Do the Opposite With Jeff Dewing

It is great to be back with another month of updates and what a month it's been.

I took the time to reflect on the service and legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the continual support the monarchy has provided to businesses that innovate and excel.

As a business, we have made some significant strides in the Cloudfm Group towards building a solid ESG framework that will help form our sustainability plans for the future.

It has been great to support a past podcast guest Julian Hall on his incredible selfless endeavor in hosting a Winter Youth Business Fair at Wembley stadium?that will benefit young people from a multitude of backgrounds.

I hope you enjoy this month's newsletter and I will speak with you all again soon!

Reflecting on the Legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

I, along with millions of others, was deeply saddened at the passing of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II earlier this month. As the longest reigning monarch this nation has seen, and for the majority the only monarch we have ever known, her loss is a change in the fabric of daily life.

Absorbing the footage in the past couple of weeks what struck me is the incredible progress we have made as a country. Seeing the amazing strides in technology and innovation, it’s more than anyone could have imagined just 70 years ago.

In 2019 I was humbled to have been invited to Buckingham Palace to accept the Queen's Award for Innovation and Enterprise. It was such an impactful day, not just for the Cloudfm Group, but for me personally as it solidified the support the monarchy offers to businesses who strive to innovate.

Her Majesty’s legacy will no doubt continue in the businesses, charities, and trusts she has tirelessly supported throughout her reign.?

Does the rise of ESG mean the end of CSR??

In boardrooms across the world, ESG has become the leading topic of discussion but it has also brought forward another conversation, is this the end of CSR? I don’t think so and here’s why.?

To me the two go hand in hand, I see CSR as the ideal and it can be used by businesses to give context about sustainability agendas and corporate responsibility culture. ESG is the doing side of things and being able to accurately measure the outcome.

In very simple terms CSR is the qualitative side and ESG is the quantitative side.

For many years at the Cloudfm Group, we have been actively incorporating CSR as part of our culture.

We adhere to health and safety standards that reduce the risk of accidents that have negative environmental impacts. We are aware and proactive about the impact our company has on the environment and the Cloudfm Group has made significant strides in reducing our carbon footprint, and we implement a code of ethics and core values.

We also understand and are dedicated to continually improving the relationship we have with local communities and finding sustainable ways to give back.

It is phenomenal as the CEO of a business to look at all these achievements and I get such a sense of pride in my teams for working hard to hit these goals, but with the emergence and rise of ESG, I understood the need for measurable goals to be placed on targets related to environmental, social, and governance outcomes.

To ensure we approach an ESG strategy the right way as a business it is important not to run before we walk. We have decided to place our focus on the environmental aspects of ESG with the intention of incorporating social and governance aspects later on down the line. To deliver our ambitious goals, we have one of the most experienced global ESG minds joining our organisation next month.

Katrina ?Christopoulos is an environmental specialist and has a wealth of experience working with organisations, such as Barclays, Bloomberg, and ISS, to develop their sustainability strategies.?

"Sustainable business is my passion and having spent time at Cloudfm I can see that this company wants to cut through the greenwash and go beyond their own business to really make tangible progress across ESG.?I am excited to work with such a forward-thinking company and am hopeful our collaboration can go some way to embedding positive change.”

Last week we were excited to meet with Katrina both as a group and individually, so she can learn more about what puts the E in ESG for team members at the Cloudfm Group. I cannot wait to see the results from these sessions, and the concrete strategies that will come along with them!

Julian Hall: Teaching and Inspiring Entrepreneurship

I had the pleasure of meeting Julian at the start of the summer when he was a guest on my podcast: Doing the Opposite: Business Disruptors.

Julian’s reputation preceded him as he is the founder and CEO of ULTRA Education, an organisation that campaigns for entrepreneurship skills to be part of the school curriculum, as well as providing primary and secondary school programmes, after-school clubs, and weekend workshops for children and young people.

Ultra Education is focused on those from black and ethnic minority communities, and those for whom the existing education system does not deliver. Julian created a superhero persona to get kids interested in business and now teaches kids across the country.

This all stemmed from him setting up his first business at just 18 years old and has developed his ethos that entrepreneurs are made, not born.

I was blown away by Julian’s passion for education and inspiring young people and how it shines through in everything he does. We touch on many important topics in our conversation such as the challenge parents face in supporting their children’s ambitions, and where stress really comes from, is it in the work that you do, or are you just not that passionate about it?

On top of all the inspiring work Julian is doing he is also currently fundraising to hold a Winter Youth Business Fair at Wembley stadium that will provide a platform for over 100 disadvantaged children and young people, plus an entrepreneurship bootcamp.

You can learn more about Ultra Education, this amazing event, and even donate here: https://bacommunityfund.co.uk/p/ultra-education---youth-business-fair---winter-2022#start

You can also catch up on my episode with Julian on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. Alternatively check it out with the full transcript here: https://podcast.cloudfmgroup.com/podcast/julian-hall-teaching-and-inspiring-entrepreneurship/

The Energy Crisis and UK Businesses?

It’s no secret that UK businesses have been struggling with the rise in energy costs. Red Flag Alert conducted a study of 355,000 businesses that had an annual revenue above ￡1 million that also fell under the category of high-energy users. It found that more than 1/5, or almost 76,000, are at risk of insolvency in the next 12 months due to surging costs.

Nicola Headlam, chief economist at Red Flag Alert, cited one company that spent 8% of its ￡1 million in revenues on energy in 2020, posting a ￡90,000 profit. If energy costs doubled the same firm would face an operating loss of ￡230,000, she said.

It comes as no surprise to me that retail, food, and beverage industries are among those in the high-risk category according to this report.

The recent news of an emergency package of government support, including a cap significantly reducing the price paid for energy from the 1st of October to help them get through the winter, while certainly welcome doesn’t fix the cause it fixes a symptom.

What businesses in the UK need to start focusing on is not getting cheaper energy, it’s reducing their dependency. By reducing consumption businesses can free up revenue for investment elsewhere while also hitting Net Zero targets.

It all seems relatively simple, so why aren’t all businesses doing this now? The issue is information. They don’t have the relevant information to be able to make the correct decisions that will reduce consumption.

Most technology only scratches the surface when it comes to giving the information needed, and businesses end up attempting to make decisions without the full picture. What’s needed is technology that goes beyond the bare minimum and tells businesses exactly where they need to cut back on their energy spending.

Mindsett, the IoT technology arm of the Cloudfm Group, does just this and more. Our unique asset-level energy monitor feeds businesses real-time energy data so they know exactly what assets are using energy and when.

The innovative technology is a game changer for reducing spend on energy bills, saving staff time, and providing a structured route to net zero. ?You can check out more on Mindsett here.