HLAS

The Government is introducing legislation to allow people to use video-conferencing technology for the witnessing of wills being made. The legislation recognises that: An increasing number of people have sought to make wills during the Covid 19 pandemic, but for people shielding or self-isolating it is extremely challenging to follow the normal legalities of making a will - namely it being witnessed by two people. In response to this The law (the Wills Act 1837) will be amended to state that whilst this legislation is in force, the ‘presence’ of those making and witnessing wills includes a virtual presence, via [...]

The Police CyberAlarm is a free tool to help your business understand and monitor malicious cyber activity. Police CyberAlarm acts as a “CCTV camera” monitoring the traffic seen by your businesses’ connection to the internet. It will detect and provide regular reports of suspected malicious activity, enabling your business to minimise your vulnerabilities. Once you become a ‘Police CyberAlarm’ member, you install a ‘CyberAlarm Virtual Server’ on your system, which will be used to collect and process traffic logs identifying suspicious activity from your firewall/internet gateway. What are the benefits to my business? regular reporting identify your business vulnerabilities business [...]

The UK government’s Levelling Up white paper has set out the blueprint to expand opportunities across the United Kingdom. The UK government has set 12 new missions to drive change to people’s lives by spreading opportunity and reversing geographical inequalities. Leaders across the UK will be asked to find new ways to collaborate and learn from each other’s successes as the UK faces common challenges. One example is a Silicon Valley-style ‘Innovation Accelerator’ for Glasgow to create quality new jobs and boost regional economies. See: UK Government sets out blueprint to transform UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)  

The government’s housing delivery agency helps to build homes across England and encourage innovation, both in the kind of homes that are built and the way they are delivered. They do this in two ways: by providing development finance to small and medium house builders by providing infrastructure funding to support developers, master developers and landowners The housing delivery agency will continue to provide investment directly to developers, in the form of loans, and to specialist lenders. Loans can start from £250,000, with house builders typically borrowing between £2 million and £5 million. Development finance is designed to support small and medium [...]

Innovate UK's Small Business Research Initiative competition will assist in integrating climate and environmental factors into financial services. Organisations can apply for a share of up to £1.5 million inclusive of VAT. This competition will fund projects that bring climate and environmental risk analytics into the everyday practices of financial services. These risks include: physical risks to supply chains and property as posed by increasingly common natural disasters litigation risk where businesses are liable for their contribution to damages to nature transition risk whereby socioeconomic or political shifts toward net zero undermine non-aligned investments The competition will fund companies to [...]

Innovate UK is inviting applications for their Global Business Innovation Programme (GBIP) to Taiwan from companies developing new technologies to address challenges in: smart healthcare smart mobility intelligent buildings and housing new energy solutions future education direct citizen engagement urban infrastructure and planning Taiwan is an excellent testbed for future cities innovations and this programme will enable you to find potential collaborators and improve your company's value proposition to international partners and investors. The programme, delivered by Innovate UK EDGE, consists of: a preparation phase a 5-day innovation visit focused on Smart Cities a post-visit exploitation workshop follow-up support from [...]

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is urging tech startups to join the fight against ransomware. Companies with ideas to protect small businesses from ransomware are offered a chance to develop them further with leading cyber security experts. The companies can apply to join NCSC For Startups, a programme in which they collaborate with experts to develop, adapt and test their products. The programme was launched last year by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) - a part of GCHQ - and the innovation company Plexal. The programme's aim is to bring together innovative startups with NCSC technical expertise to solve [...]

From April, employers will be obliged to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to workers, as well as employees, who may be exposed to health and safety risks at work. An amendment to the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, will come into force on 6 April 2022. Organisations will need to undertake a risk assessment to establish whether a worker requires PPE to carry out their work tasks. If they do, the employer will need to carry out a PPE suitability assessment and provide protective equipment or clothing to them free of charge, as they do for employees. Organisations [...]

A company might have a great product or service but without a business growth strategy to help it define, articulate and communicate where it is going, it may not grow at all! A growth strategy starts with identifying and accessing opportunities within your market. The strategy addresses how your company is going to evolve to meet the challenges of today and in the future. A growth strategy gives your company purpose, and it answers questions about your long-term plans. Having a growth strategy is important because it keeps your company working towards goals that go beyond what is happening in [...]

A new drive to encourage farmers and landowners across England to plant and manage more trees has been launched. Woodland creation offers a profitable way for farmers and landowners to boost their business as well as deliver environmental benefits, alongside food production. The Forestry Commission and Defra are drawing attention to the attractive grant schemes and free specialist advice available through a new campaign. The grant schemes will help land managers diversify their business, with the potential to receive a grant of over £10,000 for every hectare of new woodland created. Woodland creation is one of the options that farmers [...]