Content

Our latest quarterly Health and Safety newsletter has just been sent out.

In this months newsletter we look at;

– Meet the Team; John Claxton

– Richard will be talking at the CIEH Annual Conference in September

– IOSH “Managing Safely” Course; Widening Our Training Portfolio

– Suzy Lamplugh; 30th Anniversary

– Vulnerable Child and Adult Protection

If you would like to take a look at our newsletter please click here

Bigger, Better & Bursting with even more content,Nor(DEV):con 2017is set to be our biggest yet so bare with me as we go through what’s on offer in 2017!

Naked Element Ltd.is proud to present Nor(DEV):con, theNorfolk DevelopersTech, Agile & Business conference in the heart of Norwich. 2017’s Nor(DEV):con will take place on between Thursday 23rd February and Saturday 25th of February at theKing’s Centrein Norwich with keynote speakers Dom Davis on Thursday, Seb Rose and Russel Winder on Friday and Juliana Meyer on Saturday 25th February 2017.

Last year we successfully extended the conference to include extra workshops on the Thursday and extra sessions & workshops on Saturday to compliment our core Friday programme. We welcomed a record breaking 650+ delegates over the three days. This year we have a whole day dedicated to young people & schools aspiring to be involved in the technology industry. Dom Davis will be speaking for the keynote and this will take place on Thursday 23rd February 2017 alongside our extra workshops which this year include “Seb Rose – BDD Fundamentals” & “Kevlin Henney – Paradigms Lost, Paradigms Regained: Programming with Objects and Functions and More”. Tickets for these workshops are on sale now via this website or eventbrite.These are priced at£21.79 incl. fees.

Limited numbers of Super Early Bird Tickets are now on sale for£57.84 incl. feesand they’ll sell out fast, to find out more about conference, Thursday workshop sessions and tickets take a look around our website and follow ourtwitteror join our mailing listto keep up-to-date as we announce our agenda and our speakers in the coming weeks!

Like what you see already? Get your ticket athttps://nordevcon2017.eventbrite.co.uk

Sponsorship

With sponsorship packages starting from just£275, as a sponsor you’ll have unique access to a broad range of business leaders and influencers whilst casting your company onto the biggest technical stage in the county. The conference provides the perfect platform for business and technology experts to come together and explore the fundamental role technology plays in the East of England’s economy whilst making valuable connections in the wider tech community, increasing the support directly to your business.

To find out more visithttps://www.nordevcon.com/sponsorship-2017/

Pre-Conference Events

Every year we kick off Nor(DEV):con with our pre-conference session at the King’s Centre which isfreeto attend, we start early at 5pm with two 30 minute sessions, with all the usual refreshments, this will be followed by our pre-conference dinner which is attended by some of the speakers and the organisers of the conference.

Last years pre-conference dinner atthe Librarywas such a success we’re going back for seconds.

Wine Reception, Conference Dinner & T-Shirts

We are pleased to announce we’ve extended the capacity of our wine reception which is sponsored for a second year by “Wines & BusinessClub”. This, for the first time, will take place in the main Auditorium at the King’s Centre. This event is still free to attend so don’t forget to add the ticket to your order so we can keep the wine flowing until our wonderful conference dinner which is still limited to 80 places.

Every year our conference dinner offers an intimate opportunity to network with our speakers and other delegates. This is an event for those interested in engaging with other business decision makers and those wishing to gain valuable insight into where the digital economy trends are heading in a relaxed setting with a stunning three course meal. Guests are shuffled around the various speaker tables ensuring each course is accompanied by different opportunities to network and socialise. Dinner includes 2 glasses of wine and a choice of courses from the menu, all for£42.39 inc. fees.

Conference Dinner tickets can be purchased from our websitewww.nordevcon.com.

Conference T-shirts arefree, so to get yours just add the ticket to your order and collect them with your delegate pack at registration on the day.

Good Cause

This year, the local good cause we shall be supporting is based in the partly cobbled streets of Colgate, The Women’s Centre offers women a wide range of opportunities and support services to offer women support for homelessness, domestic violence, mental health issues and range of other important social issues facing the women in the city of Norwich and wider Norfolk, the centre has become a haven for those who have felt or faced social exclusion, whatever the circumstances. Women can receive free advice on accommodation, access to education and counselling as well as access free skills development and employment supportive services and we hope to increase support for this valuable yet little known deserving cause.

We’ve Crammed Nor(DEV):con full of great content. Your only challenges now are to choose which sessions to attend and convincing your boss to pay!

We look forward to seeing you in February!

Words ByEmily

The Double Nelson charity cycle ride hasraised more than double it’s original target of £1000 with thefinal total now standingat over £2200 raisedfor the Jubilee Sailing Trust’s training ship Lord Nelson. The ride was completed by ten cyclists including Chamber memberMark Greenwood of advertising and design agency Greenwood&Bell.The cyclists started at Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square on a July Saturday morning at 6am.140 miles and 14 hours later they pedalled up to Nelson’s Monument in Great Yarmouth.

Mark Greenwood said “We’re tired, sore but very proud. We want to thank everyone who helped, especially Greenwood&Bell clients, friends and family who have donated so generously”.

The money all goes to the Jubilee Sailing Trust who own and operate the Lord Nelson and Tenacious, the only two tall ships in the world designed and built to enable people of all physical abilities to sail side-by-side as equals. The more able bodied crew members work alongside the less able,resulting inonce in a lifetime experiences that really dochange people’s lives.

Cozens-Hardy solicitors are thrilled to announce that the 2016 Cozens-Hardy Big Cycle Ride, held at Blickling Estate in celebration of local cancer charity Big C’s 35th anniversary, has raised a record-breaking £3,337.03.

Over 250 riders turned out on Sunday 17h July to ride one, two, or three idyllic 25-mile routes, each of which started and finished in the beautiful surroundings of the National Trust Estate. A further 24 riders embarked upon the new family-friendly 3.5km off road loop which, along with the junior skills sessions provided by the Pedal Up Bike Club, proved to be a successful addition to the event this year.

Anna Farquharson, Cozens-Hardy LLP Marketing Partner:

“This is the third year of the Cozens-Hardy Cycle Ride, which is brilliantly organised for the firm by Push Sport. We were delighted to be able to add the off road element and to deliver an event which attracted such a fantastic mix of riders, from serious amateur cyclists to people just wanting to enjoy a supported cycle around the beautiful Norfolk countryside. We are very grateful to Big C for providing such an enthusiastic army of volunteers to help us on the day. Feedback from the riders has, again, been so positive and we are simply thrilled to have raised such a fantastic amount of money for our local cancer charity.”

Clive Evans, Big C Director of Income Generation:

“Big C is delighted to partner with Cozens-Hardy in this ever popular event which has raised a fantastic £3,337 this year -a record breaking amount! It was a very special year with a celebratory 3.5km loop to coincide with our35thanniversary. With the money raised through our partnership we can continue toinvest in pioneering research, fund vital medical equipment and provide information and support at our Big C Centresforpeople living withcancer.Thegenerous support of our partner Cozens-Hardy and the general public ensurespeople in the region receive the best in cancer care.”

A minimum of £3.50 from each entry fee was donated directly to Big C and many riders chose to raise additional funds for the charity through their endeavours. The catering suppliers on the day, Hushwing Café and Hot Rocket Pizza, also donated part of their takings to Big C.

The new website for leading glass supplier, Ecoglass, is now live. Norwich website design agency Bigfork were appointed to design a new, modern website that positioned Ecoglass as a leader in the supply of energy efficient glass units. The new site has strong imagery and clear navigation combined with key messages and calls to action. A SilverStripe CMS makes easy work of website updates by the Ecoglass team. See the new site at www.ecoglass.co.uk

Bigfork – we make websites stand out 01603 513080www.bigfork.co.uk

Award winning East Anglian recruitment firm, Cooper Lomaz has this week launched its latest Salary Survey for completion.

Each year we crowdsource thousands of responses from across East Anglia and beyond in order to build an annual report which will be released in January.

This report covers Norfolk, Suffolk & Cambridgeshire in order to provide recruitment trends and insights for the sectors we operate in – Accountancy & Finance, Engineering, Food Manufacturing, Insurance, IT, Sales & Marketing and Supply Chain – to provide businesses with an idea of the average wage in their industry as well as insights on overall job satisfaction and trends.

This year we’ve added to our Salary Survey with additional questions based around Insurance, the Public Sector and the EU Referendum.

The Salary Survey is now LIVE and can be found here:https://www.cooperlomaz.co.uk/news/the-2017-salary-survey-is-live/

The completed report will be available from January.

I enjoy my work (software development) very much. I feel very fortunate to be able to earn a living from doing something I enjoy. However, this does mean I do it a lot. Not just during the working day, but at lots of other times too. This causes many people to ask if I ever stop working or relax. Well, working to me can be and often is relaxing and doesn’t always feel like work. Lots of people tell me I need to stop working so much, they want me to conform to their idea of what not working is.

Then there’sBloodstock. The heavy metal festival once a year (where I am now) where I spend three days in a field and I don’t want to take my laptop. It wouldn’t be very practical if I did. Although having switched from Vodafone to EE (one of the best decisions I ever made) I do now have 4G all the time.

I do take my kindle and I find that I read, a lot. Do I miss my laptop? No, not really and I know it’s there in the evening and morning in the hotel if I really feel the need (which I did just now when I wrote this). This time around I’m not opening an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and writing code at every opportunity because I feel like I’d rather have my head in book.

So once I’ve finished writing this to prove to the doubters that I do sometimes have time away from my laptop, I’ll be finishing Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds and moving on to The Medusa Chronicles, which he wrote with Stephen Baxter, and enjoying the best music in world from a field somewhere in Derbyshire.

Words:Paul Grenyer

Norwich Airport appoints Richard Pace as Managing Director.

Norwich Airport has announced the appointment of Richard Pace as Managing Director. Richard brings 25 years of aviation industry experience to the post having joined Norwich Airport from the RAF as an air traffic controller in 1995.

Most recently Richard has held the position of General Manager at the airport, from April 2015, overseeing the introduction of a range of new services including the first scheduled sunshine flights from Norwich for nine years.

Commenting on his appointment, Richard said: “This is an exciting time to be taking charge of the business and driving the next stage of our growth strategy,

“Our focus is all about connectivity for so a priority is to grow our links with international hub airports and increase the range of leisure destinations to give customers even more choice and flexibility from closer to home.

“We will also be looking at ways we can further enhance the customer experience at Norwich evidenced by customer surveys, and we want to maximise the opportunities created by the completion of the new Northern Distributor Road in early 2018, which will make access to the airport even easier for many people.”

Richard said he would also focus on growing the Norwich Connects business network, through which the airport is working with the business community to evidence demand for new services. During his time at Norwich Richard’s experience has spanned all aspects of airport operations. He held a variety of technical roles, including air traffic control examiner, before being appointed General Manager Air Traffic Services in 2007.

He became Operations Director in 2009, managing a raft of upgrade projects including the installation of a new radar system, navigating two airspace change proposals and the construction of hangars, aprons, and taxiways. More recently Richard has been involved in the launch of new routes to Malaga, Alicante, Exeter, Gran Canaria, Paphos, Rhodes and Chambery.

Local business Alan Boswell Group has reported another year of growth following the publication of its annual accounts this August.

The independent insurance broker and financial planning group, which has offices in Norwich, Peterborough, Attleborough and Bury St Edmunds, saw its income increase by over seven percent to more than £15m in the year to 31 March, reporting profits in excess of £3 million.

The business has also remained debt free while making large investments in capital expenditure and implementing a strong growth strategy.

Commenting on the accounts, Finance Director Nick Drew says: “Our results demonstrate that our approach to business growth is sustainable. We intend to continue with this strategy, prudently investing in our assets and our people so that we remain the natural choice for insurance and financial advice in East Anglia.”

The announcement follows a year of good news for the business, having been recognised as Independent Insurance Broker of the Year at the Insurance Times Awards, thanks, in part to its dedication to customer service.

“It’s a testament to our teams that we’re an award-winning business, which has been growing year-on-year,” Group Director Chris Gibbs explains. “Customer service is at the heart of what we do and the positive customer feedback we receive often singles out individual team members for the service they provide.

“We want to make insurance and financial planning simple for our clients, which is why we invest in ongoing training and development opportunities for our staff. We are looking to build on this further in the year ahead with the launch of our Quality First initiative, which provides a clear framework for our teams, encouraging them to exceed client expectations and build on our reputation as a business.”

Alongside this investment in existing employees, staffing figures currently stand at 234, representing an eight percent increase in headcount. New starters have been taken on across the business, from insurance account executives and handlers to underwriters and financial planners, in order to bolster the range of services available to customers.

Chairman Alan Boswell said: “We build strong relationships with our clients by offering friendly, expert advice and going the extra mile. Many of our customers have been with us for more than 20 years and we want to build lasting relationships with our new clients too. By investing in people, we’re sure customers will want to stay with us in years to come.”

When the deadline for registering to vote in the UK EU referendum approached there were issues with the online registration system. It stopped working due to the high numbers of people trying to register all at once. The system failed to scale and fell over. By scale, I mean that the hardware was no longer powerful enough to service all of the requests made of the software it was running and it was unable to become more powerful.

There are two main ways to scale computer hardware, vertically and horizontally. Most software can scale vertically, regardless of how it’s designed. To scale horizontally special design considerations must be taken into account.

Vertical Scaling Imagine you’ve got 1000 people to move from point A to point B 10 miles away and a car which can hold 5 people and travels at an average speed of 60 miles an hour. That means it takes 10 minutes to get the car once from point A to point B. Ignoring the return journey and including the driver in the number of people moved, it would take 200 trips, at 10 minutes each, which is 33 hours. That’s pretty slow.

If we use the same car, but with a more powerful engine which can travel at an average speed of 120 miles an hour, it now takes 5 minutes to get the car once from point A to point B and a total time of 16.5 hours. That’s already a good improvement.

If you use 4 minibuses the time comes down to 1 hour. If we continue to increase the number of minibuses we can bring the time down significantly.

This is an example of vertical scaling. By increasing the processing power (engine) and the memory (number of people the vehicle can hold) in a computer we can increase how quickly it responds to users. However, you can only increase processing power and memory to a point. There is a threshold where it becomes impractical to scale further and another where it is no longer cost effective.

Horizontal Scaling Imagine you’ve got the same 1000 people to move from point A to point B and two minibuses which hold 20 people each and travel at an average speed of 120 miles an hour. Both minibuses take 5 minutes to get one from point A to point B. Ignoring the return journey and including the driver in the number of people moved, it would take 25 trips, at 5 minutes each, which is 2 hours.

If you use 4 minibuses the time comes down to 1 hour. If we continue to increase the number of minibuses we can bring the time down significantly.

This is an example of horizontal scaling. By increasing the number of computers which are working together in parallel we can increase how quickly the overall system responds to users.

Words by Paul

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