Congratulations Panel Graphic Ltd. of Loddon on the successful certification of their quality system by BSI to the updated ISO 9001: 2015 standard.
Back in March, Panel Graphic determined that their quality system needed a shot in the arm to meet the needs of their ever expanding blue chip clientele. They are the leaders in the field in the provision of design, manufacture and improvement of protective and contrast enhancement front windows and panels for electronic information displays, and optical quality coatings for plastics.
Being Chamber members they scanned the Chamber directory for a local specialist in quality. They found John Campbell, a Norwich based consultant, with success in this area, and an action team was born.
After six months of planned improvement actions, The British Standards institute (BSI) awarded Panel Graphic Ltd. the certificate to the international quality management requirements standard ISO 9001: 2015.
This well respected certificate indicates that Panel Graphic Ltd. have a robust structure in place to give their discerning clients confidence in their products and services.
We are delighted to announce that all three of our Norwich offices are moving to a new headquarters – Prospect House in Norwich city centre.
Prospect House is a well-known building in Norwich as the base of regional news company, Archant, who will remain in the building as tenants. We’re looking forward to sharing the space with them, securing the future of this local landmark building.
As we continue to expand, we need space to grow into and this move supports our aspirations for the future. Relocating to the city centre will not only benefit our staff but our clients too, who can take full advantage of the great transport links to Norwich city centre and facilities in the building.
We aim to move in June 2020. Watch this space for updates, and we look forward to seeing you in our new place soon!
Alan Boswell Financial Planners are pleased to announce the introduction of our new Core Advice Team to help close the advice gap here in Norfolk, and further afield. In 2013 the Financial Conduct Authority removed most commission payments within financial advice. The advice now needs to be paid for separately from any charges that apply to the product being recommended and while this is entirely appropriate there have been some unintended consequences.
For example, a client who wishes to invest £30,000 often may struggle to find a financial planner to advise on this amount for a reasonable fee.
It has led to an advice gap, whereby a number of firms providing financial advice withdrew services for those with less than £100,000 to invest. Some companies introduced robo-advice, an online solution where clients were taken through an online journey and didn’t interact with a financial adviser at all! At Alan Boswell Financial Planners we recognise that financial advice needs the personal touch to fully understand the client’s circumstances. The Core Advice Team (CAT) is our answer.
Alan Boswell Financial Planners – Core Advice Team
The Core Advice Team can advise on virtually all areas of an individual’s financial planning needs. The team provides advice face to face in Alan Boswell’s Norwich office but can also operate over the telephone and via online systems such as Skype to ensure comprehensive advice is delivered in the most cost effective way possible for the client.
Quality advice that clients can trust is paramount and the dedicated team is led by Shaun Coleman, a Chartered Financial Planner with 25 years of advice experience.
“Alan Bowell and Company has seen the increasing difficulty people have when they want to access high quality financial advice at a reasonable cost. This is of particular concern given the ever increasing array of options available and the sometimes significant impact a wrong decision by a person, who doesn’t have access to advice, can make. Alan Boswell’s decision to set up a specialist team to aim to address this growing issue is good news for those who need advice they can trust, at a price they can afford. As a Chartered Financial Planner, I am very pleased to have been appointed as head of this team and we are looking forward to addressing the gaps in the availability of advice that Alan Boswell’s has identified.”
What does the Core Advice Team charge?
There is no charge for the initial one hour consultation. Subsequently, the team typically charges a minimum initial advice fee of £750. The minimum advice fee will often be significantly lower than fees charged by other financial advisers who may charge £1,500 or more on a £30,000 investment and possibly up to £3,000 on a £100,000 investment.
A higher fee may of course be chargeable for more complex or involved work, or for advice on multiple products but all fees would be fully discussed and agreed at the outset before any work is undertaken.
If you’d like to arrange your free, no-obligation consultation, call Alan Boswell Financial Planners on 01603 967967.
Graham Casbourne Appointed Business Development & Sales Director at KLM UK Engineering Limited
Paris, Amstelveen, November 2019 – Graham Casbourne has been appointed as Business Development & Sales Director at KLM UK Engineering Limited as of 11th November.
KLM UK Engineering is a wholly-owned AFI KLM E&M subsidiary specialising in maintenance & training solutions for regional and narrow-body aircraft fleets.
Graham started his aviation career at KLM UK Engineering 30 years ago and has held various positions in operations and sales. In 2012 Graham joined the Sales & Marketing department as Sales Manager and has an extensive network in the business.
On learning of his appointment, Graham Casbourne said: “I am very proud to have been appointed as Business Development & Sales Director. With my experience and network I look forward to supporting the Sales & Marketing team to deliver year on year growth for the business.
TaxAssist holds bespoke event to engage and support the staff of franchisees
Knowing that happy staff who feel engaged and supported are key to the success of a practice, TaxAssist Accountants recently held its first staff regional meeting at Hampton Manor Hotel in Solihull. This event was delivered by Senior Managers Richard Washington, Richard Chatten-Hague and Jo Nockels on the back of the recent franchisee regional meetings with similar content but tailored specifically for staff.
Richard Chatten-Hague, Senior Business Development Manager, said: “It was great to be a part of this productive and enjoyable, inaugural event.
“We know how vital a role staff play in the running of a practice, and so we felt it was important to hold a bespoke meeting to showcase the vast support on offer, keep them up to date with technical and business development initiatives and to provide them with a platform for views and ideas.
“We are hopeful that holding events such as these will help with staff engagement, development and retention. We received excellent feedback from all who attended, and we will be looking to hold this event again next year.”
TaxAssist takes its commitment to staff development very seriously and runs a two-year diploma course for senior practice staff designed to nurture management and leadership skills. It also produces regular webinars and business development, technical and software training days for staff to attend.
Many franchisees in the network are also recognised as ICAEW accredited trainers, helping to attract and retain talented individuals by offering the ACA qualification.
A list of current staff vacancies can be found here.
A new pilot wayfinding scheme has launched in the city centre comprising of 12 newly designed and branded City of Stories totems.
Delivered by Norwich Business Improvement District in partnership with Norwich City Council the pre-existing infrastructure has been redesigned to fit a new image for the city centre.
The 12 newly designed directional totems are located across the city centre, from outside St Peter Mancroft and The Assembly House, to Dragon Hall on King street.
Each totem is colour co-ordinated to match city centre districts and features directional content, immediate location information, 3D buildings and icons, accessible fonts and designs, as well as heritage information on the surrounding district.
As a creative and leading tech city, it’s no surprise that the new totems are piloting QR and Near File Communication (NFC) technology, supplied by local company, Thyngs. The technology will link through to the newly-launched VisitNorwich website (visitnorwich.co.uk), which will showcase more content on the surrounding area, including events, businesses and attractions.
Two years in the making, the scheme has worked extensively with the local businesses, specific interest groups and the wider community to ensure the scheme meets DDA compliance and learns the lessons from some of the national best examples of wayfinding.
To compliment the new wayfinding initiative, the Norwich BID have also doubled the area of the open guest free wi-fi network in the city centre. Available 24/7 the network is live throughout the main city centre, from Chapelfield Gardens to Norwich Castle, London Street and the Lanes and covering St Andrew’s, Surrey Street and Prince of Wales Road. The free city centre wi-fi makes it easy for visitors to surf with ease and stay connected. The free network offers speeds of up to 5Mbps, bringing a truly connected experience to city centre users.
It’s easy to get connected, in Wi-Fi settings select ‘Free-Wifi-NorwichBID‘. Registration is available through two options (Facebook and registration form). Registration is only required once; afterwards the device will automatically connect to the free Wi-Fi whenever it is in range (if set up on the phone).
Stefan Gurney, Executive Director at the BID said, “We are proud to unveil the amazing new look totems with integrated NFC technology. The new look ties in with our recent City of Stories rebrand and unifies the city with its clear colour coded districts in the city.”
“We are also pleased to offer extended wi-fi coverage across the city centre, increasing and enhancing the visitor and user experience whilst in the city”.
East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) is very excited to invite you to the inaugural EACH Gala Dinner at the Natural History Museum on Wednesday, 30th November 2016.
The dinner will be hosted by EACH and Sir Martyn Lewis and will take place in the beautiful setting of the Hintze Hall at the heart of the Natural History Museum. It will be attended by more than 350 guests from East Anglia, London and around the world, including many of our supporters, a number of our ambassadors and patrons, and a host of celebrity guests and will include a surprise performance Ed Sheeran and will attract global press coverage.
EACH supports families and cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. Our family centred approach includes specialist nursing care, symptom management support, short breaks, wellbeing activities, therapies and counselling; all meeting the individual needs of the child, young person and family. Due to high demand and restricted facilities in Norfolk, we have launched a fundraising appeal to deliver a new purpose-built hospice, called .
Since its launch in November 2014, supported by our Royal Patron, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, has secured £3.5 million with a further £6.5 million needed to make this much-needed facility a reality. We hope the Gala Dinner will bring in £500,000 for . We rely on donations for the majority of income, with your help we can transform the lives of children, young people and families. Your support is vital.
We have a variety of sponsorship, advertisement and table packages that can be tailored to what you need including using the your logo and advert in the EACH Gala Dinner brochure and on our website.
If you are interested please contact [email protected] or call 01953 666768.
On Friday 20 June, Fendercare Marine opened the doors of its Great Yarmouth base to showcase its expansion of lifting products and services over the last two years.
The Fendercare Marine Equipment and Lifting Services Open Day was attended by a wide array of existing and new customers, as well as members of the local Great Yarmouth community. The guests were treated to displays of marine equipment products, lifting equipment, rope splicing demonstrations, working at height equipment and load monitoring. During the day, Fendercare Marine MD, Eric Plane, presented a donation cheque to the RNLI which was followed by a rescue demonstration from the Gorleston RNLI team.
Fendercare Marine Equipment and Lifting Services, based on Breydon Road, Great Yarmouth first opened in July 2012 to provide shoreside support to the wind farm vessels. Since then it has doubled its warehouse capability to offer onshore crane inspection and testing; mechanical and electrical lifting equipment; hydraulic equipment and winches; lifting tackle and load/stress monitoring equipment with many products available for sale or hire. These products and services are available to the renewable industry, the offshore oil and gas sector together with onshore industrial sectors, creating a truly unique and versatile energy and lifting support base. As part of the expansion, Fendercare Marine also sublet new office space and provided a specially made Inspection Warehouse for their technician teams to Viking Life-Saving Equipment Ltd – a market leader in maritime and fire safety.
Fendercare Marine Equipment and Lifting Services Sales Manager, Richard Howes commented “We are delighted to have welcomed so many people to our Open Day. Our guests were surprised by the sheer volume and scope of products and services we can offer and it has been a great opportunity to showcase everything we can do. We are proud to have an extremely knowledgeable team of technical experts and today was also about sharing this professional expertise with our customers.”
East Anglian business Alan Boswell Group has announced that it raised more than £6,000 in one weekend for Big C thanks an ongoing relationship with the Norfolk Province of Freemasons – and its employees’ participation in a wide range of fundraising events.
On Friday 23rd September a cheque for £1,625 was presented to Big C following a fundraising initiative by the Norfolk Province of Freemasons, which saw their members pay to park at Alan Boswell Group’s head office during Norwich City FC home games.
The idea was spearheaded by Robert Price MBE on behalf of the Freemasons, who has been managing the initiative for more than six years.
“The relationship began in 2010, when The Grand Lodge of England granted us the opportunity to raise funds for our chosen charities,” Robert explains. “A chance conversation revealed that Alan was open to using the car park on match days to raise money and it went from there.
“This season our beneficiary is Alan Boswell’s Charity of the Year, Big-C. We’re thrilled to make a donation to a local cause and would like to thank Alan Boswell Group for its generosity.”
Says Big C Director of Income Generation and Communications, Clive Evans: “We’re grateful to Alan Boswell Group and the Freemasons for their support. Working with other organisations is a great way to maximise everyone’s efforts and drive extra interest, ensuring Big C can continue to provide support in the future as well as today.”
Alan Boswell Group Marketing Manager Lee Boswell further comments: “The generous donation from the Freemasons was received at the beginning of a bumper weekend of fundraising activity and we’re delighted to have an ongoing relationship with the organisation.
“Every member of staff at Alan Boswell Group has been challenged to raise £100 for charity this year, and over the course of the weekend our employees raised a further £6,000 by taking part in the Bullards Tour de Norfolk bike ride and huge charity raffle. We’re grateful to our relationships with local organisations – and everyone that’s helped us to maximise our efforts.”
If you would like to donate to Alan Boswell Group’s fundraising efforts visit https://abg.bz/ABGCotY
Leeway is taking part in Big Give’s Women and Girls match
fund campaign, and we need your support!
From the 8th-15th October, we are
taking part in Big Give’s annual crowdfunding campaign to raise money to
support the important work of Leeway’s Healthy Relationship service.
During this time, all money raised by supporters will be
doubled by Big Give, helping participating organisations to have an even
greater impact across their local communities.
We are raising money to support our Healthy Relationship
service, which works with children and young people across Norfolk, raising
awareness around domestic abuse and healthy relationships so they can flourish.
Your support will help us to reach more young people across
Norfolk, as well as expanding the resources that we are able to provide to
young people and professionals that work with them.
Why is this important?
We believe education around healthy relationships is
important as it helps to break the cycle of domestic abuse, supporting young
people to understand what they should expect as they start to form new
relationships, as well as identifying trusted adults they can reach out to for
support, when they are worried or concerned about their partners behaviour.
Our service also works with young people to challenge some
of the attitudes and views that they may see on social media, which can shape
their opinions on what constitutes a healthy relationship.
Research conducted by the Independent found that 8 in 10
teenage boys had watched content by the influencer Andrew Tate, who has
described himself as “absolutely a misogynist.”
Further studies have shown that young people – particularly
boys – have been heavily influenced by Tate’s content. Without being
challenged, these views can become normalised or deemed acceptable.
GirlGuiding UK also shone a light on this issue, with their
recent study showing that 1 in 10 girls aged 11-16 have missed school to avoid
sexual harassment.
We believe that educating young people and challenging
misogynistic views can help them to have a better understanding around healthy
relationships and why they are important.
Supporting Our Campaign
When the campaign goes live at midday on Wednesday 8th
October, you can donate to support us on our Big Give page. This is then live
until midday on Wednesday 15th October, when all funds raised are
doubled by Big Give.
Businesses and organisations can also support the campaign
by donating to our Big Give page.
Leeway will be sharing social media posts about the
campaign throughout the week and any shares or reposts are hugely appreciated,
helping us to get as much support as possible!
What our service users said…
“My leeway worker was
absolutely amazing from the first time I met her. She has helped me through the
no doubt toughest time of my life and was by my side through out all of it, she
is the kindest person I know thank you Leeway I would not be where I am today
without you.”
“My Leeway worker was
extremely understanding and helped me through my issues in relationships and
learning how to be more healthy.”
“My leeway worker was
excellent, she tailored the sessions to my needs and together we managed to
find all of the keys problems I was having and why I was having them. She was
also very engaging and helped me to understand why the problems were present too.”
Students from across Norfolk and Suffolk will be given the opportunity to speak directly with employers and education and training providers regarding their future career options, apprenticeships and training courses at an event focussed on bridging the skills gap within the expanding and exciting energy industry later this month.
Taking place on Wednesday 27th November in the new £11.4m Energy Skills Centre at East Coast College, Skills for Energy 2019 aims to inspire ambition and aspiration in the next generation of energy professionals with interactive STEM-based activities including virtual reality experiences, robot and ROV control, nautical chart treasure hunt, engine building and weld testing.
Gemma Head, Skills for Energy Programme Manager at EEEGR, said: “This event is now in its fourth year and each year, it has gained greater interest from industry exhibitors and students alike. We are really pleased to be able to host this event again within the region, highlighting the scale of the opportunities which lay ahead for the next generation of energy industry employees”
Sponsored by OPITO, the global skills organisation for the energy industry, and supported by the ECITB, the Skills for Energy event is just one of the elements of the East of England Energy Group’s (EEEGR) Skills for Energy Programme which aims to ensure the ongoing diversity and volume of skilled individuals for the current and future wellbeing of the energy sector. Working closely with industry as well as education and training providers, Skills for Energy helps individuals and companies benefit from the many opportunities the unique and varied energy sector in the East of England offers.
Jill Glennie, External Affairs Director at OPITO said: “The energy industry continues to develop and progress at pace using new technology and innovation to enhance delivery; introducing new roles and ways of working. The industry requires a multi-skilled, technology-enabled workforce to continue to drive the digital agenda.
“OPITO is proud to sponsor and support EEEGR and the Skills for Energy programme. The annual event provides a fantastic schedule of activities, bringing the energy sector to life for attendees who will gain a clearer picture of the opportunities our sector holds for them.”
With over 450 secondary school and higher education students set to attend and more than 30 companies exhibiting including ScottishPower Renewables, EDF Energy, 3sun Group, James Fisher Marine Services, UEA, OPITO, Gardline, Orsted, ECITB and Vattenfall, Skills for Energy 2019 looks set to be an unmissable event for students looking to pursue a career in the region’s growing energy industry.
It is estimated that up to 35% of properties in the UK could be unlettable by 1st April 2018 if action is not taken to improve the property’s energy efficiency rating. The Energy Act 2011 contains a provision for minimum energy standards, andfrom 1st April 2018 it willbe unlawful for a landlord to lease a non-domestic property with an EPC Rating of less than ‘E’.
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is required before a property is marketed for sale or rent in the UK. An EPC gives a property an energy efficiency rating from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient).
It is not just those properties that are currently rated F/G that will be impacted by these new regulations. EPCs have a validity of 10 years. A property with an EPC from 2008 may last through threebuilding regulations updates before the owner is legally required to produce another. In which time, the EPC could have dropped by a whole three rating bands. It is possible for a ‘C’ rated building to decline dangerously close to, or below, the ‘E’ threshold by 2018.
As building regulations continue to set more challenging minimum efficiency standards for the building fabric and services, those buildings with inherent problems with the building construction will find it increasingly difficult to achieve compliance. As such, early action is key to keep the costs of compliance low and maintain rental income.
Properties with an EPC Rating of F/G may still be marketed post 2018. However, the prospective tenant and landlord must agree on measures to improve the efficiency of the building prior to the lease being granted. This provides an additional level of risk to landlords, with tenants potentially being able to demand that more expensive works are carried out at the landlord’s expense.
From 2018, only new tenancies and renewals will be affected. However, from 1st April 2023 all existing tenancies will be subject to Minimum Energy Performance Standards, with F&G rated building phased out of British building stock. This could lead to landlords losing tenants, and tenants business operations being heavily disrupted as they look for new premises.
Exemptions to the rule
Buildings that do not require an EPC:
Places of worship, temporary buildings, building with