As always lots going on here at Advo. Here are some of our July highlights…
New 2026 Brochures and Sales Leaflets
Our 2026 brochure has been updated. We have also updated our sales leaflets for both HR and Payroll; designed as an introduction to our services for potential new clients
You can view the updated 2026 Brochure HERE.
Advo’s World Cup: Raising Money & Having fun
It’s Home! Advo’s Staff World Cup Final raised money and lots of fun.
Above: Scenes from the ‘Penalty Shoot Out’
This was our main summer staff event with three teams fighting it out for the winner’s trophy through a series of football challenges. Our hydration break was an afternoon tea. Our thanks to our neighbours, The London City Lionesses for the loan of pitch and equipment. Not sure any of us would merit a try out! You can read more about the day HERE
Advo’s HR Team
There has been a substantial upturn in the team’s ad-hoc work supporting clients through a range of circumstances such as supporting internal grievances, litigation, redundancy, auditing of employee records and training programmes. Our clients ask us as we are independent and it helps to demonstrate that decisions are fair, objective and based on the evidence rather than personal opinions.
In addition there were a number of client training programmes this month including an increase in the demand for sexual harassment training since the new legislation came into force putting more onus on employers. The picture above is Jess Hall who attended the client site and delivered training to employees in the morning and then the afternoon with over 12 managers. Later in the same week she delivered training to over 25 remote engineers. Her Manager, Jenni Welch commented “Jess did the most amazing job in getting them [the engineers] to understand the importance of their training. She handled it so professionally and with dignity, Jess should be very proud of herself”.
The HR Team are increasingly delivering this training as employers now have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace and providing sexual harassment training is one of the most important ways of demonstrating compliance with this duty. If a claim is lodged, the Employment Tribunal will now consider what preventative measures the employer had in place. Where an employer has failed to take reasonable steps, e.g. meaningful training, the Tribunal can increase any award by up to 25%.
The training also help employees understand what constitutes sexual harassment, including less obvious behaviours such as unwanted comments, jokes, messages or conduct that creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.
So, sexual harassment training is no longer simply regarded as good practice, it is an employer’s legal obligation to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.
As an Advo client you have access to a wide range of essential staff and management training. Just reach out to your Advo account manager for more information.
Advo’s Payroll Team
Vicki Connelly attained her Level 3 Payroll Technician qualification, after passing the three exams. This allows her to add ACIPP after her name! Congratulations Vicki. Advo encourages, supports and pays for staff to achieve professional qualifications.
Vicki Connelly ACIPP
In addition to managing their own individual portfolios and onboarding new clients, the team were still working on P11D submissions for several hundred clients who approached us for help. From a payroll perspective, completing a P11D is far more than simply entering figures. It’s gathering information on all benefits and expenses, reviewing to determine which items are reportable and treated correctly for tax purposes, calculating taxable benefits, checking payroll records, preparing individual P11Ds forms, preparing P11D(b) and of course thoroughly checking all calculations before submission to minimise any risk of errors and HMRC penalties.
Advo’s IT Team
Big News for Cobdown House! We’ve completed a major implementation to our business technology infrastructure with the installation of a 10Gb internet connection and a private 10Gb network backbone. This investment means tenants will have access to enterprise-class connectivity, flexible internet speeds up to 1Gbps, managed networking services and on-site IT expertise—all from the convenience of Cobdown House. It’s another step in our commitment to providing one of the best-connected business centres in Kent. The Cobdown House basement has been transformed to include a hermetically sealed room to host a new server room that not only supports Advo but Cobdown House and up to 10 further businesses while giving WIFI coverage throughout the site.
In July the development team moved forward with new innovations on our next generation HR & Payroll system. Work continues behind the scenes on Cobdown House’s new events and meeting room booking and payment systems.
More next month we hope to expand on how our IT and HR teams are working with AI to enhance the service delivery to clients.
Advo Estates Team
The Estates & facilities team have a wide remit. Not only managing the varied needs of the Cobdown estate, which exceeds 10 acres, managing existing buildings and their day-to-day operations, but also overseeing the main house restoration.
Above: ‘Woman of Steel’ – Not all Advonians wear capes! – Advo’s Estates & Facilities Manager, Cricket Brookfield on the roof of the events area that is being transformed into an Orangery. In the background is Cobdown House’s Gate House Cottage.
Cobdown House: July Build Update
Renovations inside the main house continue at an increasing pace as parts move to the final stages. (Above) Wall lights painted, one of the two main staircases gets a new look, painting and flooring completed upstairs and an overview of the new steel Orangery frame. The new floor in the Events entrance is finally fully revealed after covered with a concrete screed for over 50 years. This appears to have preserved the original outside flooring as it is in near perfect condition.
You can read more about Cobdown’s hidden history on the Cobdown House News site HERE.
There is still quite a bit to do but the original parts of the house are nearing completion moving onto final touches such as the feature lighting. It has been a challenge to maintain original elegance while understanding practicalities of the transformation into high-end offices.
Final designs for the Orangery were ‘signed off’ by the local Buildings Control officer who expressed admiration of the quality or work and care taken in the restoration.
To the rear of Cobdown House the original Annexes’ car park is being extended. There are Tree Preservation orders (TPOs) around the carpark and so we must be careful and limits what can be done. To the rear of Cobdown House in 1930 a hostel was built to accommodate employees of the Reed paper Mills. Its foundations can still be seen. It appears when demolished the rubble was just piled up beside the boundary with Cobdown Wood. By removing this and ivy and brambles a much larger space has been revealed.
One interesting discover was part of a Victorian plate (1820-1860) (above). You can just imagine someone dropping the plate while having their cucumber sandwiches in what was the rear garden.
In August the Orangery build continues and in the house flooring, lighting, Wi-Fi ports and door access controls added as move into the final phases in the original parts of the house.
A bit of Monday Morning Nonsense…
Advo has established traditions dating back to the pandemic with staff Friday update emails and a Monday ‘Start to the Week’ email. For the last couple of years the Monday Morning email has the message to pause, relax, have a tea or coffee, and catch up with colleagues before starting a busy week. The emails called ‘Art & Coffee’ take a famous painting and say how much better it could have been if starting the week with a coffee first thing on a Monday morning. Here are a few from the last few month’s ‘reimaginings’.
How many did you recognise?