According to Cam Northway, founder of ATYPICAL, values have changed, what’s deemed important has pivoted. Read on for the 5 hotel industry trends for the consumer today, and beyond.

The past two years inflicted monumental changes, challenges, ups, and downs. Nonetheless, today’s hospitality trends are different from years past. It was neither complete doomsday nor recovery – we, as an industry – adjusted and made the most of the situation, which is all we could do, aside from a mental breakdown here and there. With periods of disruption come change and innovation, new strategic pillars are brought into focus as a direct response from how we, as humans, are navigating the world.

5 hotel industry trends

1. Holistic Hospitality
Over recent years, the wellness industry has transformed into a booming trillion-dollar market, and hospitality operators are well-positioned to take a piece of the pie by incorporating health and wellness experiences to their business. Outside of spa amenities and in-house holistic offerings, a key part of this emphasis is providing a gateway for guests to feel connected to nature, allowing them to be calm, grounded and rejuvenated. From interior design being more raw and organic to indoor-outdoor recreational areas and dining options to have a more conscious approach to your restaurant food and drink. In the past, a substantial section of the hospitality industry with hotels was made up of unhealthy food and drink, however, there has been a cultural shift with consumers becoming more aware of the things they are putting in their bodies, leading to an increase in demand for healthier, organic options. Operating more holistically is about connecting with all the senses, and nourishing the body and soul.

2. Workcations
A hybrid of business and leisure, the ‘bleisure’ boom has created an opportunity as consumers are increasingly seeking experiences that allow them to work remotely. Hospitality operators and hotels are doubling as make-shift offices for not just travellers, but locals seeking a change in the work environment too, enabling space to capitalise on the trend and adapt their offering to meet the needs of this emerging segment. As a starting point, F&B venues can introduce a more relaxed approach to dining during the day with a cafe-style menu, specific set-ups designed for meetings and remote working, fast Wifi and ample power sockets.

3. Luxury Essentialism
There’s a new luxury consumer in town – they’ve shifted away from the wasteful extras that traditionally have filled hotel rooms. Gone are the days of mini, plastic everything – this luxury essentialism is seeing guests prefer a stripped-back approach with the philosophy of creating a higher degree of satisfaction by offering less, but better. From artisan bottled cocktails in the mini bar, in-room gourmet snacks from local suppliers and high-quality brands.

4. Creating Purpose
A new hospitality trend defining the future is that tomorrow’s consumer is opting to choose hotels and businesses that have a purpose. Not only are people becoming more aware of the impact of consumption and travel, but they are becoming increasingly interested in investigating the roots of their destinations and locales too, opting to funnel their spending into businesses that do good. From supporting minority groups, charities, the local community and promoting company culture, F&B operators should seek to invest in local suppliers and initiatives that are aligned to these values. From celebrating themed events on-site for various cultures and demographics such as Black History Month, International Women’s Day and Mardi Gras, to food donations and commercial partnerships with female-founded or local brands. Corporate philanthropy should be an ongoing part of your strategy.

5. Sustainability Matters
All around the world, consumers are becoming increasingly concerned with environmental issues and sustainability – having complete transparency on how your business is behaving ethically is no longer a nice to have, but a need to have. Examples of this include restaurants promoting their zero-waste philosophy, incorporating vegetarian and vegan options, making use of smart light bulbs and smart heating to save energy, eradicating plastic and using more sustainable materials. Operating sustainably is all about having the right mindset from the very beginning – from the architecture, design and humanity of how you operate – sustainability should be an integral part of the entire process and not something you “add on”.

With a solid understanding of the emerging 5 hotel industry trends, you’ll be better prepared to play a successful part in the future. Get a head start and begin to implement some of these trends at your hotel today.

New research from Savvy reveals consumers’ experience surrounding the no jab no job mandate. We surveyed 1,000 people to better understand how supported they are in their workplaces and their comfortability surrounding booster shots, lockdowns and expectations as new Covid-19 strains come out.

• 56% of Australians say it is the responsibility of the government to enforce workplace vaccines and uniform the law across all states
• Under half of respondents support employers mandating vaccines
• 35% of unvaccinated employees feel respected and supported in their decision
• 13% feel vaccines should only be mandated for high-risk industries
• More than half say it should be their choice to get vaccinated, not no jab no job
• 68% of Australians believe using incentives to encourage people to get the jab is bribery

Australians generally support no jab no job in the workplace

Although the workplace mandates have caused great divides across the country, many Australians do agree with the no jab, no job policy. Under half (37%) say they support employers who need to mandate the Covid-19 vaccine for staff and workplace health and safety.

Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory show the highest support at 48%, followed by New South Wales and Victoria (40%).

25% of the respondents are positive and confident about the policy, saying it is the most practical way to reduce the risk of disease transmission and reach herd immunity. Only 8% are somewhat positive, while 13% believe it should only be mandated for high-risk industries or settings where staff have to get the flu jab. These include health, disability and aged-care workers, miners, school and early childhood education teachers, and quarantine and transportation staff.

7% are extremely reluctant with the no jab, no job mandate and would rather lose their job than get the vaccine.

Vaccines are now the main battleground in beating Covid-19 disruptions. Currently, 45% of all respondents are triply jabbed. Victoria (54%) and New South Wales (47%) have the highest number of people who are up-to-date with their vaccinations.

35% have had their first jab and are booked in for their second, while only 11% have received both. 2% are waiting until there is more information about the risks and effectiveness of the vaccines before they get it.

In regards to the support Australians are receiving, 35% of unvaccinated staff say their employer has respected their decision and put measures in place to support them. However, 21% have not received any help from their workplace.

Despite the no jab, no job policy being implemented across high-risk industries, 12% of respondents say they have had adequate support and consultation, including options to work from home. This provides the unvaccinated or those who are still weighing up their options alternative work arrangements before losing their job.

Three vaccine doses rule expanded state-wide

Western Australia became the first Australian state to mandate Covid-19 booster shots in December. Only recently, the requirement has expanded state-wide to everyone over the age of 16. Australians will now need three vaccine doses to be considered up-to-date.

States such as South Australia and Victoria have already made the three jabs mandatory for workers in high-risk sectors like health care. 47% of respondents surveyed in Victoria feel very comfortable about mandating booster shots for all workers, while 13% of all respondents are not comfortable at all.

In Western Australia, 42% feel comfortable with Australians needing three jabs, 23% are somewhat comfortable and 15% are not at all happy about the decision.

Up until this mandate, being fully vaccinated has meant two Covid-19 jabs. Boosters have only been encouraged unless you work in a mandated industry in Western Australia.

But having two jabs won’t cut it anymore. 

Given the new rules, the term ‘fully vaccinated’ is shifting to ‘up-to-date’ with the current vaccines. This change in definition has left millions of people bumped into the “partially vaccinated” purgatory if they do not get their booster shot within six months of their last Covid-19 jab.

Whose responsibility is it?

Naturally, this has sparked debates about whether it is the employer’s responsibility to make Covid-19 vaccinations, including boosters, a workplace requirement or if it should be enforced by the Federal government.

56% of the survey respondents say only the government can take responsibility for making a vaccine mandatory. This would make the law uniform across all states.

21% think employers should exercise their own judgment and enforce it as necessary, while 17% believe it should be a state-by-state decision.

Workplace health and safety during Covid-19

When it comes to working with the virus, Australians seem supportive of their employer introducing tough safety measures. Whether it is vaccine requirements, tracking tests or vaccination status and regular temperature checks, the majority are on board.

Double vaccinations (or three in some states) is the top measure introduced in workplaces at 66%. Monitoring and maintaining social distancing between staff and visitors (64%) and providing staff with necessary PPE equipment (57%) are also actions employers are using to avoid risking their staff getting sick.

Only 29% are conducting regular temperature checks, while 10% of respondents say no safety measures are being used.

New South Wales (7%), the Australian Capital Territory (7%) and Victoria (8%) are the regions most behind in workplace safety policies, with staff saying no measures have been taken to transition to new ways of working post-pandemic.

Remote work becomes part of the permanent employment landscape

Remote work is now a permanent fixture in the corporate world.

Although the pandemic did not start the Work From Home (WFH) initiative, it has transformed how employers view flexible working environments and the benefits for businesses and employees. In these times of chaos, uncertainty and risk, WFH arrangements have helped staff be more motivated and happier.

Fully and partly remote work has increased as an effective safety measure. 37% of employers have allowed flexible arrangements and are experimenting with the hybrid model to balance the benefits of working from home with face-to-face collaboration. In the last 12 months, 33.5% of employees aged 35 to 44 have been working from home full or part-time.

47% of all respondents plan to keep working from home for at least part of the week once the pandemic is over if their employer allows it. Only 11% say their employer is not willing to support WFH arrangements now restrictions have eased, while 32% will continue to work from home full time.

Overall, employers have been encouraging remote work. 26% have asked staff to work from home where possible to ensure safer practices for all.

Research suggests a mixture of home and office work can actually be the best for productivity. Yet according to a study by The Economist in January, many managers still prefer people to be back in the office.

What happens when Australia reaches the 90% ‘fully vaccinated’ target?

The survey reveals 26% of Australians are quite comfortable with the Government’s legal ability to initiate a lockdown, despite some states already reaching the 90% fully vaccinated target. But since ‘fully vaccinated’ means different things for different people and areas, there is still uncertainty about expectations.

26% are quite comfortable with more lockdowns, while 16% are not comfortable at all. Only 19% are very comfortable and 23% are feeling neutral.

When push comes to shove

Vaccine hesitancy is still a very real problem for many Australians.

52% of respondents have strong beliefs about freedom of choice and say getting the Covid-19 vaccine should be an individual choice, not a requirement. Queensland, New South Wales and South Australians feel the most strongly about this.

37% are hesitant because they are concerned about the long-term side effects, risks and effectiveness of the jab. Some Australians do not believe it works (17%) while 20% have admitted a strong mistrust of the government, preventing them from getting jabbed.

Although pressure has worked for some, as life gets more limited for those who refuse, 68% say using incentives to get the jab for work is bribery. Cash grabs paid leave, gift cards and other lures have been rewarded by employers to compliant staff. Tax credits are also a motivator, with 5% admitting it would prompt them to get jabbed. 19% remain undecided.

What comes next

More people are coming to grips with the fact Covid-19 is not going away any time soon. As Australia opens up and new, more transmissible variants emerge, it is essential the population receive boosters to enhance protection.

Other safety measures will also remain. 50% say they expect mask-wearing inside and outside to take place, while 40% want restrictions for only those who are not up-to-date with their vaccines. 21% expect snap lockdowns and social gathering restrictions, but 24% say it is time for Australians to learn to live with the virus without any mask-wearing or limits.

Employers can continue to support their employees by:

• Allowing paid time off to get vaccinated
• Supporting them with access to reliable and current information about the risks and effectiveness
• Explore other options for alternative work arrangements for employees who choose not to be vaccinated or are not able to be vaccinated

As COVID-19 continues to put pressure on sourcing staff, more than 79 per cent of Australian businesses are using new ways of working to create a more inclusive environment to attract and retain female talent, according to Grant Thornton International’s Women in Business Report which surveys senior leaders from 5,000 businesses across 29 economies.

In the early days of the pandemic, few could have predicted the lasting effect COVID-19 would have on traditional ways of working. But now as we move into living with the virus, and the workforce manages hybrid working conditions, businesses are recognising that change was needed, and the march toward more inclusive working practices continues.

At 57 per cent, over half of Australia’s business leaders agree they have seen external pressure increase from stakeholders – including customers, regulators, suppliers and investors – on their organisation to achieve and maintain gender balance as a result of COVID-19. This is good news for women looking to either advance their careers or to get into new roles.

Greg Keith, CEO Grant Thornton Australia, said: “With International Women’s Day just around the corner on March 8, it’s important to bring local and global strategies to the forefront that will assist women to increase workforce participation and fulfil more senior roles across all industries. These strategies may include extended paid parental leave, flexible working conditions including working from home and working from overseas, and internal mentoring programs and built-in coaching to support gender equity – all of which we actively have in place at Grant Thornton Australia. Through the pandemic, we’ve continued to expand and deliver on our Gender Equity Action Plan and will be focusing on several new initiatives over the coming months.”

Here at home, 75 per cent of Australian respondents expect the impact of COVID-19 will continue to benefit women’s career trajectories long-term as new ways of working become the norm. This could be an indication that a step change is on the horizon but in the meantime, the number of women in senior management positions in Australia continues to sit at 32 per cent in 2022, the same as in 2021. While any progress is positive in light of COVID-19, this figure has grown by only ten percentage points in Australia over the past eight years, showing that while progress is being made, it is at a sluggish rate.

“To create more opportunities for women in senior leadership roles, business leaders need to champion the cause of gender diversity and create inclusive cultures in which a wide range of voices are listened to. Leadership from the top is key to driving change as is setting clear diversity and inclusion goals against which progress can be measured. It’s important that business leaders are in it for the long term, and vocal about what they are doing to drive change in their own companies so that others can learn from their experience – collaboration is fundamental to successful outcomes,” Greg Keith continued. 

On a global scale, nearly two thirds (57 per cent) of mid-market leaders expect the skills shortage to be a major constraint to their businesses in the year ahead. Grant Thornton’s Women in Business Report research shows that in response, 95 per cent of mid-market business leaders from all over the world are now taking action to foster staff engagement and create an inclusive culture as businesses strive to attract and retain a more diverse talent pool.

At only 27 years of age, entrepreneur Davie Fogarty has built himself an eCommerce empire that has generated over $270 million in revenue and landed him a coveted spot on the AFR Young Rich List. However, success for the founder behind The Oodie, Calming Blankets and Pupnaps didn’t happen overnight. Davie endured several challenges and business failures, but his perseverance and hunger for results have seen him amass an enormous amount of digital skills and knowledge. Now, he shares his best tips and tricks for fledgling digital entrepreneurs looking to achieve the same levels of success.

For Davie, the key to building a successful business has been all about trying, testing, and endless learning. Some months, Davie Group makes more than $20 million a month, a far cry from the $500 a month the business earned in the early days.

Davie says: “The real secret behind any kind of success is to remain intellectually curious and always be prepared to learn something new. Even the smallest pieces of knowledge can potentially unlock another path or opportunity.

“Particularly in a fast-paced and heavily saturated eCommerce market, it is important to be able to take these learnings and adapt your business idea, model, or strategy quickly, and learn from the mistakes of those around you to build something better. One of my goals is to share my learnings from my eCommerce journey to give other young entrepreneurs the knowledge and advice they need to create a successful business.”

Below, Davie shares 6 top tips for fledgling digital entrepreneurs in 2022.

1. Get on board TikTok – with an organic strategy. The rapid growth of TikTok’s base, recently surpassing one billion users, has allowed brands to reach huge audiences fast and with minimal effort. Yet many businesses still underestimate the platform’s value. The Oodie TikTok account grew to over 100,000 followers over a very short period of time, and even Davie initially underestimated how much impact the platform was having on their sales. TikTok doesn’t require financial investment and is great for raising product awareness or even developing a personal brand. To be successful, Davie recommends capitalising on current TikTok trends use trending sounds, asking questions in the captions to increase engagement, posting regularly and committing to the strategy. Most importantly – he recommends brands keep content simple, but creative, witty, and/or controversial so that it has the potential to go viral.
2. Use post-purchase attribution surveys. Get feedback from customers after they have made a purchase from your business. Davie says that one of the most important questions to be asking your customers is “Where did you see us”, as it is crucial to understand where your customers are coming from to focus your marketing activities accordingly. It also presents an opportunity to ask customers other questions about their opinion of your brand’s service, such as why they didn’t buy or what competitors they looked at. The answers to these questions will inform marketing activities to optimise ad spend and ensure a greater chance of success. Davie recommends tools such as HotJar or Acquire, which can be added to the confirmation page after the customer orders on Shopify. HotJar and other platforms such as Klaviyo can also be put into the post-purchase flow to ask the customer to rate their experience.
3. Most customers prefer email communication: Davie says most consumers prefer email marketing over any other form of marketing, as long as it is from a brand they trust and love. Davie strongly recommends setting up email marketing for your eCommerce business before driving ads. It will lower customer acquisition costs by converting more customers that have visited the website. Increasing customer retention increases customers’ lifetime value, so a brand doesn’t always need to search for new customers to survive. To set up an effective email marketing strategy, know your business objectives, study your competitors’ design and email copy to ensure you are creating something unique and, finally, find an email marketing provider. Davie recommends Klaviyo for eCommerce businesses.
4. Analyse your success. Davie recommends analysing a constant stream of data to ensure smooth sailing. Using tools such as Klipfolio to build dashboards around key performance indicators (KPIs) can help show deeper analytical insights into customer behaviour and the success of digital tactics. Expand your dashboards beyond sales and marketing into customer satisfaction, and compare advertising spend per channel with sales.
5. Optimise your time. For busy entrepreneurs, learning to optimise time is essential.Davie uses the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80-20 rule, whereby 20% of an individual’s work creates 80% of their results. Davie says it is important to try and identify which activities are in that 20% and focus on them to create more results in less time.

DAMsmart, Asia Pacific’s largest, fully established and dedicated audio-visual digitisation services bureau, today announced the launch of its Film and Video Tape Digitisation Services in Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace. DAMsmart’s services are the first of its kind in AWS Marketplace.

AWS Marketplace is a curated digital catalogue that makes it easy for organisations to discover, procure, entitle, provision, and govern third-party software.

Facing technology obsolescence and media degradation, all forms of media are now at risk of permanent loss within the next few years if urgent action is not taken to convert media on videotapes, audiotapes and film into data. Media organisations facing these challenges can now consume DAMsmart’s services through their AWS account and take advantage of DAMsmart’s knowledge of AWS’s media services. DAMsmart has extensive expertise in preparing analogue media files for specific cloud-based media asset management (MAM) solutions.

DAMsmart General Manager, Joe Kelly, said, “DAMsmart is the largest commercial film, tape and audio to digital conversion service provider in the Southern Hemisphere specifically equipped to deliver the highest quality digitisation of legacy audio-visual formats. From a single tape or film to the largest broadcast library, we are experts at ensuring your legacy content retains value and remains accessible in the 21st century. Our customers can now access all of DAMsmart’s services via the AWS Marketplace, making it even easier and more convenient to digitise and protect your most valuable media assets.”

With offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland and Kuala Lumpur, DAMsmart is able to process any form of videotape, audiotape or motion picture film and convert these physical assets into high quality digital assets.

Since 2007, DAMsmart has processed and digitised over one million audio-visual media carriers for public and private sector organisations within Australia, the Asia Pacific region, and beyond.

DAMsmart also provides media organisations and collection owners with expert consultancy services for collection assessment, preservation strategies, workflow design and implementation and monetisation opportunities.

DAMsmart’s key service offerings are available now via the AWS Marketplace:

• Up conversion from SD to HD and higher

• Restoration of legacy content in any form to maximise monetisation opportunities for your collection

• Quality assessment and reporting

• Localisation and delivery services 

• Metadata customisation capabilities to ensure compatibility to client MAM platform

• Creation of rich media archives to suit any requirements

• Data-migration for media specific collections from legacy and current generation linear tape-open (LTO) formats to cloud or disc storage

Also read Small Business Answers guide to Video Production and Editing

In its Q1 Global Beef Quarterly, the specialist agribusiness bank says while global beef prices remain high – with cattle prices across most key beef-producing regions at their highest levels in five years – cost pressures are building in the supply chain. And this will test the willingness of consumers to continue to pay ‘top dollar’ for beef.

“Over the past two years, retail beef prices have been phenomenal,” the report says, largely driven by strong consumer demand and some supply shocks.

“In Q4 2021, beef retail prices in the US were 23 per cent higher than the five-year average and in China, they were 24 per cent above the five-year average,” it says.

Consumer ‘demand pull’ for Global Beef

Much of this increase in prices has been caused by “demand-pull”, Rabobank senior animal protein analyst Angus Gidley-Baird said, driven by increased consumer appetite for beef due to factors including lockdown restrictions, additional disposable incomes from Covid stimulus packages and (in the case of China and African swine fever in pork) limitations on the availability of alternative proteins.

“With beef supply unable to keep up, the increase in demand has created an imbalance in the market and, as a result, beef prices have lifted,” he said.

In many cases, Mr Gidley-Baird said, the increases in retail beef prices have been among the largest in history. And, while beef prices continued to increase through 2021, prices for many other proteins remained stable or contracted.

“While price rises in beef have been dramatic, the fact they have been largely caused by consumer demand has meant they have been accommodated.  That is, consumers have been willing to pay higher prices to continue consuming beef,” he said.

Inflationary pressures on Global Beef

However, inflationary pressures are building in the beef supply chain, the report warns, with labour, freight and energy costs among the largest to see increases, along with the feed.

A number of these cost increases will be permanent and need to be “accommodated” and passed on into retail pricing, Mr Gidley-Baird said.

“Some of the cost pressures – such as freight, energy and feed – are cyclical and over time are expected to decline, allowing for some easing in 2022.  However, a number of cost increases – those associated with labour and sustainability for example – will be permanent and will need to be accommodated within the supply chain,” he said.

“Further increases in beef prices run the risk of consumers substituting other proteins or reducing their overall consumption. And we are starting to see signs they might be reaching their limit.”

Russia Ukraine

The Q1 report says the Russia Ukraine conflict is not expected to have a major impact on global beef markets, given Russia has a less prominent role in markets compared with five years ago. Russia only accounts for approximately five per cent of global beef imports with its major suppliers being Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina.

However, indirect impacts are possible.

“Increased energy, fertiliser and feed costs as a result of the conflict could all impact the beef supply chain and, with Russia and Ukraine accounting for 29 per cent of global wheat exports, any trade embargoes could pressure feed prices,” Mr Gidley-Baird said.

“The general uncertainty – along with slower global growth and inflation – could also see an erosion of consumer confidence which may result in an easing of consumer demand for beef.”

Australia

For Australia, the report says, “encouraging rains” across central, northern and eastern Australia in the first two months of 2022 will support cattle production in the largest producing states.

“After a number of dry years in northern Australia, we expect these rains to stimulate restocking and herd rebuilding, adding further producer demand to an already strong cattle market,” Mr Gidley-Baird said. “Such restocking will also support increased production in the years to come.”

Australian cattle prices remain strong, supported by ongoing producer demand for restocking, coupled with the limited availability of cattle, the report says.

Cattle processing has had a slow start for the year, with Omicron cases in the community impacting the labour force.

“For the first five weeks of 2022, east coast weekly cattle slaughter in Australia was nine per cent below the same period last year and 40 per cent below the five-year average,” Mr Gidley-Baird said.

Australian beef exports ended 2021 down 15 per cent on 2020 volumes, the report said.  The largest declines were to the US (down 31 per cent), China (down 25 per cent) and Japan (down 13 per cent).  Volumes lifted however to South Korea (up three per cent).

Live exports followed a similar trend – down 27 per cent overall, with volumes to Indonesia down 13 per cent and to Vietnam down 44 per cent.

Payments innovator QuickFee has expanded its business specifically for franchise operations, now enabling franchisees to get paid upfront while giving their customers the option to buy now and pay later using instalments with Franchise Payment Services .

The Franchise Payment Services BNPL solution, which can be white labelled, enables a range of flexible payments of up to 12 monthly instalments and represents a convenient way for franchisees to accept debit and credit card payments.

It helps franchisees grow their business by offering more payment flexibility and additional time to pay for consumers using their services.

The move follows QuickFee’s recent partnership with Jim’s Pay Plan, enabling QuickFee to offer its solution to Jim’s Group – Australia’s largest franchising family.

According to industry data, Australia’s $184 billion franchise segment comprises 1,344 networks, including over 98,000 individual franchised outlets employing more than 598,000 people.

The QuickFee solution looks to capitalise on this market by offering a simple QR code-driven payment gateway with no new hardware, software or customer application required, ensuring that franchise businesses can offer flexible payment plans to their customers very quickly.

Consumers can use the service to pay over four, six, nine or 12 months, via QR code, invoice or quote link, text to pay, or via computer, tablet or phone.

Bruce Coombes, QuickFee Australia’s Managing Director, said with the increasing awareness of BNPL options across the economy and higher demand from the franchise sector, it made sense to offer franchise businesses a tailored option for their specific needs.

“Our new Franchise Payment Services business is a strategic way for franchisees to expand their offering to consumers,” he said.

“This is well-suited to larger purchases compared to traditional BNPL products, and gives consumers confidence because it uses an already-established payment method they are familiar with, but lets them pay over time.”

QuickFee CEO Eric Lookhoff said: “Franchising is a great way for businesses to grow quickly, accessing new customers with existing brand recognition. At QuickFee, we tailored our payment solution to help franchisees increase sales, enjoy higher average transaction values, and improve customer loyalty. The franchising sector continues to expand rapidly, and we look forward to helping a wide range of businesses grow by offering the easy, fast, and secure payment solutions their customers demand.”

See Small Business Answers Guide to BNPL

As part of NSW Small Business Month and to celebrate International Women’s Day, Smartpay will be hosting an online facilitated Q&A webinar with one of Australia’s leading entrepreneurs Keira Rumble, founder and CEO of Krumbled Food

Deeply passionate about living a healthy and happy life, Keira is on a mission to truly revolutionise the health food, wellbeing and beauty industries worldwide.

“The personal and business challenges Keira has overcome will be intriguing and insightful,” says Peter Thomas, Chief Customer and People Officer at Smartpay. “We’re looking forward to learning more of Keira’s story on 7 March. The Krumbled Foods brand aligns with our own at Smartpay as we’re both solution-driven, value-adding organisations.”

In her early 20s, Keira was diagnosed as pre-diabetic (insulin resistant) and was forced to quickly change the way she was living and what she was eating. Disappointed by the lack of transparency and the availability of tasty, low sugar snacks, Keira decided she needed to do something about it, and so Krumbled Foods was born. Eight months after the launch of Beauty Bites in Australia, they became available in Coles Supermarkets and Priceline Pharmacies nationwide.

Smartpay’s In Conversation with Keira Rumble Q&A webinar will be feature Keira discussing how she built her brand and how she too started as a small business with important tips, tricks and challenges she faced along the way.

EVENT DETAILS:

Date: Monday 7 March 2022

Time: 12:30pm

ONLINE WEBINAR: Please register here.

In an industry in which men represent 78 per cent of workers, 50 per cent of the leadership team at Couriers Please (CP) are women – including three of its five state managers. Each of the female leaders is responsible for all areas of the business in their state, from the management of parcel delivery volumes, performance and recruitment, to profit and loss, process improvement and safety.

More than ever, female leaders are proving they are a force to be reckoned with, kicking goals in a challenging and complex industry and leading companies such as CP through periods of unprecedented parcel volumes – the company has seen a 15 per cent increase in year-on-year volumes since March 2020. These female leaders have also ensured the swift delivery of millions of parcels to households across the country, while also keeping essential workers safe and COVID-free across seven national depots.

Queensland State Manager Tracey Baldwin is CP’s first female and longest-serving state manager. She directs a team of 10 operational managers and is ultimately responsible for over 220 franchisees and 75 staff across five depots.

During Tracey’s tenure, Queensland has experienced a 35 per cent year-on-year growth in parcel volumes.

Thanks to Tracey’s performance, Queensland improved its linehaul utilisation by 10 per cent year-on-year, helping the state achieve a consistent 96-97 per cent rate of on-time deliveries.

Tracey says: “Safety is an important priority for me in my role, and I regularly visit each depot across the state to ensure we’re addressing any potential safety risks. For instance, I’ve championed the introduction of exclusion zones in our five depots. These zones identify high-risk areas, often where forklifts and other machinery are in use, to help reduce incidents.”

South Australia State Manager Lisa Tedstone leads a team of 35 staff and 64 franchisees in the State. One of CP’s longest-serving operational personnel, Lisa joined the company in 2009 as a customer service representative, working her way up into operational leadership roles.

Lisa’s leadership has ensured CP’s SA business consistently maintains a 96-97 per cent rate of on-time deliveries and delivers more items per courier than any other State. Since the start of the pandemic, CP’s SA business has seen close to a 40 per cent increase in parcel volumes and increased its franchisees by 36 per cent.

Lisa also helped lead numerous national programs at CP, preparing the company to deliver for the Christmas peak period, and ensuring CP continued adapting during the pandemic while the company experienced its highest parcel volumes. Lisa onboarded the company’s new scanner devices nationally to all drivers, enabling customer delivery notifications to be sent and including route optimisation for faster parcel delivery.

West Australian State Manager Kristy Wright leads a team of 20 staff and 60 drivers, 10 of which are small-business franchisees. Kristy has 15 years experience in the logistics industry, having fallen in love with the industry after starting her career as a courier driver. During Kristy’s tenure, WA experienced unprecedented parcel volumes – including a 30 per cent increase in the Christmas peak period, the busiest Christmas she has seen in her career.

Kristy says: “I’m very proud to be part of the team at CP. It’s the first time in my management career that female leaders outnumber male leaders. I’ve achieved enormous improvements in productivity and performance – including on-time deliveries – and we now have the highest staff engagement rates since I’ve started. I anticipate that we will continue experiencing exponential growth over the next two years.”