Term: Full Time, Permanent Salary: £30,785 – £34,538 per annum Closing Date: 14th August 2017, 09:00 Interview Date: 21st August 2017
North Norfolk District Council is looking for someone with the dynamism to develop our diverse business base, working within a team dedicated to delivering the Council’s economic growth priorities. With highly develped communication skills and experience of engaging businesses and building productive relationships, you will play a leading role in driving business growth and investment in North Norfolk.
Working with individuals, networks, sector groups, and partner organisations you will help realise the growth plans of indigenous businesses and nurture inward investment opportunities. This is a pivotal role in helping businesses to make key decisions and as such you will need to be able to confidently build a network of contacts and work closely with your team colleagues in order to facilitate solutions.
Do you actively bid or tender for public contracts? Could you improve your chances of success? Are you confident across the various complex procurement procedures? Would you like someone to ask? Do you wish you knew how your Tender would be scored? How valuable to you would this insight be before you submitted your Tender?
Specialist procurement support is available
Chris Cliffe, of CJC Procurement Ltd in Norwich, has 18 years’ experience of public sector procurement. He has written and signed-off hundreds of procurement procedures and ITTs and has scored and evaluated thousands of Tenders. Chris applies this experience in helping businesses beat their competition and to ensure their Tenders get a fair assessment. Chris can help you improve your Tenders and improve your chances of winning public sector contracts!
How it Works
Whilst Chris can support you throughout the end to end bidding process, there are three specific points where external bid review services add most value.
On receipt of the opportunity, Chris can support you by reviewing the procurement documentation and helping you interpret the questions and response requirements. Chris can help you with clarification questions or even suggest response structures for questions.
Prior to the deadline for submission of your Tender, Chris can evaluate your draft Tender and indicatively score it and provide you with feedback, comments and suggestions on how to improve your Tender in the final days before submission. This is the most popular service.
In the event of an unsuccessful bid, Chris can support you in assessing the feedback from the customer to determine whether your Tender has been fairly and objectively assessed, suggesting where improvements are required in future, or whether you have grounds for complaint or challenge.
Flexible Approach
As an independent procurement consultant, these services can be delivered flexibly to work with you and your bid writing processes and/or team.
Reviews can often be scheduled overnight, or over weekends to add maximum value whilst dovetailing with your business hours.
The services are charged at a fixed hourly rate, which can either be on a pay-as-you-use basis or on a retainer basis as appropriate, particularly where clients are keen to ensure their competitive edge over their competition and the service is exclusive for a single client on any given tender opportunity.
A Satisfied Customer
“I engaged Chris with some support as a “Critical Friend” on a large tender. Chris reviewed each stage of our tender submission and provided excellent feedback. His review included ensuring requirements were met, suggestions on how the customer could read or interpret answers and because of his experience & real understanding of public sector procurement he was able to provide exceptional direction for improvements. Chris always delivered on time and his report/feedback was presented to a high standard. Chris takes pride in his work and I found he went over and above what was asked of him on many occasions, he becomes part of your team and acts as one team with you. I would be happy to recommend Chris to any organisation.” Ciara McMillan, Account Director.
Norfolk Chambers of Commerce Member Offer
CJC Procurement Ltd is happy to offer a 25% discount for all new customers who are members of the Norfolk Chambers of Commerce!
Chris is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply and is a Chartered Procurement Professional. Chris is a Highly Commended Director of the Year by the Institute of Directors (IoD), East of England region and is the Procurement Ambassador for the IoD Norfolk branch. CJC Procurement Ltd is a member of the Norfolk Chambers of Commerce and has been appointed three years in succession to the Crown Commercial Service G-Cloud framework agreement.
A team from Pure’s Ipswich office has spent a day volunteering with Anglia Care Trust, decorating a house in Ipswich ready for a family supported by the charity and in need of permanent roof over their heads to move in.
Anglia Care Trust, based in Ipswich, supports people in Suffolk through community safety and housing services, plus advice, guidance and advocacy. The Trust approached professional recruitment specialists Pure to see if they would be interested in volunteering, and providing some extra helping hands, and the team at the local Ipswich office in Princes Street was keen to help.
On Thursday 17 August, twelve team members from Pure took on the challenge of helping to prepare the two-bedroom house ready for the family supported by the charity. A team of six took on the morning shift, with the second team taking over in the afternoon. Between them they managed to get the living room, kitchen and one of the bedrooms painted.
As a socially responsible business, Pure has always actively supported local charities through fundraising, volunteering and donations. Employees are also encouraged to take part in volunteering projects and are supported by the organisation to do so.
Lucy Plumb, Executive Assistant at Pure and part of the volunteering team, said: “It’s extremely rewarding to be able to support charities through fundraising and donations, but there’s something extra special about actually getting to go out and do something hands-on. It gives you the chance to see how your hard work can really make a difference to people’s lives. We’ve all really enjoyed helping out and it really does help to reinforce our culture of teamwork and support.”
The house is expected to be completed and ready for the family in about six weeks’ time.
A man who adapted his Norwich-based family signage business to adapt to conditions under Covid-19 lockdown, has donated protective materials and directional signage for the retail shops of the local charity which supported his father before his death five years ago. Justin Watts, managing director of Signforce, which has its premises in Burton Close, Norwich, was forced to furlough all his staff and rapidly adapt the production of his signage company due to the coronavirus outbreak. Justin said, “We manufacture wholesale branded sign and display products for the sign, display and exhibition industry and experiential agencies, but when lockdown was announced, the events industry ground to a halt and this business disappeared overnight. To ensure continuity of the company, we needed to pivot our usual output and turn to producing PPE and protective equipment, graphics and Covid related signage for retail premises. Thankfully I have managed to now bring all my staff back into the business following furlough. “When my father was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 and undergoing treatment at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, he received fantastic support from the team at the Big C centre. It was a very difficult time, we ran the business together for 20 years before my father became ill and we were very close. The support and help Big C gave to us as a family before he sadly died, really made a difference and so when I heard that the charity was starting to reopen some of its shops, I wanted to take the opportunity to give-back and help by donating some of the protective equipment they required to make the stores Covid-safe.” Signforce has donated till screens and floor stickers worth £1,500 which will be used in Big C’s Fakenham, Beccles, Norwich Timberhill and Swaffham stores. Retail Team Manager, Danielle Day, said, “We are very grateful to Justin and Signforce for this very kind donation. Conditions are tough for charities currently and to receive this help towards opening our shops and generating income for the charity is welcomed and appreciated.” To learn more about the work Big C does to improve the lives of those affected by cancer in Norfolk and Waveney, please visit www.big-c.co.uk
Adnan Tahir has recently opened a new walk-in tax and accountancy shop servicing the small business community in the Tradeston area of Glasgow.
Adnan had only just commenced trading when lockdown began, but is now looking forward to reaching out to those in his local area who are in need of expert business advice and support.
“The shop looks great, I’m so pleased with the final result which provides a warm, welcoming environment for me to meet with clients” said Adnan. “I’d encourage anyone interested in finding out more about our services to contact us for a free initial consultation – either face-to-face, by telephone or online.
“We provide a comprehensive tax, accountancy and advisory service to small businesses and can talk clients through a range of software solutions, to help them select the right package for their needs.”
A COVID-19 hub has been created on the TaxAssist website with all of the latest news and guidance, and clients are kept up-to-date via text messages, emails and webinars, explaining the latest government announcements and how it affects them.
Lewis Wardale, an undergraduate in Natural Sciences at the UEA, has run 125 miles and a virtual marathon to raise over £2,700 by way of gratitude to a local cancer charity and fundraising group which awarded him a student bursary placement this summer.
Lewis was the recipient of the Lilac Ladies bursary via local cancer charity, Big C, which enabled him to spend eight weeks working with the cancer genetics team at Norwich Medical School under Daniel Brewer and with Sergio Llaneza-Lago, a Big C funded PhD student.
A passionate advocate of fitness, Lewis enjoys exercising at the gym, playing football and Parkrun. At the end of summer, Lewis decided to challenge himself and ran 125 miles, or an estimated 190 miles including the distance covered at football games, to raise vital funds for Big C as a thank for funding his summer placement. Last week, Lewis also ran the virtual London Marathon. Through these activities, he has raised an amazing £2743.00
Lewis said, “My experience with the cancer genetics team was so good, that I wanted to somehow repay the cost of my bursary as I wanted someone else to experience what I have. I am very grateful to those who have donated and helped me raise this and more. I would like to express a massive thank you to the LILAC Ladies and to Big C for the support they have given me. This experience has opened my eyes to what a career in cancer bioinformatics would look like. I absolutely loved it. I was really intrigued by the research that not only I was doing, but also the rest of the team. It has cemented by decision to do this for a career.”
Lewis was inspired into a career in cancer research after his grandmother was diagnosed with stage 4 Lymphoma in 2017. Lewis said, “At first, I was devastated by this diagnosis, but we were soon reassured by the medical professionals that this type of cancer was one that stood the greatest probability of being cured. I was perplexed because by previous preconceptions told me there was no coming back from a stage 4 cancer. Sure enough, modern medicine helped my Grandma into remission. I couldn’t believe this miraculous recovery that she made from such an aggressive type of cancer. With a basic understanding of cancer biology at the time from Biology A-Level, I was eager to learn more about the specific mechanisms and mutations that constitute these stages and subtypes of cancer. I then knew that cancer research was a career pathway I wanted to pursue.”
Gaye Youngman from LILAC said “LILAC were delighted that through our fundraising we were able to give Lewis the opportunity to further his experience via this student bursary. As well as assisting with the work of the cancer genetics team it helped pave the way for his future career choices.”
Judges praise “well deserved” win in competitive category.
TaxAssist Accountants has won ‘Best Franchisee Marketing Support’ at the Franchise Marketing Awards 2020, beating 11 other well-known, leading brands to the top spot.
The winning award entry emphasised the substantial financial investment the franchisor made to the brand awareness budget and the increased marketing support measures which have been put in place during the pandemic. These enhanced support features included a COVID-19 Business Support Hub on the website to share news, articles, Q&As, videos and webinars. It also included timely and increased social media posts and client guidance covering key Government announcements, with over a million emails in total sent to clients on behalf of the franchise network.
The entry also highlighted how it sets its network up for success by providing a suite of marketing initiatives including a national lead generation service, a centralised email service, national and local social media activity, local marketing advice and planning, TV and digital advertising and guides for pricing and profitability among many other initiatives.
The judging panel were very impressed with the levels of support, with Pip Wilkins, Chief Executive of the British Franchise Association, and one of the judges, describing the win as “well deserved”.
James Mattam, Group Business Development Director, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have won this prestigious award in a highly competitive category against other well-known and successful brands. This is a real reward for all of the fantastic teams at the Support Centre who have pulled out all the stops to maintain truly outstanding levels of marketing support through these unprecedented times.
“Our franchisees and their clients always come first in all that we do. We wanted to ensure our clients could access grants, funding and furloughing support quickly and have one less thing to worry about. Our franchisees were in huge demand by their clients and we stepped in to help with some of the support, with responsive and regular communications. Being part of a franchise network really offered a layer of protection during these times and now we’ve enhanced our brand and reputation on the back of this hard work. The award win is the icing on the cake.
“A key decision we made, as franchisor, was to reduce our franchisees’ marketing costs, but replace this with our own investment of over £100,000 from management service fees back into the brand awareness budgets. This is likely to increase between now and the end of the year to continue driving new business to the network”.
The high level of marketing support was also reflected in TaxAssist Accountants’ recent National Client Satisfaction Survey, in which clients praised still being able to easily contact their accountants for help and guidance about how to access Government support and funding during the lockdown, whether it was using video meetings or calls.
If you are interested in finding out more about joining the TaxAssist Accountants network, we are holding regular Virtual Discovery Days were you can learn more about the business development and technical support on offer to help you build a substantial practice. Call 0800 018829 to find out more.
Uptech Ltd are dedicated to providing their clients with business solutions that meet their clients needs. They are also dedicated to providing their clients with the very best Cyber protection available.
To book your self in for a FREE Cyber Security Risk Assessment, normally valued at £149, Please contact [email protected], or call 01553 612212 and ask for James.
There is no obligation to purchase anything, however will provide advice on what, if anything needs to be changed.
There is still time to book your place, and join MHA Larking Gowen and Howes Percival, as they collaborate to launch Norfolk Chamber of Commerce’s brand-new recovery programme of virtual events which support businesses to restart, rebuild and renew.
What options are available for businesses when the furlough scheme comes to an end? – Seminar – Recovery Programme
Thursday, 15 October, 2020 – 14:30 to 15:45
Matthew Potter, partner at Howes Percival and employment law expert, will discuss the end of furlough and taking employers through the options available, including the Job Support Scheme; agreeing on changes to terms and conditions of employment and redundancy.
Andrew Kelsall, partner at MHA Larking Gowen and an Insolvency Practitioner, will discuss the options available when facing financial difficulties and the implications of redundancies. Acting sooner rather than later can make the difference between recover and insolvency.
Following the presentation, there will be a 20-minute live Q&A where Matthew and Andrew will answer your questions. Feel free to pre-submit any when registering.
Content / Takeaway
A first aid kit and guide for employers and businesses, looking at what their next steps should be on the road to recovery.
Hillington Square Football Club scores Norfolk FA Community Award The Hillington Square Football Club, based out of Freebridge’s Providence Street Placeshaping Community Centre in King’s Lynn, was awarded Best Inclusive Project at the Norfolk Football Association Community Volunteer Awards.
The awards were judged by a national panel of experts which included World Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst. The ceremony was held at Sprowston Manor Hotel on Friday 25 August 2017 and winners received various prizes including match tickets, coaching bursaries, kit or equipment.
The sessions remain free of charge and the 15 to 20 children who regularly attend each session range between 8-14 years old, and come to the club from a variety of cultural backgrounds to take part in games and training drills.
The Norfolk FA put Freebridge employee Alice Henderson and one of the clubs members, Andris Vasilevskis, through their level 1 coaching qualification so that they could continue to develop the footballing skills of those involved.
Alice Henderson, team coach and Freebridge employee, said: “I am delighted that the volunteers and young people that attend these football sessions have been recognised for their commitment to the club.
“A lot of the young people are the same children I met when I first began coaching them, and seeing them develop their skills, both on the pitch and socially has been great.”
Through their close links to Freebridge and Providence Street the Football Club have also been able to get involved in a number other activities and community events in and around the area, including the Hillington Square Summer Fete.
Robert Clarke, Director of Housing at Freebridge, said: “It’s great to see that one of the groups that we are supporting through our Providence Street Placeshaping Community Centre has received such a clear endorsement.
“To receive recognition from a judging panel made up of such iconic names is testament to the hard work that all those involved have put in to make the club a success.”
Hatch Brenner Solicitors in Norwich is aiming to raise vital funds for nine of the UK’s best loved charities, after signing up once again for Will Aid, the annual charity will writing campaign.
Hatch Brenner has signed up to the scheme, which runs throughout November, for the sixth year.
The firm has raised £22,703 for the nine charities involved since it joined the scheme. It raised £4,000 in the 2019 campaign.
Alexandria Martin from the firm said: “We are very excited to be involved in the Will Aid campaign again this year.
“It gives us an excellent opportunity to reach people in our community who do not have a will and help them to protect their loved ones for the future.
“It also means we can raise funds for nine incredible charities which make a huge difference to people in need both here in the UK and around the world.”
The Will Aid scheme takes place across the country during November and supports ActionAid, Age UK, British Red Cross, Christian Aid, NSPCC, Save the Children, Sightsavers, SCIAF (Scotland) and Trocaire (N. Ireland).
Thanks to the generosity of solicitors like Hatch Brenner, the campaign has raised more than £21 million for these charities since it launched 31 years ago.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, charities are in need of donations now more than ever.
Campaign director Peter de Vena Franks said: “One in three people die in the UK without making a will, often leaving confusion and chaos behind along with the sadness of losing a loved one.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly made people reflect on the fragility of life and reinforced the importance of having a professionally-written will in place.
“Will Aid encourages people to prepare this vital piece of paperwork at the same time as making a difference by raising money for charity.
“We are thrilled that Hatch Brenner has joined this year’s campaign. They have contributed a great deal to our fundraising efforts in the past and I know they will continue to work with us in future.”
Law firms across the country are being asked to sign up and pledge a portion of their time to write basic wills, putting duty before profit and instead asking clients to make a voluntary donation.
The suggested voluntary donation for a basic Will Aid will is £100 for a single will and £180 for a pair of mirror wills. Donations support the vital work of the nine partner charities.
Any additional work to the will can be charged separately and is paid to the law firm.
Will Aid solicitors will be following the most up-to-date government health advice to ensure that face-to-face meetings remain safe. Many firms will be able to write wills at a distance via a phone or online consultations. Some firms will only be offering their services remotely. Participating firms can be contacted directly for more information.
For more information about how to sign up or how to make an appointment to write a will visit www.willaid.org.uk/solicitors.
Hatch Brenner will be opening up their Will Aid appointments at the beginning of October. Contact [email protected] or call 01603 660 811.