The Strive & Thrive series is pleased to welcome Stefan Thomas , Founder of The Networking Retreat, as the guest speaker for Episode 3: The Power of Networking. ​ ​As a founder, author, trainer, and speaker, Stefan wears many hats. He speaks at conferences for blur chip organisations such as Google , BT , The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants , and many others. He has also authored three Amazon  bestselling books, including ‘Business Networking for Dummies’.​​ ​Jo

Romesh of The FD Consultant and Mike Oliver of Easol hosted the next Strive & Thrive live event with Andy McNulty of Touch Stay . We discussed how to successfully exit a business. After a highly successful career in luxury fashion, holding C-level positions at brands like  Gucci ,  Alexander McQueen , and  Victoria Beckham , Andy co-founded Touchstay, a digital guest book solution for holiday accommodation. Ten years later, Andy and his team had grown Touch Stay into a 7-fi

Strive & Thrive is a series of discussions aimed to inspire and provide insights to Entrepreneurs, Business owners and the Leadership teams of growing SME businesses. Mike Oliver of Easol hosted and facilitated a discussion with Romesh on “Finance – A Key to Success”. Mike and Romesh have known each other for a number of years and share a passion for supporting growing businesses. Romesh commented: I must admit, it was quite a new experience to lead the discussion on a live

It’s widely recognised that high staff motivation is essential for outstanding businesses, especially growing enterprises where energy, enthusiasm, drive, commitment and loyalty are key ingredients for team success. Excellent business leaders continually seek to reward staff for their good work. The dilemma they face, particularly in these uncertain times, is how to do so in a cost effective way? Listed below are a number of suggestions which business owners and management ma

All businesses, large or small, will, at some stage, need to invest in external expertise and guidance. Management teams know their businesses well, but to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing environment, bringing relevant experience to help and support can be a very effective and cost efficient way to navigate business challenges and build a roadmap for success.   External support is available for most areas in a business, and across multiple disciplines. External advis

Introduction to EMI Schemes The Enterprise Management Incentive Scheme . Sounds complicated, right? It’s not, and it’s a great idea for your business to consider. Put simply, an Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) Scheme is a government approved employee share scheme which is a cost effective, highly flexible, and tax efficient way to reward your employees.   Overview The Enterprise Management Incentive Scheme is a share option scheme backed by HMRC and a popular tool used

Introduction Founders and Business Owners who are looking to exit their businesses should consider a range of options in order to achieve the most beneficial outcome based on their personal objectives, the nature of the business, market conditions and unexpected opportunities. There are various business exit options available, and we list the most common types below alongside the benefits and disadvantages of each.   Business Sale to third parties This is one of the most comm