Midlands Enterprise Awards 2021

54 | Midlands Enterprise Awards 2021 as challenges for leaders and line managers in terms of how they run their business and manage day-to-day work activity. “One opportunity that arose for us during the pandemic was the diversification of Benefits Cloud for Clubs and Associations, not just employers,” says Adam. “We saw many clubs, especially sports clubs, that were unable to deliver their core product i.e. playing and/or watching sport. The Benefits Cloud platform provides an opportunity to give something back through the core benefits provided, whilst reinforcing the sense of community at the Club in a virtual way, through the communications news feed and other functionality. We also saw how charities have struggled during the pandemic and consequently, we provide the Standard Package FOC to charities, for its employees and volunteers.” They say charity begins at home and this couldn’t be more important to Petaurum who actively gives back to its community through its charity partners, SimPal and St Barnabas Hospice and by supporting local endeavours such as Framlington Town FC and The Lincoln Imp Trail. Recently, Petaurum was awarded the prestigious title of Best Nationwide Bespoke Employment Services Provider in the Midlands Enterprise Awards 2021. The future is looking very bright indeed for the HR firm. With plans for growth, further team development, diversification of the Benefits Cloud offering for the Clubs and Associations, and a commitment to continue supporting charities through innovation, time and sponsorship, it’s looking to be a very busy and lucrative year moving forward! Contact: Adam Davey Company: Petaurum HR Web Address: www.petaurumsolutions.co.uk With more than 90 years’ experience, Petaurum HR aims to add value to its clients’ people management approach, providing them with the expertise they require, as and when they need it. We speak to Co-Founder of the company, Adam Davey, about weathering the pandemic storm and what the future holds. Trading since 1st January 2013, Petaurum HR provides the full breadth of HR services to help its clients set-up their teams for success. This is done through individual consulting projects for SME clients in particular and by providing straightforward HR advice and support, by focusing on the 3 Ps – Preventing People Problems. Unusually for an HR provider, Petaurum has also developed its own employee benefits portal, Benefits Cloud (www.benefitscloud.co.uk) . This is a simple to use, flexible online platform that provides access to a range of retail discounts, deals, and offers, enabling the user to save money. “The name Petaurum (pronounced pet-or-um) is Latin for springboard,” explains Adam Davey, the firm’s Co-Founder and Director. “This encapsulates what we are about and what we want to achieve, providing all our clients with a springboard to move them towards their business goals.” As well as the company’s Benefits Cloud platform offering, which certainly sets it aside from competitors, there are several other USPs which Petaurum is proud of. Bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to the table, it is able to provide advice that is specifically tailored to each individual client’s situation and thus achieve the outcome they’re looking for. It also likes to take a proactive approach to HR. Adam believes it is much better to spend time creating solid foundations to set-up people for success, rather than waste time and effort trying to solve problems after they’ve arisen. “We always say there are lots of HR providers out there, but there is no-one else who does HR the way we do!” he enthuses. “It’s us, our team and the special relationships we develop with our Best Nationwide Bespoke Employment Support Services Provider clients that make us unique. We don’t do vanilla. In our experience, business owners and directors don’t want bland, generic advice. “We enjoy working with people who share our values – people with integrity, who demonstrate loyalty, value their people and promote the concept of team over individual.” Reputation is everything in Petaurum’s line of work as credibility and trust are not an overnight creation. The team works hard on making itself easy to refer, but also works hard on its digital presence, with social media campaigns, blog and article writing and good old-fashioned sales campaigns. “Since we established over eight years ago, the most significant challenge we have faced has, unsurprisingly, been the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Whilst this jettisoned HR to the top of most business’ agenda, many organisations mothballed and opportunities for growth became limited. It was important for us to stay relevant, retain an active presence and do whatever we could to ensure we not only survived, but came out of the difficult period in the strongest possible shape. We did this by continuing to invest in our social media and marketing campaigns, sharing information and helpful resources for other business owners at their time of greatest need. We feel this really helped us and ensured potential clients knew we were still ready and able to help them, whenever they needed us.” In the current climate, Adam and the team are seeing a lot of organisations restructuring, including making some redundancies, which is inevitable at present. Hybrid working is also a major topic for many employers whose teams have worked from home during the pandemic. This raises many questions about choice for individual employees, equipment, risk assessments (personal and data safety) as well Jul21113