Proeon have been busy over the last year ensuring we meet our customers needs/requirements. We did also manage to fit in the filming (in-between the various lockdowns and observing all government restrictions of course) of our new Company Video.
Proeon pleased to share our new company video, showcasing information on our people, skills, expertise, services and products.
Find out how we can work with you in a variety of industry sectors developing complex and critical applications to meet exacting client requirements.
Thank you to Ink Shark for their expert assistance in filming and editing our video.
Watch our Video on the home page of our website: proeon.co.uk
Efforts to segregate more recycling at Greater Anglia’s Crown Point rail depot in Norwich have helped to improve the company’s overall rate of recycling.
A whopping 1,600kg of mixed recycling such as cardboard, plastic bottles and cans, has been collected since January as the train operator works to become even more sustainable.
This is equivalent to the amount of waste produced by an average household in a year.
Overall the company seeks to recycle as much waste as possible. However this can sometimes be challenging due to the nature of waste produced from the railway which is often non-recyclable or considered “contaminated” if mixed with food, liquid or non-recyclable items.
The company has encouraged all depot users to think about changes they could make to improve recycling and has implemented changes that have boosted recycling in just a few weeks.
Stephanie Evans, Greater Anglia’s Environment and Energy Manager, said: “Rail is already the greenest form of transport and we are working hard behind the scenes, together with the rest of the industry, to reduce our impact and move towards net zero.
“More initiatives like this will help us to reach our recycling targets as we strive to become even more sustainable, reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency across our trains, stations and depots.”
Greater Anglia is currently reviewing all waste produced across its network and plans to implement similar initiatives at other key locations and depots.
Train operator, Greater Anglia, has launched an online virtual tour of Norwich rail station to help people travel with confidence – which is especially useful for disabled customers wanting to check how accessible their journey is.
The tour has been designed to support journey planning, give customers a clearer picture of the station before they travel and reduce anxiety about how they’ll get around from car park to platform.
Using the virtual station tour, people can find out how to get to all public areas of the station including the toilets, customer service desk, platforms and anywhere else they might need to visit at the station such as car parks or drop off areas – making it easier for them to plan their journey in advance.
Detailed 360 degree photography has been used to map the station, capturing all public spaces, which people can navigate virtually even visiting the toilet or the waiting room before going to the platform. Aerial photography and an interactive map has also been used to show the location of all the customer facilities in relation to each other.
Members of Greater Anglia’s Accessibility Panel, a group of disabled customers who meet regularly with the train company, offered feedback during the development of the project and have been supportive of the project.
The web-based online virtual tour offers autopilot or manual choices for navigating the station, an interactive map to see the entire station layout with ‘hot spot’ links to specific areas of the station.
There is an aerial view showing the car park, cycle parking, bus stop and taxi rank / drop off location.
Key features such as tactile paving – textured paving on the edge of platforms – assisted travel meeting points and toilets and individual platforms can also be navigated to directly through a drop-down menu system.
The ‘autopilot’ tool gives users the option of selecting their destination location within the station and being automatically guided to it or if preferred through a series of clicks.
The technology was provided by The Virtual Tour company and the tours software has been designed to be accessible.
A spoken scene guide with closed captions plays on the home page at the station entrance and it features an accessibility widget that enables the user to change to high contrast, large font size or audio transcribe. Future developments will look at incorporating British Sign Language videos as part of Greater Anglia’s commitment to improving customer information.
Greater Anglia’s Accessibility Manager, Rebecca Richardson, said, “The idea was to create a tool for customers to assist them with their journey planning and reduce the anxiety about whether the station would create any accessibility barriers. We want to give people who may not have travelled by rail for a while or maybe not at all, to do so with confidence.
“We are committed to making rail more accessible and providing quality information to enable more informed journey planning.
Neil Henderson, Managing Director of Virtual Tour Experts, said, “We’ve really enjoyed working on this project to create a number of industry firsts. The world of VR is developing fast but until now that development has not given due consideration to online accessibility.
“This tour is the World’s first to incorporate an accessibility widget, guided tours, subtitled scene guides and there is much more to come. The user-first attitude of the team at Greater Anglia provided the perfect base for development and will ensure the platform continues to evolve.”
The company is creating 360-degree virtual tours for ten of its busiest stations.
Cambridge was the first to go live in December 2021 with Bishops Stortford, Broxbourne, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Shenfield, Southend Victoria and Stansted Airport to follow.
(May, 2016) In a competitive move to enhance Aston Shaw’s service offering, highly experienced Finance Director, Justin Lavery, has been appointed to head up the firm’s new corporate finance department. This is a big step for Aston Shaw and signals a strategic transition towards becoming a firm that offers the complete range of financial and business services.
Justin joins Aston Shaw with 26 years experience in corporate finance, and has extensive knowledge of a wide range of both industry standard and niche finance and insurance related products. Justin’s career has seen him fill a number of Director and senior roles within the B2B funding arena, during which he amassed a proven track record for delivering quantifiable results.
Commenting on his new appointment, Justin says: “I’m thrilled to join the team at Aston Shaw. It’s a dynamic, ambitious and forward-thinking firm that’s dedicated to making a difference to its clients – no matter what their size of business. In-line with the firm’s strong ethos of client care – I take the same diligent, hands-on approach, keeping clients informed throughout the process and explaining things in simple, straightforward terms.”
Justin’s relationships with niche lenders alongside his tenacious approach towards dealing with each individual case in order to place even the most challenging finance applications, sets the Corporate Finance Team in good stead to support applications for both new start-up businesses and established businesses alike. The new services offered by the Corporate Finance Division include, but are not limited to:
Development Funding
Redevelopment Funding
Re-Finance
Bridging
Asset Finance
Invoice Finance
Peer to Peer Lending
Professional Funding
Aston Shaw would like to formally welcome Justin Lavery to the team; we wish him every success here at the firm and hope he enjoys working to further expand East Anglia’s fastest growing accountancy firm.
Exciting news from Isle Architects, I am delighted to have been asked to Chair the RIBA East Conservation Group, the first meeting taking place later this month. The Group’s mission is to bring new knowledge and support to local conservation architects and members with an interest in conservation – bridging the gap between local and national committees and initiatives.
This short course by Bigfork is for people who have never set up an Adwords campaign before or who want a refresher. Most Adwords campaigns are not set up properly, which can cost your business time and money.
You will learn the basics required toset up and run an Adwords campaign effectively, includingsetting up an Adwords account, keyword research and management, linking to Google Analytics, how to write successful ads and more.
Where?Henderson Business Centre,51 Ivy Road, Norwich, NR5 8BF
A Taverham-based financial services firm and a Watton-based house builder have come together to plant a tree – the first of 100 trees which will be planted in a new joint initiative with Royal Norwich.
Mark Burton from MCB Financial Services and Paul LeGrice from Abel Homes conducted the planting ceremony, at Royal Norwich’s new course at Weston Longville.
The occasion came after MCB Financial Services provided a Green mortgage for a couple buying a new home at Abel Homes Swan’s Nest site in Swaffham.
MCB Financial Services has pledged to plant a new tree at Royal Norwich each time they complete a Green Mortgage, which offers buyers preferential mortgage terms on properties which are ‘A’ or ‘B’ rated for energy efficiency.
The initiative, which aims to plant a total of 100 trees at Royal Norwich, is designed to raise awareness of Green mortgage products becoming more readily available to consumers who are seeking more energy efficient homes.
MCB Financial Services is working closely with Watton-based Abel Homes, all of whose new homes are ‘A’ rated and thus eligible for Green mortgages.
Mark Burton, managing director of MCB Financial Services, said, “As a financial services company that has been established throughout Norfolk for near on 20 years, we are thrilled to have partnered with both Royal Norwich and Abel Homes in highlighting such an important and current topic, marked by the tree planting project for 2022.
“I feel it is very much our responsibility, as a local business which works within the financial services sector, to make our clients fully aware of how they can play their part in striving to become more climate aware, and I hope with this partnership with Royal Norwich we will be able to play our part in shaping the landscape that we all live and work amongst in Norfolk”
Mr LeGrice added, “The benefits of buying an energy efficient home are very clear, both in terms of mitigating soaring energy costs, and in minimising the impact of homes on the environment.
“Green Mortgages are another way that buyers of sustainable homes can benefit from their positive choice, and this initiative to plant trees to raise the awareness of Green Mortgages is an excellent idea which we wholeheartedly support.”
“We’re delighted to be supporting this scheme and partnering with MCB Financial Services on sustainability and the long-term fight against climate change,” said James Stanley, chief executive of Royal Norwich.
“With every tree planted enough to offset around a tonne of carbon in its lifetime, the planting of over 100 trees at Royal Norwich by Green Mortgage customers will not only further enhance our beautiful 350-acre estate by creating even more special wildlife habitats, but also help significantly reduce homeowners’ very own carbon footprint.”
MCB and Royal Norwich aim to plant the 100 trees this year, as a landscape environment project, demonstrating their commitment as partners in promoting sustainability and climate awareness in the local community and across the county.
I am working with many companies on their VAT submissions and over the last couple of months have encountered a few areas of concern with Postponed Import VAT Accounting (PIVA).
There are many companies that do not know that they are using PIVA
In my experience they are usually SME’s who have only ever traded with EU countries, who are below the Instrastat threshold, predominantly use couriers, do not have their own deferment account & believe the free trade agreement means there is no change to VAT. When they don’t get a VAT bill from the couriers, it’s not a surprise.
‘Helpfully’ couriers have amended their T&C’s to default to using PIVA unless otherwise advised. Many companies use small accountancy firms to file their returns and they seem to be unaware of this reporting requirement. We advise that companies who haven’t been invoiced import VAT to check via this link to see if they have been using PIVA.
Please note in order to access statements, you will be asked to register with CDS through the government gateway. It’s a quick process and registration with CDS will soon be required anyway, when declarations move from HMRC’s CHIEF system to CDS.
There are companies out there that are using PIVA when importing items for re-work, repair or servicing
This is happening when EU customers send items via a courier to the UK company quoting the GB EORI number of the UK repair company and the courier imports them into Home Use (CPC 40*) and puts G in box 47b to use PIVA to account for the VAT. When filling in the PIVA return the accountant lifts the VAT value from the PIVA statements and enters the value in both boxes 1 and 4 therefore incorrectly reclaiming the import VAT. We advise that to negate the VAT liability companies should use Inward Processing. For frequent importers (above three times a year) this involves obtainingInward Processing Authorisation from HMRC.
Infrequent can use Inward Processing authorisation by Declaration IPabD. You will need a guarantee and to follow the disposal rules submitting a bill of discharge, in order to discharge the VAT and duty liability of the imported goods.
There is more to say on PIVA, I will follow up with further information and advice shortly. If your business is affected by any of these issues, I can help,please email me
The vast array of career routes in the heritage sector were at the forefront of a major two-day conference held at East Norfolk Sixth Form College (EN) on the 2nd and 3rd March 2022.
Supported by funding from Historic England and in partnership with the Great Yarmouth High Street Heritage Action Zone scheme, over 700 students from EN and local primary and secondary schools took part in over 40 different activities ranging from willow weaving and stone masonry to boat building and heritage art. Students also attended talks and workshops covering a wide range of careers in the heritage sector and local heritage and renovation projects. There were also a number of universities from across the UK on hand to advise and inspire students about the opportunities open to them.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council run the High Street Heritage Action Zone in partnership, with Historic England and Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust. It involves local people in repairing, conserving and building a better understanding of the area’s historic buildings and sites. This supports regeneration and recovery, conserving buildings and creating new facilities and giving people new skills.
The Great Yarmouth HSHAZ is a 4-year project with a theme of skills and employability, being highlighted and promoted through the various works and heritage projects taking place across the borough. These include training in traditional craft and construction skills, heritage research and development of critical skills with an emphasis on employment opportunities. As a HSHAZ community engagement partner, EN recognised the scheme as an excellent way to improve opportunities for work experience, future employment, apprenticeships and education.
EN Deputy Principal, Dr Simon Fox, said “When we heard about the opportunity to get involved in the project and lead on the production of a completely new Heritage Careers conference for Great Yarmouth, we were really excited. We are incredibly passionate about our local area and community and we recognise the pivotal role heritage plays in Great Yarmouth and Gorleston. The conference seemed the ideal way to promote that appreciation, get more young people interested in careers in the heritage sector and celebrate the amazing skills and trades which could too easily be forgotten.”
Joe Warburton, East of England High Street Heritage Action Zone Project Officer, Historic England said: “This was such a fantastic and engaging event. It was wonderful for my Historic England colleagues and I to chat to so many students about our work and to answer questions. Inspiring interest in craft skills and developing opportunities for heritage careers is an important part of the Great Yarmouth High Street Heritage Action Zone. We really feel that spark has been ignited at this conference and we’re delighted to see that there are more events planned.”
Cllr Carl Smith, leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council, said: “This was a great opportunity for young people to hear all about the wide range of careers available in the heritage sector. Thanks to Historic England and the support and funding we receive from them regarding our High Street Heritage Action Zone area, Great Yarmouth has plenty of exciting projects to be a part of until the scheme ends in 2024.”
Students taking part in the activities thoroughly enjoyed the experience and were really appreciative of the opportunities on offer and the generous time that the various exhibitors committed to the event. The feedback reflected the core aims of the conference. To inspire, excite and enthuse young people about heritage careers.
“It’s been amazing! I’ve always wanted to give woodcarving a go but have never had the opportunity to try it so I’m really excited to be able to have a go now and get stuck in and try something new! I think this could become a new hobby for the future!”
“We listened to the Careers in History talk and it was really interesting! We heard about preserving our heritage, careers and how history is all around us, it’s inspired me to have a look into some different careers I haven’t thought about before.”
A fantastic collaboration between East Norfolk Sixth Form College and local primary schools has led to an eye-catching sculpture capturing all that is great about Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and the local area.
In preparation for the Break GoGo Dino summer trail, EN launched a competition in September last year for children to create a design for the college’s GoGo Dinosaur. The children were given a brief to come up with designs that captured everything that is good in our local area and encouraged to think about the past, present and future including landscapes, rich history and diverse industries.
A total of 252 entries were received from 13 local primary schools and were then judged by EN Principal Dr Catherine Richards and Art Faculty Lead Lyndsay Carlyon. Five designs in the Year 5 and 6 categories were chosen as overall winners. Not only will those children see their designs come to life on the GoGo trail in the summer, but they also received an art workshop and art resources too. The five overall winning designs were creatively brought together into one final design by Fine Art students at East Norfolk and then painted by those students.
In January 2022, a second competition was launched to name the dinosaur. The children who were highly commended in the first competition got the chance to submit names. They were then shortlisted by the Principal who chose her favourite five before going to a public vote. A total of 623 votes were cast and the T-Rex has officially been named as Sandy Fisher won.
Faculty Lead for Arts at EN, Lyndsay Carlyon, said “This has been a fantastic community art project that has demonstrated the creative flair and imagination of children within our community. Our T-Rex design is comprised of five designs from an incredible 252 entries. AS Fine Art students from EN have painted the T-Rex and helped to bring the imagination of the children’s designs to life and celebrates the diverse and rich landscapes within in Gorleston, Great Yarmouth and surrounding areas.”
The sculptures will take to the streets of Norwich from Monday 27th June until Saturday 10th September and will encourage explorers of all ages to have fun and learn more about the county, while simultaneously working to raise awareness and vital funds for the Break charity and the vulnerable children and young people they support. Supporting children and young people on the edge of care, in care and leaving care, Break believes that every child, no matter their start in life, deserves a bright future. Starting by building and earning trust, and then providing opportunities for young people to engage with, Break’s aim is to walk with those they support on the way to independence. And the support doesn’t stop there, a lifeline offer means the charity is there whenever and wherever they’re needed. break-charity.org
GoGoDiscover is delivered by East Anglia based children’s charity Break, in partnership with Wild in Art. The Presenting Partners are Norwich BID, Chantry Place and ROARR! Dinosaur Adventure. From 27 June – 10 September 2022, 80 T.rex and Steppe Mammoth sculptures, each individually designed by an artist and sponsored by a business and 100 mini Breakasaurus T.rex decorated by a school or community group will roam the streets of Norwich and Norfolk forming a fun, free and family-friendly trail across Norwich and Norfolk. By fundraising during the trail, putting £1 into a collection pot when collecting your trail map or buying a sculpture at the auction on 28 September, GoGoDiscover supporters allow Break to deliver services giving children and young people on the edge of care, in care and leaving care the best chance of a bright future. break-charity.org/gogodiscover
Norfolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner Giles Orpen-Smellie today launches his Police, Crime and Community Safety Plan for 2022-24.
The plan represents the PCC’s commitment to Norfolk residents about how their policing service will be delivered and managed as well as the provision of support for victims, crime prevention work and extensive partnership working that brings together services, and priorities safety for every resident in the county.
For the first time, the plan brings together the PCC’s Police and Crime Plan and the priorities within the Norfolk County Community Safety Partnership’s Safer Norfolk Plan, putting a comprehensive focus on justice and safety for the whole county.
It is part of the job of every PCC to publish a plan setting out how they will oversee policing in their county, manage budgets and provide support services for victims.
In Norfolk, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner is unique in hosting the management of the county’s Community Safety Partnership, which brings together a network of local councils, policing, probation, youth offending, health and housing, all working together to improve safety in the county.
The Police, Crime and Community Safety Plan was developed following a public consultation held during the summer which asked people about their priorities for policing and safety in the county and with the input of partners including Norfolk Constabulary’s Chief Constable Paul Sanford.
Giles said: “This is a plan for the people of Norfolk, developed with their input and designed to put safety and justice for all at the heart of everything we and our partners in the constabulary do.
“Throughout the development of this plan I have heard loudly and clearly that what people want is policing that tackles the crimes that really impact communities.
“They are concerned about drug use and drug dealing, they want more to be done about speeding and dangerous driving and they want perpetrators of rape, serious sexual assaults and domestic abuse brought to justice.
“Violence against women and girls is cause of huge concerns in communities up and down the country and more must be done to tackle it, in convictions but also in prevention.
“People also want a police service they can see and that they can trust. Building those feelings of confidence in Norfolk’s communities goes hand in hand with demonstrating that our county has a police force to be proud of, and that is why all of these issues are at the heart of my new plan.”
The plan sets out the detail of what the PCC will expect Norfolk Constabulary to deliver over the next two years and how, through a network of partnerships, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner will ensure the right support is available for Norfolk’s communities.
The priorities are built on six pillars, with detailed objectives under each one featured in the plan:
Sustain Norfolk Constabulary
Visible and Trusted Policing
Tackling Crime
Prevent Offending
Support Victims
Safer and Stronger Communities
Giles added: “It is the job of the PCC to ensure that the people they serve get the policing service they need, and these priorities will form the basis on which I hold the Chief Constable for Norfolk to account. I hold regular accountability meetings with the Chief Constable and his senior team, and they are required to provide reports on how they are delivering against the priorities we have all agreed are the most important for Norfolk.
“But it is also by drawing together a wider network through the Community Safety Partnership that we can really all be stronger together, sharing expertise to ensure that preventing crime, supporting victims and building trust are absolutely entwined in everything we do.”
The Police Crime and Community Safety Plan replaces the plan in place under the previous PCC and will be in place throughout Giles’ term as PCC.
Chief Constable Paul Sanford said: “In developing this plan, the PCC has consulted widely with communities across Norfolk and with my chief officer team. The result is a plan which seeks to address the significant police challenges facing the county.
“The constabulary is committed to working alongside the PCC to tackle the priorities set out it the plan and to provide exceptional policing throughout the county.”
Being an integral part of the local community is really important to us all at EN. So to celebrate 40 years of excellence this year our Health and Social Care and Children’s Play and Learning and Development students have written postcards to 40 Care homes and 40 Primary Schools in and around Norfolk and Suffolk to show the love and support for the community from EN students.
The students are hoping to combat loneliness in Care homes and to educate Primary School children about how working hard allows you to follow your dreams – the students feel EN has enabled them to do just that, so wanted to share this.
Children’s Play and Learning and Development students’ Amy, mentioned that she felt privileged to be given the opportunity to share the success the college has had over the last 40 years, whilst also contributing to a challenge that will hopefully open communication between residents in Care homes, children in Primary Schools and the College. Ben felt it was an important project to do and it was a pleasure to be involved in, because he believed a small gesture, could make a big impact on many children’s attitudes to learning and combat the isolation some residents in care homes feel. He believes that it is important to show that there is love and support for the community from EN students. All students have spoken about how they would love to have responses back from the homes and schools they have sent cards to.
Teacher Hayley Vincent said “I am incredibly proud of the students for getting whole heartedly involved with this challenge and I’ve been overwhelmed by the standard of cards being written. The students have had a few tough years due to the pandemic and they are fully aware of the importance of bringing a community together. We hope everyone, who receives a postcard, enjoys reading it and that it brightens up their day.”