Norfolk Citizens Advice presents ‘Share a Plate’ – Give the gift of Advice this festive season!
Give the gift of high quality, confidential advice this festive season! When you are booking your dinner celebrations, add a plus one to the list and donate the extra money to our cause! The cost of one meal = quality advice to someone in need.
The festive season is a time of giving and spreading joy…
What better way to do that than by sharing a plate with those in need?
We’re launching our charity fundraising campaign “Share a Plate” to encourage participants to donate the cost of an additional meal at their festive dinners to go towards our service of providing free, accredited advice.
Join us in making a difference this winter by giving the gift of advice. Your donation, no matter how big or small, will help ensure that our vital services can continue to support those in need. Together, we can make a real impact and bring hope to those who need it this holiday season.
Our charity provides a lifeline for individuals and families struggling with a wide range of issues, from mental health and financial difficulties to legal problems and more…
‘Laura came to us in November of 2022 because she was distressed about supporting her family over the oncoming festive season. They were living off of foodbank parcels and had been unable to top-up their electric pre-pay meter. Laura was concerned about being unable to provide home comforts and proper meals for their partners daughter who was coming to stay for Christmas.
An adviser made sure they were able to access basic living necessities such as clothes and toiletries and issued them a foodbank voucher. The fuel-voucher usually issued by the Warm & Wise team was incompatible with the client’s submeter so they were instead supported with £300 transferred to their account for energy costs.
Laura was emailed an additional £100 supermarket voucher so that she could switch her empty fridge-freezer back on ready to be stocked up for Christmas!’
First Intuition is the first accountancy training provider to become a signatory of Access Accountancy. Access Accountancy is a charity that collaborates with accountancy firms, professional bodies and organisations dedicated to improving access to, and progression within, the accountancy profession for applicants from lower socio-economic backgrounds in the UK.
Established in 2014, Access Accountancy works towards everyone having an equal chance of accessing and progressing within the accountancy profession based on merit, not background. The vision of Access Accountancy is to ensure that the accountancy profession is representative, at all levels, of the socio-economic demographic of wider society.
First Intuition Cambridge Limited will be working with Access Accountancy towards three milestones: Adopting, Contributing, and Influencing to increase the volume, scope and quality of activity to improve access to, and progression within, the accountancy profession for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
One of the ways First Intuition will achieve this is through its Accountancy Academy programme, a free virtual event created to invite students from across the country to find out more about the accountancy and finance industry and the careers available within it. Including sessions on routes into the industry, how to find roles, and tips on making a good impression with CV’s and at interviews.
Amy Forrest, Managing Director of First Intuition Cambridge Limited comments:
“I am really pleased that we have become a signatory for Access Accountancy!
“Our mission is to train accountants, and that’s all accountants. We want to make the accounting career more accessible to all, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Working with Access Accountancy and contributing to their important work is a big step towards this.
“We have a fantastic network of employers, students and alumni, and fantastic relationships with professional bodies, local groups, recruitment agents, think tanks, and many more. We will be looking at how we can do our part in this community to further promote accounting as a career to a more diverse group of people.”
Made locally in Hunstanton, East Coast Gelato will be open daily at Chantry Place in Centre opening hours and will be located on the dining terrace. It will serve a range of gelato, in flavours such as Biscoff, salted caramel and mint choc chip; as well as raspberry and strawberry sorbets. Plus, homemade fruit lollies, gelato lollies dipped in chocolate and ‘conies’ in a range of flavours, and vegan options.
Elliot Hibell, manager at East Coast Gelato at Chantry Place, said: “We can’t wait to bring our delicious, locally-made Italian range of gelato and cold treats to Norwich. We already have stores in Hunstanton and Thornham, and we’re confident that our new store at Chantry Place will be just as popular. Our owner, Joel, was trained in Italy by the very best and has brought his skills and knowledge about making the best Italian gelato to Norfolk – and he is the one who still makes it now in our kitchen in Hunstanton!”
Paul McCarthy, general manager at Chantry Place, said: “East Coast Gelato will be bringing its delicious, award-winning gelato and sorbets to Chantry Place. Located on the dining terrace, visitors can enjoy treats from this local business, who use freshly made ingredients. This follows other good news for the Centre, with Flannels recently opening and more news on new openings coming soon.”
East Coast Gelato has been serving incredible gelato and handmade desserts since 2016.
For more information on Chantry Place, visit www.chantryplace.co.uk or follow @chantryplacenorwich on social media.
Flagship Group has developed a unique system which will transform how it manages the thousands of trees for which it is responsible.
The Group, the largest housing provider in the East of England, has replaced its time-consuming manual office-based process with a bespoke app-based solution which will free up Flagship’s team of arborists to spend more time out on site.
With 3,500 individual and 1,000 groups of trees covering an area from North Essex to North Norfolk within Flagship’s remit, the Group’s Business Intelligence Team was tasked with redesigning the process to be more streamlined. Victoria Green, Business Intelligence Developer, explained: “Our passion is delivering a great service for our customers, so we were very keen to support our arborists by designing a solution to help them work as effectively and efficiently as possible.”
Using existing software, the solution has streamlined the arborists’ workload and made requesting of tree work much easier. Through the new solution, Flagship staff can request tree works via a bespoke PowerApp, adding pictures and location to provide clarity to the arborists. The arborists are then able to assess the work via another bespoke PowerApp, identifying what resources are needed. Finally, the lead arborist can geographically manage the team’s workload effectively and the arborists can log their work using the GIS-based system, provided by ESRI.
Andy Blackman, GIS Developer said: “Our system enables us to visualise the team’s work on a map – combined with the arborist’s live location to enable maximum efficiency when assigning and recording work. This allows the arborists to amend existing and add new tree data while in the field, allowing the Group to better understand and manage our assets.”
The solution, which is unique to Flagship, offers huge benefits to the tree service which was brought in-house from January 2018. Jonny Worden, Lead Arborist said: “This new system will transform the way we operate and allow us to more accurately pinpoint the work that is required. It will mean that we are better informed before we go out on site and able to easily plan and deliver our work.”
The team are continuing to develop the solution, looking for ways to enhance its functionality.
*Anyone interested in finding out more about the solution which has been developed by the Business Intelligence Team can get in touch with Andy Blackman ([email protected]) or Victoria Green ([email protected]).
FLANNELS has opened the doors to its new 20,000 sq. ft store in Chantry Place. With a carefully curated edit of luxury and contemporary brands, FLANNELS has become one of the most exciting players in the luxury industry, housing the biggest names in luxury fashion, as well as an evolving roster of new and emerging labels.
FLANNELS is a super-inclusive, multi category retailer, that’s reviving in-store experiences and bringing luxury to everyone.
Lauren Barrie, Group Head of Retail, Luxury & Premium, says: “We’re really proud to open our next Regional boutique in the heart of Norwich. As we continue to expand and develop our vision, the store brings to life the FLANNELS brand in a physical space – providing an engaging shopping destination, with the biggest brands in luxury fashion and contemporary streetwear all under one roof.”
Paul McCarthy, general manager at Chantry Place, said: “Flannels brings the best of luxury and designer brands to Norwich. This is a huge milestone for us and will put Norwich firmly on the map for designer fashion and beauty. We can’t wait for visitors to see the new store.”
For more information on Chantry Place, visit www.chantryplace.co.uk or follow @chantryplacenorwich on social media.
Wear a festive hat or a silly scarf, or create crazy hair and get every single person you know to do the same! Then donate £3 – it is that simple!
You don’t need to buy anything new, why not get crafty and decorate an old one. You could even pop along to your local Break shop and see what they have on offer?
Spread the word!
Share with your network and friends, download your Hatty Christmas poster here. Tag Break on social media and use #hattyxmas to show us how Hatty you are!
Donate
It’s just a simple text to take part!
Text HATTYXMAS 3 to 70085 to donate £3
Text HATTYXMAS 5 to 70085 to donate £5
Text HATTYXMAS 10 to 70085 to donate £10
Texts cost your donation pledge plus one standard rate message
Your money this Christmas will directly go to support vulnerable children and young adults. Working together we can make amazing things happen.
Volunteers have won funding to install swift and bat boxes at Thetford station in a bid to protect them from habitat loss.
Greater Anglia’s station adopter group – who have developed a wildlife garden along the platforms – received a grant and planning permission from Breckland Council to fund six specially-designed boxes, and worked with Network Rail to install them at the top of the Victorian station building.
Swift and bat populations have severely declined in numbers over the last 25 years, due to habitat loss and swifts are now considered highly vulnerable.
The group has installed six ‘day and night’ boxes which are designed to house swifts during the summer months and bats all year round. Each box has a nesting chamber for a pair of swifts and a recess in the rear panel where bats can roost.
Alongside the boxes they have also installed a solar-powered swift call emitting device to improve the chances of the boxes being found and used. As swifts are loyal to their nesting sites, the group’s long-term goal is to establish a swift colony.
Lead volunteer, Fiona Rhind, said, “We recently became a Wildlife Friendly accredited station for the work we have done on the platforms, and we want to continually do more to show just what can be achieved in terms of greater biodiversity in an urban environment.
“At Thetford station we’ve planted native hedges, established a wildflower area and installed 15 bird boxes – which we were delighted to see become home to blackbird and robin chicks this year.
“It’s wonderful that we can now provide a refuge for swifts and bats as well – as our native species need all the help they can get. We’re really grateful to Breckland Council, Greater Anglia and Network Rail for supporting us in our aims to do everything we can to support our local wildlife.”
Thetford station recently received a ‘Wildlife Friendly’ accreditation from Greater Anglia and Norfolk Wildlife Trust to formally recognise the achievements of its team of volunteer ‘station adopters’ to create a wildlife haven at the station.
James Hogg, Norfolk Wildlife Trust Corporate and Membership Development Officer, said: “The alarming decline in the abundance of wildlife and the plight of species under threat means that just protecting the nature we have left is not enough; we need to put nature into recovery, and to do so at scale and with urgency. We are working to create a nature recovery network across Norfolk – and with fellow wildlife trusts across the UK – to create more space for wildlife.
“This project with Greater Anglia is a fantastic example of how people can transform nature-poor areas into new nature-rich places – and change the way we think about land, seizing opportunities to help nature outside traditional nature reserves.”
Greater Anglia’s Customer and Community Engagement Manager, Alan Neville, said, “I’d like to thank the volunteers at Thetford for the incredible work they are doing to support biodiversity locally. The railway in increasingly recognised as an important corridor for wildlife and thanks to initiatives like this, stations are becoming a vital part of that corridor which helps wildlife to move around the landscape and become more resilient to the effects of climate change and habitat loss.”
Rail stations across East Anglia are increasingly becoming havens for local wildlife thanks to the efforts of volunteers who last year transformed over 6,800 square metres of railway land into thriving wildlife gardens.
In a recent survey, Greater Anglia station adopters reported a wide range of creatures visiting their stations including many different types of butterflies as well as bees, slow worms, bats, foxes, deer and many varieties of birds, recording more than 200 different species.
Greater Anglia has pledged this land to WildEast, a nature recovery movement which aims to restore 20% of East Anglia back to nature by 2050 and has joined the rest of the rail industry in pledging to make stations across Britain more sustainable.
Above: Thetford station adopters receiving their Wildlife Friendly Station Accreditation last month. Credit: Greater Anglia.
Captain Fawcett Ltd, the King’s Lynn based gentleman’s grooming company, was delighted to host a delegation of 30 members from the Marijampolės Rotary Club of Lithuania, who were in the UK visiting the Priory Rotary Club King’s Lynn.
Arranged with Gintaras Ginčius of the Marijampolės Rotary Club, the trip to Captain Fawcett HQ reciprocated the Right Hand Man’s visit to the Lithuanian Parliament last year.
The Right Hand Man (as Captain Fawcett company founder Richie Finney is known) visited Lithuania in 2023 during ‘The Great Expedition’, a monumental motorcycle road trip which saw the indefatigable Finney riding solo through 27 countries, covering over 12,500 miles in just 10 weeks.
The ‘Great Expedition’ was undertaken to celebrate and cement real life connection with barbershops and brand distributors on their home territory, including Lithuania.
Richie Finney said “Of all the countries I visited on last year’s somewhat madcap Great Expedition, Lithuania was a particular delight. Not only is it the birthplace of some key Captain Fawcett team members, it is also a hugely welcoming country with Baltic hospitality being simply second to none! It was a privilege for Fawcett HQ to return such warm friendship with a personal tour of Captain Fawcett’s Marvellous Barbershop Museum and copious cups of Rosie Lee!
“It goes without saying that international friendship is intrinsic to the proud outward looking Hanseatic heritage of King’s Lynn, shaping our seaport identity and economy through centuries of maritime commerce. Captain Fawcett is delighted to honour that long tradition and celebrate enduring bonds forged through centuries of global trade and cultural exchange.
“Suffice to say, a great time was had by all! Valio!”
A spokesperson from Marijampolės Rotary Club said “Whilst visiting the United Kingdom, it was a great opportunity to visit Captain Fawcett and learn about the business of creating cosmetic products for men, tour the Museum and see the production company at work. Thanks to the whole team at this unique place for their warm welcome and very interesting excursion.”
“As a specialist in the design and installation of signage, which includes billboards, here’s our #hottake on the latest marketing ploy from the grocery retailer Waitrose.
Residents in the south London borough of Wandsworth expressed concern over a new billboard by the supermarket giant Waitrose which appeared to be falling off its bracket at a rather alarming angle. Of course, those in the advertising industry understood well the tactics played by the retailer. We’ve all heard the old adage that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Getting the public to talk about your brand is always the end goal. The latest stunt deployed by the Waitrose marketing team reminds us of the hack used by baristas at Starbucks a few years ago, with the supposed deliberate misspelling of customers’ names on cups going viral on social media. Whether real or fake, strategies like these create organic, repeated media coverage and for free.
As signage specialists, what do we think about the latest advertising stunt from Waitrose? Our primary concern is safety. Whilst we understand that the promotional and advertising aspects of our customers’ signage is the most important to them, the safety surrounding installation is paramount to us. Above all else, eliminating the risk of danger or harm to the public must always be taken into account during any signage project. So long as all safety measures are accounted for, then this controversial sign from Waitrose has met the brief. Do we like it? That’s another post for another day.”
And somewhere in there… you’re meant to plan content, post on social, write email campaigns, your website, and track ad performance?
Let’s be real, marketing often gets pushed to “tomorrow.”
But tomorrow turns into weeks… and your visibility (and leads) slip away.
We handle your digital marketing end-to-end so you can focus on running your business.
From SEO and Google Ads to social media, content creation, and email campaigns, we’ll create and manage a strategy that works without adding to your to-do list.
We don’t just “do the marketing.”
We make it work, strategically, consistently, and with results you can actually measure.
Get in touch and let’s talk about getting your marketing moving, without you lifting a finger.
Some clients who need assistance from either Family Law Solicitors or Criminal Solicitors, may be entitled to legal funding through the Legal Aid Agency. As part of this, at times Process Serving and enquiries are needed to progress the legal case and this is exactly where we come in.
At Taylor Investigations, we are now able to offer Process Serving and Civil and Criminal case enquiries under the Legal Aid Agency rate structure across England and Wales.
Based in Norwich but we have a network of agents throughout the UK
Yes, we are based in Norwich but we have a network of agents throughout the UK to assist with your requirements anywhere in the country.
Process Serving is the personal service of documents in relation to legal proceedings. For Legal Aid matters, this tends to include, but not limited to Non Molestation Orders or Witness Summons.
Legal Aid enquiries tend to include, but not limited to, scene visits to obtain photographs and drawings for Jury bundles, prison visits to obtain photographs or statements and tracing of witnesses.
All Legal Aid instructions are dealt with as a priority
All instructions are dealt with as a priority as we are aware there is usually an urgency to the case and we will invoice as per the rate structure set out. So, if you are family law solicitors or a criminal solicitor, you can rest assured knowing your Legal Aid case can proceed without delay.
Please send all legal aid instructions to [email protected] where these will be actioned and processed.
With competition for customer’s attention becoming ever fiercer, a new chamber member aims to help local businesses develop a competitive advantage through marketing.
“Marketing is key to growth for lots of Norfolk businesses” says Sarah West, Managing Director of Full Mix Marketing. “However, many are unsure where to begin or disappointed by their current results. Our ambition is to become the fastest growing marketing agency in Norfolk, simply by helping our clients become some of the fastest growing companies.”
A Chartered Marketer and former winner of Young Marketer of the Year, Sarah has most recently been Strategic Marketing Manager for leading UK holiday company, Hoseasons. She’s now established a strategic, digital and offline marketing agency to give local businesses all the marketing they need to grow.
“I’ve hired many marketing agencies but become frustrated by their focus on design rather than results. Whether it’s a website, direct mail campaign or full marketing strategy, it has to produce more business. Whatever our client’s size or needs, we’re focused on ensuring the marketing we deliver creates the best possible return” adds Sarah.
To help businesses get a head start, Full Mix Marketing have created a number of free guides, including advice on how to use marketing to grow, avoid digital marketing mistakes and get better results from advertising. These can be downloaded free by chamber members at fullmixmarketing.co.uk/guides.
“We understand that – large or small – businesses in Norfolk invest in marketing because they want to see a return. It doesn’t make sense to just pay for activity when its results you need. Because we’re confident we can improve results, we even offer our clients a guarantee” states Sarah.
As to why she joined Norfolk Chamber, Sarah says “I’ve previously worked for three businesses who were active members of the chamber. It gave them a voice in the business community and, of course, helped them grow. When I started my own business, I naturally wanted to become an active member.”
Full Mix Marketing’s free guides and details of their guarantee can all be found at www.fullmixmarketing.co.uk
