With the return to work post COVID-19 hopefully a not too distant idea for most, we decided to look into ways in which aspects of social distancing could be practised in the office environment.
Our latest blog is focused on how the use of innovative office furniture can ensure the needs of your employees are met.
Two Sixth Form pupils from Norwich School are sweetening up life in lockdown through the development of their own fudge business, The Sweet Kitchen.
Created by Lower Sixth pupils Olivia Holdcroft and Scarlett Udy, The Sweet Kitchen business was set up as part of the Young Chamber programme at the school and produces luxury, yet affordable fudge for the Norwich community.
The inspiration behind the project came from their parents’ creative backgrounds and a love of all things sweet. The duo completed a food hygiene course and trialled a number of recipes to get the perfect product. They also used social media to promote the business to the community.
In response to the latest outbreak and to keep spirits lifted, we are taking The Sweet Kitchen out of school and into the community by making local deliveries.
Glyn Manton, Business Enterprise teacher at the school said “At Norwich School we have approximately 80 pupils that have been engaged in our Young Chamber Enterprise schemes this year, where they form their own companies from scratch. This year the ‘Sweet Kitchen’ has been very successful in terms of sales. We are delighted that Olivia and Scarlett have taken the initiative to adapt their business model so it can continue to operate safely and successfully as a delivery service.”
Norwich City Council has already handed over £30m in Government relief grants to local businesses – and is reminding those eligible businesses which have not yet claimed their money to complete the online form.
So far, around £30m has been handed out in total 2,233 businesses, which represents 72 per cent of the businesses in the city that are eligible for the Government grants.
With the number of forms completed daily now starting to reduce, the council is phoning, emailing or visiting the remaining eligible businesses, where it has those contact details, to remind them of the importance of completing the online form on the council’s website.
Cllr Alan Waters, leader of the council, said: “We are working closely with New Anglia LEP, Norfolk Chambers of Commerce and other business groups to ensure our local businesses get the support they are entitled to during these challenging times.
“We are also asking residents to help get the word out by checking in with their local businesses to make sure they are aware of the grant support available.
“Our council staff have really pulled together to get the grants paid and we continue to pay money out daily. Our final push is to get those businesses who have not yet applied to do so.”
Businesses who think they may be eligible and who have not already applied should visit www.norwich.gov.uk/business-support to find the online form, as well as information about the grants.
For advice relating to the grants call Norwich City Council on 01603 212 898. For other business advice, contact the Growth Hub via 0300 333 6536 or www.newangliagrowthhub.co.uk
We are delighted to start offering our renowned afternoon tea experience for you to enjoy safely during lockdown! Bring a little bit of the Norfolk Mead into your home and experience a well-deserved treat to keep you and your close family and friends smiling!
The details:
We will be producing our first batch of takeaway Afternoon Teas on Saturday 9th May. All orders must be received by Friday 8th May at 11pm. We are pleased to be offering a special price of £15 per person. We offer delivery from Coltishall within an approx 15 mile radius for an additional £3 per order. Subject to demand. We are pleased to offer house white/red/rose wine for £10.00 per bottle and house prosecco for £15.00 per bottle. Free delivery for orders over £50. Collection will be available from 1pm – 2pm. Deliveries will take place between 1pm and 3pm. Please order by email at [email protected]. Please call with any queries on 01603 737 531. When ordering, please provide your name, number of people, a contact phone number and an address for deliveries. Please do let us know of any dietary requirements although at this time it may be difficult for us to make changes or provide alternatives … we will inform you of what is available at the time of ordering. Payment in advance only for deliveries via Paypal (link sent to you via return email). Payment in cash on collection also available. Your afternoon tea will be packed into a box. For collections, please help by observing social distancing of 2m – we will bring boxes directly to your car. We will approach your car and ask for your name when you arrive. For deliveries, we will leave your order on your doorstep, knock and walk away and wait until we see you have received it. We will continue to offer this every week subject to continued demand. Orders open Monday 11th May for takeaways to be collected/ delivered on Saturday 16th May. Orders must be received by 11pm Friday 15th May. Thank you so much to everyone for your continued support.
Rest assured that Captain Fawcett Ltd are delighted to be doing their bit on the home front! It’s all hands to the pump as the manufacturer and purveyor of simply ‘First Class Gentleman’s Grooming Requisites’ has effectively shifted production and as such the manufacturing arm of Captain Fawcett Ltd, McCavity’s Contract Fillers, is extremely busy ‘Filling for Victory’. Captain Fawcett founder Richie Finney, an Invest West Norfolk Champion and a 2019 Mayor’s Business Awards winner says “As never before, it’s time to rally round and pull together. I’m delighted that the team have responded so swiftly to requests for the hygienic necessities which form an essential part of every modern gentleman’s daily grooming regime.” In addition to filling hand sanitiser for a number of organisations who, in turn, supply the vital key workers of Great Britain, Captain Fawcett is raising funds for our our magnificent National Health Service. New products have been introduced into the Fawcett’s Physician range and with the NHS firing on all cylinders, 10% of all proceeds from each Handy Sanitiser bottle and Zam-Buk Soap bar will be going directly to NHS Charities. The Handy Sanitisers and Zam-Buk soap are available to order exclusively from Captain Fawcett’s online Emporium www.captainfawcett.com where it should be said rigorous hygiene protocol is strictly adhered to at all times. Carry on.
Here at Safepoint we’ve been waiting to announce some big news for a while now, and today’s the day. We are incredibly happy to be able to announce the launch of our brand new Alert Button! The Safepoint Alert Button is the latest addition to our arsenal of tools designed to protect your staff. Now your team can call for help simply by pressing a physical button! What’s more, the Alert Button includes fall detection, adding even more automated safety to the Safepoint platform.
BDH Tullford, a Norwich-based print and point-of-sale specialist, has teamed up with Norwich School to help produce thousands of visors, designed to protect key workers across East Anglia.
The BDH Tullford team is working alongside a number of local organisations, producing and cutting materials, ready to be made into visors. These essential items are being distributed across the region for use in hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and more.
Says Director James Fox: “We’re delighted to support our community at this time. With so much demand for PPE across the region – and the nation – the whole team is thrilled to be able to help. Adding our production capacity has increased the already significant amounts being made and distributed by the school.”
Follow the company on LinkedIn, or give them a call on 01603 620780 to find out more.
The Ministry of Justice has announced a further delay to the implementation of the whiplash claims process reforms; until April 2021. This is the second postponement of the planned reforms within the last two months, with the delay attributed to the unprecedented impact of the disruption and pressures caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.
The intended reforms include increasing the small claims limit for road traffic accident personal injury claims to £5,000, meaning costs will no longer be able to be recovered for cases worth less than that amount. There will also be a fixed damages tariff for whiplash injuries that last up to two years, and a ban on making or accepting offers to settle a whiplash claim without a medical report.
Colin Cook, Hatch Brenner Norwich Personal Injury Solicitor commented: “This is good news for claimants as the reforms largely favour insurers. The delay will afford claimants with low value claims a further period of respite and access to justice until the planned reforms are implemented. I would recommend anyone contemplating making such a claim to do so without delay. We have the systems, technology and processes in place at Hatch Brenner to handle these types of legal claims remotely whilst remaining approachable, sympathetic and offering clear and straightforward legal advice.”
Contact our Personal Injury Solicitors to discuss your whiplash legal claim via 01603 660 811 or email [email protected]
Our Norfolk Water Sports store – The Boathouse – is launching a competition in collaboration with the Zoological Society of East Anglia to help support Banham Zoo, who are struggling to feed their animals in these challenging times.
Even though we have also been affected by the pandemic (as many other medium size businesses); we are still looking for ways to be positive and contribute to the local community that we care and love so much.
To help raise funds for animal food, veterinary care and staff wages, we are giving away a custom ‘zebra’ Silverbirch Broadland 16 canoe, made right here in Norfolk. (All proceeds will go towards supporting Banham Zoo.)
Charlie Walker of TaxAssist Bedford, St Neots and Huntingdon shares his thoughts on life as a TaxAssist Accountants franchisee during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Charlie Walker has been a TaxAssist Accountants franchisee for two years and in that time has grown his practice to look after in excess of 200 clients. Here, he shares how he now spends his days, his feedback about the support provided by TaxAssist Accountants and his plans for the future.
“At the moment, my days aren’t too different to those before the crisis began,” explains Charlie. “The key change has been that my commute is only to another room in my house most days, though I am calling into both shops from time to time to collect non digitised client records and post.”
“We start each day with a team catch up using Zoom, which is as much a social chat as it is a work one. Once the Zoom chat is over and we all know what we are going to be doing for the day, I start my work. This can involve traditional tax returns or, as is often the case now, working with clients to help them to protect their businesses, be that by applying for grants or loans or outlining the impact of the government schemes on them as individuals.”
Charlie operates his practice from shops in Bedford and Huntingdon and an office in St Neots. He himself has benefitted from one of the measures introduced by the Government to support small businesses.
“Having a shop with a rateable value of less than £15,000 means we have been in receipt of a grant of £10,000 from the local authority which is a great help in uncertain times. If anyone would like to know more about the Government’s support measures, I am very much open for business and can either speak over the phone, email or offer a face-to-face meeting over the internet.”
Charlie has maintained regular contact with his clients where he can, during these difficult times and has been praised for doing so. “Feedback from clients ranges from simple emails saying things like ‘that’s great, thanks for the update’ to online reviews from businesses we [don’t yet] act for but who were pleased to be able to get some advice. I have also been asked to take a non-executive director role on the board of a key service provider we act for based on work we have done with them over the last year, and on that I was able negotiate a revised fee structure and interim grant for them. The same client has also agreed to hand over almost their entire financial support and bookkeeping to TaxAssist, so the owners and directors can focus on building their unique business.”
The TaxAssist Accountants Support Centre has rolled out several measures to support its franchisees, which Charlie is quick to praise alongside the staff members themselves. “The daily updates and regular webinars organised by The Support Centre have been useful but the key thing I have had from TaxAssist in Norwich is continuity. The team has remained the same friendly, helpful and knowledgeable group that they have been since I joined the network in 2018 which has been great.”
Charlie is looking positively on the future and has plans in place to grow his practice. “Clearly the pandemic has caused a huge global shock, but with my services very much in demand, I believe now is a great opportunity to think about expanding my practice and I’ve entered into a discussion about a new premises in a prime location. I know that the economy will contract for a while, but a recent OBR forecast indicates that by early next year there should be a period of rapid growth once again.
“In the meantime, I just want to wish all my clients and colleagues well and urge them to please stay home and stay safe whenever they can.”
Cotton World are a leading manufacturer of textile products, with over three decades of industry experience, and they are working hard to offer support and help during the Corona crisis.
Managing Director of Cotton World Gary Holley has had a new shipment of navy Polycotton 195 gsm, and he is pleased to be able to offer Scrubs locally manufactured at a production volume of 120 per week.
Price for full set £24.00.
Our Fabrics
Our leading fabric suppliers hold BCI, GOTS and OE, and GRS 2.1 certifications. We are proud to manufacture textile products using the following fabrics:
– Cotton and Cotton blends, including Poly-Cottons – Organic Cotton and Organic Cotton blends, including 100% Organic with GOTS and OE certification – Recycled Cotton and Recycled blends, our fabric partner is a GRS certified company holding its own unit for fabric opening and blending – BCI Cotton, including 100% BCI with traceability – Fair Trade, our fabric partner is an FLO certified supplier
Please refer to Our Facilities for details about our manufacturing capabilities in the UK and India.