unLTD and Bell & Buxton Solicitors have started a new forum for the region’s business leaders – a business portal like unLTD provides an opportunity to keep abreast of news and a good feel for the mood of the Sheffield City Region.
Over the last couple of years, through writing our own original content, collating press releases and stories of appointments from companies across the SCR, hosting networking events and speaking to the contributors to this magazine, unLTD has been granted the opportunity to gain an insight into business leadership.
And more specifically how leaders feel about their own organisations, the challenges they face themselves and, perhaps most importantly, what keeps them excited to be leading a business in this part of the world.
Luckily (and perhaps a little bit uniquely for a media outlet) we have established a level of trust that has allowed us to dig a little bit deeper into the personalities that exist behind the business face of the region. Likewise, the team at Bell & Buxton Solicitors also offer a level of support to their own clients that moves beyond a simple transactional relationship, but one that creates confidence and genuine care when it comes to addressing their business challenges.
Wanting to offer something fresh back to the community we both work with, Bell & Buxton recently hosted the first unLTD Leaders Forum, an idea conceived to share experiences across different sectors.
Last month we hopped on a video call (naturally) to have an honest catch up with some of them.
The last few months have thrown up challenges never before faced and we wanted to offer the opportunity to hear which experiences were shared throughout the organisations represented, which aspects of returning to business as usual that were proving particularly troublesome to navigate and how far away the much-touted ‘new normal’ was feeling for our attendees.
Nathan Angus, managing director of Wildfire, the Experience Agency said: “I think there’s definitely a feeling of community and that we are in it together. Much more we’re in it together than the previous recession. It was great to hear other business leaders perspectives from different sectors.”
Melinda Schofield, station director at Hallam FM agreed: “It was great to be on a call with a group of people who were comfortable to talk about things ‘not being perfect’. There is much to learn from one another and working together to help Sheffield come back better than ever is a joint purpose.”
Covering topics such as remote working and cyber risk, the tough decisions associated with furloughed employees and helping them back into the workplace, Bell & Buxton themselves were on hand to offer a legal eye to the perspectives offered.
Alex Ross, Managing Partner at Bell & Buxton said: “It is great for business leaders from across the region to have the opportunity to get together and share challenges and issues.
“This has been a stressful time for business owners with revenue streams thwarted, productivity reduced and well-being of staff threatened.
“Our aim was to provide a safe, trusted forum for these owners to see how others are approaching the situation and to hopefully support and learn from each other. That is at the heart of what we do here at Bell & Buxton Solicitors and it was great to be able to facilitate this to a wider audience.”
If you would like to join us on a future Leaders Forum, please get in touch with dan@unltdbusiness.com
