Save the date!

More information to follow soon, for any queries in the mean time please get in touch with either Sara or Toby on the emails below:

[email protected]
[email protected]

Our brand new and exciting ‘Opportunities 2012’ event on 15 March, which brought buyers and suppliers together under one roof at Norwich City Football Club, was a huge success.

With over 70 exhibitors over two floors, both the Top of the Terrace and the Norfolk Lounge were full with stands. Feedback during the day from exhibitors was that the event had a real buzz and presented them with a great opportunity to showcase their innovative products and services to the business community.

Exhibitors tried to be as eye catching as possible by having interactive stands or great giveaways. Bramley Lakes received a lot of attentions by bringing an off-road segway vehicle in for demonstration as part of their team building days, and Kinnerton were handing out free chocolate samples…always a popular choice! In addition to the exhibitors, there were a series of ‘drop in’, bitesize, topical workshops. Each workshop was aimed at improving and enhancing business knowledge with practical, take-home advice. The most popular proved to be based on the subject of social media, with Duncan Johnson from Yodelay delivering a workshop on Social Engine Optimisation and Sean Clark from Soak Social filling us in on the 10 most effective ways to use social media in business.

The resounding success of the day was the Open4Business/Meet the Buyer event – where local companies booked one-to-one appointments with key procurement officers and buyers from a range of both public and private sector companies to pitch their products and services. The 29 buyers, including Bernard Matthews, QD and Wherry Housing, created an amazing 569 appointments, of which over 89% were booked!

A big thank you to everyone who sponsored, supported and attended the event. The day was clear proof that Norfolk is buying and selling and hugely positive about taking advantage of every business opportunity.

The weather stayed dry and warm for the Chamber’s Summer Social held at Costessey Park Golf Club on July 12, allowing attendees to have a delicious BBQ, enjoy a glass of Pimms on the patio and make full use of the excellent golfing facilities.

There were a number of different networking activities on offer throughout the evening, including a tutored wine tasting, hosted by Brian Sullivan of HarperWells who brought three ‘cheeky’ wines to taste from his exquisite collection. There was also a putting competition, won by Active Norfolk’s George Webster and a ‘Beat the Pro’ competition, where delegates competed against Costessey’s Junior Pro as to who could get nearest to the green on the first hole, won by Adam Beeney of Sprowston Manor.

Three 60 Second Spotlight speakers also managed to profile their company against the clock, with attendees hearing about The Forum Trust, I Want More Sales and Winsor Bishop.

The relaxed and informal atmosphere of the Summer Social provided the perfect environment for business networking and making great connections, but don’t just take our word for it:

• @NorfolkAmy “Great event tonight, the combo of golf, wine and networking worked surprisingly well!”
• AishaKhan123 “Fantastic evening @norfolkchmber event tonight – thank you!”
• Lambda_Alex “Had a great evening at the #ChamberSummerSocial. Definitely enjoyed the @HarperWells wine-tasting”

Photos of the highlights from the event can be found on the Norfolk Chamber’s Facebook & Google Plus pages.

Our next evening social networking event is Look the Business: Fashion, Beauty & Business the John Lewis Way – Get you and your business ‘bang on trend’ by hearing the story of John Lewis’ success from their Operations Manager, Lesley George. Plus a skincare and make-up demo and fashion workshop showcasing business dress trends for men and women, plus the opportunity to network and do business in a relaxed atmosphere. For full details click here.

Join us at Pensthorpe Nature Reserve for a morning of networking and enjoy a bacon roll while we hear from Ben Marshall who is the General Manager at Pensthorpe. We will also be given a tour of Pensthorpe

Agenda

• Arrivals & Networking

• Bacon Rolls and Pastries with tea and coffee

• Welcome from the Chamber and Ben Marshall

• Norfolk Chambers of Commerce AGM

•  Tour of Pensthorpe

•  Finish

During this event our annual AGM will take place so here is the serious bit that we have to say..

Notice is hereby given that the 127th Annual General Meeting of the Norfolk Chambers of Commerce will be held at Pensthorpe Nature Reserve Pensthorpe Rd, Fakenham NR21 0LN on Thursday 2nd November 2023

Should you have any questions on the financials, please email your questions to the Company Secretary: [email protected].

AGM Papers

126th AGM Minutes – 24 Nov 22

AGM Agenda – 02 Nov 23

Norfolk Chambers Financials 22-23

Proxy Form 2023

RSVP Form 2023

Chamber Stimulates Debate for Norfolk Businesses

The Heathrow Airport – One Hub or None debate landed in Norwich this morning with a business breakfast at Caistor Hall Hotel. In collaboration with the British Chamber of Commerce and Heathrow Airport, delegates from across Norfolk were invited to listen to the debate and discuss this topical issue at a local level.

Clare Harbord, Corporate Affairs Director at Heathrow Airport started the morning by presenting the recent research carried out by Heathrow. Clare explained that a ‘hub’ is ‘an airport where local passengers combine with transfer passengers to allow airlines to fly to more destinations more often than could be supported by local demand alone’. She stressed that this was the last opportunity to really open the UK up to the rest of the world and vice versa. With planes leaving Heathrow every 45 seconds, they are currently operating at a 98% capacity and need to expand to meet the growing needs of business.

A response was then given by Mark Gaskins, Business Development Director at Lawtronic. This centered on local businesses wanting and needing to grow their global repeat business. He argued that connectivity was key to growing business, face to face meetings are still the most effective way of making connections and the ‘growth mentality’ Heathrow is suggesting should be taken up by all businesses to ensure a successful future for the UK.

In their response the Chamber put the needs of Norfolk businesses first and opened the floor for debate. A heated and constructive group conversation followed with issues being raised about delegation of flight slots, protection of wildlife and the impact of the proposed hub on Norfolk as a whole.

The Heathrow research can be found here;

https://mediacentre.heathrowairport.com/Press-releases/One-hub-or-none-390.aspx

This free, informal event is a great opportunity to meet the memebership team and network with some other businesses over a coffee. You will be able to find out about how the Norfolk Chamber can help you grow and develop your business in 2013 and beyond.

Join us for a coffee and you will be able to find out about how the Norfolk Chamber can help you grow and develop your business. Whether you are looking for new sales leads, networking opportunities or to raise your profile, this will give you a chance to learn about the benefits, meet the Membership team and find out how our services can save you money

Venue: Dunston Hall Hotel, Norwich

Free to attend!

However, if this date is inconvenient for you then we would welcome a chance to set up meeting for you at a convenient time at the Chamber to discuss how we can support your business.

To attend or set up a meeting please email Jessica Coburn, part of our Membership team, on [email protected]

Simply email the names of the delegates you wish to come and your company name and number of employees and we will book you on to attend. You will receive a confirmation email once your place has been booked

‘Want to know more about the Norfolk Chamber and the benefits to membership?’

If you’re not a member and you’re interested in finding out who we are and what we can do for your business then, come along to our free informal ‘Meet the Chamber’ event which is a great way to meet the team, and some of our members, and learn about how the Chamber can help your business be even more successful.

You will be able to find out about how the Norfolk Chamber can help you grow and develop your business. Whether you are looking for new sales leads, networking opportunities or to raise your profile, this will give you a chance to learn about the benefits, meet the Membership team and find out how our services can save you money

Venue: Vodka Revolution, 6 Queen Street, Norwich, NR2 4TL

Parking: Elm Hill Car Park 32A Elm Hill, Norwich NR3 1HG OR Castle Mall Car Park

Free to attend!

However, if this date is inconvenient for you then I would welcome a chance to set up meeting for you and Chris Perry, at a convenient time and place to discuss how we can support your business.

To attend please email our Membership Assistant Katie Downes: [email protected]

Simply email the names of the delegates you wish to come and your company name and we will book you on to attend. You will receive a confirmation email once your place has been booked

After Hours: Talk, Taste & Tapas

A sunny evening saw over fifty members attending the first in a new series of early evening networking events. After Hours: Talk, Taste & Tapas took place in the impressive surroundings of The Library Restaurant in the heart of Norwich city centre, with a distinctly Spanish feel, members enjoyed an array of sumptuous tapas along with their welcome drink.

The informal networking activity, ‘Who Am I?’ broke the ice with delegates finding themselves with a mystery celebrity name. Once in their groups, and only asking yes or no questions, they had to find out who they were!

With a too close to call decision, two teams shared the prize and the next part of the evening was upon us. Splitting the delegates into two groups, with one free to network while the other group were taken to a special tasting room, where Jayne Raffles from The Library Restaurant presented a delicious sampling of four sherries along with toasted almonds, prawn & red onion fritters, crostini and a chocolate mousse to enhance the tasting experience.

At the event we also welcomed new members Nurture Financial Planning, represented by Richard Moore to their first event.

A great way to start our After Hours series of informal networking events, here’s what some attendees said:

“Good networking event last night orginised by @norfolkchamber Met lots of nice people at #TalkTasteTaapas. Who ate all the Tapas?” – @rtoddinsurance

“Lovely food at #afterhours event by @norfolkchamber” – @TTB_AngleClaire

If you would like to attend our next early evening event – Look The Business on 26th September click here

On a Thursday 11 September over 70 members from across Norfolk joined us at the beautiful venue of Great Yarmouth Town Hall for a breakfast on the topic of sell responsibly, get results.

There was a really positive atmosphere in the room from the delegates networking and making new connections. This followed throughout the morning during the networking icebreaker, breakfast & safari move.

Host, John Morse, president of the Great Yarmouth Chamber Council started the morning off and introduced the sponsor Business in the Community who said a few words about their mentoring scheme for new business and entrepreneurs.

This followed through to breakfast and networking and delegates got to meet a whole new table of contacts through our safari move.

It was then time to hear from Nicola Badley, Environment and Procurement Officer of Blue Sky Leisure who told the delegates how Blue Sky Leisure ensured they used only local suppliers and gave back to the community. This has lead to them winning a multitude of awards including EDP Business of the Year Award 2013.

To conclude the event we heard from NBC Bird & Pest Solutions Managing Director, John Dickson who used his business as a case study of how being a responsible business and community support can help to build strong successful businesses.

To view more photo’s from this event visit our Facebook or Google+ page.

Sponsored by: Event Featured Charity: