NORWICH, Thursday 4th April 2013 – New service to Turkey starts today from Norwich. Oska Travel officially marks the launch of their low cost luxury holidays to Turkey from Norwich International Airport today. The flights to Antalya, Turkey will operate during April for a short season in advance of the main summer flying program from Norwich International. The holidays include guided tours and accommodation in 4 and 5 star hotels for a touch of luxury at affordable prices. Andrew Bell, CEO at Norwich International commented “Turkey is an exceptionally popular destination from our region, and we are delighted that these flights have proven to be a hit with our customers. This service compliments the summer flights offered by Thomson and Thomas Cook to both Antalya and Dalaman during 2013 and we hope to work with Oska Travel to offer another short series later in the year. Andreas F Forsthuber, Director KENBA Group said “OSKA Travel will do our best to make customers as happy as possible during their Turkey vacation. We do hope that word will spread and the interest for these off season offers will even increase in the near future.”
Photo: James and Valerie Kirkwood with Gary Blake, Customer Services Manager at Norwich International. All passengers received Turkish Delight pieces at Check-in today to celebrate the launch of the short series with Oska Travel.
The new Children and Families Bill passed its second reading on 25 February 2013 in the House of Commons. The Bill extends the statutory rights that both parents have in their children’s upbringing.
The new Children and Families Bill passed its second reading on 25 February 2013 in the House of Commons. The Bill extends the statutory rights that both parents have in their children’s upbringing.
The Bill provides statutory recognition that it is in the child’s interest for both parents to remain involved in the child’s life, unless the child is at risk of harm, stating, “to presume, unless the contrary is shown” that the involvement of each of the child’s parents in his or her life “will further the child’s welfare”.
The Bill also replaces the current “residence” and “contact” orders with a single “child arrangements” order. This will set out where the children live and how much time they spend with the other parent. This is a welcome change as too often separated parents focus on whether one parent should have the label of a contact or a shared residence order, even though they have agreed the division of time. It will also help parents to move away from terminology with implies that there is a winner or a loser in disputes concerning children.
The Bill also contains further rights for employees in respect of parental leave and more rights for couples expecting a child. Flexible working requests will be considered from all employees, not just those who are parents or carers.
Further updates will be available on the Steeles Law website as the Children and Families Bill progresses through Parliament.
Catherine joined Leathes Prior in March 2011, and during her period of training she undertook seats in Employment, Wills Trusts & Probate and Dispute Resolution.
Catherine is originally from Barnsley, where she gained 5 A levels at A grade, before graduating from the University of East Anglia with an 2:1 law degree in 2006. She completed her Legal Practice Course in Leeds in 2008 before joining Rotherham based law-firm Waring Associates as a Legal Assistant where she worked for three years gaining extensive experience particularly in the field of employment law. It was perhaps no surprise, therefore, to discover that Catherine found her feet within Leathes Prior’s Employment Team, where she will now remain.
Catherine comments on her appointment: “I am delighted to have secured a position upon qualification both at Leathes Prior and within the Employment Team in particular. I have a very keen interest in this area of law and have greatly enjoyed working with the Team as a Trainee. I look forward to committing myself to our busy Team and the firm and assisting in future growth and development”
Dan Chapman, Head of the Employment Team commented: “I am thrilled about Catherine’s arrival. She is a good lawyer with excellent technical skills and will be a great addition to the team; her experience in employment law already far exceeds her level of qualification as a Solicitor and she will be a real asset for us and our clients.”
bmi regional celebrates the anniversary of two of its most popular UK routes this week. The Aberdeen to Manchester and Aberdeen to Norwich service has carried more than one million passengers since the routes were established.
The first flight from Aberdeen to Norwich took off from Aberdeen Airport on March 31st 2003. A decade on, the regional airline now operates twice daily flights Monday to Friday and two at weekends. Now, 15 years on the Aberdeen to Manchester route continues to be integral to bmi regional’s UK schedule, providing direct links between the two cities, with up to 17 flights per week, using the Embraer 145 jet fleet. Both services have been extremely popular with both business and leisure travellers visiting the city whilst also providing seamless connections to key business centres across the world.
Cathal O’Connell chief executive of bmi regional, said: “Since the launch of the Aberdeen to Manchester and Norwich service, we have had consistently strong load factors, thanks to the continued support of our customers. “With frequent and convenient flight times for business trips and extended family breaks, the service has allowed people living in Aberdeen the opportunity to travel to a wide range of worldwide destinations from their local airport. Flights from Norwich to Aberdeen start from £140 one way including taxes. Flights are available to book now at www.bmiregional.com.
bmi regional operates over 450 flights a week throughout the UK and Europe and received the accolade of being the UK’s most punctual airline for the seventh year in a row. The airline’s extensive route network spans across Europe, with flights from the UK to Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.
The company is committed to retaining the airline’s iconic brand values and high levels of service which include check-in up to 30 minutes prior to departure, a free 20kg hold baggage allowance and complimentary catering on board.
Ever wonder what the difference is between those who are successful and those who aren’t?
Feel like you need some fresh inspiration?
Need some help with boosting your confidence?
If your answer is YES to any of these then come along to the The StartUp Lounge at City College Norwichto hear from the highly successful entrepreneur Mark Rhodes on how you can develop a winning mindset, improve your confidence, and get positive results more often!
WEDNESDAY 17TH APRIL 2013 – 8.30AM TO 11.30AM
Places for this popular event are very limited! Email us on [email protected] or call 0800 3283616 to book your place now!
We are pround to announce that our apprentice Mitchell Vale has won the City College Internediate Apprentice of the year 3rd prize
Mitchell has been with us since July 2012 and he has helped enormously with the business admin side of RedCat. He has an amazing attitude to work and he gets on very well with all our clients
He is helping with our administration (keeping us organised)- which frees our valuable time to help our clients, he also helps with the marketing and the social media side of the business
However he has also shown a huge desire to succeed and as such we are training him up to help with our training courses! It started with us wanting to make sure Mitchell understood our business; he has accompanied us on Audits and consultancy visits and we put him through some training courses
On our recent Level 4 Managing Food Safety Course he received the following feedback – from the Business Support Manager at EMCOR Facilities Services (British Sugar)
‘I have had the pleasure of meeting Mitchell whilst being involved in Level 4 Food Safety Training through The Red Cat Partnership. For someone who is now starting out his career in his chosen category, Mitchell is full of confidence, which will only grow hand in hand with the knowledge he is learning along the way. Working in the Partnership he is currently in (Red Cat), I have no doubt that Mitchell will fulfill his potential. Im sure that I will be contacting Mitchell in the future to deliver courses to my teams’
Mitchell has undergone this training alongside the CIEH’s accredited Level 3 Training Skills course which will enable him (with more experience) to deliver the CIEH’s Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering. He will be more qualified than some of our competitiors!
The awards were presented during the recent Chamber Opportunities 2013 event at NCFC
Gary Howard, Director of Employer Partnerships, Norfolk Educational Services, who presented the awards, commented: “With this week being National Apprenticeship Week, and all of the celebrations around apprenticeships, we decided that for the first time we would recognise apprentices outside the College’s other award ceremonies for 14-16 students, FE and Higher Education and our VQ Day Awards. “We’ve had an overwhelming response from employers to these inaugural City College Norwich Apprenticeship Awards, which goes to show just how much employers value the contributions made by apprentices.”
We are very proud of Mitchell’s achievements and will have no doubt vthat he will remain a committed and loyal employee.
RedCat is 14 years old – a GREAT milestone for a business and, as such, we will be celebrating. But it is also a time of reflection, so here iare 14 things that RedCat does
1. We help people feel more comfortable about Risk Management within their businesses. We like to think we take the worry out of their compliance issues creating a tailored package of help for each client. One size does not fit all!
2. We work with our clients to create Safety Management Systems that work- whether that’s a new Safety Policy, a revision of an existing system or a Food Safety Management System (HACCP)
3. We engage on all levels of a business; coaching staff to compliance, nurturing new businesses, and helping to grow businesses on firm foundations for success
4. Occasionally we need to liaise with our enforcement colleagues and we speak their language so we can ensure a sensible compromise is reached
5. We offer accredited training through CIEH & HABC – from Level 1 (Induction). Level 2 (suitable for all employees) Level 3 (Supervisory) to Level 4 (Managers). We have an open programme and also deliver training in house. In addition, we offer the CIEH’s suite of eLearning options and we deliver the Health & Safety updates to CIEH trainers across the UK. Last year we were chosen to be one of a handful of CIEH premium centres
6. We write bespoke training solutions for clients; for example, on Health & Safety for premises managers, on Legionella, on Asbestos Management, Infection Control and blended learning options on Health & Safety, Food Safety, and Environmental Management
7. The training we deliver is top notch. Our professionalism and love of what we do means that we ensure an effective learning environment, using a wide range of resources and techniques to enable every delegate to learn. We use quality venues and have small delegate numbers – our feedback inspires us!
8. We support our professional organisations – for example; by chairing local branch meetings and by organising training events and meetings – all the work we do is as volunteers
9. We are competent to do the work we do. We are Chartered Practitioners and Registered Consultants (www.OSHCR.org), and we maintain our CPD levels over and above the minimum standard.
10. We support local charities, through both consultancy and training. Local charities we are proud to regularly work with are Water for Kids, Big C, Keeping Abreast, Norwich Cruse, Age (UK) and Phoenix Inspire
11. We support the local community by using local suppliers for all our needs and we have a strong sustainability ethos. Buy Local is a way of life for us. We work in partnership with the insurance company Hugh J Boswell, as part of “Chamber Protect”, and are founding members of the Mill Breakfast Club (a Monthly Networking group for local businesses in Norfolk.) We have also joined forces with Sologic to bring the first Root Cause Analysis training to East Anglia
12. We share our knowledge through Social Media. We can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Linked In & Pinterest and we contribute to this website, as well as other organisations’ blogs and newsletters – Prowess, Birketts, Hansells, Norwich Business School , Lantra and the EDP (Focus on Health and Safety) We also regularly distribute update newsletters to our contacts
13. We champion sensible and pragmatic Risk Management whenever we get the chance! We have the courage of our convictions
14. And lastly – we are jolly good eggs; a common comment is, that we are friendly people to deal with; we treat people with the high standard we expect of ourselves
So we feel proud to celebrate 14 years in business- Here’s to the next 14 🙂
It was roughly 27 years ago when I watched my first Star Wars film, this day was to shape my life in becoming a fully fledged Star Wars fanatic.
Since that day I have watched these films hundreds of times – and as a child spent every spare penny of my pocket money on Star Wars merchandise. So imagine my overwhelming delight when the brief came that would entail getting to work with this iconic brand. It is not every day that you are approached to produce packaging design for Lightsabers.
After initial draft designs we were then supplied with just about every Star Wars image, still and graphic, supplied in a big box and the sender was Lucas Films. With all this imagery the designs came together with ease and then it was off to the London licensors for final approval. This was to be another surreal moment as I sat alongside a full scale model of Yoda whilst critiquing the final designs.
The pack we designed features both Yoda and Darth Vader on the outer and the sleeves for the Lightsabers themselves have been designed to mimic the style of Yoda and Darth Vader’s Lightsaber (I told you I was a fanatic). We have worked on some huge brands but for me personally this one has to be up there as I am a self proclaimed Star Wars geek!
These packs include both strawberry and lemon & lime ice lollies and can now be found in most supermarkets including Sainsburys. Naked Marketing would like to say a massive thank you to Icefresh Foods, not just for the amazing opportunity but for making a geeky Creative Director very, very happy. We have enjoyed working in partnership with Icefresh Foods on some amazing brands and were delighted to be runners up in the Hello Kitty design at awards in 2012.
The application covers the 160,000 sq ft head office facility for aircraft painting firm Air Livery, the access infrastructure and an outline application for the remainder of the site Norwich AeroPark, the joint venture project announced in July last year between Norwich International Airport and Wrenbridge created to develop 100 acres of land at Norwich International Airport, has made a significant step forward today with the submission of a hybrid planning application for the site’s development, which is hoped to deliver 1,000 new skilled jobs for the region.
The application seeks permission to build a new five bay hangar and head office facility for aircraft painting firm Air Livery, and the associated access roads from the public highway. There is also an outline application for the development of the remainder of the 100 acre site which is expected to accommodate up to 860,000 sq ft of aviation related development in total.
Public consultation events held in November 2012 in the Airport’s terminal building were well attended. Feedback forms filled out by attendees indicated that the large majority were in favour of the plans, citing economic growth, skilled employment and growth of the Airport as major reasons for support. The detailed design work for Air Livery’s facility is being managed by Morgan Sindall Professional Services (MSPS) who bring a wide range and depth of experience to this major project. MSPS used the feedback from the public consultations to improve the design and layout of the AeroPark.
The application will be considered by both Norwich City and Broadland District Councils as the site straddles the district boundary. It is hoped that the application will be determined in the summer this year.
The submission of this application follows the Airport’s separate application for a state of the art engine testing ground run facility which was granted permission by Norwich City Council’s planning committee earlier this month.
Andrew Bell, CEO of Norwich International Airport, said, “We are satisfied with the progress we are making with Norwich AeroPark, and we remain on track to meet our development timetable for Air Livery’s facility. A huge amount of work has gone into the design of the various elements of this application, ensuring we took the views of the public into account. This project is now gathering momentum and, coupled with the permission we have secured for a first class engine testing facility, brings us another step closer to our vision of an aviation centre of excellence for Norfolk”.
John McHale, Associate Director of Wrenbridge comments; “The planning submission is a major milestone, underlining the good progress made in the last 6 months by the Professional Team led by Morgan Sindall. We continue to work hard to attract further occupiers to Norwich AeroPark site and look forward to working with Broadland District and Norwich City Councils and the stakeholders during the planning determination period.”
David Dukes, economic development manager at Norfolk County Council, said: “This is a really important development for the Greater Norwich economy. Of course, it will facilitate the growth of one of our major companies, but the opening up of 100 acres of new employment land provides a high quality investment opportunity which will generate considerable interest. The County Council looks forward to working with the airport to promoting it world-wide.” Brenda Arthur, Leader of Norwich City Council, said, “I welcome the submission of the planning application as an important step forward for this project which would provide much needed jobs in north Norwich. It is a major scheme and people can now have their say on the application as it has been published for consultation.”
On 1 April 2013 the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 comes into force, which aims to trim the existing £2.2 billion legal aid bill by £350 million.
The impact of this legislation will be significant, particularly in the area of family law. Legal aid will no longer be available in relation to family law matters including divorce, separation, the related financial matters and issues in relation to children such as residence and contact. From 1 April, only victims of domestic violence will be eligible to apply for legal aid, which is a major change to the current system.
The campaign group Liberty estimates that, currently, over 2 million people receive legal aid each year. Predictions suggest that 600,000 fewer people will be eligible to receive assistance from April onwards and family cases are set to be most affected.
There is likely to be an increase in the number of people representing themselves and there is concern that justice will not be done in these circumstances, particularly where one party to the proceedings can afford a lawyer and the other cannot.
Emma Alfieri from Steeles Law’s family team commented: “With just days to go there does seems to be a lack of awareness amongst the general public, despite these reforms having been announced around 18 months ago. The reforms are going to have a major impact on already stretched voluntary organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau.”
What can you do?
Look for firms that offer a free initial consultation. Prepare for the meeting and put together a list of questions of things that you want to know about so that you can make the most of the meeting.
Look for firms that offer fixed fee pricing for some or all of their work – that way you can budget for the work that needs to be done and you know where you stand.
Consider meditation. Mediation doesn’t suit everyone but it can be helpful if you are prepared to get around the table with your ex-partner and the mediator to discuss the issues and try to reach agreement. Once recorded, the agreement can be converted into a legally binding agreement by your lawyer.
In response to the proposed changes, Steeles Law’s family team launched fixed fee packages back in January 2013. This gives our clients a fixed price at the outset, rather than an hourly rate, in order that clients can budget and have transparency and certainty of what they are getting for their money.
Amanda Owens, head of Steeles Law’s family team, said: “Since launching our fixed fee packages, we have received a high response from clients. It appears that some clients have been surprised that they can still receive a high level of customer service from an established, local firm of solicitors like Steeles Law, which it seems they did not expect to receive on the basis of a fixed fee.”