Rugby And Netball Mix In Atlas-sponsored Charity Event

Atlas Business are one of the proud sponsors of Residence Netball Club. As part of the sponsorship agreement Residence committed to raising money for charity through a number of events that they would organise. The first charity that was selected was Macmillan Cancer Support and their event is nearly upon us. On Saturday 25 June, on Barony playing fields between 2pm and 6pm, is a mixed sex Netball / Rugby sevens tournament, with participants from across Crewe and Nantwich. This event has grown hugely in size, scope and participation and promises to be a day of a lot of fun.

Atlas Employee and Netball Club Captain, Lara Bailey has taken on the role of event organiser. She said: “since we first started talking about the charity events, it has grown significantly. Initially, we were talking about 8 girls trying to raise £500. Since then, through the support from our sponsors, there are not one but two Residence NC teams and we have managed to secure the involvement of another four teams from the South Cheshire Netball Premier League, we have also brought Acton Nomads RFC in as well as other RFCs and general volunteers from across Cheshire. This event will now comprise 8 teams and over 64 participants plus all the organisors, friends and families and members of the public. We have upped our game and our target and would like to bring in at least £2,000 to support Macmillan. It would be really great if we could get that number up to £5,000. Macmillan is a fantastic cause to be raising money for. Nearly everyone has or will be touched by cancer at some point in their lives, whether that be personally, a family member or a friend or relative. I myself lost my grand father to cancer and my mother thankfully recovered. Macmillan is a great cause and we hope this community event will be widely supported, and we will be able to do something that can make a real difference to people’s lives here.”

Residence NC is sponsored by local Chamber of Commerce members, Atlas Business, Banks Sheridan and Residence Restaurant and Bar. Lara also said “the support we have received from our sponsors in organising this event has been fantastic, but furthermore, we have been contacting other local businesses and asking them to donate prizes for the raffle. We are trying to get as much awareness out there as we can and get the public to come out on the day to spectate and have fun and make this a real community event.” Food and drinks will be available and there will also be a raffle with lots of great prizes. We are also hoping to get a bouncy castle there on the day as long as the weather holds out. If not and it rains we’ll have a toss the welly competition for the kids.

The media have been very supportive of the event, the story has been picked up by BBC Radio Stoke and Signal Radio, there will be live coverage on the day from local community radio stations Cat Radio and Red Shift Radio. The Crewe and Nantwich Chamber of Commerce have already run an article in the South Cheshire Chamber magazine, Crewe and Nantwich Chronicle will carry the story this week and it has also be sent to the Nantwich Guardian. Signal Radio and the South Cheshire Chambers will also be doing follow up pieces on the event afterwards.

Residence NC and Acton Nomads would like to extend an open invitation to all to come down on the day, have some fun and help support and raise money for Macmillan. If you are unable to make it on the day you can donate money to the event using the JustGiving page at: http://www.justgiving.com/LJ-Bailey

Payroll ASPP

We recently received feedback saying that the subject of Payroll is a hot topic during March and April whilst we introduce the new features and legislation changes along with preparing for the year end but then it tends to get neglected for the other ten months of the year. We therefore set Joe Jardine the task of putting this right and with a ten month old at home unsurprisingly he opted to talk about the changes in paternity entitlement.

As of 3rd April 2011 any of your employees can apply for Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (ASPP) if their partner has a baby or adopts a child. If the mother intends to return to work the Father can apply for ASPP if they meet the qualifying conditions. Access Payroll can help the payroll department to decide if ASPP is due and make the appropriate calculations to save you time and effort. When you receive an SC7, SC8 or SC9 parental pay form from an employee you will need to check that it has been signed by both employees, that it has been presented at least 8 weeks prior to the ASPP start date, confirm that the ASPP date is not before the Mother is returning to work and that the Mother or adopter has taken at least 2 weeks off after the child was born. If any of these criteria are not met you will need to complete an ASPP1 form and state the reason why.

Access Payroll will continue to pay the employee the statutory amount until you reach the ASPP expiry date (or for any week where you are paying the same employee SSP). If at the end of this period the employee wishes to take any unpaid Additional Paternity leave then you will need to adjust the record manually accordingly. The employee is also entitled to the 10 KIT days (Keeping In Touch) where they can come into work but don’t lose their statutory payment.

The above is perhaps best described with an example scenario. Mrs Bloggs started her maternity leave on the 1st April 2011 and receives her maternity allowance. A fortnight later she has her baby. 20 weeks after the birth of her child she returns to work (week 22 of her maternity pay period). Mr and Mrs Bloggs complete the SC7 form and meet the qualifying conditions. Mr Bloggs takes ASPP from the date that Mrs Bloggs returned to work and receives statutory pay for the duration of her maternity period, in this example, 17 weeks. After week 39 Mr Bloggs can optionally return to work or stay at home until the child is one year old. If Mr Bloggs stays at home this will be unpaid time.

You can read more about the rules for ASPP on the HMRC website:- http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/employees/statutory-pay/aspp-overview.htm.

For software assistance you will find some useful information in the Access Payroll help system or alternatively simply telephone our eagerly awaiting helpdesk team on 0333 666 3330.

The Secret Of Great Service

Joe Jardine blogs about Atlas' 'best kept secret'...

The Access Service Manager solution is perhaps one of our best kept secrets. It is an excellent tool that we have until now failed to make much of a song or dance about. Service Manager Editions also known as SME has two principal functions:-

Firstly it can manage all of your customer contracts. It stores key information such as service level agreements, renewal dates, labour rates and travel charges. SME helps to ensure that you don’t forget to raise an invoice(s) and that you bill accurately in a timely fashion. Your clients can have multiple active contracts with as many detail lines as you wish.

Secondly SME logs incoming “issues”. These might be helpdesk style queries or customer complaints. The workflow engine walks the user through categorising the calls and escalates the problem to the most appropriate team member. Unique ticket numbers are generated so that no call gets forgotten and the customer can easily ask for progress updates even if the original engineer is not available. The strong reporting suite helps to identify training requirements or areas where the product or service needs to be improved to reduce the number of reported problems. The planner allows a manager to schedule engineers or resources onto jobs. A clever colour coded system alerts users to important facts such as the client is on-stop, their product warranty period has expired or their SLA doesn’t cover them for the assistance they are requesting.

It is perhaps reassuring to know that Atlas use SME as our live in-house contracts & helpdesk management tool. Existing clients already using SME will be pleased to hear that the recently released latest edition has been extended and now includes Document Management and Postcode look-up capabilities. Give your account manager or the sales team a call to request your upgrade.

I’m sure it goes without saying, but of course this tool integrates to your Access Accounts finance system! Access customer and stock records can be seen within SME to avoid duplication of effort whilst transactions generated in SME are posted into the sales order batch queue or sales ledger account.

Service Manager is perfect for any business that needs to track warranties, contracts and renewals as well as those in the service industry who need to provide support, repairs and maintenance for their products. To request a PDF factsheet simply send an email to newsletter@atlasbiz.com with the subject line as “SME”. Alternatively call our sales team on 0333 666 3330 to enquire further or request a demonstration.

Atlas Netballers Ready To Take Cheshire Leagues By Storm

Lara Bailey and Ben Butler blog about Atlas' new sponsorship of a local netball team and how the team have performed over the season so far.

Well we are three weeks into the summer season of 2011 with Residence netball club, which is also newly and kindly supported and sponsored by Atlas Business, Banks Sheridan, Residence Restaurant and Bar and West 16. Since the last season there have been many changes at Club Residence. Some of the girls unexpectedly split from Residence and started the Rubies team, during the 4 week gap between the seasons. Lara Jane Bailey, founder and captain of the team rose to this challenge. Going on a recruitment drive in the local community, Lara (LJ) successfully managed to not only replace the five lost players but recruit 15 new players and founded a second team, a whole season earlier than planned. Residence teams L (purple) & J (navy) were born, and team B is planned for September, after a further recruitment drive this summer.

Having so many new players all starting at the same time has certainly caused some digestion problems, as players are required to be registered with the South Cheshire Netball league and affiliated with England Netball. Try outs were held, Players were assigned to teams, a new coach recruited to work with the girls, drill and coaching sessions organised, friendly matches organised, training and coaching tie ups with local team Tigers secured (from two divisions higher in the league), kit and training equipment ordered, joining fees and information collected, paper work filled, bank accounts setup, budgets and financial forecasts put in place, training and match fees tracked and audited, Internet domain name secured and work started on the new website. It was a busy four weeks between seasons that did not let up once the season started. With so many new and unknown players starting at once it has taken a few games to figure out each girls unique strengths in the different roles and positions she can play, and to then sculpt the individuals into two cohesive teams. The girls then had to get used to playing with each other twice a week at matches and training sessions with the team coach. A busy time indeed.

So Residence L are three games in now and how are things looking? Well, to be honest, rather promising considering the rushed start. Currently placed 8th in the division out of 11. Team L played Castle in their first match and were thoroughly smashed 7-56 by this new entrant, who have just voluntarily dropped from the Premier league - 3 divisions higher up. Needless to say Castle are a very strong and experienced team and the equivalent of Crewe Alexandra taking on Manchester United. Castle are currently placed top of the division in the results table. Emma Woodvine (Wing Defense) secured player of the match on the Residence L team.

Next up were The Hills, a close and exciting game where Residence narrowly lost 16-23. The Hills built up a 7 point lead in the first quarter of the game which Residence then responded by making them fight point for point for the next three quarters with Residence's defensive players doing a good job of significantly slowing The Hill's attack while the Residence attack took the fight back to them. The last three quarters of the game were effectively tied with the first quarter being the decider and Residence ultimately being unable to close the gap back up. A sterling effort when you factor in that Residence's captain LJ Bailey (Centre) and Emma Woodvine (Wing Attack) were unable to play due to sickness. So fielding just seven players and no substitutes all the girls had to play all four quarters with another newly joined team mate and returning to netball, ex-county player Kate Sherratt who started making her mark in this, (her first match) getting player of the match for her two quarters as Centre and another two as Goal Defense. LJ managed the team from the side line and continued to juggle player’s positions through the match to find the right team dynamic. All in all a very strong performance in the back three quarters from this team that is still finding its feet and was rewarded with putting their first champion ship point of the season on the league table for securing more than 50% of the score.

In the third match, Residence L drew another tough competitor, Star. Renamed from last season as Knights Grange - they were the highest placed team in the division at the end of last season that was not promoted up into the next division and are currently placed second in the division’s league table also having won all three of their matches. Residence fielded their A list line up to this match, although again due to holidays and sickness neither Amanda Lawrence or Michelle Kenyon Taker were available to play, so again the 7 girls were forced to play full matches with no substitutions. Residence's Tuesday night training coach came to the match to see the girls play and made some adjustments during the match which ended 19-30 after an early lead and then residence chasing them down in the second and third quarter before the lead extending again in the back half of the fourth, as fatigue started to take hold. A word of mention should go out to Star's Centre and Goal Shooter who both put in very commanding performances controlling the mid field and really challenging Residence's defense with the ability to sink the ball from apparently any location or distance from the net. Carley Hulse (Goal Shooter) and Laura Turpin (Goal Attack) continued to cement this new attacking partnership and learning each others style of play. Kate again won player of the match for her performance as Goal Defense and then trading positions with LJ for three quarters as Centre. The team again secured another league point by beating the 50% mark.

This week Residence L face new entrant KAM in what is anticipated to be another tough match. KAM were demoted from Division 1 at the end of last season and so are another experienced and capable team. There is a big difference between Division 2 and 1. Indigo C who remained undefeated in all but one match in Division 2 last season, and led the leader board the entire season, now reside at the bottom of the Division 1 table, after one match played losing 12:40. So any team coming down from a higher division is going to be difficult to beat and makes L's defeat at the hands of ex-three divisions higher Castle even more understandable.

KAM have only played two matches so far against Star and Residence J. Losing to Star but also managing to get 50% and then beating Residence's new team J, which is not to be unexpected, but what was a great result for the girls on team J was scoring the first goals of the season. J is a new team and comprises of many new players or players returning after a long break from netball. Kirsty Vickers won player of the match for Residence and played 50:50 Wing Attack and Centre. Centre was also shared by Lara Barrett, who playing out of normal position, delivered a strong performance in this very fitness intensive position. What is also great to see happening in J is that consistently despite only playing two matches, you can see the girls working together more and more as a team and the flow of play and awareness of game play and strategy is increasing. J is playing a season earlier than planned. We are not expecting stellar performances from J this season as this is a team in development, being prepared for the September season. J was registered in the League early to get real match experience and training under their belt rather than just in training sessions. It is astounding how much they have improved over the last two matches and training sessions. These girls had never met each other six weeks ago. It should also be noted that we are seeing good commitment and attendance from J during training and coaching sessions, something all players of both teams are very strongly encouraged to attend and take seriously. J is a work in progress and it will be very interesting to see how the team and girls grow over the course of this season. J are playing Genus Gems this week, one of the lower placed teams from Division 2 last season, and so it will be interesting to see how they bare up against this more evenly matched team, all be it seasoned team.