Beaufort Group, a growing group of financial advisors based in Redhill, have raised over £20,000 for children and young people with serious or life threatening illnesses. They were able to present the cheque to the charity Dreams Come True charity. An amazing achievement - well done. Find out more

Morrisons Solicitors' Private Client Team won 'Solicitor Team of the Year South' at the British Wills and Probate Awards. Read more

Bibby Financial Services  has expanded its team in the South of England as it targets small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region. Joe Waters has joined the firm as Head of Sales and will be based at its office in Redhill, Surrey.

Come along to our Learning Lunch on 14 November to hear Martin Buckland, Managing Director from HR At Work, discuss managing challenging employment relationships and undertaking difficult conversations. Learning Lunches run from 12.00-14.00 at Reigate & Banstead Borough Council offices in Reigate.  Book your space now

On 15 November 2018 Reigate & Banstead Borough Council, in conjunction with Applied Resilience, are hosting a Business Continuity Workshop. The Workshop will introduce you to the business continuity process, what your organisation should have as a minimum and why you should have a plan. Please email to book your space.

All businesses should have plans and procedures in place for managing a disruption and ensuring that it doesn't penetrate core business. At best, poorly handled incidents can disrupt functions, set projects back and unnerve staff.  At worst, they can risk staff safety and destroy your corporate reputation, putting you out of business. 

Relying on reactive action at the time is a road to failure, no matter how good people are, or how well you understand your business. This, like many areas, requires professional support. 

Business continuity plans are increasingly expected or required when delivering services, particularly in the public sector and any commercial partner providing support services to them (including subcontractors). You may find that there is an expectation to have these plans in place and to be able to provide them. With the barrage of news around terrorism, flooding and general issues, this is something you should want, and be proud of having. It most certainly is something that can provide confidence and assurance to you and your clients as well as assist with issues such as insurance.

Email now to book your space.

Sum up your business in one sentence.
The Film Farmers Ltd is an international video production company with expertise in producing brand, commercial, documentary and travel projects across the globe.

What are your top tips for business success?
Tip 1: The internet is king. If you want to establish a business today it’s essential that you can be found easily online. How many times do you scroll past page 1 of Google search results when looking for something? The stats are alarming and something close to 90% of internet users don’t bother. Make sure your SEO is as good as it can be. Personally I wouldn’t advise investing in things like Google Ads as so many people run ad blockers anyway.

Tip 2: Separate work from personal life: It might sound overly simplistic, but one of the biggest factors in the acceleration of my business growth was becoming much stricter about when and where I was working. I personally hate sitting on my sofa or in bed and working on my laptop. I found doing this increasingly encroached in to my own time, made me less productive and ultimately demotivated. A home office is a great alternative but even better is joining a co-working space. These are often full of weird and wonderful businesses and also great places to network/win business. I would personally recommend CoTribe in Horley as it’s incredible value for money and has a really unique atmosphere.

Tip 3: Don’t be afraid to say no: When you are freelance there is always the temptation to say yes to every job because there is the underlying worry that you never know when your next job is going to come in. However, if you overload your schedule you’ll simply end up “dropping the ball” and making silly mistakes. Overworking yourself is no good for anyone, especially for your own well-being. It’s far better do to a brilliant job then an OK job! The likelihood is that you’ll find you’ll get repeat business from clients that were super impressed with the time, care and attention that you were able to give them which they probably didn’t get elsewhere.

How did you come up with your idea and turn it into an actual business?

I studied Television Production at Bournemouth University and was determined to pursue a career in the industry. After graduating I worked full-time at a local production company in Dorset and then subsequently freelanced as a camera operator at the London Olympics. Both experiences were incredible! I caught the London bug and got a junior camera operator role in a marketing agency. It was here that I really got an insight in to how to manage clients, deadlines, travel and budgets. After 6 months I decided it was time to take a risk and went freelance. A few years later I launched The Film Farmers right here in Surrey.

What has been your biggest achievement with your business so far?

My business has continued to grow each year at a rapid pace. In 2017 the turnover increased by approximately 350% on the previous year. We have continued to grow at a great pace this year too. Numbers aside, I’m most proud of how quickly individuals within the business have progressed in such a short period of time. I have videographers who have only been out of university for a year but I can trust them to go and film a project solo anywhere in the world!

What has been the biggest challenge so far?
Without a doubt my biggest challenge has been knowing when to hire more team members. I launched a Limited company because I was in a very fortunate position of having too much work and couldn’t keep up with the demand. Taking on a skilled producer freed up so much of my time and within eighteen months I had a team of seven people! October 2018 has seen our workload increase exponentially again and right now we are looking for more camera operators, editors and producers.

My team are a really close bunch, we travel all over the world together and are fortunate that we get to film some incredible events in stunning destinations. They are all passionate about producing captivating films and anybody who joins the team has to have the same drive. Finding new team members who love to travel at short notice, are technically gifted, ultra personable and confident in their own abilities is probably my biggest challenge right now, but to date I’ve been very lucky!

What do you want to achieve next?

My next challenge is launching our first international office in New York. The Film Farmers Inc is now a registered company and I’m going through the visa process now. My business has a wonderful selection of US clients that we create content for across the EMEA regions and being able to work with them more locally would be great for everyone involved.

What do you think will be your biggest challenge getting there?
In some ways, opening an office overseas sort of feels like starting over again. On the other hand I already have some great clients in the US so this makes the prospect feel considerably less daunting.The challenge of positioning The Film Farmers Inc as a leading production company in the US is too good an opportunity to miss.  I also want to make sure I recruit some brilliant local talent in the US and build a solid team there too.

How has Reigate & Banstead Council helped your business?
In 2014 I was the recipient of a £1,000 grant from Reigate & Banstead Council's Economic Prosperity team. At this point in time I was fairly new in the world of freelance videography and this money enabled me to purchase some much needed equipment to help me raise the standard of my work. In particular, this helped me purchase some new audio equipment which meant I could get far better sound quality for any interviews I was filming.

An exciting opportunity has opened for a Membership Manager for East Surrey. The position is to drive membership of Surrey Chambers of Commerce in areas including Reigate, Epsom, Redhill, Dorking, Leatherhead, Caterham and Oxted. Find out more

If you're interested in finding out more about the support available for your business, you need to attend this event. You are probably missing out on available financial support.

Agenda
6.00pm - Registration, Light Refreshments, Networking
6.45pm - Coast to Capital LEP Presentation
7.15pm - Q&A
7.30pm - Networking and one to one questions
8.00pm - Event close

The event is free to attend and open to FSB members and non-members. Places are limited and you must book via Eventbrite to attend.

For general enquiries regarding the event please contact reshma.begum@fsb.org.uk