Atlas Get an 'Icy Reception'

April is always a challenging month for our project consultants and helpdesk engineers as they face an 'avalanche' of queries from customers requiring payroll year end support - unfortunately, the payroll year end comes 'weather' you like it or not. April 2012 is proving no different. Our customer Longcliffe Quarries based in Derbyshire realised they were 'skating on thin ice' and wanted to avoid the common mistakes made on the year end 'slippery slope'. They therefore requested some Atlas professional services assistance. Whilst being 'snowed under' with her workload Diane was willing to go the extra mile to ensure we had a happy customer.

Sorry if you found this blog article 'snow' joke. The pictures will help to explain the puns.

Have an 'ice' day.

Payroll 2012 Upgrade Help

Atlas are aware that, for Payroll customers, this time of year can be taxing (ha ha!), with year ends and upgrades to go through, HMRC submissions and endless forms to produce.


We've always tried to make Payroll year end as easy as possible for everyone involved and this year is no exception - our helpdesk has been as busy as ever and we're sure many of you have already had your questions answered by our experts at the end of the phone.


This year however, we've also got a new tool ready to help customers: our fantastic Payroll training videos!


Each video takes you through, step-by-step, how to complete various elements of your upgrade; from getting to grips with new legislation to performing the upgrade yourself; we've got you covered in our five videos for Payroll Year End 2012.


Click the links below to go to the video most appropriate for you. Or start on the Atlas YouTube page and work your way through from there.

Video 1 - Welcome to Payroll Upgrade 2012

Video 2 - Payroll News Update 2012

Video 3a - Year End Update

Video 3b - Year End Update

Video 4 - Software Install

Video 5 - HMRC Communications

Supporting The Community, Atlas Welcome Work Experience Student

Last week we supported one of the Nantwich local schools during their work experience term. We were delighted to welcome Megan Green into our team and we hope she enjoyed her time at Atlas. Megan was given the opportunity to see what happens within most departments and we were particularly impressed by her attitude; she wanted to positively contribute to tasks rather than just spectate.

Below you can find a brief synopsis of what she got up to (in her own words).

“My name is Megan Green and I am a student at Malbank School. I have recently taken part in a week’s worth of work experience, so I can understand how to work in the various departments and discover what job roles are important within the business. I am specifically looking at how the companies communicate with internally with each other and with their customers.

During the time I have worked at Atlas I have been working alongside some of the people who work for Atlas Business, for example, I have done some sales research which allowed me to understand that customers do not come to you, you have to find them and research into their company’s background to see whether they will be useful to your company.

I have observed and taken part in the filming of the Access Payroll user training video. Video not only proves more interesting than reading instructions, but also makes it clear and easier to understand how to install Access Payroll software at the beginning of the new tax year.

I have been given tasks to work on independently which gave me some invaluable experience of having a job. I have updated information on contact details using ProspectSoft CRM. This meant I had to do the procedures of going through all of the contacts, checking to see if they were correct and then changing the details that were incorrect.

The time I have spent here at Atlas Business, has taught me that verbal communications is one of the main parts to this business. The telephone is used by all the workers in this company every day. Video conferences are used to allow meetings to take place, which gives the people within the business a chance to discuss their ideas. Presentations are also used to show people’s ideas thoughts and theories.

I have also discovered that personal image is an important part to being involved in a business, it shows professionalism and gives a great first impression. Having good organisation skills makes information easy to find when there is something to guide you. For example, keeping important documents in files and labelling them, keeping things in order so when you come to find them it is not very difficult, using highlighters to highlight specific information and keeping all tasks up to date. Writing notes down is another example of being organised, as you are able to write down information that is needed, to either pass on to a colleague, file or use yourself.

My time at Atlas Business has been an enjoyable and very useful experience. It has changed the way I think about having a job and has allowed me to understand that every role a person has is important and makes a big difference. I will be able to take the skills I have learnt with me and use them in any future careers I may embark on.”

Megan, everybody at Atlas that had the pleasure of meeting you said that they enjoyed working alongside you. We wish you all the best with your school work, exams and chosen career path. Keep in touch!

Windows 8: Are Microsoft Looking at Another Vista?

Microsoft are currently preparing Windows 8 for its final version launch, later in 2012. Advanced consumer preview editions are with some users now, some of whom have questioned quite how atuned to people's needs the new operating system is. Watch what happened when technology writer Chris Pirillo asked his Dad, an 'average consumer', to use the system for the first time.

The closing lines of the video should really strike fear into many an Microsoft executive's heart. Should we, as users, be worried?

Leeds Office Move

Atlas are delighted to announce that we have agreed new tenancy at better-appointed offices for the Leeds arm of our business. The offices, which also have more parking facilities, will be occupied by our Redcliffe CSN team from Monday 12th March. The new address for all correspondence heading to Leeds is;

Unit 7
Madison Court
George Mann Road
Leeds
LS10 1DX

We hope you're able to join us at the new offices very soon.

Introducing our Exciting New Website Features

Regular visitors to the Atlas Business website may have noticed some enhancements to the site recently and we thought you'd like some brief details about what they are and how we're planning on using them.


Live Help

Many of you will have noticed a pop-up message which appears un-obtrusively in the bottom right-hand corner of the page when browsing the site. This is the new Atlas Instant Messenger. It allows us to have one-to-one conversations with website visitors, enabling us to talk with you on a variety of topics, instantly.

Currently, Atlas Instant Messenger is in a testing phase and is only being used for Technical Sales Enquiries. The plan is to role the messenger out across departments, meaning you can easily chat with a member of the ASM team, who may be able to solve your query without you even picking up the phone! For now, we invite customers interested in making a technical purchase to give it a go!

RSS

On our news page, you may have noticed some new icons across the top. The first two of these are links to RSS feeds of the regularly updated main website news and the news articles we publish on the blog, right here. This makes subscribing to the pages easy in your regular RSS reader, making it impossible to miss an important news item from Atlas ever again.

Social Media

Also added along the top row of the the news page are links to various social media sites, including twitter, facebook and youtube. As you will see by clicking on them, some are not quite yet active. Don't worry: we're planning on putting them to good use soon. If you're using one of these sites already, why not head over to the Atlas page and say hello! We're always happy to chat using new media.



Look out for new website enhancements over the next few months.

Pictures From Kath's Retirement Party

As you may already be aware if you've read our Kick Off Meeting report or looked at the photographs from the event, Atlas' Kick Off Meeting on Friday 13th January marked the last day in the business for Kath Welsh, who retired from Atlas after being involved with the company for ten years.

Kath's colleagues, friends and family, joined together to wish her a fantastic retirement and to thank her for all her hard work over the past few years. A selection of (carefully edited) photos is available below.

Kath (centre) partys the night away.

Atlas director John Bilyj is, erm... 'asked', to join in with the band.

Daphne and John Butler enjoy the celebration...

...along with Atlas Director Craig Cameron and wife Jacquie.

Pictures from Atlas Business Kick-Off Meeting 2012

Atlas held our annual Kick-Off Meeting at Oulton Hall near to Leeds on Friday 13th January. Below are some pictures from what turned out to be an energetic, productive and lively day.  You can read a full report of what happened in our main news section.

Our hosts at Oulton Hall provided great facilities for the meeting, held in a room at their golf club.

ASM Engineer Michael, ready for the day's action.



Ben Butler prepares for his presentation.



TSM Engineers (l-r) Adam, Gary and Matt.

Melanie Bilyj and Kath Welsh, during the day. The Kick-Off Meeting was Kath's last day before she retired from Atlas, having been involved with the company for over ten years.

Group Managing Director, John Butler, kicks off the Kick Off Meeting



Director John Bilyj shows the room how to accurately hold an imaginary box.



All Atlas employees not involved in customer work on that day attended, making for a crowded and productive room.

ASM Engineers Ruth and Michael gave a lively a humour-filled presentation.

John and Keltha are entertained by the presentations.

Adam and Stuart represented the TSM team.

Head of TSM David Lambert and Richard Walliker work on a task together.

Director Diane Lonsdale and John share a joke.

John presents Kath with a certificate commemorating her long and excellent service with the company.

Kath's colleague Catherine presents her with a bouquet of flowers.

At the end of the day, Kath looks over the signatures from her many friends in the company.

Pictures From Our Atlas 'Business Growth 2012' Event

You can read more about our Business Growth 2012 event at the Atlas website here.

John and Daphne: The Movie

Picture courtesy of UKTV

For those of you that missed Atlas Business Group’s MD and Company Secretary John and Daphne Butler’s recent television appearance, you have another opportunity as the program is repeated at 8pm this evening (Tuesday 15th November 2011) on Sky Home channel 246.

The program is titled “My flat pack home” and follows the Butlers as they plan to erect an office in the garden of their home in Clyro. Eagle eyed viewers may also spot guest appearances from Joe, Sam, Ben, Lara, David, Ian, Ruth and Michael who were all captured during some of the filming at our Head Office in Globe Works, Nantwich.