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Private sector case studies
"It’s that simple"
For any business, the safety of its employees and customers is a major concern.
But complying with workplace health and safety regulations and completing detailed risk assessments was, in the past, a daunting administrative burden.
“Because we have so many betting shops and the assessments themselves are so diverse – there are 26 generic risks to a typica...
“You can spend your time more productively”
Farming can involve working long hours.
Farm Managers like Andrew Blenkiron work an average of 70 hours a week - which doesn’t leave a lot of time to deal with paperwork.
“Most of the paperwork has to be done late in the evening” said Andrew who comes from a North Yorkshire farming family and has farmed all over the...
“It gives you peace of mind”
Sarah Gayton carefully removes a tray of freshly baked oat crunches from the oven.
It’s early morning and this batch, along with other mouthwatering batches of freshly baked treacle tarts, low-sugar cakes, fruit pies and crumbles, are destined for sale today in a local farmers’ market.
Sarah’s bakery at Warslow, near Hartington in the Peak District, is the h...
“It’s good for business”
The market in fake or counterfeit goods has become a huge problem for business.
Most big international brand names fall victim to it – especially luxury watch brands.
“The majority of these counterfeit watches come from China and the Far East”
explains Henry Hudson, General Manager at Rolex UK’s Bexley HQ.
“What concerns us most is the illegal use ...
“It has simplified everything”
Hairdressing has always been an important part of Erik Lander’s life.
Back in the mid seventies his parents opened a small hairdressing business in Corby, Northants. Today, the salon remains very much a family concern.
“My sister Pam and I run it and two of Pam’s daughters have recently come to work here” explains Erik, 37.
Running a busy un...
“The whole process is brilliant”
Running an environmentally friendly business requires considerable forethought and organisation.
So when Tony Fisher and Michael Casey opened a small waste treatment plant in Speke, Liverpool, there was some concern about how much paperwork they’d need in order to run the business.
“We accept non hazardous waste from the industrial, commercial and private sector; a lot of...
“It’s saved us quite a bit of money”
The builders’ skip is a familiar sight to everyone.
But for Carl Brittain, skips are his livelihood. His business, Mr Rubble Skip Hire, hires out skips to builders and domestic customers in the Sheffield area.
“Our work is to collect the skips, sort through them, recover any scrap, wood, bricks, soil, rubble and cardboard. An...
“It’s a marvellous scheme”
8am Monday morning in Biddy’s Burger Bar and small groups of builders are tucking into hearty English breakfasts, accompanied by mugs of tea.
Soon, the place will be filling up with local mums, popping in for a snack after dropping off their children at the two schools just round the corner. Then it’s the busy lunchtime trade, hungry office workers from the council offices across the road.
“I don’t sit down during ...
“Everyone’s happy”
A two year old girl is negotiating an indoor climbing frame, watched by a smiling parent.
Nearby, the girl’s four year old brother is whooping with delight as he reaches the bottom of a spiral slide – for the umpteenth time.
This is AJ’z, a play and party centre for children just outside Taunton’s town centre, run by Zoe and Jason Gibbs. They relocated here from B...
“Now we’re more flexible – and we’re saving time.”
Better regulation of the UK’s gas and electricity supply market has meant a huge reduction in red tape for energy suppliers.
The Supply Licence Review, introduced by Ofgem, has modernised energy supply licences.
“Gas and electricity licences hadn’t changed significantly since privatisation,” explains Catherine Marshall, Regulation Manager, Scottish & Southern Energy.
“Broadly speaking, the langua...
“Our customers reap the benefit”
“Our customers reap the benefit”
Every year, millions of customers in the energy supply market switch suppliers in order to get a better deal.
“Before the the Supply Licence Review, we had to produce codes of practice which said how we looked after customers. And then we had to get them approved by Ofgem”,...
“The bonus is more time with the family”
Until recently, small employers faced a time-consuming task when it came to calculating their PAYE deductions.
“It was tiresome to fill in the forms manually. And at the end of the year we had to work out our submissions manually,” says Alan Mcdonald, who runs small architectural practice, Atelier-M, in Perth, with his wife Laura.
Now, thanks to the P11 calculator, all PAYE calculation...
“We gained sales last year that we wouldn’t have had”
Buying pharmaceutical products nowadays is, for many, as simple as doing the weekly supermarket shop.
Yet until quite recently, regulation of the industry meant that all pharmaceutical businesses carried a heavy administrative burden.
“Pharmaceutical regulatory processes are very complicated” explains Nicholas Smalley, Regulatory Projects Manager at Perrigo, a leading supplier...
"We can get on and produce high quality medicines"
For pharmaceutical organisations like Pfizer, regulation has, in the past, meant that even the smallest change would bring with it huge amounts of paperwork.
Now, thanks to Better Regulation of Medicines Initiative, administrative processes are much quicker.
“After informing the MHRA of a routine change we can then go ahead with implementing the change straight away. And that is ultimately beneficial to our manufacturing process,”...
“It’s very very simple”
Running a licensed taxi firm doesn’t just mean getting passengers to the right address at the right time.
It also involves invoicing for account customers, payroll and a host of other admin duties.
“People often don’t see the work involved” says Jeffrey Ellis who has been running Shevington Cars near Wigan, for the last 5 years with his wife, Christine. ...
"We’re no longer producing masses of paperwork"
Few cities can boast the architectural splendour of Bath.
But when it comes to the restoration of the city’s Georgian houses and listed buildings, changing the smallest detail requires planning permission. And for local architects, Mitchell Taylor Workshop, this involved huge amounts of paperwork – and excessive amounts of time.
“We ...
"It’s much less complicated and intimidating"
Delivering food to thousands of customers across the country, day in, day out, is a logistics exercise for any organisation.
But for Nottingham based company, Hopwells, a frozen and chilled food distributor, their health and safety issues are also complex.
“Our 10,000 delivery points vary from care homes, canteens, hospitals and schools to pub cellars,” explains Operations Director, Phil Holman.
...
“For us, it’s a real time saver”
Running a payroll department for a busy chartered accountancy means producing thousands of payslips – and getting lots of forms completed by new employees.
“We handle at least 100 P46 forms every week,” explains Dorothy Meredith, Payroll Manager for Burgess Hodgson.
“The old P46 was badly designed with two bits of paper which could get easily separated and HM Revenue & Customs wouldn’t get a copy. The employee wouldn’t get a ta...
“It helps us maintain our high standards”
Shelley’s Restaurant is a busy restaurant in the heart of Warrington.
Like thousands of other small businesses, Shelley’s relys heavily on its reputation - and high standards for cleanliness and food hygiene plays a key part.
Until recently, complying with food hygiene regulations was often a problem for small food businesses.
But now, th...
“Life would be harder without it”
Environmental concerns are a major issue for the manufacturing industry.
Staff must be fully trained and aware of the hazards and risks involved in the products they use. And the environmental impact of the materials used in the manufacturing process must be considered every step of the way.
“All the information I need to do my job has to be up to ...
“It’s a real time saver”
In the Argyll forest, timber haulage workers are lifting loads of newly cut logs onto their vehicles. Within minutes, the loads will be driven off to a sawmill in Carlisle.
For Alan Johnstone, who runs Coille Haulage, in Lochgilphead, this has been the focus of his business for nearly two decades.
“For every load of timber we remove, we need despatch authorisation from the Forestry Commission,” explains Alan.
“In the past, we’d phone for autho...
“It’s all so much quicker”
Today’s DIY shopper expects to find whatever they need at the local builders’ merchants or DIY superstore.
But how complex is the process that takes that plank of wood from forest to sawmill – and then into millions of homes?
Until recently, every aspect of that process was slow. Paperwork between the processors and the Forestry Commission created huge volumes of administrative wor...
“It’s a great relationship”
Major food retailers face a daunting array of priorities – and environmental health concerns play a major role.
“We trade in l7 different environmental districts in the Midlands area,” says Jan Boots, Fresh Food Controller for Midlands Co-operative Society.
In Jan’s role he is responsible for all meat, fish, poultry, dairy and fruit and vegetables sold in 170 stores.
Jan used to work...
“It’s a real boon to our business”
Advertisement sites – on billboards and bus shelters – have a presence on our streets throughout the UK.
Yet, none of these sites can be installed without planning permission and consent. For JCDecaux, applying for planning permission has been a heavy administrative burden.
“We submit around 500 planning applications a year and it used to be very time consuming and costly”, says...
"It saved us 8,000 euros in line efficiency"
Over the counter medicines are crucial to safe and effective healthcare: 930 million packs are annually purchased in the UK.
For pharmaceutical giants like Johnson & Johnson UK – getting their products onto the shelves could, in the past, be hindered – because of the pharmaceutical industry’s complex and time consuming regulatory process.
“There was no flexibility within the old system” says Gill Pe...
"It’s an important step forward"
When your business involves advising on all aspects of town and country planning, submitting planning applications to local authorities is a crucial part of your workload.
“We probably submit around fifty planning applications each month,” says Martyn Smith, whose Cirencester-based company, Pegasus Planning Group, provides advice on planning issues.
And Martyn says that the introduction of the Planning Portal is making a big difference – because...
“It makes us more efficient”
Each year, millions of employees starting a new job must give their employer their previous employment details – a simple process if you have a P45.
Until quite recently, employees without a P45 would complete a P46 – and the responsibility for checking the information remained with the employer and HMRC.
“The responsibility for the information is now on the individual, rather than the people handling payroll” says Diana...
“We can now focus on important issues”
For many years, the UK’s energy suppliers were faced with burdensome
But with the introduction of the Supply Licence Review the energy supply licences have been modernised.
“The most frustrating thing about the previous Supply Licence was it was complex and archaic” says Roger Barnard, Head of Regulatory Law at EDF Energy, the UK’s largest el...
“It’s saved around 30 days a year”
It’s a familiar scene in a nursery setting: a small group of children are enjoying a snack, a routine part of the day for a children’s nursery.
“We provide food for the children at our nurseries through the day, so we also
have to register as a food provider,” explains Andrea Maddox, Catering Manager for Busy Bees, based in Burntwood.
Before, Andrea had to deal with local authorities from across the country. But now ...
"It’s a very useful tool"
All businesses must take environmental concerns into account.
But awareness of the issues isn’t enough. You need to keep up to date on all the latest environmental information.
“As a business, we take our environmental credentials very seriously.” says David English, who runs English Construction, a small building contractor and develope...
"We can see that our business is improving"
Running a bakery, a convenience store and an off-licence is a round-the-clock undertaking: the bakers start work around l2.30am. And the off-licence closes its doors at l0.30pm.
“When we started to run the business two years ago, there was no formal system in place to ensure we met legislative requirements,” says Ian Green, who runs his Boston business with Jackie Dales.
“Then we were introduced to the Safer Food, Better Business scheme. And it has pr...
"It’s a very good scheme"
Friday night in Newton Abbott and The Eastern Eye, an 120 seat Indian restaurant is packed out with diners enjoying the start of the weekend.
And according to Abdul Hoque, who runs the business with his brother Touris, their business is running better than ever – mainly because they’re benefiting from the Safer Food, Better Business scheme.
The scheme has been designed to help small food businesses comply with food ...
"Everything we need to know is there"
Environmental issues are a way of life for farmers.
So in 1997, when Steve and Trish Bowles started to turn part of their Wiltshire farm into holiday cottages, it was obvious that this would be very much a green business.
“We can now accommodate up to 28 guests here in eight cottages” says Trish. “Some are group bookings, some...
"Risk assessment doesn’t have to be complicated"
If you run a small food retailing business, your time is precious.
Nigel Dowdney, who runs two small convenience stores in Norwich with his wife, Shaz, admits that working our their risk assesment used to be time consuming.
“It seemed so complicated and daunting – and we wasted a lot of time.”
But now, thanks to the introduction of a one ...
