Lee & Plumpton “Changing the way you work”

Office Loro and Lee & Plumpton have collaborated successfully on several projects together, from the odd item of bespoke furniture, to a complete office refit. Our partnership has been steadily moving forward over the years, which is why we all thought it would be beneficial if we at Office Loro took a trip to their furniture factory and head office. At the end of August, Rashmi and I embarked on the journey to Attleborough in Norfolk to meet the team. On arrival we received a warm welcome from their production manager, Wayne Thompson, who gave us an insight into the history of Lee & Plumpton.

Meet the Office Loro Team

Office Loro

Have been trading for around 30 years with the current owners running the business for the last 27. This family run business values its staff and customers treating all who call or visit the showroom as an extended family. I spoke with the current team at Office Loro to ascertain what they enjoy the most about working here:

Part Time Working: Friend or Foe?

A part time working model can be a great asset for companies and businesses to adopt, over the next few weeks we will be running a series of blogs examining the world of part time working. This first blog will examine structures and formats that we found helpful when looking into hiring part time staff and adapting our working model.

There are many reasons why people chose to work part time, at Office Loro our reasons range from family commitments, suitability of fewer hours, or coming to work with us as a way to top up a pension. According to a TUC report, during the years 2008 – 2014, 26 out of every 40 jobs were being filled by part time workers, only one in every 40 jobs were considered full time.

Business Slow Down During Summer Months

Working within a company that have a lot of schools and colleges as part of our customer base, it can often seem quieter during the traditional school summer holidays. We have less email traffic and phone calls coming in. It is not just the effect of schools being on holiday, a lot of the buyers for our other companies and customers take their annual holiday within the same period.

This leads to varying buying trends. Some companies are very well organised and will stock up on their essentials in one big order, others seem to order as and when something runs out! This shifting level of enquiries and orders coming into us can sometimes leave staff with a quiet phone line and inbox and with a bit more spare time on their hands. I am sure many companies will go through similar altering trends over the year.

Working as a parent without the guilt

Having taken a year off after the birth of my son, deciding to get back into work was a decision not taken lightly. However after much discussion, it was decided that it would be a good idea to pursue, not only for our bank account but also for my sanity – I was not cut out for daytime kids T.V!

Starting work two days a week was the perfect mix for me. My son could develop his social skills at nursery, while I could exercise my brain and think about things other than nappies, how long a nap would be needed or when the next tooth was going to make an appearance.

Team Building For Your Business

Team building has long been the groan of many employees. It is often seen as a waste of time and stopping them from completing vital jobs. However, this can be a vital component to harmonise offices and create an environment that will be highly productive.

For most businesses, there are six main reasons why they would want to conduct team building in the office. These include:

• Improving communications.
• Boosting morale.
• Motivation
• Getting a team to know each other better.
• Improving productivity
• Learning about everyone’s strengths and weaknesses.

Should You Trust Your Applicants’ CVs?

When it comes to business, one of your greatest costs is hiring staff. Research has often found that hiring a new member of staff can cost between 6 and 18 months worth of their wages in recruitment and training. This can lead to huge losses if mistakes are made when searching for new team members and they don’t work out.

One of the major problems is that recruitment is not always a speciality of business owners and mistakes are made on the recruitment journey. A common error is that the owner concentrates on the skills of the applicants and ignores the cultural fit. Skills can be trained and provided whereas personality is not so easily changed.

Is Your Star Employee Leaving? How To Recover From The Loss

As a small business owner you may have many problems to contend with, including limited resources at your disposal e.g. people, finances and knowledge of the marketplace.

Sometimes, you will rely on one or two “star” employees who without, your business would not function.

An example of this would be the employee who knows exactly what you have in stock or the person who can deliver the best customer service that will impress even the most hardened customer. However, the world can turn upside down when this star employee decides they want to move on and try another challenge.

Business owners sometimes worry about how they will cope with the loss and what will happen to the business. So here is a guide on how to cope with the loss of that all important employee.

Copyright Infringement Is No Joke With Online Content

Have you ever looked at an online image and thought it would look great on your website? Have you ever copied that image and used it? If so then you might be in violation of copyright. This can be a very costly mistake, especially with the rise of numerous law firms that scour the internet looking for stolen images so they can make a commission when they take a business to court over illegal use.

Advanced Online Marketing Avenues For Your Business

Digital marketing is one of the best ways to get your brand noticed by potential customers. In the first part of this series we talked about the basic platforms for your business. In this addition, we are going to discuss some of the more advanced options and what they could offer your business.