Business Excellence Awards website goes live

The website for the Business Excellence Awards, of which Leavesden Park is a sponsor, is now live.
Businesses across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, North and North West London are invited to enter the Awards, which include Large, Medium and Small Businesses of the year, an award for International Trade &Export and Success through People, for companies maximising staff engagement to deliver business performance.  Two further awards, Entrepreneur of the Year and Business of the Year, will be selected from the finalists of the other five categories.
The awards were launched at Leavesden Park last month and fellow sponsor HSBC will be hosting an event on 25 April for companies to meet sponsors and judges and find out more about the awards. This takes place at HSBC’s offices, First Floor, Sunningdale, The Belfry Business Park, Colonial Way, Watford WD24 4LG from 6 to 7pm. To book a place contact Fern Evans fern.evans@hsbc.com 08455 844187.
The Awards are being supported by the Watford Observer and, along with Leavesden Park HSBC, are being sponsored by BDO, , SA Law and Alliotts, who will also form members of the judging panel.
There are a series of events being held throughout the region over the coming months where businesses can find out more about the Awards, culminating in a spectacular gala dinner for the finalists on 27 September at Shendish Manor which will be hosted by Michael Portillo.
To find out more or to enter visit the website .

Sitel to create up to 200 jobs

Offices To Let Watford

Leavesden Park company Sitel UK has announced the expansion of two of its UK contact centre sites following a number of new contract wins.
Sitel UK, experts in outsourced customer contact solutions, has announced the expansion of two of its contact centre sites in Leavesden Park (Watford) and Stratford upon Avon following a number of new contract wins.

One recent new campaign providing multi-channel customer service will require 80 staff, with the total of new business wins expected to create up to 200 jobs.

Sitel UK, part of the SITEL Worldwide Corporation, employ 2100 people in its nationwide network of contact centres.  Joe Doyle, Marketing Director of Sitel UK, says; “We are seeing significant growth from businesses across all sectors as they look to differentiate themselves through customer service excellence and innovation.  It’s no longer just about cost savings and operational efficiencies.”

Sitel UK, a trusted partner for many of today’s leading brands and Government Departments, was last year appointed to the DWP framework and provides leading technical support and multi-lingual solutions that in some cases cater for up to 12 different languages.

Ovum’s recent forecast (CRM Outsourcing Forecast: EMEA), projected that the rate of annual growth in UK contact centre outsourcing will significantly outpace that of France, Germany, and Spain. It states that, in addition, UK enterprises are much more willing than their counterparts in continental Europe to outsource work to third-parties. Thus, for CRM outsourcers, the UK appears to be among the most attractive markets in Europe.

Three new franchise partners for Rosemary Bookkeeping

Leavesden Park based Rosemary Bookkeeping has announced three new franchise partners – in Redditch, Chelmsford and Sutton Coldfield - who are offering free initial bookkeeping health checks to small businesses.
Fiona O’Mahony in Redditch, Chereen McCarthy in Chelmsford and Jon Lewis in Sutton Coldfield  hope to bring an altogether friendly and new bookkeeping experience to clients, by utilising the unique Rosemary System® and taking the hassle away from the business owner of doing the bookkeeping.  They will also work in harmony with the business owner’s accountant and provide them with exactly what they need, in the format they want, saving everyone time and money!

With Fiona’s two children in full-time education she decided that now was the right time to become her own boss. Having spent most of her career in the financial sector and being a qualified Accounting Technician she decided that she would utilise her skills and experience to start a bookkeeping business to provide an invaluable service to local business owners.

Fiona is looking forward to growing her Rosemary Bookkeeping franchise “I enjoy bookkeeping work and know what is involved in meeting deadlines and ‘getting the job done! I am able to produce businesses’ accounts in an intelligently, detailed and understandable format using the unique Rosemary System®.”

Chereen has a Degree in Business with Human Resources and Marketing, and used this to pursue a career in Investment Banking, gaining 12 years of valuable business experience.  She is now really looking forward to running her own Franchise Business and using her experience in the financial sector to help local businesses run smoothly. “I believe I can offer a great service to local small businesses by taking the stress out of their bookkeeping in a friendly but professional way”.

Having worked in the military for the majority of his working career, the organisation and diligence skills Jon Lewis developed in this time will be put to good use when dealing with the bookkeeping needs for his clients. Jon says: “I am here so that you don’t have to concentrate valuable time & effort on your books, time and effort that for you could be better invested in your core business elements”.

Unlike other bookkeepers, Rosemary Bookkeeping only charge for each transaction processed and not for the time spent.  Starting at only 21p a transaction, outsourcing your bookkeeping isn’t as expensive as you may think.  They also provide a detailed analysis with every invoice so you always know what you are paying for and just to be really helpful, they even standardise the paperwork to ensure you and your accountant receive it in the same way.  If you hate preparing your VAT return and could be making more money if you were not doing your books then Fiona can help you.

Demand for an efficient bookkeeping service for small businesses is as high as ever as Rosemary Bookkeeping, explains:  “By law, all businesses in the UK are required to keep records of their transactions which later are used by an accountant to file for tax.  Managing these transactions through bookkeeping is often the biggest headache to the small business owner and a task that is left at the bottom of the pile.”