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magazine
05
Applegate Marketplace is encouraging UK
SMEs to learn from consumers and shop
around for the best deals.
It claims that UK firms could cut millions from
their cost base by seeking out the best deals for
everyday items, from low-cost supplies, such as
tea bags, staples and lightbulbs, to larger items
like printers and printer supplies.
Its survey of 726 SME senior decision-makers
reveals that the nation’s smallest businesses are
the savviest shoppers, being 50% to100% more
likely to shop around and compare prices on
office staples than larger counterparts.
Stuart Brocklehurst, CEO of Applegate
Marketplace, said: “It is a concern that small
businesses seem to be growing out of savvy
buying as their business grows – rather than
growing into it. As these businesses grow, patience
to obtain the best value deteriorates and maverick
spend can increase.”
To simplify procurement for small and
medium-sized businesses, Applegate Marketplace
has introduced a new online buying tool that
streamlines the sourcing of multiple quotes for
products and services. Applegate PRO reduces
time spent on request for quotation and purchase
order processes from hours to just minutes.
New campaign addresses challenges of ageing workforce
The European Agency for Safety and Health at
Work (EU-OSHA) has launched a new campaign
to promote occupational health and safety in
the context of an ageing workforce.
The HealthyWorkplaces for All Ages campaign
is supported by The British Safety Council, which is
urging employers to take part.
Chief executive Mike Robinson said: “In the
next two decades, a large proportion of employees
over 50 will leave work for ever, taking their
market expertise, professional experience and skills
with them. Meanwhile, the demographic data
suggests that there is unlikely to be a sufficient
supply of younger people in Britain to replace
retiring workers.”
He said that for this reason the retention of
older workers will become an economic as well as a
social necessity. However, it will also mean greater
exposure to a variety of health-related risks that
organisations will need to manage.
He said: “The management of issues such as
disability prevention, rehabilitation and return to
work will increase in importance. The introduction
of specific measures to ensure work safety and
the efficiency of older employees, as well as age-
sensitive risk assessments, will have to become a
key part of occupational health and safety policies.”
agenda
Small businesses are savviest
shoppers
Businesses waste
billions on admin
Unneccesary admin and inadequate
technology are costing UK
organisations £60 billion a year
in lost productivity warns The
Workforce Institute at Kronos.
Its new report,
The £60bn Question
,
reveals that employees spend 7% of
their working week on unnecessary
administrative tasks, at a cost of
£1,932 per year, per employee.
Kronos claims that reducing
wasted time by one hour per week
per employee would save £690 per
employee or £21.4 billion per year.
The report also reveals that 82% of
respondents are struggling to complete
daily tasks due to inefficiencies caused
by lack of staff availability, poor
technology support, internal politics
and unrealistic workloads.
Three quarters (77%) of HR and
Line of Business managers cited
out-dated systems and technology as
their biggest workforce management
challenge; 72% cited lost productivity
caused by manual systems.
