It is intended that from 2012, employers will be required to enrol their employees into, and make a contribution to, a good-quality workplace pension scheme or a new personal accounts scheme.
In the coming years, we will be working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions in designing and delivering these new measures; and engaging with employ- ers, providing a range of information and education materials, to ensure that you understand your obligations.
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The Pensions Regulator is the UK regulator of work-based pension schemes.
We were created in April 2005, along with the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), and the legislation gave us a clear set of objectives: to protect scheme members’
benefits, to promote high standards of administration, and to reduce the risk of claims on the PPF. For more information:
ᔡ Call customer support on 0870 606 3636 for information on any aspect of our work. If necessary, the team will put you through to specialists to discuss issues of funding, corporate transactions or clearance.
ᔡ Visit www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk to see our codes of practice, guid- ance and news updates. Select ‘Information for employers’ for specific guidance on the topics discussed in this article.
ᔡ The ‘Trustee toolkit’, our free online learning programme for trustees and others with an interest in pension provision, is at www.trusteetoolkit.com.
ᔡ For more information about the personal accounts scheme, visit the DWP website at www.dwp.gov.uk.
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Can you afford not to?
Those that say starting up or growing a business is easy have never navigated the quagmire of running a successful business. Recent research has shown that 18 per cent of new businesses have failed in their first year, 40 per cent in their second moving up to 50 per cent in their third. However, accessing good quality business support and skills training can significantly increase the chances of a business becoming a success.
Prevista Ltd is an independent London-based company, specializing in social, economic and cultural development, and has supported over 20,000 companies.
Funded by a variety of government agencies, their services are often part or fully subsidized. Here we find out what makes their services so useful to new and developing businesses and what role they play in the government’s growing commitment to the skills agenda.
Who are Prevista?
Prevista’s approach incorporates the practical up-to-date know-how by employing business advisers and skills brokers who have specialist knowledge of their industry sectors. The majority are business owners or have managed businesses and therefore have an acute understanding of the issues which all businesses face when striving to increase profits, maintain longevity and evaluate expansion, whether a sole trader, limited company or a not-for-profit organization.
Founded in 1995 to provide quality services which were lacking at the interface between what government wanted to achieve through policy and programmes on the one hand, and what support business owners needed on the other, Prevista has grown into one of the leading companies delivering business support, skills training and brokerage services across London, the South East and further afield.
The majority of their work is heavily subsidized, as it is funded by the European Union, Regional Development Agencies and the Learning and Skills Council. As a result of this, they offer a wide range of structured support programmes from business plan development, finance and money, to NVQ qualifications and impartial skills brokerage services.
Here we look in more depth at Prevista’s three core services: Business support, skills and brokerage.
Business support
Opportunities for running a successful business are out there for the taking, yet competition is strong. To be successful it is necessary to focus on exactly what is unique about your business and have a clear understanding of your target market.
Having a good business plan is essential when approaching banks and potential funders or investors.
Business planning is one of the most common topics requested by Prevista’s clients.
Their advisers facilitate clients through the process of writing or extending a plan, allowing each client to remain in complete control of how their business develops.
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Alongside business planning, Prevista also offers up-to-date and applicable advice on a range of other topics, from raising finance, recruitment and legal requirements to environmental management.
An interesting example of how Prevista has supported an upcoming business is their work with Pad Media. A year before Robert Games approached Prevista he was working by day at a technology consultancy and at night as a freelance website designer. Inspired by his love of his freelance work, he set up his own website design agency called Pad Media. A year later he has built up his client base, his reputation and expanded the business.
Trevor Walker, Prevista associate business adviser, gave Robert business support through the Business London Start Up and Micro programme.
Robert says of the support, ‘Trevor understands my market and the needs of my clients of varying sizes and how to bridge this divide. The experience has been of great help and my income and profit levels have increased accordingly.’ Robert said he would recommend the programme to anyone starting up or already running a busi- ness. ‘Getting business support can really assist a business in making money.’
Skills
Research shows that 1.3 million people go to work every day without the skills they require to do their job proficiently. Getting the right workforce skills from your employ- ees means you are better positioned to be more competitive and profitable, whether you are just starting up or an established organization.
Developing skills and creating a sustainable economy is a high priority for the government, which is why they continue to invest heavily in this agenda. Currently 6.2 million working people have fewer than 5 GCSEs A–C or equivalent and 7 million adults have literacy, numeracy and language needs.
To help combat these issues and improve the sustainability of growing companies, any business can access Level 2 and Level 3 NVQ qualifications for free, for any members of their staff, be they full-time, part-time or volunteers. This initiative is a fantastic opportunity for employers to give their staff recognition and a qualification for the roles that they play within the business. This can increase the efficiency and effec- tiveness of your business as a whole and can improve staff confidence and retention.
NVQs are nationally recognized qualifications which add value to your staff, volun- teers and your organization. They are role-related, competence-based qualifications which offer your staff a practical learning process and an applicable qualification.
Prevista is an OCR-accredited organization, which means they are able to deliver NVQs Levels 2–3 in Customer Service, Business Administration and Management NVQ Levels 3–4. In order to qualify as a deliverer, Prevista has standards to adhere to and these are checked and verified externally on a twice yearly basis.
Brokerage
Prevista provides a key brokerage service through Train to Gain, a service funded by the Learning and Skills Council to help businesses source and gain the training they need to succeed.
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The Train to Gain service offers free impartial advice, matches training needs with training providers and ensures that training is delivered to meet employers’ objectives.
The critical factor to this programme is its impartiality; the skills brokers are not tied to any training provider; instead they recommend training options that best suit your needs. This means that it saves you time in sourcing training courses and the skills brokers can also put you in touch with other organizations which can assist your busi- ness as a whole, examples of which are apprenticeship schemes and other funded government support available.
Denise Fresco, who runs The Courier Service, is full of praise for the Train to Gain programme. ‘It gives businesses the ability to access free or greatly subsidized training for their employees when they are not in a position to spend large amounts of money on training because it needs to be spent elsewhere,’ she said. ‘The training provides much-needed additional skills to help the efficiency and productivity of the business.’
While running a thriving business, Denise approached Train to Gain when she hit a problem. ‘The staff desperately needed forklift training as a legal requirement,’ said Denise. ‘But as a small enterprise, money is always needed for all areas of the busi- ness and so the cost implications were a great worry.’
A solution had to be found. A Train to Gain skills broker found them free forklift train- ing for their employees.
The Courier Service staff embarked on training for the Forklift Competency Certificate, and Specialist Plant and Machinery Operations NVQ Level 2.
‘My employees completed the Forklift Competency Certificate and they are now doing their NVQ Level 2 in Specialist Plant and Machinery Operations,’ said Denise.
‘They now feel confident and are competent in operating the forklift, which helps them to do their job more efficiently. They feel valued by their employer and are happy that they are achieving qualifications in their specialist field.’
She added: ‘The training has been excellent. The skills broker was extremely helpful, the trainer was fantastic and was happy to fit the training around our timetable. We are looking to do IT training through this programme in the near future.’
To find out more about Prevista, their services, client history and the govern- ment’s commitment to sustaining new and established businesses, visit www.prevista.co.uk
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