laptop bag

Are business travellers liable for lost tech?

• • Travelling for business • 1

Tired, burdened with luggage, and perhaps rushing through a foreign airport, it’s easy for a business traveller to lose or damage their gear, be it personal possessions or business property. But how can businesses protect themselves? And who is responsible for the financial cost of replacing a device such as a laptop or mobile phone owned by their employer? As a rule, responsibility is with the employee, says Steve Pritchard, an HR consultant for Anglo Liners: “This can often depend on the circumstances surrounding the missing item, but in most cases, the employee in possession of business property will be […]

HR Hotline: how soon can you send new employees abroad?

• • Travelling for business • 0

Every month, we quiz HR experts on the questions that really matter about expenses, employee travel and business across borders. Send your business travel, HR and expenses questions to us via Twitter for your chance to be featured in a future HR Hotline article. They may be keen to impress and ready to work their socks off. But new employees, whatever their level of experience, need time to understand how their new business functions, and to get to grips with its processes, culture and clients. A study by Oxford Economics showed that new staff can take between six and twelve […]

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Scaling up: a guide to managing finances for growing companies

• • Travelling for business • 0

Your company is no longer a start-up venture. It’s generating sales, profits are being made – or forecast – and you’ve expanded your team and office to accommodate that growth. This likely puts your business in scale-up territory. These are defined as enterprises which have over 10 employees and then grow staff or sales by above 20% a year over three years. Statistics highlight the impact made by scale-up businesses. They are highly productive, averaging £235,000 turnover per employee, according to a report last year from the ScaleUp Institute. They are also twice as likely as their peers to be […]

happy lady

New financial year, new business opportunities

• • Travelling for business • 1

It’s the beginning of a new financial year – receipts have been furiously gathered and expenses claimed. It is a time to reflect on where your business has taken you over the past 12 months. And a time to look forward with renewed energy. We speak to business owners about the lessons they’ve learned and what they won’t repeat in 2018.   It’s all about the money Royston Guest, founder and CEO of Pti Worldwide, a consultancy dedicated to growing businesses, said firms should look at where every pound is going. “We have got thousands of pounds for legal fees […]

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HR Hotline: are you ready for the sharing economy?

• • Travelling for business • 0

Every month, we quiz HR experts on the questions that really matter about expenses, employee travel and business across borders. Send your business travel, HR and expenses questions to us via Twitter for your chance to be featured in a future HR Hotline article. Having enjoyed the convenience and value-for-money of sharing economy services – such as Uber, Lyft and Airbnb – in their free time, many people now want it replicated in their business travel. But is your business ready for this growing demand? One quarter of UK business travellers used a sharing economy, or peer-to-peer accommodation provider such […]

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Wellness matters for all employees – wherever they are

• • Travelling for business • 0

BrewDog’s paid Puppy Parental Leave for new dog owners, and weekly yoga classes at Qubit’s offices are among the quirkier policies offered by companies to look after the wellbeing off their staff. Then there’s the more standard perks designed to improve employees’ health and wellbeing, including free gym memberships and subsidised meals. How important are these wellness benefits though? And do you need to start implementing them for your employees? Happy workforce “Employers are broadening their horizons when it comes to rewarding and incentivising employees,” says Laura Matthews, workplace wellbeing consultant at Barnett Waddingham. She adds: “A happy and flourishing […]

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7 things to consider when managing currency for business

• • Travelling for business • 1

The past few years have been interesting for British SMEs. The EU referendum and the US election have taken their toll on currency markets creating fluctuations in the cost of overseas travel and expenses and buying and selling overseas. The pound significantly weakened against some of the world’s major currencies including the US dollar and euro, meaning for businesses it has become a lot more expensive to spend money overseas. Business profits, cash flow and competitiveness can all be affected by exchange rate movements, meaning a keen eye on currency risk is crucial. But fear not, because we’ve put together […]

annotate transactions

Annotating transactions on the FairFX Expense Platform

• • Travelling for business • 0

Keep track of staff spending by annotating cardholder transactions in the FairFX Expense Platform and get even more transparency over your staff expenses. Annotate all of your transactions to see exactly how much staff spend, where staff use their cards, and build powerful reports. Even better, save time by getting your cardholders to annotate their own transactions on a regular basis. How annotations work 1. Annotating your transactions is a simple process. Once you’re logged into the FairFX Expense Platform click ‘Annotate transaction’ under the ‘Reports’ menu. You’ll then see a list of cardholder transactions for the current calendar month. […]

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Making bleisure work for your business

• • Travelling for business • 1

‘Bleisure’ is no longer a new buzzword. The term, meaning a combination of business and leisure travel, has garnered a lot of attention in just a few short years, and now more employees than ever are looking to mix work and play. Research by Bridgestreet Global Hospitality suggests 6 out of 10 travellers are more likely to take a bleisure trip today than five years ago, while a study by the Collinson Group reveals 72% of business travellers regularly extend their work trips for rest, relaxation and sightseeing, adding up to an average of five days over the course of […]

china market

Employee travel: The new office perk?

• • Travelling for business • 4

Drinks fridges, foosball tables, flexitime, bonus holidays…perks are becoming the new norm for office environments, with managers citing improved staff morale and greater productivity as key pay-offs. And many companies are taking things a step further by offering paid-for trips abroad as well. Once upon a time, businesses footing the bill for office-wide holidays overseas would make headline news, such was the rarity of such a generous offering. Now, scores of companies include an annual (or more frequent) trip abroad as part of their basic operational outgoings. A chance to regroup PR agency Liquid, for example, introduced team weekends away […]

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NEW FairFX Expense Platform feature: Top-up requests

• • Travelling for business • 0

The latest FairFX Expense Platform feature makes it even easier to give employees access to the funds they need, when they need them. Plus, there’s no need for long email chains. In just a few taps in the app your employee confirms the amount and reason they need funds, and the controller can instantly approve or reject the request through the expense platform or through the app on the go. How top-up requests work 1. Cardholders can request a card top-up at any time by clicking ‘Request top-up’ under the ‘Cards’ menu of the FairFX Expense Platform. And, by adding […]

train ticket versus beers

Relaxed expenses versus perks – which leads to a happier workforce?

• • Travelling for business • 0

Job perks are more important than they’ve ever been. According to employment website Glassdoor, more than a third of employees say extra benefits are among their top considerations before accepting a new job, while research by merchant services provider Paymentsense shows 77% of potential employees have been put off accepting a new job because they felt the perks weren’t up to scratch. Providing extra benefits for your staff can boost morale and improve productivity, especially in cash-strapped times where pay rises aren’t feasible, but they also present challenges. What should you offer, and how do you get it right? Extra […]