Liz is an independent member of the Equity Release Council’s Standards Board. Her Council role is to keep the interests of consumers high on the agenda but she was also recently appointed as the Government’s Small Businesses Commissioner. Find out more about her working week below.
Monday
My week always starts at the weekend. Each Sunday I spend a couple of hours reviewing the meetings of the previous week and pinpointing all the generous offers of help in order to follow them up! I also read the Sunday business pages hunting out any mentions of the Small Business Commissioners Office (SBC). First thing each morning I draft three tweets which include shout-outs to previous weekly meetings, what I am up to in the coming week, and usually one about the SBC office. That’s followed each morning with our team meeting to catch up and discuss what the day has in store for us. One stand-out meeting this Monday was an online Lunch & Learn with Enterprise Nation. It focused on how getting small businesses paid quicker and better. Thought-provoking questions and an inspiring way to spend your lunch hour!
Tuesday
Tuesday was a highly productive day of meetings and calls, which began with the CEO of The Lending Standards Board of which I am a non-executive director. It covered everything HR, a topic which is very close to my heart. My next meeting was with the SBC comms team where we were reviewing actions like who’s writing which press releases, gathering quotes and who is engaging with which organisations The Chair of the Equity Release Council Standards Board and Chair of Lending Standards Board Chris Pond and I had an exchange about how to engage with the Financial Services Consumer Panel. It’s important that we work together as we’re all interested in the best for consumers and equity release customers.
Wednesday
No time to slow down today as catch-up meetings were booked to discuss the Prompt Payment Code which is administered by the SBC. Businesses signing up to the Code commit to paying 95% of their small business suppliers (with fewer than 50 employees) within 30 days of invoice. It’s not every day that you chat with the Cabinet Office, however today I did just that. We discuss any issues relating to small businesses and the insight the different Government departments have into those issues. We all have the interests of small businesses and freelancers at heart and want to make sure we can act on our insights if possible.
Thursday
I am always happy to be able to talk about the work we do at the SBC Office for small businesses. Thursday allowed me to engage in a webinar for the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales, as well as be interviewed on Surrey Business Affairs Brooklands Radio. Next up a meeting with the team at The City UK, in my role as a Financial Inclusion Commissioner, discussing the issues surrounding financial inclusion and how financial vulnerability is on the rise post-Covid.
Friday
This was inspiration Friday after a superb online meeting with Esther O’Callaghan OBE, Founder of Hundo.careers an innovative new platform that connects forward-thinking employers with Gen Z talent, aiming to end youth unemployment. With the recent grant win, her aim of getting one hundred companies to sign up is now becoming a reality. I’d definitely want Esther in my corner. My final Friday call involved a friend thinking about applying for the role of Chair for the Ambitious Academy. Happily, I know some of the wonderful people involved in the charity Ambitious about Autism which works extremely hard to get young people with autism into employment too. What a brilliant, inspiring, and motivating week.
To learn more about some of the projects and organisations Liz works with please click the following links: Small Business Commissioner; Enterprise Nation; Lending Standards Board; Financial Services Consumer Panel, Prompt Payment Code; Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales, Financial Inclusion Commission, The City UK, Hundo, Ambitious about Autism
