This year sees a major change to the rules that govern fire safety in commercial premises. The existing system, under which many businesses have to apply to their local fire-safety authority for a fire-safety certificate, is being replaced with a risk-assessment system along the lines of the one that already applies to broader health and safety issues.
Under the new rules, anyone with control over business premises will be required to take reasonable steps to remove or reduce the risk of fire as far as possible, and to put a plan in place ensuring people can escape safely if there is a fire.
The rules apply to all premises other than private residences. In most cases, employers will be responsible for the safety of their premises. In buildings containing a number of separate premises, the building owner or management agent will usually be responsible for the fire safety of the shared portions of the building, such as stairwells.
In practice, the key obligation imposed by the new rules is that businesses must carry out regular fire-risk assessments. This should incorporate the following five stages:
- identify potential fire hazards in the premises
- identify any people who may be at particular risk
- evaluate the risks that exist, and take steps to remove or reduce them
- draw up an emergency plan, and train your staff accordingly
- review your assessment regularly, and particularly if there are any ‘significant’ changes to your workplace that may pose a fire risk.
If your business has five employees or more, then you must keep a written record of your fire-risk assessments.
For more information on the fire-safety reforms visit the Department for Communities and Local Government website
Under new rules coming into force on 1 October 2006, businesses eligible for Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR no longer need to apply every year to receive the relief. Instead, it will be sufficient to apply once for each five-year valuation period. (The rateable values of business premises are re-valued every five years.)
SBBR is available to businesses that have a single property with a rateable value of less than £15,000 (£21,500 in London). It is also available to businesses with one main property and a number of additional properties, so long as the cumulative rateable value of all these properties is below £15,000 (£21,500), and the individual rateable values of the additional properties is no greater than £2,200.
The new SBRR application arrangements first apply to applications for relief in respect of the 2007–08 financial year. These applications will be accepted from 1 October 2006. The new application procedures mean that businesses applying for 2007–08 will not subsequently have to re-apply until 2010–11, when the next five-year valuation cycle begins.
The changes also introduce an additional condition for entitlement to SBBR. Businesses will be required to inform their local authority of certain changes to their circumstances, including moving to new premises.
For more information on business rates visit the Government’s business rates website
Whether you want to generate further sales from existing customers or initiate relationships with potential buyers, direct mail can be a cost-effective and targeted way of reaching your target market. It isn’t necessarily cheap, but with an average response rate of seven per cent, it’s one of the most reliable advertising methods available.
As with most things in business, planning is the key to success. You should set clear objectives for your campaign, budget it properly, and then identify the list of people you want your mailshot to go to.
There are important decisions to be taken about how much of the process you should handle in-house and how much you should outsource. Whatever you decide, you’ll also need to make sure that you comply with data-protection rules.
Don’t neglect the follow-up phase. You’ll need to be ready to deal with increased enquiries and sales. And you’ll need to review each mailshot to see which approaches are generating the best response from your target market.
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Q: How can I prevent bullying in my business?
A: The most important thing is to take a clear stand on the issue. All your employees should be aware that bullying won’t be tolerated and will be considered a significant disciplinary matter.
Defining bullying can be difficult, but it includes any offensive and intimidating behaviour designed to humiliate or injure the victim. In practice, the victim is entitled to define what bullying is – you should take any report of bullying seriously and deal with it under your disciplinary and grievance procedures.
Q: Who’s responsible for data protection if I outsource some of my business functions?
A: This question arises most often for businesses that outsource their payroll function or their customer mailings, which involves providing information about their employees or customers to another business.
The business you outsource to processes this data on your behalf, but you remain responsible for making sure that data-protection rules are followed. You should make sure that you use a reputable company. Verify what security measures and staff checks they have and ensure you have a written contract. If you’re outsourcing to a country outside the EEA, make sure your contract will be enforceable in that country.
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Your firm and the Data Protection Act
The world is becoming a more security-conscious place. This impacts directly on businesses trading internationally, because their reputations and their regulatory compliance depend on keeping up to date with an increasing number of security-related rules that apply to UK imports and exports.
One of the main ways the Government acts to ensure the security of the trading system is by issuing export control licences. This involves businesses obtaining official approval for export consignments containing goods with military applications or other strategic significance.
If you think this may apply to your business, the organisation to contact is the Export Control Organisation (ECO), which you can telephone on 020 7215 8070.
Another body with significant responsibilities in relation to the security of international trade is HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). HMRC deals with most of the day-to-day paperwork involved in exporting, and in the coming months there will be a number of security-related procedural changes that all traders should be aware of. The first of these is SAD Harmonisation. This is a Europe-wide process of aligning the rules for completing customs declarations forms (known in the UK either as the SAD, or as Form C88). SAD Harmonisation will take place in two stages.
From 7 January 2007 a transitional set of rules for completing the form will be introduced. Full implementation will then take place on 1 July 2007, from which date the old rules for completing the form will be completely replaced.
Another change taking effect on 1 January 2007 is the introduction of the EU Customs Security Programme. This will require all importers and exporters in the EU to obtain a security certificate to ensure the swift movement of their goods through customs. This will affect a reported 130,000 UK businesses. Businesses failing to obtain a certificate may have their goods retained by HMRC until security checks on them are completed.
For more information about SAD Harmonisation and the EU Customer Security Programme, contact the HMRC National Advice Service on 0845 010 9000.