurers are not satisfied that their client has demonstrated an acceptable level of GDPR compliance, they could put the premium up or even decline to quote.

Sutton Winson has entered a joint venture with legal and security specialists to create ‘the SME Cyber Alliance’. This alliance will help you get started and implement the right procedures and processes in place in order to comply with

GDPR.

If you would like more information, please email marketing@swib.co.uk

Adur & Worthing Business Awards Press Release And Award Winners

On Friday 10^th November the winners of the 10^th Adur & Worthing Business Awards were announced at The Pavilion Theatre, Worthing.

The sell-out event was attended by over 370 guests all representing local businessesand included the town’s Mayor, Alex Harman and Mayoress, The Rt Hon, Baroness Virginia Bottomley as well as other distinguished guests and Council delegates.

The Adur & Worthing Business Awards is one of the most prestigious events in the local business calendar and over 750 entries and nominations were received, making this a record breaking year.

Now organised under the umbrella of the Adur & Worthing Business Partnership (AWBP) as a not-for-profit organisation, the Adur & Worthing Business Awards are organised by a committee of successful local business people from organisations including Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd, JSPC Computer Services, Seagull Travel, Worthing & Adur Chamber of Commerce and Adur & Worthing Council.

James Stoner, Managing Director of JSPC, commented “This has been a special year as it marks the 10^th anniversary of the Awards and the first year that the event has been run for the businesses by businesses. The calibre of entries was of a particularly high standard which gave the judging panel a tremendously difficult task. However, after careful deliberation, we knew the right winners had been selected.”

This year Sue Dare MBE was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her work within the Further Education sector for more than 35 years.  This accolade is awarded to an individual who has had a major impact on their business and the area over a number of years. Sue held the title of Principal of Northbrook College from November 2009 until March this year and under her guidance it has become England’s third highest performing college. Over the years Sue has also been involved with the Sussex Learning Network, Adur & Worthing Business Partnership and was integral in setting up the Greater Brighton Economic Board.

In addition to recognising some of the top business talent in our local area, this year’s awards also supported Love Your Hospital, a dedicated charity for Western Sussex Hospital NHS Foundation Trust who raise vital funds Worthing, Southlands and St Richard’s Hospitals.   A fundraising raffle courtesy of Darren Crabb was held during the awards ceremony resulting in £ 1,925 being raised for this fantastic cause.

Peter Webb MBE,

Managing Director of Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd commented; “I would like to personally congratulate all of the award winners, runners up and finalists, for their exceptional achievements over the past year. The Adur & Worthing Business Awards & Gala dinner is an unmissable event for local businesses and I’m delighted that the evening was such a great success”

A full list of winners can be found below:

• ·         Start-Up (Sponsored by: Adur & Worthing Council)

Freedom Works Ltd

• ·         Small Business, up to 9 employees (Sponsored by: Adur & Worthing Business Partnership)

Wall Bros Carpet & Flooring

• ·         Medium Business, 10 to 49 employees (Sponsored by: Allergy Therapeutics)

5 Rings Group & Spicer International Ltd

• ·         Large Business, 50+ employees (Sponsored by: Worthing Pier Southern Pavilion)

The Gemini Print Group

• ·         Business Personality (Sponsored by: The Martlet Partnership)

Sharon Clarke

• ·         Manufacturing & Engineering (Sponsored by: Carpenter Box)

Allergy Therapeutics

• ·         Young Achiever (Sponsored by: Lancing College Preparatory School at Worthing)

 Ben Griggs

• ·         Customer Service (Sponsored by: Worthing & Adur Chamber of Commerce)

 Prosperon Networks

• ·         Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure (Sponsored by: Southern Water)

South Downs Leisure

• ·         Innovation (Sponsored by: Kreston Reeves)

The Protein Ball Co

• ·         Training & Development (Sponsored by: MET - Greater Brighton Metropolitan College)

Egalite Care Ltd

• ·         Green Business (Sponsored by: Sussex Transport)

Proto Restaurant Group

• ·         Retailer (Sponsored by: Worthing Town Centre Initiative)

Gardner & Scardifield Ltd

• ·         Place to Eat and/or Drink (Sponsored by: Bennett Griffin Solicitors & Notaries)

 CrabShack

• ·         Building & Construction (Sponsored by: Gardner Scardifield)  

ECE Architecture

• ·         Business in the Community (Sponsored by: Bowers & Wilkins)

Whitebox UK

• ·         Lifetime Achievement (Sponsored by: JSPC Computer Services)

 Sue Dare MBE

• ·         Overall Business of the Year (Sponsored by: Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd)

Gemini Print Group