Member News

Week 8 from behind the scenes of the furniture. An elegant piece for a unique taste

Specialised Management Services Ltd (SMS), a subsidiary of Alderley plc, is pleased to announce that they have recently expanded their capability in the Onshore and Offshore Electrical Installation and Maintenance business. The strengthened offering emanates from the recent appointment of Neil Pickess as Operations Engineer (Electrical) to the Offshore and Onsite services team. This appointment, together with their team of qualified electrical technicians will enable SMS to provide all electrical and instrumentation services from enquiry, design through to installation and commissioning.

Neil is cognisant of current electrical standards and has over the past 20 years cultivated his skills and knowledge in a wide range of electrical fields. Prior to joining SMS, Neil was responsible for high profile high voltage (HV) and low voltage (LV) projects and has led highly successful utilities contracts up to the value of £6 million. His role at SMS will focus on working with the current operations team to develop the electrical side of the business and further strengthen customer relationships in the oil and gas industry.

Dave Howlett, General Manager at SMS, comments, ‘We are delighted to have Neil on board, with 1 in 4 service enquiries being of electrical nature, Neil’s depth of experience and track record of success is exactly what the company needs for its next phase of growth.”

SMS currently provides offshore electrical services to the majority of the world’s largest oil and gas companies operating in a worldwide arena. Through their team of highly trained and qualified electrical technicians, they provide labour and supply associated materials on a 24 hour basis.

Accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO LLP, has today announced that its merger with PKF (UK) LLP has completed. From today, the firm will operate as one, under the BDO brand and as part of BDO’s international network, the largest global accountancy organisation aimed at the mid-market, with revenues of over $6bn operating in 138 countries worldwide.

The firm has also announced its senior management team, including the partner responsible for Great Yarmouth and the 140 people working for clients across East Anglia via its former three PKF offices. Marilyn Martin will be heading up the Great Yarmouth Ipswich and Norwich offices from completion, leading business growth across East Anglia.

The firm also has a strong presence in the region across a further three BDO offices in Hatfield, Chelmsford and Cambridge.

Marilyn Martin, Lead Partner for BDO LLP in Great Yarmouth, said: “The announcement demonstrates both firms’ on-going commitment to East Anglia and local businesses in Great Yarmouth. The merger will provide broader and deeper expertise and international reach for many clients on a local basis, but will also allow staff to gain broader experience from working in an enlarged firm. My focus from today is on ensuring a smooth integration of the two firms and continuing delivery of exceptional service to all clients.”

Commenting on the merger, Simon Michaels, Managing Partner of BDO LLP, said: “It’s time for people to think again about BDO. The merger has transformed our market presence overnight. Senior leadership is a critical factor in making the merger a success but I know this team is the right mix to build on our ambitions still further and respond quickly to the domestic and international environment. We also remain focused on delivering exceptional service to our clients and creating the right environment for our people to develop and grow.”

About BDO LLP, the merged firm • 3,500 people, including 300 partners • Revenues approaching £400m • 24 office locations across London, South East, Southern, South West & Wales, East Anglia, Eastern, West Midlands, East Midlands, Yorkshire & Humber, North West and Scotland • Mid-market sector leadership in almost all areas, including retail, natural resources, TMT and financial services • Leading adviser for AIM businesses • Within a $6bn global network, providing much-needed, greater choice in the market for larger businesses • A place where talented people can develop their careers and contribute to building the business

Despite, or perhaps in response to our troubled times, employees and firms alike agree that dressing smartly is important at work. In a survey carried out by specialist recruitment company, Pure Resourcing Solutions, over 90% of candidates thought it important to dress smartly at interview and employers agreed.

Some of us will spend up to £300 on new clothes, or even ‘as much as it takes’ to get that job. And it wasn’t just the women who would dig deep. Three quarters of employers said that it is important for men to wear a tie, at interview, although a look around a modern office suggests that this is becoming a rarity for day to day work wear.

Even after that job has been landed, over half of workers felt that dressing smartly impacted positively on their work performance. Many of us have ‘dress down’ days at work, but of those that don’t, most people said they didn’t see the attraction, preferring to stay smart to be most effective. There certainly seem to be huge differences in what is acceptable depending on which sector you work in. For example, many R&D and Technology companies have a much more relaxed dress code, where the ‘norm’ is to wear casual clothes unless you are meeting external customers.

Bridget McIntyre of style consultants Dream On comments: “It’s good to see that people recognise the power of how clothes can affect performance and attitude. Clothing should highlight our best features, and that then makes us feel more confident.” “But”, warns Bridget: “Don’t just make an effort for the interview – carry it through for the day to day job.”

Gill Buchanan, Director of Pure Resourcing Solutions comments: “People clearly see it as an investment to spend a bit extra on interview clothes, and it is an investment in the future, affecting how we carry ourselves, how confident we feel and ultimately, how well we perform.”

Pure Resourcing Solutions carries out regular surveys into employment issues across the East Anglia region. Copies of the full survey findings are available from Anna Hill, Marketing Manager at the company.

Tom Bailey, a Barrister from Steeles Law’s dispute resolution team, will be joining the ranks of local competitors in this year’s London Marathon. The Marathon itself needs no introduction. On 21 April 2013 at 9.30am, 35,000 runners will begin a 26 mile course around the River Thames. Like thousands of other runners, who have together raised over £500 million for good causes since the race began in 1981, Tom will be competing in the Marathon in support of his chosen charity – Shelter (www.shelter.org.uk).

Tom has been involved with Shelter in a professional capacity in the past, working on pro bono cases in order to assist people who were either at risk of homelessness, actually homeless or in crisis need. The charity’s mission is to alleviate the distress caused by homelessness and bad housing. In its most direct form, this is by way of free advice and representation to those most in need.

Commenting on Shelter, Tom said: “I believe very passionately that the work they do is vital, particularly in difficult economic times and given the ever deepening cuts to legal aid, they provide a truly vital service to those in real need.”

At the time of writing, Tom was at 94% of his fundraising target (£1,700). Donations of any amount to help Tom reach his goal would be gratefully received, and can be made online at: https://www.justgiving.com/Tom-Bailey5.

Monday 8th April 2013 – New Airport App launched Norwich International Airport has launched a free Smartphone app to complement the existing iPhone App which has also just been upgraded to accommodate the iPhone 5 requirements. With over 50% of the UK now owning a Smartphone* this new app will make it easier for holiday makers and business travellers to access real time flight information and the latest airport news and provides a real alternative to calling the airport or visiting the website. Andrew Bell, CEO of Norwich International said: “Following customer feedback regarding accessing up to date flight information, we have now extended the airport’s app to be available on all Smartphone’s, so that anyone with this app can have access to instant and up to date flight information at their fingertips. We see this as the essential app for anyone using Norwich International Airport.” The app is available via the iPhone App store and the Google Play store for users of Smartphones and in the first 24 hours it had received over 500 downloads from the iPhone store. *understanding the UK’s mobile consumer behaviour, Google.

It’s been a blast but 11 years after their release Microsoft are finally ending support for the ever popular Windows XP and Office 2003. At 12:00am on 8th April 2014, Microsoft will be ceasing support for any device still running Windows XP and Office 2003, this means any bugs or security holes found in the products after this date will no longer be fixed by Microsoft. Furthermore there will be no more Windows updates, security updates or modifications to these products by Microsoft.

How will this affect you?

Your PC will still continue to work in the same way it did prior to this date. However, after Microsoft ends support of Windows XP you will no longer be provided software updates, security fixes that protect against malware such as viruses and worms or any new drivers that require writing by Microsoft. Office will continue to function too but with many people now upgrading you will be left behind in terms of functionality and in the months and years after April 2014 you will be open to security bugs which may be found but never be fixed.

What can be done?

Ultimately the best thing to do is to upgrade Windows XP to the reliable Windows 7 or Microsoft’s latest Operating System, Windows 8. Also, the latest version of the Office suite is now 2013 so to stay current it would be advisable to look at Office 2010 or 2013. At some point Windows 7 and Office 2010 will cease to be sold and you will only be able to purchase Windows 8 and Office 2013 so if you don’t like the new look products then now is the time to act!

Can Breakwater help me with this?

Of course, get in touch on 01603 709300 or drop an email to [email protected]. We’d be happy to discuss your requirements and help you with protecting yourself.

Breakwater IT can help with IT Support in Norwich, Norfolk and all over East Anglia. Or maybe you require a free Business Telecoms audit to see if your Business can be the next one that we help to save significant amounts of money.

This will be the 11th year of the annual Business Continuity Seminar run by Normit.

Presenters will share their experiences and practical case studies that can help Norfolk business owners improve their Business Continuity Management arrangements.

The seminar will be beneficial for any type or size of organisation. This is an ideal opportunity to find out more about Business Continuity, pick up some useful information and best practice in this area and use it to enhance the resilience of organisations in Norfolk. There will also be an opportunity to network and share your experiences with peers.

NORMIT Members are entitled to one free place, with additional places and non-NORMIT Members at £25.

Gary Doulas-Beet of the Business Shaper Group will be one of the keynote speakers at this event, bringing his experience of working as a management consultant with the UK’s fastest growing disaster recovery company, Tempest Restoration.

This event takes place at the Abbey Conference Centre, Norwich, NR1 2DD, on Wednesday 1st May 2013, starting at 10am and finishing at 4pm.

Leathes Prior is pleased to announce that we are sponsoring the Pedal Norfolk Cycling Festival, taking place at Holkham Hall on May 4th, 5th and 6th. Although centered around cycling this festival is being designed to attract all the family with activities and entertainment for a fun day out.

For more information please see:

https://www.pedalnorfolk.co.uk/

https://www.holkham.co.uk/

Breakwater have been working with local schools as part of the Business for Life scheme that’s running in association with our client, Almary Green Investments, which aims to give teenagers real life experience in marketing and selling their own products and services.Mark Poole, our Commercial Manager, has been mentoring pupils from Norwich High School for Girls as they prepared to present their business ideas following around 6 weeks trading with an initial start-up budget of £100 that was donated by Almary Green. The teams aged between 14 and 15 made their presentations on the 21st March and now eagerly await the decision that the judging panel will announce on the 25th April. The winning team will receive £500 for their school. Mark says “It’s hard to know what to expect when going into meet a group of Year 9 girls and I certainly didn’t expect to come away feeling positive and inspired by what they had achieved. The professionalism, collaboration, creativity and eagerness I witnessed was enough to put a few real businesses to shame.”

The launch event was covered by both Mustard TV and the EDP. See the video of the event here

Breakwater IT are based on the Meridian Business Park and offer IT Support in Norwich and all over East Anglia as well as Business Telecoms Solutions and IT Consultancy.

Michael Fahy, head of Steeles Law’s real estate team and David Merson, head of planning and environmental, are to speak at the forthcoming Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) West Midlands Conference on Wednesday 17 April.

The RICS has developed a range of regional one-day CPD conferences aimed at providing property professionals across the built environment, land and commercial property streams with essential guidance that they can use in their daily practice.

On 17 April, this conference will be held in Birmingham, offering property professionals the opportunity to not only update their professional knowledge and skills, but also the chance to network with other property professionals within the region.

With a mixture of plenary sessions and focused streams delegates, will be able to tailor their day across a choice of 18 sessions. The broad programme offers an in-depth examination of the developments, challenges and opportunities affecting the industry, from updates on building regulations, residential and commercial property to planning and environment to disputes and risk management across land, built environment and commercial property.

For further information, please see the RICS brochure or visit: www.rics.org/westmidlandscpd

KLM NORWICH SERVICES INCREASED – KLM sees passenger figures increase and adds a fourth daily frequency –

KLM has announced a fourth daily service from Norwich Airport to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol for summer 2013. Increased frequency on the popular route will further cement Norwich’s position as one of KLM’s most successful departure points on its extensive UK network.

Via their award winning hub airport in Amsterdam, KLM offers the East of the UK over 100 worldwide destinations on its intercontinental network and over 650 destinations across KLM’s Skyteam partner networks. Better connections to destinations such as Dubai, Lima or Toronto are made easier with KLM via Amsterdam and at very attractive fares. In addition, point to point business travellers can benefit from the convenient flight schedule out of Norwich, which enables them to conduct a full day’s business in the Netherlands.

Says Henri Hourcade, AIR FRANCE KLM General Manager UK & Ireland: “We are delighted to further improve the KLM service on such an important regional route, and hope it will be warmly welcomed by our passengers. We are very happy to provide better connectivity to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol for both leisure and business passengers, and our three daily frequencies will increase to four from today. We are pleased this is happening in Norwich where KLM has been present for so many years not only as a Scheduled Airline but also with our Engineering Unit.”

For more information on KLM visit www.klm.com or call 0871 231 0000.

-Ends- Timetable* Flight number Frequency Departure (local time) Arrival (local time) KL1502 Daily 06:15 08:10 KL1506 Daily 09:40 11:35 KL1508 Weekday 13:55 15:50 KL1512 Daily 17:15 19:10

Flight number Frequency Departure (local time) Arrival (local time) KL1505 Daily 09:15 09:05 KL1507 Weekday 13:30 13:20 KL1511 Daily 16:50 16:40 KL1515 Daily 21:15 21:05 *Summer schedule valid from 31.03.13 until 26.10.13. Subject to change

For further press information please contact the KLM press office at the Red Consultancy on: Email: [email protected] / Telephone: 020 7025 6625

Notes to Editors: About KLM KLM offers the choice of 17 UK departure points. KLM is part of the AIR FRANCE KLM Group which was voted Best Short haul Airline 2013 at the Business Travel Awards. KLM flies via the multi-awarding winning Amsterdam Airport Schiphol whose wealth of accolades include Business Traveller’s ‘Best Airport in Europe’ award 2012. Voted Best Airline for Staff Service at the 2012 World Airline Awards, KLM offers passengers the opportunity to fly in Economy, Economy Comfort and World Business Class. Passengers can book online at www.klm.com as well as save time by checking in online up to one hour before departure.