Canon, world-leader in imaging solutions, has been named a Top Employer 2018 in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany and Spain.

This certification recognises the ongoing investment that Canon makes in developing its employees and providing an environment that helps its people to learn and grow. Specific activities that influenced Canon’s certification included a strong employer brand and optimised careers site, improved employee development hub with new learning experiences which saw a 19% increase in employee uptake, and the introduction of new ways of working to help power collaboration and innovation amongst colleagues. 

Caroline Price, Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Canon Europe comments: “The certification is not only a symbol of our commitment to building a positive employee environment over the past 12 months, but also of our commitment to continually optimise tools and develop the overall employee experience to become an even better employer.”

The areas where Canon excelled in the survey were: overall talent strategy; learning & development (L&D) offerings; performance management & leadership development.

esure The Chief Executive of the insurance business, who has its headquarters in Reigate, has stepped down. Stuart Vann joined esure in 2000. In this time esure has grown to 2.4 million in-force policies and more than £800 million in gross written premiums.

Holmesdale Building Society has agreed terms to merge with Skipton, subject to approval. The merger is expected to become effective on the 1st October 2018 and Skipton have received consent from the PRA to approve the proposed merger. Holmesdale was founded in 1855 and has one branch in Reigate, employing 26 people. Holmesdale concluded that "it is in the best interests of current and future members to merge with a much stronger building society able to offer more choice and value to members in the long-term".

e-foldi - Redhill-based firm e-foldi has raised £660,970 in their crowd funding campaign almost doubling their £350,000 target.  Find out more. 

Ultimate Database The Web Application Development Company based in Redhill have reached the end of a two-year redevelopment programme of their Online Development Tool. The £90,000 project was primarily funded by existing customers from the UK and Europe who will be benefiting from the new software. As well as faster development of new applications, the changes implemented in the new version will allow for a feature-rich user experience on a fully scalable platform. The next step is to complete the documentation allowing external developers and web designers to use the software themselves to create applications for their own clients. Find out more

Regus UK have just launched their new serviced offices in Kingsgate House, Redhill.  Find out more.

Gatwick Diamond Business Awards We are delighted that local companies have been short-listed for the Gatwick Diamond Business Awards - good luck!

Green Business of the year - 3FEV

Employer of the Year - Jellyfish Group Ltd

Business Person of the year - Rob Pierre, Jellyfish Group Ltd

Business of the year (over £1m) - Jellyfish Group Ltd

We are excited to announce that we have entered into a partnership with Enterprise Nation, a small business network and business support provider with more than 70,000 members. Enterprise Nation offers businesses access to a wide range of business building tools, advisers, information, events and networking opportunities. Reigate & Banstead will be offering a year’s complimentary membership to successful Business Support Grant applicants and Entrepreneur Academy attendees.

Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation spoke at our celebration event for entrepreneurs and new businesses in February. The celebration event was a great opportunity to thank all the people who have helped with the Entrepreneur Academy, and all the fantastic businesses who have been through the Entrepreneur Academy and received Business Support Grants.

Emma’s great enthusiasm for helping small businesses to grow and succeed was evident. Emma’s talk focused on practical ways that small businesses can grow, with tips including:

• Big chains are increasingly looking to stock small, local brands. They want to address a growing consumer demand and increase their local relevance. 
• Consider exporting - 60% of Amazon sellers sell more overseas.
• Make the most of digital technology to open up to a global market.

We know that our small businesses and entrepreneurs will gain a lot from membership to Enterprise Nation. Alongside the practical and engaging tools and support on offer, Enterprise Nation also ensure that those running small and micro businesses have a relevant and powerful campaigning voice on the topics that matter. Every year, they set up campaigns that support businesses through research, lobbying, content and events. Visit the Enterprise Nation website for more information.

In February, we hosted our third partnership event with MP Crispin Blunt and Voluntary Action Reigate (VARB) to promote the benefits of corporate volunteering.  There was a great turn out from businesses including Pfizer, Gatwick Airport, esure, We are Just and Canon, as well as the voluntary sector.

We were delighted to welcome some great local speakers:

Bob Pickles, Canon

Jen Sanderson and Kate Curtis, Loveworks

Graham Whitney and Linda Boucher, Skylark

Nina Porter, VARB 

We had workshops to establish what the voluntary sector are looking for from their volunteers, as well as what businesses want.  We reached consensus that both sides want to establish long term relationships and really value skills-based volunteering to embed new skills within the voluntary organisations. Many businesses no longer provide money to organisations, but match-fund employees' fundraising, or facilitated payroll giving.

However large your company is, find out about the latest volunteering opportunities.

Who are they?

The Merstham Mix is a new kind of café aiming to bring together the local community for low-cost, healthy food in a sociable space while doing something proactive to address the problem of food waste.

Launched by two local charities (Loveworks and MCFT) and a group of local residents, the café opened in mid-November. The café has already become a popular meeting place for the local community, but they want to increase our impact!

Why do they need more funding?

With the money raised during this crowdfunding campaign, they would like to extend their opening hours. At the moment, they can only afford to open from 8:30 am to 2 pm on weekdays and with a reduced service on Saturday mornings.

They would love to stay open until 6 pm every weekday and offer a full menu on Saturday. This would enable families with school-age children to come to the café after school, which is not possible at the moment. With funding, they could employ more staff and make this happen.

What impact will the extra opening hours have?

Extending the opening hours will allow them to:

• Feed kids (& their families!) after school
• Provide free meals to people in need
• Support after-school activities in the hub
• In the future, teach cookery skills to kids and adults
• Use double the amount of perfectly edible food that would otherwise go to waste
• Create more paid positions and double the volunteering opportunities

What's in it for you?

In return for your generous donations, you will be able to choose from some amazing rewards. They include a recipe book from some amazing local chefs, a reusable cup from Keep Cup, activities in the hub and even parties! And, whatever the level of your contribution, your name will be on our 'wall of fame'.

Crowding funding link