Member News

Monday 28th May 2012 – Isle of Man now within easy reach from your local airport.

Flybe’s franchise carrier Loganair and Norwich International Airport officially marked the inaugural flight to the Isle of Man on Saturday.

The flights will operate once a week on a Saturday during the summer 2012 season and will finish on 22nd September 2012. Flybe and its franchise partner Loganair will also offer a choice of convenient connections between Norwich and the Isle of Man on other days via Manchester to enable passengers to find flights to suit their travel plans.

This is East Anglia’s first non-stop service to the Isle of Man and is designed to offer an easy and convenient link for those holidaying, visiting Friends or relatives.

The flights have proven to be extremely popular and with flights on several dates throughout the summer fully booked the airline responded to this demand and extended the summer timetable earlier this year.

Andrew Bell, Chief Executive of Norwich International Airport, said “It is fantastic to be able to offer the Isle of Man for the first time from Norwich International and we are delighted that the destination is proving popular with both the local holidaymakers and business travelers of East Anglia.”

I am proud to announce that the RedCat Partnership Ltd has won the prestigous Best CIEH Health & Safety Training Centre Award for 2011 (We also won the award in 2010 so are mighty pleased)

We will be off to the House of Commons in July to receive this very special honour.

The award is granted to the highest scoring Student in the Level 4 Examinations too- this was our candidate!

The RedCat Partnership Ltd delivers a suit of CIEH Charterered Environmental Health courses

The Level 4 Health and Safety Course is for Owners & Managers of Businesses. The course takes place over 5 days and each hazard / section revolves around a syndicate case study and past paper questions; the sixth day is the exam and controlled assessment day

The Course covers Risk Assessment of the major Health and Safety Hazards, establishing and monitoring controls, staff training, accidents & investigation, the management cycle; Health and Safety Culture & a sprinkling of law

The next course takes place on Nov 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd and 28th Dec, with the exam day on 12th Dec

The course (unlike IOSH Managing Safely) is OFQUAL accredited

With the first quarter of 2012 behind us we look into how the insolvency market has performed based on the statistics recently released by corporate research specialists Hardman & Co.

Corporate Insolvency

The increase in corporate insolvencies for the first quarter of 2012 (512 more cases (+8.8%) than during the last quarter of 2011) was to be expected and reflects the normal seasonal upturn in the post Christmas period. However, the 6,316 new corporate insolvencies in the first quarter of 2012 was also a 4.2% increase on a year-on-year basis and follows three quarters in which numbers reduced quarter-on-quarter.

It is the fifth successive quarter that there has been an increase in corporate insolvencies on a year-on-year basis. However, the rate of growth has decreased in each of the last two quarters. The Insolvency Insights report released by Hardman & Co suggests this may be due to a “benign enforcement environment” which they believe may see the number of corporate insolvencies remain depressed.

Conclusion

It would seem that despite Britain’s slipping back into recession in the first quarter of this year, what Hardman & Co describe as a benign enforcement environment combined with low interest rates may enable many companies to survive in the near future, suppressing growth in the number of corporate insolvencies. However, the future is very uncertain and should interest rates increase or creditor support wain the industry could see a sharp rise in the number of corporate insolvencies.

We would urge the management of any company struggling to meet its liabilities to seek advice. The eventual failure of a business that has traded on in spite of insolvency can have repurcussions for the personal wealth and liberties of those involved in the management of them. Leathes Prior are non-appointment taking insolvency and restructuring specialists who offer advice to the management of struggling businesses with a view to protecting them against the pitfalls of trading in difficult circumstances.

To ensureGreat Yarmouth Borough Councilprovide the best support, the Economic Development Unit and enterpriseGY team would like to know how your company is performing to ensure that we are better placed to support businesses in the Borough.

If you could take the time to complete the short questionnaire below it would be very helpful. All responses will be confidential and used only to measure the current business climate in the Borough, to improve the services that we offer and to identify gaps and opportunities.

The survey has now closed – thank you for all your responses. A short summary will be posted soon.

Thank you

A monthly round-up of news and analysis of the Norwich economy and labour market

A renewable technology evaluation considering a wind turbine and solar PV system has been completed on behalf of a West Norfolk farm. A 50 kW solar system and 11 kW wind turbine were evaluated in terms of suitability and financial viability with a return on investment identified of 8.8% for the solar PV and 10.9% for the turbine. The return on investment reflects the changes to the Feed in Tariff scheme which will come into effect from July and October respectively.

If you want to achieve an excellent return on investment, contact us to find out how more.

Land owners and farm estates have a lot to gain from impartial and independent advice and Clean Energy is pleased to join the CLA to provide services to its members. Impartiality and careful thought is the key to ensuring renewables are integrated into the countryside and that the financial and carbon saving benefits are realistic. With comprehensive experience in this area, Clean Energy looks forward to working with CLA members to ensure their renewable energy needs are met.

Contact us if you are a farm or estate and we will be pleased to help you.

We take great pleasure in welcoming Kevin Cooper as our new Business Telecoms Manager. Kevin joins us with 16 years’ experience in telecoms. It’s great to welcome someone into the team with such a vast background inthis fieldand who will be able to take our business telecommunications division from strength to strength.

Kevin says ‘This is an exciting opportunity to help Breakwater IT expand their telecoms business to both their existing client base and to new local businesses. After 16 years’ experience in the industry I am looking forward to be able to offer transparent and cost effective solutions that meet clients’ current business needs.

My experience is across the whole portfolio of Business Telecommunications including both traditional services such as fixed calls and lines to cutting edge unified communication solutions. The need for ever increasing bandwidth to support our voice and data applications is a major issue in a “rural” community and it is important to know if broadband, EFM or Leased line is the right product at the right cost for your business.

I believe Telecoms really do not need to be complicated. The basic principles should apply;

• Simple cost effective tariff • Transparent agreements with no hidden surprises • Clear and concise billing with ability to offer useful reports for your business • Quick and local response to enquiries • Streamline fault reporting with regular updates with quickest fix • Solutions tailored to your business’

“Breakwater is a dynamic and growing business and I am delighted to be heading up its expansion into Business Telecoms. It is a very exciting time both for me and for the company as a whole”

University of East Anglia: Doctorate in Education (EdD)

Application Deadline: 17 August 2012

Do you want to investigate educational, social, professional or organisational issues?

Would you like to acquire skills as an independent researcher, to conduct and design your own research?

Would you like to better understand issues related to your everyday work experience and context?

Is there a work problem or puzzle to research?

The University of East Anglia offers the four year, part-time Doctorate in Education (EdD) programme. The EdD is designed to provide an education in applied research – meeting the needs of professionals working in areas related to education, training and development who can draw on their everyday practice.

For further information and to apply, please visit: www.uea.ac.uk/edu/pg/dredu, or telephone: 01603 591515.

With rising energy costs a main driver and the commitment to offering the people of Watton and surrounding areas top class facilities, Watton Sports Centre has commissioned Clean Energy to undertake a renewable electricity and heating evaluation. With part funding from RevActive, the evaluation will enable the sports centre to make an easy and fully informed decision on how to invest in renewables and reduce energy costs.

Clean Energy Consultancy is pleased to have been a working partner with Norfolk County Council’s outdoor learning programme. The programme obtained funding from the Energy Saving Trust (LEAF) which has enabled it to work with Holt Hall to develop it into a centre of excellence for environmental technologies and training opportunities with a focus on young people. Clean Energy conducted a renewables evaluation considering solar photovoltaics, liquid biofuels, combined heat and power and a ground source heat pump which was followed up by an on-site training session with students from Norwich City College. Upon completion of the project a presentation was made to the community of Holt outlining the benefits of renewables considering carbon and energy savings. For information on the project visit https://sites.google.com/a/norfolkadvisory.com/leaf/home

LP’s mediation-1st and employmentor teams are to run a three day Certificate in Internal Mediation course, accredited by OCN Eastern Region. This commercially focused course has been designed for senior executives and HR professionals.

Learn essential skills to resolve workplace conflict, improve internal relationships and avoid costly disputes.

The Trainers

Martin Plowman

Already cited as “the best Mediator in East Anglia” by the independent guide, the Legal 500, Martin is now ranked the number 1 mediator in the UK by the independent National Mediator Database League Table. With twenty seven years’ experience in employment litigation and over 500 mediations to fall back on, together with a successful record of courses delivered to HR professionals, lawyers, and even to the Court Service, Martin is the ideal course leader for any workplace mediation course. He is described as “first class; knowledgeable and commercial and I cannot recommend him highly enough”.

Paula Lawn

Paula is a leading Employment Lawyer who over the years has become increasingly conscious that the vast majority of issues she deals with on a daily basis, for both employers and employees, could have been dealt with more effectively and without recourse to lawyers. Paula is able to provide a rare insight into where and how the use of mediation to resolve workplace conflicts sits within both a commercial and legal framework. Paula is a Partner at Leathes Prior Solicitors and specialist within employmentor, a unique fixed-fee annual service providing online and telephone Employment Law support to SMEs.

Dates: Tuesday 26 – Thursday 28 June 2012

Venue: The Seminar Room, Leathes Prior, 27-28 Tombland, Norwich NR3 1RE

Cost: £895 + VAT

Places for this course are strictly limited to 12 people to ensure individual attention and tuition can be given. To reserve your place please contact Mandy Hanby on 01603 281128 or [email protected]