What happened in September at Virtual Business Centre?

It’s the end of September and the weather is getting colder. We're talking to small businesses to find out what's happening where they are.

Today we’re talking to Claire Brewerton of The Virtual Business Centre who is based in Wiltshire. The Virtual Business Centre is an award-winning business offering a range of services including telephone answering and call handling services.

What happened for your business in September?
It was that ‘back to school’ feeling and after a quiet August we always have a busy start to September. We are recruiting again and hope to identify some more staff to join the team over the next few months.

September was ‘back to school’ month – is this relevant to you personally or professionally?
It’s a natural time to take stock of where we are as we head into the Autumn and winter months and most crucially for our clients, Christmas. We have several, large, retail clients for whom we manage order processing, customer service calls and social media. It was all about the planning in September. On a personal basis we also had everyone returning to school, college and university so it has been a busy month.

September is also known as ‘organic’ month – do you shop, dress, or behave with green ethics in mind?
We do, we always have green credentials in mind here at The Virtual Business Centre, from recycling in our offices to plants on our desks! We are doing our best to be sustainable, but I know we can do better.

It was World Gratitude Day this month. What are you grateful for at the moment?
I’m grateful for time with my family and a great team at The Virtual Business Centre as the last couple of years have been tough in business and personal lives with lots of changes.

Who are you grateful for at the moment?
Personally, I’m grateful for my family and friends and professionally, I’m grateful for our clients and suppliers.

What are your hopes for business for the rest of this year?
I hope that we hold steady as we are in the face of global economic difficulties, we have weathered a few storms and I am sure we will again
I would love to see more support for SME’s maybe a temporary VAT reduction – sometimes small business gets “lost” in any government incentives
I am so grateful we locked in our electricity bills back at the end of 2021 – and this increase would be crippling to us.

We are dealing with a lot of messages around ‘bad’ news such as the rising cost of living, inflation rising and interest rates rising. How are you keeping positive – what tips can you share with others?
Concentrate on the small things, a happy client, a loyal team. The huge things are, in many ways, out of our control, we have to be aware and adapt accordingly but can’t let it become all consuming. We do regularly review our costs and budgets but at the end of the day we are in the same boat as a lot of our clients.

Have you got any events planned you’d like to shout about – either that you are running or attending?
We have just come back from a much needed holiday – first time as a family we have seen outside of the UK since 2019 so some great quality time – on a business basis I am determined to attend more networking events over the next 3 months.

Have you got any services or special offers you’d like to mention?
We have a new service to launch later on this year – all around telephony so watch this space. 

September 30 is International Podcast Day – do you listen to podcasts or do you have one of your own? Can you share a tip? Which podcasts should others check out?
I love The Life Scientific on Radio 4 and of course Fiona Scott’s PR not BS podcast.

And finally, can you share something which inspires you to ‘keep going’?  
Looking back at how much we have achieved over the years helps me to look forward with optimism and I love to read about the success stories of other companies and individuals which can be truly inspirational.

For more information visit: www.virtualbusinesscentre.com