Six months on: what we’ve learned about creating a great business offsite
Six months ago, we opened the doors to The Grain Barn at Sandon Manor. At the time, we talked about what we hoped the space would become.
How’s your Health & Safety management looking?
Health & Safety arrangements tend to build over time.
A policy gets written. Risk assessments are completed. Training is booked. Fire safety arrangements are put in place.
PhiZ & Co. At RARESummit 2026: Starting a conversation
We're excited to be attending RARESummit 2026 this October, where we'll be exhibiting, meeting new and familiar faces, and running a creative workshop alongside Carina Thurgood, founder of The Maddi Foundation.
Candidates need clearer interviews too
A strong interview answer is not just a story. It is evidence of judgement, action and impact.
Candidates are facing a harder hiring market.
Giving nature more space: The rewilding story at Sandon Manor
At Sandon Manor, our relationship with the surrounding landscape has changed considerably over the past few years. What was once predominantly agricultural land is gradually becoming a richer, more diverse environment where nature is being given the space and time to recover.
Your visitor has landed. Now what? Planning international arrivals to Cambridge
Somewhere over the Atlantic right now, a visiting researcher is trying to work out how to get from Heathrow to Cambridge. They have a hotel name, a meeting at nine tomorrow morning, and a phone that may not connect as expected when they land.
Still running Windows 10? – Why you’re putting your business at risk
Windows 10 reached the end of Microsoft support in October last year, which means – unless you’re splashing out on ESU – it no longer gets essential security updates.
Automation and optimisation: How POLATIS® optical circuit switching is enhancing network test laboratories
In today’s rapidly evolving business climate, the ability to automate test infrastructure and resources is essential.
AI will not fix hiring teams that still run weak interviews
AI can make hiring faster. It cannot make a weak interview process fair, structured or evidence-led by default.
AI is already changing how internal recruitment teams work.
After the funding round: how to build the foundations for sustainable growth
Securing investment is a significant milestone for any business.
For an early-stage life sciences company, it may mean moving from scientific validation towards commercialisation.
Beyond the boardroom: Why multi-day offsites give teams space to think
For busy leadership teams, finding time to step away from day-to-day operations and focus on the bigger picture can be difficult.
Business Airport Transfers in Cambridge: Why electric makes sense
Business travel from Cambridge tends to fail in the same few ways: a car that doesn't turn up, a price that changes on the day, or a driver who's gone by the time you clear baggage reclaim. None of those are about the vehicle — they're about how the service is run.
How to interview when the role will change before the person starts
In a startup, you are not only hiring for the role in front of you. You are hiring for the role it may become.
Startup roles rarely stay still.
Stop hiring heroes but build a repeatable interview system instead.
A scaling company cannot rely on heroic judgement. It needs repeatable evidence.
Every founder wants people who can raise the level of the company.
Does AI increase imposter syndrome?
I am often asked whether the use of AI increases imposter syndrome (also more accurately called imposter phenomenon) - that sense of not being good enough, feeling undeserving of success or that you don't belong. In truth, the short answer is "we don't know". But I suspect that it might...
The Race to the bottom: Why competing on price is a losing game
Some products live or die on one question: is it cheaper than the alternative?
When the answer is yes, you have a commodity, not a product.
Interview Confidence: How to Prepare, Present, and Follow Up Like a Pro
You know that feeling when you leave an interview and immediately start replaying every answer in your head? Did I talk too much? Should I have mentioned that example? Did they like me?
Mental Health First Aid training: Learning Across Roles, Levels and Organisations
Coming back to the office after the summer break can be a great time for forward planning and embedding positive behaviours. It can allow opportunities to revisit workplace well being in the run up to Christmas.
The Invisible Curriculum: How Are Your Managers Really Learning to Manage?
Most organisations would never put someone into a specialist technical role and simply hope they worked out how to do it.
Yet we do something remarkably similar with management.
Is it cheaper to park at the airport or book a transfer?
It's worth being straight about this: if you're travelling alone or as a couple for two or three days, driving to Heathrow and parking is usually the cheaper option on paper. Long-stay parking booked well in advance is hard to beat on price alone.
Remote-first hiring only works when the interview process is structured
Remote-first hiring only works when hiring managers know what to assess, what to ask and what evidence to capture.
Remote-first startups have a clear advantage.
A Green Guide to Airport Transfers from Cambridgeshire
Getting from Cambridgeshire to a London airport isn't short. Heathrow is roughly 90 minutes, Gatwick closer to two hours, and every option you choose carries a different environmental cost.
Your values page is not your culture
A startup’s culture is not what it says on the values page. It is what happens when pressure, trade-offs and hiring decisions arrive.
Most startup values sound the same.
Generalists help startups start but specialists help them scale.
Generalists are often the reason a startup gets moving. They are not always the people who can carry every function through scale.
Early startups need generalists.
QR Code scams – how to protect yourself and your business
What is a QR code scam?
Simply put – a QR code scam is the same as a phishing attack – it just uses a QR code that you scan, instead of coaxing you into clicking a link.