The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 50: Aug/Sept 2020 | Page 7

BUSINESS NEWS SSGC appoints Haines Watts to manage rapid growth trajectory One of Britain’s fastest-growing specialised security businesses, located in Swindon, has seen a six-fold turnover increase since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. SSGC, a niche provider of fully-vetted security officers, has deployed hundreds of security staff on the ground to secure and marshal the Covid-19 testing programme at centres across the UK. Building on the significant growth already achieved throughout 2019, it has also recently appointed Haines Watts, a top UK accountancy business with offices in Swindon and Trowbridge, to manage its financial affairs as it draws up its long-term expansion plan. SSGC has demonstrated its ability to rapidly provide hundreds of staff at short notice, many of whom are former military personnel assisting with the national Coronavirus effort. David Stubbs, Managing Director of SSGC, said, “Reinforcing our front line in the fight against Covid-19 has meant making some sound decisions as we rise through the ranks of security firms to be part of the top flight of specialist businesses. Appointing an equally top flight accountancy firm was always part of our long-term planning. “Growth has always been a major part of our strategy, but our ability to demonstrate a robust response to the Government’s needs during lockdown suddenly accelerated those plans. “We had already established a good relationship with Haines Watts, so a complete move to take advantage of a strategic finance partner that complements our own direction of travel will definitely help us shape our future direction.” Mike Lloyd, Partner at Haines Watts, added, “We provide services to thousands of businesses, many of which, like SSGC, are going through a phase of significant growth in a short time. Expansion presents new and exciting challenges and secures SSGC as a major corporate player; a target they were already headed towards before current events arose. “Accountancy services fall broadly into two distinct areas: compliance and planning. From the compliance side we can make sure they meet all of the legal and tax requirements while with planning we can help optimise around areas such as tax management, financial modelling and scenario forecasting to maximise the financial fluidity of the company under growth. “We are already busy working with the directors on both fronts and looking forward to working alongside them at this key time in the company’s evolution.” For more information about SSGC go to: www.ssgc-net.com and visit Haines Watts Swindon online at: www.hwca.com/accountants-swindon LASCAR PROVIDES AUTOMATED CUSTOMER COUNTING SOLUTION FOR CLIENTS Lascar Electronics near Salisbury has been putting its technology to good use, helping clients to navigate the post-lockdown world. Mike Lloyd, partner at Haines Watts (left) with Guy Dungworth, shareholder in SSGC and David Stubbs, managing director of SSGC. “We had already established a good relationship with Haines Watts, so a complete move to take advantage of a strategic finance partner that complements our own direction of travel will definitely help us shape our future direction.” David Stubbs Managing Director, SSGC [email protected] 01793 533838 The company, which provides tech services including data logging, cloud storage, smart displays and product design, has recently provided a customercounting solution for ladies clothing store Luxury Bubble. Following lockdown, Luxury Bubble’s owner, Sian Currie, started thinking about how she could apply social distancing measures to allow the shop to reopen. In addition to installing floor markings and signage, Sian needed to find a way to easily limit the number of people visiting the shop at any one time, without having to physically count people in and out. Like many businesses with limited staff numbers, Luxury Bubble could not afford to employ a member of staff indefinitely to monitor customers entering and leaving the store. In addition, there was the health and safety consideration of having a member of staff located at the entrance - would they be able to keep a sufficient distance from customers at all times? Lascar was able to provide a clear, easy to use solution for the shop with its PanelPilotACE intelligent display system. The PanelPilotACE display, along with the company’s software package PanelPilotACE Design Studio, is an off the shelf hardware and design software package for rapid development of industrial display and panel applications. It allows users to create bespoke programmes for their businesses without the need to write any code, with a smart display providing quick and easy access to the data. With the People Counter application on the PanelPilotACE, and the installation of sensors, Luxury Bubble was able to easily monitor the number of people in the shop with a quick look at the display panel – and with no need for staff interaction. Sian Currie said, “During and postlockdown, it’s vital that we maintain strict social distancing rules in the shop and maintain optimum customer numbers for the safety of my employees and my customers. “Being able to do that electronically rather than manually is just one more way we can make this new retail normal a little less stressful and safer. I’m looking forward to seeing it in use.” The free People Counter application is available on request from [email protected] for existing PanelPilotACE users. To find out more about Lascar and its unique range of hardware and software solutions, visit www.lascarelectronics.com THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2020 7