Chris Maslin, of GoEO, is sharing his summer plans!

It’s July which is the second summer month and one which has a real sporty feel – including the Wimbledon, British Open Golf and the Tour de France!

Today is the turn of Chris Maslin is based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent and is the director of Go EO Ltd. Chris helps businesses across the UK transition to employee ownership. Having successfully managed this with an accounting firm that he started in 2008, Chris is keen to support others to do the same.

What are your plans for July in your business? 
We’ve just launched a totally free employee engagement survey. Helping companies understand how their employees feel about the business from a few different perspectives. This can help you understand your strengths and weaknesses, to help you develop your team to be the best and most committed they can be.

What are your personal plans for this month?
At the end of the month my wife and I will be going to Wales. For a bit of relaxation. Plenty of walking with our dog, and equally plenty of food! I don’t take many holidays but do accept occasionally getting away from it all is important.

Does July hold any particular significance for you or your business?
The start of July is the anniversary (our third this year) of what was “my” accounting firm becoming Employee Owned. It’s been a rocky road as we navigated the internal changes whilst also dealing with Covid and hefty inflation. But we’re through the other side now. The party we held certainly had that vibe, of “it’s been tough but we’re in a good place”!

Do you like sport – and if so, do any sporting tournaments or events stand out for you this month or coming up? Do you engage in any sports you’d like to mention? Are you a member of a local team at all?
I’m much more of a rugby fan than football. Plus, I’m Scottish by genetics (even if I’ve lived most of my life in Southeast England!). Still, I’m definitely not one of those English hating Scots, so have been taking an interest in England’s success so far (at time of writing we’ve just got through to the semi-final!). The rugby union 6 Nations is my favourite sporting event of the year though, when England very much become “the enemy”!

On a much lighter note – July 17 is World Emoji Day, and this often trends on social media. What do you think of emojis? Do you use them?
Lol! ?? I think they can be very helpful, especially in social media. Writing long essays doesn’t work in SM, it needs to be short and snappy, or people won’t bother to read it. That can make a message lose its tone. One or more carefully chosen emojis can help bring that back in. That being said, I’d be more cautious using them in business emails. I’m very aware some folk won’t consider them appropriate!

Can you name one business you’d like to give a summer shout out too? Who has gone the extra mile for you recently?
Dan Wardle of Surveylab, surveylab.com As the name suggests, they’re experts in all things survey related. Typically, they’ll help organisations with 100+ employees, who in turn have a decent budget. They’ll discuss exactly what the organisation wants to achieve, design a bespoke survey accordingly, then help discuss the results and design follow ups.

I approached Dan as I love what they do, but wondered if there could be a more generic free tool for smaller employers. Dan liked the idea, so we’ve worked on that together, and recently launched it.

Have you got any events planned for the coming months which you’d like to mention – where you and/or your business will take a leading role? 
The biggest event in our calendar is the annual Employee Ownership Association conference, in November. This year it’ll be in Telford as they outgrew the previous location in Liverpool. EO is an area of growing interest. Perhaps as the UK’s experiencing a growing wealth divide. Perhaps as more people are keen to seek control of their own destiny, but without the risk of venturing out on their own.

If relevant, would you like to say anything about the General Election and how it might/might not impact on the world of business? 
Whilst I don’t expect miracles, I do feel like after a few years of “fun” with Boris and his clowns, we’ve now got grown-ups in charge again. I don’t particularly care about left vs right, Labour vs Conservatives. But I do think Politics should be boring! Decisions being made by intelligent people, with experience in the relevant area, after looking at research/statistics. I hope we’ll now have that happening again.

Anything else you’d like to say?
I do feel there’s a sense of positivity in the air. Partly due to political change. Partly due to football success. Partly due to it being summer. Here’s hoping over the next few years we can all feel proud to be British again!
 

You can find out more about Chris by visiting goeo.uk