Long-standing client ODE asked us to develop a bespoke website and create a new brand identity – and it was delighted with the results.
We delivered a fresh and modern-looking website which is fit for purpose and encompasses the new brand identity.
The content management system gives ODE easy access to update and maintain the website, which now automatically resizes to fit whatever device it is being viewed on.
Leanne Lake of ODE commented: “Over the last 15 years of working with TMS Media, I’ve found them to be very helpful and reliable. Deadlines can often cause problems but TMS has always delivered!
“Their commitment to meeting our needs has always been on-point, and I would definitely recommend to other colleagues/industry partners.”
Walking With The Wounded’s volunteering programme OP-REGEN has been honoured with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.
OP-REGEN, based in Greater Manchester, launched in February 2020 is a volunteering programme that offers a platform for ex-military personnel to recognise their inherent skills and empowers them to demonstrate these skills to the wider community. For those that have landed on hard times, the project aims to support these individuals and their families to reintegrate back into society and to have a meaningful positive impact on the environment in which they reside; additionally, for those not in employment the projects aims to assist in their journey back into the workplace.
Although focused on ex-military, more generally the project is supported by volunteers from all backgrounds including Corporate UK and encourages these individuals to work together, leading to a greater increase in community cohesion and safer neighbourhoods.
Fergus Williams, CEO of Walking With The Wounded commented: “OP-REGEN embodies the future ambitions of Walking With The Wounded to support ex-military seeking support and to find those that require support but are not actively seeking it. I am immensely proud of the programme and delighted that the hard work and commitment of all those who have volunteered through OP-REGEN are being recognised by being awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
“OP-REGEN provides our clients, our corporate partners and ultimately, our armed forces community, with the opportunity to ‘serve again’ by utilising the inherent skills of the service leaver and showcasing the standards and values of those that have served.”
Walking With The Wounded is one of 241 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. The number of nominations remains high year on year, showing that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to make life better for those around them.
Veteran, beneficiary of WWTW and volunteer for OP-REGEN, Christopher commented: “I chose to volunteer with Walking With The Wounded after my Employment Advisor suggested it would help me if I engaged in OP-REGEN. It’s helped me develop my confidence and add structure to my week which will ultimately support my journey back into employment which is my main goal.”
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate The Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Recipients are announced each year on 2nd June, the anniversary of The Queen’s Coronation. Award winners this year are wonderfully diverse. They include volunteer groups from across the UK, including an inclusive tennis club in Lincolnshire; a children’s bereavement charity in London; a support group those living with dementia and their carers in North Yorkshire; a volunteer minibus service in Cumbria; a group supporting young people in Belfast; a community radio station in Inverness and a mountain rescue team in Powys.
Representatives of Walking With The Wounded will receive the award crystal and certificate from the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester later this summer. Furthermore two volunteers from Walking With The Wounded will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2022 (depending on restrictions at the time), along with other recipients of this year’s Award.
KING’S LYNN TOWN CENTRE’S INDEPENDENT SHOPS AND BUSINESSES ARE JOINING IN WITH THE TOTALLY LOCALLY NATIONAL FIVER FEST – AN INNOVATIVE CELEBRATION OF OUR INDEPENDENT HIGH STREETS KING’S LYNN IS PART OF THE TOTALLY LOCALLY NATIONAL FIVER FEST 9 – 23rd October. To show the importance of supporting our high streets, King’s Lynn is joining with other independent High Streets across the UK to put on very special £5 offers across two weeks in October, in the TOTALLY LOCALLY FIVER FEST. FIVER FEST is a free to join campaign, devised and run by Totally Locally, a Grass Roots High Street organisation that has been helping businesses and High Streets to help themselves since 2010 with incredible results. For Fiver Fest, Totally Locally is partnering with Visa, and together, they are calling on shoppers to divert £5 of their weekly spend to support the small businesses in their communities. Fiver Fest is based around the now-famous Totally Locally £5 message: “If every adult in King’s Lynn spent just £5 per week in their local independent shops and businesses, it would mean £8.3 million per year going directly into our local economy. Which can lead to more jobs, a better high street, a stronger economy & a nicer place to live. Makes you think doesn’t it?!” Spending just £5 a week in King’s Lynn can make a big difference to our High Street, the “Fiver Fest” promotes this message. “We know Fiver Fest isn’t going to change the world”, said Chris Sands of Totally Locally, “But small changes in spending habits can really make a difference to our high streets. Just by diverting £5 of our weekly spend to local independents we give them a fighting chance to thrive. The Pandemic has shown just what an amazing contribution they make to our local communities. It’s a conversation worth having! It is for this reason, that the sixth National Fiver Fest is taking place. This time it’s even more important than ever, after how our world has changed during 2021. YouGov research has shown that 59% of shoppers have used more local shops to support them during lockdown. And they want to keep on supporting them. Fiver Fest makes that even easier. Just some of the offers available in King’s Lynn Town Centre: • All starters £5 at Soul Café & Restaurant – lunchtime only. • £5 installation fee on all household appliance purchases at Cooper & Elms – washing machines, dishwashers, cookers etc. Saving up to £35! • A cinema ticket and a medium popcorn OR hot drink for £5 at the Corn Exchange Cinema – everyday 10am-5pm • Selected cocktails £5 at the Duke’s Head Hotel • Coffee and cake for £5 at The Wenns Chop & Ale House and The Bank House • Standard A1 prints for £5 at Prontaprint • Bacon sandwich and a hot drink of choice for £5 at Nice & Tasty Patisserie • £5 meal deal at Bitson’s Fish & Chips • Waffle and hot chocolate for £5 at Pretty Little Bistro • Selected designer pencil cases for £5 at Designs • Gin and mixer for £5 at Gin Saloon • 2 bath bombs or 2 soap slices or 1 bag of wax melts for £5 from Jaine’s Gift Box For details of more local offers, visit: www.discoverkingslynn.com/whats-on. For any independent business based in King’s Lynn Town Centre wishing to participate in FIVER FEST, please contact Discover King’s Lynn at [email protected]. For further information please see www.totallylocally.org and www.fiverfest.co.uk
Norwich Airport is celebrating the return of year-round flights to Tenerife today (September 30) with holiday company TUI.
The popular Canary Islands destination offers huge beaches and year-round sunshine. And with up to two direct flights a week from Norwich, is perfect for a winter sun break.
Richard Pace, Managing Director of Norwich Airport, said: “We’re delighted to be relaunching year-round holidays to Tenerife with TUI, giving local holidaymakers the opportunity to escape to the sun with the ease and convenience of flying from their local airport.
“TUI has already confirmed its summer 2022 schedule from Norwich Airport, with flights to Spain (Ibiza, Menorca, Majorca, Tenerife), Greece (Corfu, Crete, Rhodes), Cyprus (Paphos), and Turkey (Dalaman) resuming in May 2022 and all bookable now.”
For anyone seeking early autumnal sunshine in addition to Tenerife, flights to Corfu are currently operating every Friday from Norwich Airport (last departure 22 October) and flights to Majorca every Saturday (last departure 23 October).
In total, Norwich Airport has announced 19 domestic and international destinations in ten countries for 2021/22 and last week confirmed the start of direct flights from Jersey next summer with Channel Islands-based airline Blue Islands.
For a full list of destinations from Norwich Airport and details of how to book, click here.
Great Savings on Custom / Modular stand solutions as part of our Norfolk Day special offer!
Free Graphic Design
Save on organiser stand space costs – book space only, no shell required.
We want to empower all businesses to embrace the awesome opportunity exhibitions and event marketing can provide catering to a range of budgets and needs.
If you’re tired of not being noticed in a “shell” or are looking for an economical yet high quality entry into exhibiting, why not use one of our custom designed hire stand packages? We’ll do all the hard work for you; design, planning, CDM approvals, logistics, build, removal and graphics for an exclusive price that will really make you smile!
In this episode, Ian Fitch chats with Ian Mather, so it’s less a tale of two halves, and more the tale of two Ian’s! Sit back and listen to them ‘kicking around’ thoughts on what it really means to pursue a second career. Ian Mather is a retired solicitor and former partner at Mills & Reeves, but decided that retirement wasn’t for him, especially once the job of CEO of Cambridge Football Club presented itself.
Ian specialised in employment law and was an advocate of mediation over expensive litigation throughout his career. With the skills he learnt in how to mediate successfully and to manage his own company and staff, Ian felt he had a sound basis to step in and guide the football club to promotion.
Ian talks about the benefits of having a clear strategy and the importance of communicating this with your teams, especially when you’re new to a business. Ian looks back to the beginning of lockdown and reflects on how important it was to develop quick decision-making skills; which led to developing the idea of fan bubbles and Cambridge FC being the first club in the UK to welcome back fans.
Ian considers the key to his ongoing success is treating people decently and listening to them. During his first few months with the club, he focused on observation; what was working well and what wasn’t, and he developed his relationships with the team which helped guide them out of a turbulent time.
Ian believes passionately in clubs engaging with their communities by actively taking part in youth groups, adopting sustainable practices, engaging fans and helping out with community work. The club signed up to Fair Game, a regulatory initiative supported by Government, to make clubs more accountable. This involves closer financial monitoring to avoid closures, and creating a sustainable business model for football clubs. Ian discusses how the current financial model in our national game is broken, and provides insights into why more and more clubs are signing up to Fair Game.
This episode is a fascinating listen for business leaders and football fans alike and provides a great example of how taking risks by transferring your skills and talents to a new role you are passionate about, can be fruitful and fulfilling.
There are no red flags in this episode, only golden boots, so join us in this peek behind the scenes of the beautiful game and learn from a man working to turn its financial credibility around.
We would love it if you could subscribe wherever else you get your podcasts, so you don’t miss out on any future episodes! If you could also leave us a review we would love to hear from you, and it helps others find our podcast.
Norwich based training provider Blue Sky Professional Development has teamed up with the Colchester Institute to deliver the new apprenticeships in Human Resources at levels 3 and 5 from venues in Norwich and Colchester. The partnership will deliver the apprenticeship programme through monthly group workshops where students meet with an expert tutor followed by independent learning through approved study packs. Both apprenticeships include a CIPD qualification as well as completing a work based project supported by a visiting tutor to help embed the knowledge and skills acquired
Many businesses are looking for ways to make the most of their apprenticeship levy and using it for existing staff is one option. Traditionally we think of apprenticeships as being for young people to start in work, and this is still the case but developing existing employees with new skills and helping them move into new roles can now be funded through the new apprenticeship levy. Not a levy paying organisation? Your business could still benefit from 90% funding towards the qualification.
Blue Sky are holding a briefing session for anyone who would like to know more on 10th October at their offices in the Henderson Business Centre. It’s an ideal opportunity for both the employer and the employee to learn about how the course is run and funded, and what commitment will be required on both sides.
‘We are planning to start the first groups in November but we will have more start dates early next year if people don’t feel ready to sign up straight away. The important thing is to come along and talk to us about what you are looking for and we can take it from there’ Kate Woods, Director.
For more information or to book onto the briefing session please contact Beth Russell on 01603 251558 or [email protected]
We are delighted to announce the opening of a brand new Select Appointments office based in Lowestoft, Suffolk.
Select Appointments have been operating in the recruitment industry for over 35 years and Lowestoft will mark our 16th office in the UK. We have seen great potential in the Lowestoft region for a long time and this new office has been formed from the hard work and tenacity of the team. Select Appointments Lowestoft will be the only national recruitment company present in the area and we will be bringing a wealth of opportunities with us.
The office will be equipped with state-of-the-art recruitment technologies and bolstered by the 12-strong support team at our head office in Norwich. Driven by quality, value and service, the business will be headed up by highly experienced Consultants, Rebecca Roll, Helen Pitcher, Rebecca Belcher and Tania Plank.
Boasting over 40 years combined experience in personnel solutions and many years’ experience of recruiting staff in the local area, our Lowestoft team will offer a quality recruitment service that includes, but is not limited to:
Accountancy & Finance
Administration & Secretarial
Call & Contact Centre
Marketing & Communications
Procurement & Supply Chain
HR
Sales
Hospitality
Engineering & Technical
Marine & Renewables
Warehousing & Logistics
Manufacturing & Production
The office is open to candidates and clients alike as of Monday 3rd September and is located at Riverside Business Centre, Riverside Road, Lowestoft, NR33 0TQ.
If you are looking for a new role or to fill a gap in your team, then please give the team a call on 01502 442939 or email [email protected].
In celebration of their 60-episode diamond anniversary, James and Mark are looking back over the past 18 months at the highlights and the more dubious moments, mostly consisting of Mark’s tenuous/terrible musical links!
Impromptu Business Chat (IBC) launched in May 2020, in response to the ever-changing financial support available to businesses, and the changes to our everyday personal and business lives. Their aim was to create a bitesize, helpful and FREE business advice platform that was presented in a relaxed and fun way.
The podcast was an instant hit and has evolved to include special feature length guest episodes, where James and Mark chat to top business leaders and experts on not just their pandemic experiences, but business in general. The podcasts provided a sanctuary for so many listeners; knowing that there was help out there and that they were not alone.
They have spoken with BBC presenter Simon Mundie on how sport is a metaphor for business; Sue Liburd MBE and former Rugby Union international Andy Nichol on diversity in the workplace; leading psychologist Owen Fitzpatrick on how to communicate effectively with your customers; former Red Arrows pilot Dan Lowes; wellbeing expert Louise Newby and many more!
During this special episode they play clips from past interviews and top tip episodes, demonstrating just how far they have come as presenters, learning along the way from their guests’ advice and their own findings. They highlight the value of the lessons they have learned, throughout their combined 30+ years in business, and as leaders through a global pandemic.
If you’ve been wondering what Impromptu Business Chat is all about, this episode is a great place to start. You can access the episode vault on Listen here!
Chartered accountants and business advisors Larking Gowen has launched a new market-leading benefits package for its people. The new package is the result of 12 months of research through regular staff surveys and polls, discussions with employee representatives, benchmarking and market research. Benefits include enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity pay, the introduction of a range of agile working practices, a new career break scheme and full salary exchange options. Other changes include protection from financial hardship in the event of serious illness or accident, improved compassionate leave and travel to work discounts and loans for public transport. The new benefits package supports the comprehensive programme of wellbeing support already in place, demonstrating the firm’s ongoing commitment to the total wellbeing of employees. Jon Woolston, Managing Partner, said: “At Larking Gowen, our core value is ‘Passion for our People’ because we know that our business will only succeed through them. This is why we have developed this comprehensive new benefits package, based very much on employee feedback. “We want to be an employer of choice for our existing and future employees and we believe that our new benefits package is an excellent offer that helps us to achieve this goal.” In addition to the new package, the firm has simplified its Human Resources policies and reduced them in number significantly, instead allowing freedom for managers to make decisions to support their people. Jon added: “We wanted to make it simpler for our managers to manage, and we wanted to give more freedom to the people who are running our teams. This change demonstrates our trust and confidence in our managers and our employees.” To find our more about working at Larking Gowen visit our careers page.
Norfolk County Council is supporting small to medium-sized businesses by launching its Insight Apprentice Programme at the B2B Exhibition, organised by the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, on Thursday 14 October.
The team will be on stand no. 30 from 10am to 4pm at the Norfolk Showground. Entry and parking for businesses is free of charge.
Insight Apprentice is a project part-funded by the European Social Fund which supports Norfolk’s businesses, with less than 250 employees, to realise the full benefits of apprenticeships.
Cllr Graham Plant, Cabinet Member for Growing the Economy, said: “We know that there is a myriad of different projects and initiatives out there to support employers but time and again businesses tell us it’s difficult to navigate through the systems. The Insight Apprentice project will help by providing a locally based Business Development Officer to support you throughout the apprenticeship process, ensuring that you can recruit the right person, onto the right apprenticeship at the right time.
Our Officers will be on hand at the B2B Exhibition. It is the ideal opportunity to find out how we can help, so please visit our stand and meet the team.”
The business sectors Insight Apprentice would like to reach include:
Advanced engineering and manufacturing
Agri-tech
Clean energy
Digital and ICT
Voluntary and social economy;
and any business diversifying, growing or needing to retrain/recruit staff as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Companies that invest in apprenticeship programmes report many other benefits including reduced recruitment costs, higher staff loyalty, enhanced job satisfaction, improved knowledge and skills as well as achievement of corporate social responsibility outcomes.
86% of employers say apprenticeships help them develop skills relevant to their organisation.
Business Development Officers will give employers the INSIGHT on apprenticeships to help businesses and their employees unlock their full potential.
The Team will be based countywide, working with key partners at the College of West Anglia, East Coast College, Poultec, City College Norwich and the Norfolk Chambers of Commerce. The project has also linked with Steadfast Training to provide expert learning and development to businesses and their future apprentices.
Insight Apprentice offers a bespoke package for employers providing help with setting up an apprenticeships scheme, access to funding and grants and ongoing support.
Kings Lynn’s Captain Fawcett Ltd (Manufacturer and Purveyor of simply ‘First Class Gentleman’s Grooming Requisites’) has been flying the flag for West Norfolk on an epic 1,671-mile motorbike ride across Scotland and England to raise funds for a most marvellous national children’s charity.
The fifth BarbersRide was an absolute triumph, with funds reaching over £20K – with more donations still coming in. Huzzah!
On the 7th August a fine fellowship of mad-cap adventurers, united by their passion for bikes and barbering, set off on a mission to supportMake-A-Wish® UK, the charity which grants life-changing wishes to those whose childhood has been cut short by the diagnosis of a critical condition.
Richie Finney, West Norfolk Champion and owner of Captain Fawcett Ltd is one of the founding members and key sponsor of BarbersRide, an annual road trip adventure bringing barbers and bikers together on a journey of camaraderie and merry mayhem. By day taking to the highways in all manner of wild and wonderful British weather, each evening features a legendary after party with live music, food and drinks to revive spirits after fantastically formidable trails such riding through the Scottish Highlands, a favourite with this year’s riders.
Past Rides have to date raised over £66K for The Lion’s Barber Collective plus London’s Great Ormond Street and Liverpool’s Alder Hey children’s hospitals.
BarbersRide have supported Make-A-Wish since 2019, saying: “Make-A-Wish grants special wishes for sick children – bringing positivity and happiness in times of distress. We really wanted to work with a national children’s charity so that children from each region could benefit – Make-A-Wish is the perfect organisation to partner with. We even managed to ride in 2020, observing social distancing, and garnered incredible support from our sponsors, our riders, the barbers and barbershops and of course the guests at every event.”
Make-A-Wish Chief Executive Jason Suckley said: “We are hugely grateful to BarbersRide and all those who have supported their brilliantly unique way of fundraising for Make-A-Wish over the years. Any money they raise will help us with our ambitious mission to light up the lives of every child in the UK who has a critical condition, by granting their wish. From the moment they are diagnosed, the joy of childhood is often brought to an abrupt end while treatment, medical appointments and worry take over. It can’t be underestimated how powerful a wish can be in bringing light and joy to those children, as well as their loved ones, creating positive moments and cherished memories that have a lasting impact on all their lives.”