Retirement is an inevitable stage that everyone has to go through. Saving for your pension allows you to enjoy a smooth life once you get to the golden age. However, some instances may force you to change your pension services.

Whether you’re moving to the UK, changing jobs, or upgrading your pension scheme, pension transfer allows you to enjoy a smooth transition, knowing your future is secure. Consider these options if you’re looking for the most reliable UK pension transfer services.

Hargreaves Lansdown

Being one of the largest pension services in the UK, it offers you over 2,500 funds, investment trusts, and shares worldwide. Flexible retirement income is among the most coveted features available in this plan.

The available investment plans grow your money, and you benefit from a pool of experts that give you options you can invest in. The Hargreave Lansdown application lets you monitor your investment’s progress and allocates round-the-clock customer support.

A cashback program rewards each member for transferring at least £10,000 of their pension to HL. This program offers you an easy transfer option that you complete in a few steps.

Interactive investor

Interactive investor offers the least costly pension in the UK, thanks to its flat fee that doesn’t increase even when you have a significant pension share. Transferring your existing investments takes at most 12 weeks to complete, but the time can scale down to 8 weeks if there isn’t much to transfer.

II SSIP allows you to transfer your pension money from several other schemes, including:

• Defined benefit occupational pension plans
• Executive pension plans (EPP)
• Occupations money purchase schemes (OMPP)
• Pension in drawdown
• Personal pension plans
• Recognized pensions schemes from overseas
• Retirement annuity plans (RAP)
• Small self-administered schemes
• SSIPs
• Stakeholder pension plans (SPP)

With as little as £25, you gain a stable pension transfer program. You do not have to pay additional fees for withdrawing money from your plan. This option allows you to pick from various investment plans in the market. It also lets you transfer your pension online, making it a convenient option. Not forgetting you can transfer UK pension to France as long as there’s a recognized pension scheme within your jurisdiction.

Bestinvest

This reasonably big investment company offers multiple plans to choose from. You do not incur any cost when setting up the SIPP retirement plan. Stocks, general investment, shares ISA, and SIPP are the primary investment options you get when dealing with pension plans at Bestinvest.

You get to choose between the ready-made and DIY plans. Depending on the SIPP product you choose, you pay a maintenance fee varying between 0% – 0.4% of your total investment. Thankfully, you only have to pay this amount once a year.

The company offers in-depth intel on things you should consider before transferring your pension funds. They also avail expert advice to individuals with additional inquiries.

Penfold

Penfold prides itself in providing the first full-digitized pension platform in the UK. This software is fully integrated with every step you require to successfully move your old pension scheme to the new one. Every step has simple instructions that make it easy to complete the process without additional help.

You can track the transfer progress on the penfold app and see how close you are to securing your future. The app lets you see your progress regarding savings and tax contributions and offers a breakdown that would help you hit your goals much faster. New members joining the scheme using your referral link earn you £25 per person, which goes into building your account.

Aside from reducing the paperwork, this pension scheme reduces the amount you have to pay to manage your finances and grows your finances over time. And when you finally need to use your money, you do not have to hassle accessing your funds. Finally, when you change your mind about their services, they won’t charge you transfer fees when moving to a different provider.

Vanguard

With Vanguard, you do not have to worry about a minimum transfer. The company accepts any amount when moving to their pension scheme. It has an integrated service that allows you to link a personal and family savings account and track their progress in one location.

You won’t incur additional costs when wiring your pension funds to a Vanguard account. They do most of the work once you apply for a pension transfer. Even if you already have started taking money from your pension, this company allows you to move to their services, especially if it offers better management fees than your previous provider.

Final Thought

A pension transfer is standard in the UK, so you shouldn’t worry about ditching a provider that doesn’t meet your expectations. If you live in Australia but have already invested in a pension scheme within the UK, you can check out the available options that allow you to transfer UK pension to Australia effortlessly.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Where To Find The Best Pension Transfer Services In The UK appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

1. Deep cleaning services

Companies that need to keep their office spaces clean and free of contaminants know that hiring professional cleaners is the best way to go about it. They can provide a range of services including floor cleaning, carpet shampooing, pest extermination, window cleaning, and pressure washing among other things. The advantage of hiring professionals is that they know what chemicals to use and how often to apply them for the best results. Also, they will do a better job than an employee would since they have all the necessary training and tools. As such, this will give you peace of mind knowing that your space is safe from contaminants at all times. There are also many covid-19 deep cleaning services that can be hired for this specific task. For example, if you need more protection during the pandemic, you might want to hire these covid-19 services. Another advantage of using professionals is that they will also make sure that your space remains safe from the elements and other environmental factors. Also, they can also ensure that all equipment has been serviced on a regular basis, so it’s safe to use at all times. 

2. Regular pest control services

All office spaces can be at risk of pest infestation, which is why it is necessary to hire the best company for the job. Pests are not only unsightly, but they can also pose a health hazard to employees since they bring in the dirt that contains bacteria and viruses. The good news is that there are many companies offering pest control services for commercial buildings. These include spraying chemicals around door frames and windows to keep pests out. A regular schedule of inspection should also be followed so that an infestation can be detected early on if it does happen. Also, some spaces might have problems with rodents or cockroaches, which need specialized treatment before an infestation happens.  Keeping office spaces clean and free from contaminants means that there should be a regular schedule of cleaning. In this case, it can be daily, weekly, or even monthly depending on what is required for each space. Some spaces might only need a rodent checkup once in six months, so you can leave this task to a professional pest exterminator. 

3. Hiring janitors and cleaners

Some companies might prefer to hire people who can be there to clean up the space on a daily basis. This can be an effective way to keep commercial spaces clean and free of contaminants. Also, it saves the hassle of having to go through a company that offers commercial cleaning services or hiring a janitorial service who comes in once a week or month. The advantage is that they might be more efficient than those contracted companies since your employees know exactly what needs to be done. Janitors and cleaners can also be responsible for certain tasks like window cleaning, office floor polishing, and trash removal. Also, they can ensure that all equipment is working fine since they are there on a daily basis. On the other hand, it might not be the most cost-effective option, especially if there is no large-scale maintenance work involved. At times, hiring professionals might make more sense to keep commercial spaces clean. Still, you can just pick the right choice for your company according to the needs.

Why should commercial spaces be clean and virus-free?

Since commercial spaces are open to the public, they should be kept clean and free of contaminants. This is important because otherwise, people might get diseases that could potentially become pandemics. Also, keeping office spaces clean will help increase employee productivity since it can make them feel more comfortable while working. Moreover, it can also help improve the company’s image in general, which might attract many clients or investors to come work with you.  If commercial spaces do not stay clean, then it is likely that contamination risks will increase exponentially. It only takes one person contaminating a surface for everyone else to get sick too. Also, companies have an obligation to protect their employees at all times, so being able to manage employee health is really the most important. 

Office spaces need to be kept clean and free of contaminants. This is important because otherwise, people might get diseases that can become pandemics, which could potentially harm everyone inside the building. By doing this, you can protect your employees and ensure that they have a productive work environment to function. 

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post How Can Companies Keep Their Office Spaces Clean And Virus-free? Find Out Here appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

Your Products and Services Visuals 

Whatever is the concern of your small business, a good visual representation will increase your chances to grow the sales. Truth to be said, good and striking images will sell both the product and service. Try to tell the story about your business visually. This means that you need to come up with a concept that is unique. You can use all the visual means to deliver your message. Things like videos, whiteboards, and high-quality images will present your customers with how you solve problems and will give them insight into the products you are selling. 

Live Streams 

It is important to take advantage of all contemporary digital means and live streams, and video conferencing are definitely one of the main ones. If you are asking yourself how this will help you sell your products and increase selling rates, well, it is quite simple. This is done by using some of the live streaming platforms, and regularly live stream of your products and service presentations will make a huge difference. How so? You will show and present your customers how your products actually look, what are available alternatives and how you can use them. If you’re offering a service, on the other hand, you may show how the problem is fixed and the pros who manage the entire process.

Reviews

Work on getting positive reviews. Believe it or not, positive reviews are the first thing that your potential customers will search for before they even consider getting any of your products. Therefore, you must make sure that your services and products are on the highest possible level. Negative reviews do not mean that you should let yourself regret it, on the contrary, that is your room for improvement. If you find objections to be truthful and realistic, those are the things that you can turn into your own advantage. Most business owners choose to disregard them; don’t be one of them; instead, utilize objections to improve, and use the live streams and graphics described earlier to convey the improvement based on the objection.

Marketing 

Marketing has been described so many times as a strategy that it has become a cliche. It is, nonetheless, effective. There is no business and sales growth without good-quality marketing. It is even simplified nowadays because you do not have to use only real-life space for showing off your products, virtual space is an even bigger area for product marketing. Consider investing some money into a marketing campaign that will have its own space and will certainly reach a great number of people. A perfect place for this is a social network. Most people today have accounts on social networks and people getting interested in your product and service have a possibility to reach out and purchase it directly or by using a website. Anyway, marketing can help you breakthrough and increase your sales. For instance, you can use this service to get likes on your TikTok videos and help your engagement rate!

Stretch Goals 

Your employees are the key to your business’s success and you must make smart choices when it comes to employee engagements. Applying pressure and asking them to improve their performance can only lead to frustration and overall dissatisfaction. This is why you need to create stretch goals. These are basically parts of some bigger aspirations. Stretch goals, when achieved, are the beginning of some other, a greater goal that will bring you closer to the ultimate destination. This is more effective than chasing and putting all effort into achieving the final stage. By completing the process of achieving the stretch goal, you will make your sales greater with every new step. 

Calendar 

Your presence on the market is one of the key elements for growing your target audience and increasing your sales. Make a calendar that will assist you in keeping track of new releases, ad placements, social media updates, and any other ways of remaining visible and accessible to your clients. This will increase your chances of growing your company and sales at the same time.

Growing sales is a dark place to be for businesses of every size. Small business owners need to be focused and apply strategies that will promote their business and put it in the spotlight. This will make them level up and improve their operations and even implement some innovations that will make them stand out.  

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Tips For Small Business Owners On How To Double Their Sales appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

According to this Flyaeolus flight survey, 30% of European corporate businesses travel once per month; 62% travel once a year, while 5% travel 21 to 40 times per year

These statistics tell us that trips are a recurring activity for many employees and employers. Because they are, your business requires an efficient and systematic process for adequate planning.

If you are looking to give your employees a seamless and efficient traveling process, then you need the expertise of an efficient travel management company. They’ll help streamline the preparation processes and make business trips easier and a lot more rewarding for your company.

What are travel management companies? Why do you need their services?  This article discusses what travel management companies are and the top three reasons to hire their services.

Let’s begin.

What are travel management companies?

A Travel Management Company (TMC), also known as a corporate travel provider or business travel agency, is a travel agent that oversees the business travel arrangements and activities of an individual, company, or organization.

They often offer ongoing business travel management activities using travel management tools to provide improved and enjoyable travel experiences for companies.

They perform different functions, including enforcing a company travel policy to ensure all employees comply with the company’s business trips policies. They also provide a reliable system to enable companies to enjoy the best rates for all bookings, regardless of when they book.

Top 3 reasons to employ the services of a travel management company

Source

Whether you are a small, medium, or large company, employing the services of a travel management company is critical for a smooth business travel experience.

Below are three critical reasons to hire the services of top travel management companies for all your business trips.

1.    Travel management companies cut down business travel expenses

Companies spend $111.7 billion annually on business travel. This is because business travels frequently happen every year for many businesses, which means they will consume a huge part of a company’s expenses.

A travel management company reduces your business travel expenses in several ways. First, they create or enforce an existing travel policy that enables your staff to stick to a specific budget when they travel.

This ensures your staff book the airline and hotel that works best for the company’s budget. They can also track other additional expenses to ensure they align with the company’s spending expectations.

Second, working with a time management company means you will enjoy the best discounts when you travel. They negotiate the best deals, demand loyalty programs from vendors, and harness the best tools to track promotional offers and best rates.

Sometimes, they cancel tickets to rebook for more affordable options, so you can travel at discount rates and maximize costs as you travel.

Third, many travel management companies implement a pre-trip approval process that approves trips. This ensures that the company duly approves all business trips, and no staff goes on a business trip without the company’s knowledge, mitigating unnecessary business trips and maximizing cost in the process.

Fourth, whenever you have to reschedule or cancel a business trip, many travel management companies ensure you do not pay the penalty or extra charge for your action, saving you from additional expenses and driving down costs.

On the whole, travel management companies manage your overall travel expenses through planning, tracking, and reporting tools. By doing this, you can monitor every travel expense to reduce costs while you and your staff go on business trips.

So, if you want to spend less while getting the most from your business travels, a travel management company can help you beat down expenses so you can save when you travel.

2.    They save time

Business travels often involve many processes. From finding the right vendors to negotiating the best deals and bookings, the processes can be overwhelming. Travel management companies take over the planning, scheduling, and booking of your business trips to facilitate the travel process.

They use their resources and expertise to plan your business travels to make the best choices for you.

So, rather than spend lots of time on planning, travel management companies do all the work for you. This means you can focus on other essential aspects of your trips.

Additionally, they monitor your employees’ activities while on business trips to ensure they adhere strictly to your travel policies. They also provide accurate reporting tools to keep you updated about their traveling expenses.

This way, you won’t spend time tracking your employees’ activities while they travel and can focus on running your business efficiently.

Also, travel management companies provide standardized processes for your business travels, which keeps your processes organized, so your employees can follow the right procedures and save time while they travel.

So, if you are looking for a way to spend less time planning your business travels and spend more time running other important business activities, hiring an efficient travel management company is the way to go.

3.    They provide duty care and travel risk management

If you want to ensure a high-risk management system for your employees when they travel, hiring a travel management company ensures your employees’ safety.

They put appropriate measures to ensure they have a safe and secure trip, including monitoring the weather conditions and providing timely assistance in emergency cases.

Additionally, they offer expert consultation services to help you navigate health and safety conditions for business trips. For example, they advise you on the best travel policy to create for your employees and offer the best recommendations on safety and health practices before, during, and after business travels.

Travel management companies investigate and analyze other companies’ security states to ensure they are safe to travel to, connect travel data and GPS for effective tracking and give 24/7 support to your staff when they travel.

Offering your staff duty of care and putting adequate travel risk management is critical to showing your employees how much you care about their well-being; it is also the way to ensure their safety when they travel.

Therefore, if you want to create safe and successful business travel experiences for your employees, you should consider hiring a reliable travel management company to prevent, monitor, and respond to your employees’ business travel risks.

What to look out for when hiring a business management company

Source

When hiring a travel management company, it’s critical to hire the best one that will meet your company’s needs.

By doing this, you can provide the best business travel experience for your employees and get the most from your investment.

However, to do this, you must be on the lookout for five essential qualities:

1.    Reliable customer support

An excellent travel management system offers 24/7 personalized customer support to meet their clients’ needs.

They also provide different channels for their clients to send their requests and enable communication in multiple languages for better accessibility.

By offering these customer support features, they can meet your company’s travel demands in emergencies and mitigate and control risks.

2.    Seamless booking experience

The best travel management companies provide a straightforward booking experience for their clients. This includes avoiding the time-consuming process of sending and responding to emails back and forth and creating a centralized platform to book and respond to their clients’ inquiries from one place.

A simple booking experience also enables the managers and employees to book their trips themselves without third-party interference. By creating a collaborative booking system, your managers and other staff members can book, reschedule, cancel and track their travel expenses easily.

3.    Accurate reporting and analytics

A functioning travel management company provides accurate insights on travel expenses and financial activities.

They provide detailed reports and analytics of how much your employees spend to ensure they do not exceed the company’s budget. They also provide updates on activities that are out of the company’s policy to take timely actions.

By opting for a travel management company with accurate reporting and analytics you will have access to real-time data and reports to track your employees’ expenses when they travel.

4.    Advanced technology

Travel management companies need the best tools and resources to function efficiently. With the right technology, they can automate different activities and provide a faster travel experience for you.

They also provide reliable and real-time insights to keep you in the loop about how much your employees are spending, with proper measures to ensure a hundred percent compliance with your companies’ travel regulations.

5.    Data security

It’s crucial for you to work with a travel management company that ensures the proper security of your company and employees’ information.

For example, your employees’ emails, addresses, and other contact information need to be secured to ensure their data is not breached.

Check out their data security policy to ensure they can safeguard your company’s sensitive information efficiently before you hire.

Conclusion

Hiring a travel management company offers immense advantages for your company. In this article, we explained the three most prominent reasons to hire a travel management company to manage your corporate travels.

Author Bio:
Lydia Iseh is a writer with years of experience in writing SEO content that provides value to the reader. As someone who believes in the power of SEO to transform businesses, she enjoys being part of the process that helps websites rank high on search engines.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post 3 Reasons Why Your Business Should Use Travel Management Companies appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

Open Business Council platform have just begun phase 1 of the its Co-creation Project. Open Business Council is a Pan European organisation with a global reach and network that wants to create anm active development of solutions and reflection towards the practice of Open Business.

Open Business Council is actively contacting and recruiting a varitey of professionals that have in common the passion for innovation and business. This invitation and contact will be done to international authors, university professors, industry leaders, international speakers who are thought leaders or passionated about the new directions of business strategy and thinking. Open Business Council wants to join together professionals and experts and discuss, create an action plan to answering the challenges overal business faces with the new development and future development of social media and continous digital environment in the broad concept of Open Business theory.

This invitation and contact is being done bearing in mind the goal to help develop the Project Framework including definitions and understanding of the discipline across:

Open Innovation,
Open Planning,
Open Research,
Open Data and
Open Communications
Open Government

These areas will serve as a clear and common dictionary / direction for all Council members.

If you would like to be involved please register here

or send us a mail to editor@openbusinesscouncil.org

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Project Framework: Phase 1: Creating a Council for Open Business appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.