August 2020 - Corinthian

Since January we have seen many changes towards the employee benefits arena, ranging from the increased offering of insurers to employer driven activities. This has been accelerated by the pandemic, which forced many employees to work from their own homes. But what will be the lasting effect that this will have on businesses?

Employees have proven that they can efficiently work from home, to the extent that 56% of businesses are encouraging more flexible working hours. This has also resulted in employers changing their outlook on health and wellbeing, with many seeking to implement benefits such as employee assistance programs or cash plans. If you would like to know more about these you can contact Corinthian directly.

Research conducted for office management specialists Flexioffices, shows that more than a third of London based businesses are looking at stepping out of the capital and 24% of employees want more communal space, where they can socialize, whilst adhering to the social distancing guidelines.

So, the question is “what are office-based businesses planning to do post lockdown?”

57% have decided they want to downsize. This will help reduce overheads and create a budget to implement new benefits supporting the new desire to working from home
44% are encouraging employees to work remotely
44% of businesses that were looking to purchase office space now want to rent
53% of business outside of London are less inclined to move

This data show how businesses are adapting to the new working environment, and it is highly unlikely that this will reverse to the old ways. Now employees have proven that they can be just as efficient working form home – How does this bring in a new employee benefit?

Working from home can be classed as an employee benefit, whether it is for one day a week or all five. It offers employees many additional benefits, some being

Flexible schedule
Personalised working environment
Ability to have private calls without having to find a breakout room or shut the office door
No office distractions
Zero commuting
Saving money on travel and food
Stronger work life balance
Better mental health

If you want to know more or would like to see how your current benefits can add further support to your employees please get in contact with Corinthian Benefits on 0208 189 6161

For many years, the statement “I love building things” has featured in the LinkedIn profile of Corinthian Benefits Managing Director, Robert MacGregor. This is a reference to his desire to see ongoing growth and development in everything he is involved with, “whether that is individuals (helping good guys get even better), teams, market leading businesses, or sometimes actually even buildings.”

This attitude transcends everything that Robert does and underpins Corinthian Benefits aim to be the leading benefit consultant for SMEs in the UK. “Our mission is to ‘make the complex simple”. This allows companies and their employees to maximise their retirement planning opportunities and use of additional benefits.

“We are committed to finding ways to help companies and employees to really engage with savings, pensions, and benefits” Robert explains, “rather than just forcing them to do it”.

By its very nature, this is no easy task. For example, encouraging over 600 companies and nearly 20,000 employees to embrace Auto Enrolment really isn’t that simple. Achieving this successfully has a lot to do with changing the way people view long term saving, rather than just addressing the immediate action.

“It takes really good people and hard work. Fortunately we have a complete team of the former and we all do the latter” Robert continues.

Part of Corinthian’s strength is the environment it has created within its teams, where colleagues want to come to work and keep doing a great job for both the business and their clients. Staff retention is also highly valued; therefore, practices are continuously evolving and individual staff development is paramount.

Staff currently have a range of Chartered Insurance Institute qualifications between them with 7 modules currently in progress and 10 recently passed. 3 team members have also recently finished their Diploma in Financial Services with one other only 3 exams from completion.

“One of the most satisfying aspects of running a business is to have people you have worked with for years, who started in a junior position and now have highly responsible and well rewarded roles. A key aspect of this is a continuous focus on every single one of us developing” Robert says.

Person Centred development is encouraged in both business and personal life through training, coaching, mentoring and exams. The company pays for the exams and material, revision time, and a bonus for passing. The corporate structure also rewards passing professional exams with pay rises based on their industry recognised qualifications.

“From our newest intern (who we pay) up to our leadership team, we are all taking some sort of exam, based on where we work”.

“Our team is full of great people and they are what will make our business great too”, Robert concludes.

We hope that you, your family and your colleagues are well.

Please find attached our Q2 2020 Investment Round Up Newsletter.

It was announced this week that the UK economy has suffered its largest slump on record between the months of April and June due to the coronavirus lockdown measures, which has officially pushed the country into it first ‘technical recession’ (two consecutive quarters of economic decline) since 2009. The economy shrank 20.4% compared with the first three months of the year with household spending plunging as shops were ordered to close, while factory and construction output also fell.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the economy bounced back in June as government restrictions on movement started to ease. On a month-on-month basis, the economy grew by 8.7% in June, after growth of 1.8% in May. The housing market was given a boost with the Chancellor’s stamp duty changes, with many estate agents reporting their busiest months ever since being allowed to re-open.

We continue to watch the markets and economy together with developments around lockdown measures easing and schools re-opening.

Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.