Chartered Accountants, Chartered Tax Advisers, and Registered Auditors M+A Partners has announced eight internal promotions across its central teams, reflecting the firm’s ongoing commitment to career progression and professional development.
In the Tax team, Alex Philpott and Rob Wild-Breeze have been promoted to Tax Manager, while Eddie Webster steps into the role of Tax Assistant Manager. The Accounts team also sees two promotions: Alice Williams has been promoted to Accounts Manager, and Kieran Flood becomes Accounts Assistant Manager.
Bridging both accounts and tax specialisms, Amy Phillips has been promoted to Accounts & Tax Assistant Manager, recognising her contributions across both areas.
In the Audit team, Harry Cresswell has been promoted to Audit Assistant Manager, and within M+A Partners’ specialist Service Charge Accounting division, Nicola Strudwick has taken on the role of Property Management Client Lead.
These promotions span several key departments and highlight M+A Partners’ strategic focus on nurturing talent and strengthening its leadership capabilities across the firm.
Phil Webster, Chief Operating Officer, said of the promotions: “Celebrating the success of our people is a core part of our culture at M+A Partners. I would like to extend my congratulations to all eight team members on their well-deserved promotions and thank them for their continued dedication and contribution to the firm.
Each of them brings valuable expertise and experience across a range of sectors and specialisms, reflecting the depth of talent within our teams and the breadth of services we provide.
I look forward to seeing each of our newly promoted colleagues continue to make a positive impact on our clients, our services, and the collaborative culture that defines our firm.”
More than 30 business people attended the launch of North Norfolk District Council’s Coffee Means Business networking event organised by Genix, the business engagement specialists.
The first networking event was held at North Walsham on 23rd September. These monthly, informal events give businesses the opportunity to chat over coffee, make new contacts, gain knowledge and inspiration.
North Norfolk District Council has appointed Genix to organise and host Coffee Means Business in the North Norfolk area as they could see there is a need for a regular networking opportunity for businesses which didn’t involve expensive membership fees.
North Norfolk District Council has appointed Genix because it is a not for profit organisation which, for over 20 years has been supporting businesses. In Norfolk Genix provides, free business advice sessions for established businesses and start-ups, subsidised business skills courses and events for ambitious small businesses and self-employed people.
Cllr Nigel Dixon, Cabinet Member for Business and Economic Development said: “It was a good informal session and a chance to hear directly from companies in our region; I’d encourage other businesses to get involved and come along to the next session on the 20 October at the Red Lion in Cromer.”
Alex Till, Chief Executive of Genix said, “It was fantastic to have so many businesses attend Coffee Means Business. We’re very grateful for the support of North Norfolk District Council who understand the importance of helping businesses to grow ensuring future employment and apprenticeship opportunities for the area and increasing the prosperity of the county.”
Gary Parker hosts Coffee Means Business and commented, “My thanks to our sponsor, Ruth from Different Dimensions who demonstrated why having a website that is user friendly and designed for the right target market will bring more sales for a business. Ruth’s examples showed what happens when we get it wrong and how Different Dimensions can provide the information a business needs to ensure its future customers buy from them and not a competitor.
“Genix aims are to support business growth in Norfolk and Coffee Means Business provides businesses with an informal, friendly environment in which to network, establish new business contacts and make sales.”
Coffee Means Business will next be held on Thursday 20 October at The Red Lion Hotel, Cromer from 9.30am until 11.30am. There are no membership fees, just £2 towards coffee payable on arrival and booking isn’t essential.
A financial comparison site developed in Norfolk is now competing with the country’s top household names after being shortlisted for the prestigious Website of the Year Award.
Reflection PR is supporting its client Knowyourmoney.co.uk to challenge nationally renowned comparison sites such as moneysupermarket.com and confused.com.
The Norwich-based company was set up by three entrepreneurs who built up their digital media expertise while working for online agencies, Google and insurance company Aviva.
Knowyourmoney.co.uk users can compare the details of current accounts, business banking, loans, mortgages and breakdown cover. The site aims to simplify financial product information to enable clear comparison for consumers.
Their experience, tenacity and decision to remain independent from bank or insurance company ownership has paid off – www.knowyourmoney.co.uk has now hit 400,000 visits a month.
As the number of knowyourmoney.co.uk users continues to grow towards half a million each month, the website has achieved national recognition by being shortlisted for Website of the Year Award.
The Know Your Money team is asking for support from across the region to push knowyourmoney over the line in this national competition. Votes can be cast from October 3rd – 11th November.
More than 70,000 visitors passed through the breakdown cover comparison tables last month, making Know Your Money one of the largest comparison sites for breakdown cover in the UK.
This success has been attributed to the strong partnerships with brands such as The AA, The RAC & Green Flag as well as the introduction of a simple to use comparison table.
Know Your Money’s Breakdown Channel Manager, Jamie Wright said: “Keeping on top of search trends and a close handle on what people are actually looking for on search engines such as Google and Bing, along with excellent brand partner relationships and a well-optimised site, has enabled us to deliver sustained growth in this channel”
Head of Business Development Mike Jones hopes to replicate the great results from the breakdown cover campaign into the recently launched credit card channel and is keen to continue the growth as the website expands and further staff are employed.
“Knowyourmoney.co.uk was started as the team believed we could offer consumers a clear and straightforward comparison service, where customers can save time and money.”
“Over the last three years we have grown into a comparison site capable of competing with the big household brands for premium positions within Google. The Website of the year award is a real opportunity for the team at knowyourmoney.co.uk to gain national recognition for the fantastic effort they put in.”
As a partner in the Future50 business growth programme for Norfolk and Suffolk, UEA hosted the inaugural F50 Live conference at the Enterprise Centre on 22 September.
The conference was attended by delegates from Future50 member companies, representing sectors from computing to catering and energy to education, including UEA alumni company Lambda Films, and Iceni Diagnostics, a spinout company based on the research of Professor David Russell, from the School of Chemistry.
UEA Vice-Chancellor Prof David Richardson opened the event, speaking of the part that UEA plays in helping the region’s growth and how businesses help the University to develop its entrepreneurial activities.
Keynote speaker Josephine Fairley, co-founder of Green & Black’s, spoke about her business journey, and the ethical side of entrepreneurship, explaining how “doing good is good for business”.
Robert Jones, Brand Consultant at Wolff Olins and UEA visiting professor (who established the popular Brand Leadership Masters course) gave delegates an insight into how to develop a successful brand and integrate it into all activities.
Lynn Walters, founding director of Pure Resourcing Solutions, spoke on the importance of recruiting and retaining the right people for the job and the organisation, emphasising diversity, succession planning and creating an engaged workforce as key success factors.
Martyn Jackson, Group CEO of Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Services Group, shared his experiences of transforming a business facing collapse, into a successful and profitable one overcoming people management issues and difficult decisions.
Future50 recognises Norfolk and Suffolk’s most innovative companies, seeking out the region’s ‘ones to watch’ and driving to accelerate their growth ambitions through business advice, networking opportunities and access to grant funding. The programme is funded by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, and delivered by Nwes and Archant, with partners Barclays, Birketts, Lovewell Blake and UEA adding ongoing support throughout.
Future50 is one of several business initiatives in the region that UEA supports. To find out more about opportunities for collaboration, visit www.uea.ac.uk/business.
KLMUKE’s Finance Department were busy baking over the weekend so they could take part in MacMillian Cancer’s Worlds Largest Coffee Morning, they did a great job and raised £237 for the charity. Many thanks to all the bakers for the tasty cakes!
The Enterprise Centre at the University of East Anglia (UEA) was named Best Corporate Work Space and “Best of the Best”, the most highly-rated of all winners, at the British Council for Offices (BCO) awards ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House last night (4 October). The judging panel of the BCO, the country’s leading forum for the office sector, commented that the involvement of local tradespeople and use of local materials and extensive recycling has produced a building that Norfolk can be proud of. The Enterprise Centre is one of the UKs most sustainable buildings and a leading hub for entrepreneurs, innovators and businesses that are committed to creatinga low-carbon future. It offers flexible work space and has achieved a near 100% occupancy – chiefly SME and start-up businesses – since opening in June 2015, helping it to become one of the region’s most successful green business centres. Tenant Michael Stiff, from Michael Stiff Animation, said: “The Enterprise Centre is a fantastic place to work. The variety of business based here is growing rapidly, creating a brilliant environment for us to grow.”
The Enterprise Centre also hosts exhibitions, events and conferences, with facilities including a roof-top terrace, 300-seater lecture theatre, seminar and meeting rooms. Fergus Rolfe, Team Manager for The Enterprise Centre, said: “We’re delighted to have been successful in two categories of these highly-prestigious awards. The building is already award winning but this recognition, from an organisation solely concerned with excellence in office space, is particularly exciting. Our building truly is inspiring and innovative, so we were delighted to have been successful alongside quality competition.”
Adapt Low Carbon Group that manage The Enterprise Centre will be exhibiting at the B2B Exhibition come and visit us on Stand 72 to find out more about this exciting workplace and venue.
Fountain Partnership Limited are a digital marketing company based in Norwich, established in 2008. With a team of experts, Fountain are able to identify a company’s growth opportunities and build a customised strategy for the best results and command market share. Their strategies drive browsers to client’s websites, increasing opportunities to convert browsers into customers and then increase customer value by testing and measuring. In order to do this, they specialise in the optimization of search engines and conversion rates, as well as pay per click advertising. In order to do this, Fountain uses a combination of pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimisation and conversion rate optimisation.
The problem Fountain were faced with was a time consuming one. When advertisements needing changing or updating it was a painstaking process. They had to upload a new set of adverts from a spreadsheet, going through each one manually to pause all of the old adverts in order to make room for the new ones. it would take days in some cases.
“What was taking 20 hours of work is only now taking an hour.”
Naked Element were chosen to build a script which would allow Fountain to manage one of their largest clients in Google AdWords, saving time and ultimately money. This particular client currently had 75 individual accounts. What the Fountain team were doing to update these was logging into an account, creating the new adverts, then log out of that account, then log into the next one 75 times over!
So what was Naked Element’s solution? In simple terms a script was created that allowed the user to specify AdWords accounts, campaigns and ad groups and then to enter a search, replacing each with a phrase or word. When running, the script would look through all of the ad groups in the campaigns specified and would copy the ads found with the search phrase, update the field with the updated phrase and pause the previous ads.
For example: A client has a campaign called ‘Car Sales’ with three ad groups – blue, red and black. Within those groups there are ads with the description “newest model”. The search phrase “newest model” is entered, followed by the update phrase “drive away today” and the script is run. All of the previous ads with “newest model” will be paused and replaced with the new ads containing the phrase “drive away today”.
“By developing this software to improve process efficiency, Naked Element has saved us four weeks worth of work per year!” said Laura Jennings, Strategic Director at Fountain. “The script they built us is saving up to 95% of our processing time. What was taking 20 hours of work is now only taking an hour – a big saving. ” When software produces such immediate benefits, the advantages are clear.
“The process of working with Naked Element was really straightforward, they tried hard to extract the correct information from us. Lewis, the developer, came out to see us several times. Documentation was also really easy to understand.” The only issue Fountain had was during the creation of the script, as it didn’t always work quite as expected. “However Lewis was quick to identify and resolve the problems. It was never too much trouble to sort out an issue and assistance was always available via telephone.”
The more advanced NHP200 and NHP300 pellet durability testers from Holmen continue to take the world by storm!
Companies from all corners of the globe are joining the ranks of users already trusting the machines to Test, Record and Monitor their Feed Pellet Durability.
Recently, additional users of the Benchmark Grade Holmen NHP200 Laboratory model and Holmen NHP300 Inline machines have come from countries including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, England, Finland, France, Germany, Honduras, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Peru, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Turkey and the United States, to name just a few!
If your country isn’t listed, it doesn’t mean these models have not already been supplied to locations there! Due to commercial confidentiality, it is not always possible to disclose where the advanced machines are currently being used to give quality-conscious feed manufacturers a competitive edge in their respective countries…
FLYBE SUMMER ’17 SUN ROUTES FROM NORWICH NOW ON SALE
Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, has today (6th October 2016) put on sale the first phase of its 2017 Summer schedule that includes the return of popular sun routes from Norwich to Alicante and Malaga that will both operate twice weekly. Seats can be booked now at www.flybe.com with one way fares from £49.99 including taxes and charges and currently available for travel between 27th March and 13th August 2017.
Flights to Alicante operate on Tues/Fridays with those to Malaga on Monday and Thursdays.
The year-round flights returned earlier this year following the announcement of a partnership between airport owners Regional & City Airports (RCA) and Flybe that resulted in one of Flybe’s E195 118-seater jet aircraft being employed to service both routes.
Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline – 218 routes serving 10 countries from 75 departure points, 40 UK/35 European airports* (all routes on sale May’16 – Apr’17); operates more UK domestic flights than any other airline (UK CAA May’15 – Apr’16); one of only two UK-based carriers in top 20 global airlines punctuality league table by OAG (Jan ’16) and named top UK airline for punctuality in report issued by UK consumer watchdog Which? (Dec 2014); named ‘Best Short-Haul Airline’ at the 2016 Business Travel Awards (Jan ’16); is the largest scheduled airline by air traffic movements at Belfast City, Birmingham, Cardiff, Exeter, Isle of Man, Jersey, Manchester, Newquay and Southampton airports (UK CAA Apr ’16); operates fleet of 76 aircraft – 51 Bombardier Q400, 9 Embraer 195, 11 E175 & 5 ATR 72s; codeshares with BA, Air France, Etihad, Finnair, Aer Lingus, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, Air India and Air Berlin; has three franchise partners, Loganair, Stobart Air and Blue Islands making it only UK airline brand with 70% coverage of reporting airports (UK CAA Apr’16); has own globally recognised Training Academy in Exeter with flight deck and cabin crew simulator facilities, 26 classrooms and 150-seat conference facility.
During Jarrolds Business Club event, Jarrold Group,
in partnership with Norfolk County Council, announced the launch of the 2025
Jarrold Growth Fund, a £100,000 initiative designed to support the expansion of
Norfolk-based small and medium – sized enterprises (SMEs).
The fund comprises £50,000 in investments from Jarrold Group,
up to 30 hours of free consultancy with Jarrold Group businesses and £50,000 in
grants and funding from Norfolk County Council. It aims to assist SMEs in
undertaking specific projects that drive business growth, such as purchasing
machinery to enhance productivity or acquiring additional space to scale
operations. The focus is on funding tangible projects and initiatives that
directly contribute to business expansion.
Cllr Fabian Eagle, cabinet member for Economic Growth at
Norfolk County Council, commented:
“Norfolk County Council is delighted to be working in
partnership with Jarrold Group on this exciting initiative to help grow Norfolk
businesses. Jarrold Group is a hugely respected local business and like the
county council is committed to nurturing a vibrant local economy. Small
businesses are the lifeblood of the local economy, and the Growth Fund will
provide vital funding and expertise.”
Tom Burdett, Group Director of Finance and Strategic
Operations at Jarrold Group, commented: “We are deeply committed to nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit within
Norfolk. The success of last year’s fund demonstrated the remarkable potential
of our local businesses. This year, with the continued support of Norfolk
County Council, we are eager to back innovative projects that will
significantly impact the growth of SMEs in our region.”
In its inaugural year, the Jarrold Growth Fund received more
than 70 applications from Norfolk businesses across various sectors. The scheme
provided funds, advice and mentorship to 4 recipients, along with access to
specialist expertise from Jarrold Group businesses. This comprehensive support
has enabled local enterprises to overcome strategic challenges and achieve
substantial growth.
Nick Steven-Jones, CEO at Jarrold Group, said:
“We’re immensely proud to support the incredible
innovation and creativity that drives growth in Norfolk. By leveraging our
expertise across the Jarrold Group and partnering with Norfolk County Council,
we’re excited to help local businesses thrive and contribute to the prosperity
of our vibrant region”
Applications for the 2025 Jarrold Growth Fund are open now
and will be accepted until 31 March 2025. Interested businesses can apply by
completing the application form available on the Jarrold website. Shortlisted
applicants will be invited for interviews in April, with funds to be released
shortly thereafter.
So far, we’ve kept our short courses to be in-company. Since running them, we’ve had enquiries from people who only have one or two people in their teams and an in-company course isn’t required.
Now we’re opening them up to everyone!
Our short courses are in-person and will be mixed cohorts, which means that as well as learning from our tutor and the course, you have the opportunity to meet your peers.
All our courses are designed especially for Procurement professionals, so you can expect real life stories and examples from the public and private sectors.
Short Course Calendar12th February 2025 – Introduction to Procurement
Designed for people in operational or tactical roles and people who have elements of Procurement in their role, but where it may not be their full job or who are new to Procurement
9th April 2025 – Introduction to Negotiation
For people who have regular contact with suppliers or internal stakeholders and need to promote the objectives of the Procurement team. By the end of the course, delegates will be able to effectively plan for negotiations with suppliers and will know how to conduct a negotiation to best achieve their objectives.
18th June 2025 – Category Management
For anyone who has operational experience in Procurement and is looking to take a more strategic approach with their supply base. This course will enable learners to use tools and models to gain a deep understanding of their category of spend and build a sourcing strategy that eliminates costs and adds value.
24th September 2025 – Sustainable Procurement
This course is suitable for Procurement professionals who are looking to align their procurement processes with their organisation’s sustainability goals or influence their leadership team to adopt better Procurement practices.
What previous students have said
“A very engaging course”
“A good introduction to negotiation and how this can be applied in Procurement”
Details
All courses are run at our offices: Henderson Business Centre, Ivy Road, Norwich, NR5 8BF.
The timings will be 9:30am – 4:00pm.
The learning objectives and details of each course will be released in different blog posts through the year, so keep an eye out to find out more. Alternatively, send us an email and we will be glad to fill you in.
Next Steps
All courses are £195+VAT and spaces are limited to sign up whilst you can!
For more information or to sign up, please email or called 01603 251754
All our courses are still available in-company ask us for a copy of our brochure for full course details.
Amara, the luxury interior design company based in Rayne, and insurance brokers Pound Gates, based in Ipswich, were crowned the region’s Best Overall Employers at the Best Employers Eastern Region Awards 2016 yesterday (Thursday 6 October). Further awards were also presented to organisations across the region which excel in Customer Focus, Employee Engagement and Innovation.
The Best Employers Eastern Region initiative was founded by professional recruitment specialists Pure and people development and psychometrics expertseras ltd. It aims to celebrate the region’s best employers and supports organisations across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire to create inspiring, innovative and engaging places to work.
The 2016 awards conference took place at Hengrave Hall in Bury St Edmunds and was attended by more than 100 members of the region’s business community. The morning was dedicated to sharing ideas and inspiration on employee engagement and discussing its impact on business performance. The guest speakers at the event were Chantal Misquitta from AstraZeneca, Daemmon Reeve from Treatt plc, Norman Pickavance and James Brown from Grant Thornton, and business transformation consultant Steve Turpie. These five high profile business leaders, all from very different organisations, shared their journeys to creating great places to work. Key themes included authentic leadership, the challenge of maintaining employee engagement in a growing organisation and the benefits of a people-focussed approach.
Lynn Walters, co-founder and director at Pure, said: “All our guest speakers are from local organisations already doing great things around employee engagement. We’re really grateful to them for giving up their time. With many people in the audience being SME owners, the opportunity to hear from a growing business like Treatt, alongside large, established organisations such as AstraZeneca and Grant Thornton, was very thought provoking. Steve Turpie’s insights into his experiences of supporting leaders to take a more authentic approach also really hit home. Our aim is to bring the region’s employers together to share ideas and problem solve challenges. Working together will put our region on the map as a great place to work. Being able to attract and retain talented employees is a key factor in achieving business growth, which will ultimately support the overall growth of our regional economy.”
Lynn Walters, alongside Margaret Burnside, Director of People Development ateras ltd, also led discussions on the latest employee engagement trends and shared the key findings from this year’s Best Employers Eastern Region survey. The results of the employee survey also determined this year’s award winners, with accolades being presented to the organisations with the highest scores, based on their own employee feedback.
This year the award for the region’s Best Overall Large Employer award has been sponsored by East of England law firm Birketts. Jeanette Wheeler, partner and head of employment law, presented the award to Amara, and also presented the award for the region’s Best Overall Small Employer to Pound Gates. This is the second time Ipswich-based Pound Gates has been honoured with a Best Employers Eastern Region award, having previously received the same accolade at the inaugural awards event in 2012.
The full list ofBest Employers Eastern Region 2016 winners:
Large employers (organisations with more than 50 employees)
The Birketts Best Overall Large Employer Award: Luxury interior design companyAmara,based in Rayne, Essex
Customer Focus Award:Arthur Rank Hospice Charity (ARHC),based in Cambridge
Employee Engagement Award: Merchant services providerCashflows,based in Cambridge
Innovation Award: Sports equipment manufacturersHarrod UK, based in Lowestoft, Suffolk
Small employers (less than 50 employees)
Best Overall Small Employer Award: Insurance brokersPound Gates, based in Ipswich
Customer Focus Award: Financial plannersBeckett Investment Management Group, based in Bury St Edmunds
Employee Engagement Award:Allia, a social ventures charity based in Cambridge
Innovation Award:LSI Architects, based in Norwich
The Customer Focus award recognises the organisations which have motivated employees to go the extra mile for their customers. The Employee Engagement awards honour the employers which have worked hard to develop high levels of staff morale. The Innovation Award is presented to the businesses which have shown the best ability to innovate and harness the creative talents of their employees.
Margaret Burnside, Director of People Development ateras ltd, said: “The winners of these awards have been selected based on the feedback from their own employees, gathered through the survey. Their staff have effectively voted for their organisation to win by sharing their experiences of what it’s really like to work there. This not only makes these awards more unusual, they also feel extra special and very genuine.”
Lynn Walters added: “A massive congratulations to all of our winners. It’s great to see such a spread of different organisations. It feels very representative of the type of companies we have here in our region. Those taking away awards will be in a stronger position to attract, recruit and retain talent for many years to come. I’d also like to thank everyone who has participated in the initiative overall. Not everyone participating has the intention of winning an award. However, all the organisations involved have the shared aim of improving business performance by developing exceptional employee engagement strategies and creating fantastic workplace cultures.”
The Best Employers Eastern Region initiative has also raised over £3,200 to date by donating a proportion of ticket sales to local charities. This has been shared between; Brightstars, a support group for disabled children and young people in Bury St Edmunds (founded by guest speaker Steve Turpie), West Suffolk cardiac support group Upbeat Heart and St Helena’s Hospice in Colchester.