Norfolk Chamber and Norse Commercial Services hosted a business leaders dinner last night. The dinner was held at the historic Kimberley Hall and the attendees heard a fascinating talk from Professor Tom Williamson on the history of Kimberley Hall and its links to Capability Brown.
The discussions centred around the challenges faced by the larger Norfolk businesses. Topics included: Devolution; the EU Referendum; how to engage with young people and young entrepreneurs; inward investment; and the perception of Norfolk to the UK and overseas.
On Thursday 28th April, 80 members attended our Norwich Breakfast to find out how they can be better connected in their business using cloud computing.
Delegates networked over coffee and breakfast, with an incredible view of the groundsat Norwich City Football.
After much success at the Great Yarmouth Breakfast in January, we started the event withatwist on a popular networking activity – ‘Speed’ Safari Networking.
With everyone on their feet in an open space, delegates had 4 safari moves and 5 minutes at each table, allowing them the opportunity to network with up to 28 different people! We once again received fantastic feedback from this activity as it created a real buzz in the room and kept the conversations flowing during breakfast.
After guests were treated to a delicious Full English breakfast, they heard from guest speaker Craig Davies, Target Cloud Consulting. Craig gave an informative and engaging presentation on how cloud computing can revolutionise your business.
Here’s some of the great feedback we recieved on the day:
To take advantage of these great networking opportunities, book now for our next Norwich Business Breakfast.
A major survey of businesses across England and Wales has found that more than a third – 36% – of businesses believe that the most important thing the government could do for business is provide grants towards the cost of installing energy efficiency measures.
The BCC and British Gas survey, of over 2,100 businesses of all sizes and sectors, also shows that many of the businesses who rent or lease their premises feel that they have no influence over energy efficiency improvements on their site.
The findings suggest that in addition to financial aid, there is more to do from suppliers and government to promote the wider use of smart meters to help companies reduce their energy costs, while at the same time businesses should review their existing contracts and switch if necessary, in order to feel the benefit of a fall in wholesale prices.
Key results in the survey:
The largest share – 36% – of the businesses surveyed feel that the most important thing the government could do for business is provide grants towards the cost of installing energy efficiency measures
Only 8% feel that more information would help them in this aim, while just 4% say that financing options such as lease agreements and low-cost loans would help
Only 13% of businesses have seen a decrease in their energy costs over the last three years, compared to 35% that have seen prices rise, and 37% with little or no change
When asked what is preventing businesses from investing in energy efficiency measures, 23% of the largest firms said that other investments were taking priority, compared with 13% overall, and 15% of businesses state that savings would not be worth the cost of investment
Just over a quarter – 27% – of businesses who rent their premises state that they have no influence on energy efficiency improvements
Only 6% of businesses say that the wider use of smart meters is the most important thing that government and suppliers could do to help firms
Commenting on the findings, Caroline Williams, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber, said:
“These results demonstrate that getting the economics of investment right for energy efficiency is crucial to promoting take-up. At a time when Norfolk businesses face growing upfront cost pressures from other sources, grants and tax breaks have an important role to play in offsetting the cost of new energy efficiency measures. On its own, more information won’t do the job.
“Commercial landlords also need to do more, to support leaseholders and renters who are looking to save money and make their energy use work for them.”
Gab Barbaro, Managing Director of UK Business at British Gas said:
“It’s clear from this research that businesses in rented and leased premises need more help from their commercial landlords, and new regulations to tackle the least energy-efficient premises can’t come soon enough.
“I’d urge all businesses to seek help from their supplier or landlord, and start with the basics. For example, by applying for a smart meter, businesses could much more accurately work out what’s driving their energy use and make considered decisions about how to reduce it.”
The new rules which come into force on the 1st July 2016 regarding new container weight rules have been causing some confusion among exporters. We have been able to get some further clarification and the links below provide further information.
1) FCL – Full Loads – If you are loading the container at your premises you are advised to register and will be responsible for the declaration of weight. The container weight is always on the back door of the containers so you will be easily able to see what it is to add to your gross weight to give the TARE
2) For LCL – Part Loads – You are not the Shipper – the Consolidator is the Shipper and is responsible for the weight declaration of the total container to the shipping line.
For FCL :
The loader does not need to be shown as the shipper on the Bill of Lading as freight forwarder can also be shown as the shipper (bear mind many of the forwarders are now shifting the onus back on the exporter for FCL cargoes so they don’t attract fines.
FOR LCL :
You would normally only be issued with a House Bill of Lading not a Shipping Line Bill of Lading and it is those that will have the total container weight on them, you would not see that on your House bill issued by a forwarder as you are only a consolidated exporter not responsible for the full load.
Some ports are introducing commercial service to weigh containers.
UK GDP growth slowed in Q1 2016, as manufacturing and construction output fell
The latest QES confirmed that UK growth is slowing with key indicators either static or declining
IMF downgrades global economic outlook as US and Chinese GDP growth slows
The UK economy grew by 0.4% in Q1 2016. This is the thirteenth successive quarter of growth, but it is slower than the growth in the previous Q4 which was 0.6%. The British Chambers of Commerce is currently forecasting growth of 2.2% for 2016 as a whole.
TheQ1 2016 Quarterly Economic Survey (QES)published 11 April 2016highlighted that the main balances for manufacturing and the service sector were generally weaker in this quarter. The next fieldwork period for Q2 2016 will commence on 23 May 2016.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its outlook for the UK economy. The IMF cut its GDP forecast for 2016 from 2.2% to 1.9%. The downgrade came on the back of the US economy slowing to a 2 year low and China, the world’s second largest economy also slowing.
On Friday 6 May over 60 Norfolk Chamber Members from across the region joined us at Duke’s Head Hotel King’s Lynn for an informative morning based on the Downham Market Centre for Advanced Knowledge Engineering.
Delegates arrived early to get started on making new connections. Host Heather Garrod, President of West Norfolk Chamber Council introduced our featured charity The Norfolk Hospice and our first networking ice breaker of the morning. Laughter filled the room as delegates had to pick a coin out of their pocket, look at the date on the coin and think of something that impacted their lives that year. Some even went through all the coins they had!
John Beer, CEO of Downham Market Development took to the stage afterwards to give an overview of the development progress, and how far it has come in the last 3 years. He explained to delegates the first phase objective of the development is to commence the construction of ‘The Hub’, a series of 5 core buildings: • The Institute of Data Science/UTC Academy • 2 x Business Accelerator buildings • A conference centre • A commercial training facility with adult student accommodation
Following John’s talk, delegates tucked into a delicious breakfast provided by Duke’s Head Hotel, continuing to discuss the development and all it’s set to achieve. Once finished we proceeded to mix our delegates up with our Safari Move, changing their tables around to enable them to make even more contacts in the room.
Mark Reavell, Executive Director Partnerships at The College of West Anglia spoke to our delegates next, informing them of the partnership between the Downham Market Development and The College of West Anglia. He expressed his hopes that the Centre would now encourage more students in West Norfolk to stay and develop in West Norfolk, rather than them leaving to follow up their education elsewhere.
This was followed by both our speakers joining Host Heather Garrod upfront for a Q&A Session. The highlight question for the morning being: how can businesses in the region help and get involved in the project? Both speakers expressed the desires of the project to use locally sourced businesses to help in all stages of the development. There will be a procurement process in which businesses in the region can apply to work on the development.
…because we are looking for someone who wants the best job in Norfolk – CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce – to take up the position in early 2017.
The reason for the vacancy is that, after 17 years at the Chamber, I have decided to spend more time on my yoga teaching. I feel that I will be able to help members of the business community remain active and reduce their stress levels whilst giving myself a new challenge. The Norfolk Chamber is in good shape and therefore the timing is right for both the organisation and for me personally.
I wanted to write to you personally, rather than you read it first in the EDP on 11 May, as I truly believe that the Chamber is its members and that we could not have turned the Chamber around and made it the great organisation it is without you.
However I do have a number of actions to finish before I leave at the end of April 2017. Some of them have been in the ‘too hard to deal with’ pile for far too long and are now firmly marked as ‘must do’. To me April 2017 is a very long way off and so you can rest assured I will not be slowing down… in fact quite the opposite… as I have a long list of what I want to be achieved within the next 12 months!
The long lead in time for recruitment is that because this is a very special role and we want time to find a very special person.
The reason I feel that this is the best job in Norfolk? Because in any one week I can be helping to develop my talented young team; strategically planning the future of the Norfolk Chamber as an organisation; lobbying for what the our members feel is important to the local economy and their own businesses – often face to face with Ministers – and of course taking out the rubbish and emptying the dishwater! After all, although we’re a global brand we are still a small business.
All the details of the job and person specifications will be on our website from June with interviews happening in early September. If you think you know someone who is ready for what I believe is the best job in Norfolk, get them to check the details out.
Final BCC pre-referendum survey shows that, with less than 50 days to go, a majority of businesspeople surveyed in the East of England (46%) say they will vote for the UK to Remain in the European Union
Voting intentions have tightened amongst the businesspeople surveyed – with Leave now polling seven points higher (41%) than in the BCC’s February survey
Previous survey in February had Remain on 55%, Leave with 34%, and 12% don’t know
The vast majority – over 93% – of those East of England businesspeople surveyed by the neutral business organization are now unlikely to change their vote
Over 93% of the East of England senior businesspeople polled in a major new British Chambers of Commerce survey say they are unlikely to change how they will vote before the June 23rd referendum.
The BCC’s detailed findings indicate that 46.10% of the East of England businesspeople polled would vote to Remain, down from 55% in February 2016, and 40.90% would vote to Leave – up from 34% on the BCC’s previous survey.
The East of England findings reflect the national findings which indicated that 54.1% of UK businesspeople polled would vote to Remain, down from 60% in February 2016, and 37% would vote to Leave – up from 30% on the BCC’s previous survey.
The data on voting intentions also shows some divisions based on size and export interests. Those trading with other EU markets express the strongest support for ‘Remain’, with the strongest levels of support for ‘Leave’ among those that do not. Businesspeople representing large firms are significantly more likely to vote ‘Remain’ than those in micro businesses.
The findings, from an April 2016 survey of over 2,200 leading businesspeople, also show that individuals are now strongly committed to their voting preferences. Just 6.1% of respondents said they could change their mind.
Commenting on the results, Caroline Williams, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber said:
“As the EU referendum campaign enters the final straight, the race for the business vote has clearly tightened.
“Although a majority of the East of England businesspeople surveyed continue to express a preference to remain in the European Union, the gap between Remain and Leave has narrowed significantly in recent weeks.
“While only a minority of businesspeople report that the referendum campaign has had a material impact on their firms to date, significant numbers say that they expect significant impacts in the aftermath of the vote – particularly if Leave carries the day.
“Whichever outcome prevails, Westminster must shift its attention back to the economy on June 24 without delay. Growth is softening, and Westminster’s referendum ‘tunnel vision’ over the past year has meant that far too many key economic issues have been given short shrift or delayed altogether.
The majority of business leaders report that the referendum has had no impact to date on various aspects of their business, from orders and sales (78.10%), recruitment (90.4%), and investment (84.2%), to total costs (78.9%)
If the UK were to leave the EU, 33.6% currently expect this would have a negative impact on their overall growth strategy (down very slightly from 34% in February’s survey), 38% feel this would have no impact (unchanged from previous survey), while 16.8% believe it would have a positive impact (a drop from 23.5% in the previous survey)
Asked for the first time about the impact of remaining a member of the EU, 14.8% currently expect this to have a negative impact on their overall growth strategy. Almost half (48.7%) feel it would have no impact, while nearly a third (28.7%) believe it would have a positive impact.
EAST OF ENGLAND VOTING INTENTIONS
46.10% of East of England business leaders would vote to stay in the European Union, should the vote take place tomorrow. 40.90% would vote to leave.
This is a narrowing from the previous survey in February, which showed a 55-34-11 split in favour of Remain.
93.90% of those surveyed are committed and unlikely to change their mind – just 6.10% could change their mind.
The British Chambers of Commerce, together with the accredited Chamber Network, including Norfolk Chamber, run Britain’s most influential private business survey – the BCC Quarterly Economic Survey (QES).
The next fieldwork period for the QES will start on Monday 23 May 2016 and will be open for 3 weeks. But why should your organisation take part? Below are just a few of the reasons why your organisation should take part in this important economic survey:
The QES is Britain’s biggest, and longest-running, private business survey.
It’s provided consistent data since 1989, and regularly receives over 7,500 business responses. Compare that to the average business survey, which garners a few hundred responses.
Norfolk responses represent over 33% of the responses from the East of England. (East of England includes: Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire).
It’s a leading indicator – often picking up big changes in the economy long before other surveys or official statistics.
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee uses the QES as one of its key benchmarks when setting interest rates.
HM Treasury and the independent Office for Budget Responsibility use the QES to put together their forecasts for the UK’s economic performance.
The European Commission uses the QES to assess the health of the UK economy when it makes policy recommendations for both Westminster and Brussels.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) use the QES when comparing the UK to competitors worldwide.
The more businesses that take part – the louder the voice of the Norfolk business community will be.
So what can your business do to contribute to the QES? During the fieldwork period, the survey can be completed electronically. There are several ways to access this online survey either:
Visit the Chamber website under the QES section
Use the link within the Chamber Policy news article
Use the link that the Chamber can send direct to you
To be added to the Chamber’s QES email list, please contact Nova Fairbank or Jack Edwards by no later than lunchtime on Friday 20 May 2016. Emails: [email protected] or[email protected].
The online survey takes less than 3 minutes and your input is vital to help ensure that Norfolk business has a strong collective ‘voice’.
Great Yarmouth’s much needed Third River Crossing is set to take an important step next week as Norfolk County Councillors are asked to approve making a bid for £965,000 from the Department for Transport (DfT) to take the scheme forward.
Senior Norfolk County Council and Great Yarmouth Borough Council members met this week and reconfirmed their support to push ahead with the new lifting bridge which will make a direct link into the town from the south providing a link between the trunk road network and the expanding port and South Denes Enterprise Zone sites.
On Friday 20 May councillors on Norfolk County Council’s Environment, Development and Transport Committee are set to approve submission of a £965,000 bid to the DfT seeking funding for scheme development work which will help take the project to the stage where government would be able to confirm if they are willing to support further funding for delivery. It is expected that final approval and further funding from the DfT could come in four years’ time with an estimated start date being in 2021.
Cllr Martin Wilby, the newly elected Chairman of the Environment, Development and Transport Committee, who met Cllr Graham Plant of the borough council this week, said: “This is an issue that unites councillors of all political parties as the Third River Crossing would be a huge benefit for Yarmouth, Norfolk and nationally bringing prosperity and reducing journey times and congestion in the town.
“It’s estimated the new bridge would cost approximately £140m to construct and the county council is keen to see the government support the scheme as a key continuation of infrastructure improvements to Great Yarmouth and the A47, and to provide the money to take this vital project forward.”
The project has strong support in Norfolk from bodies including Norfolk County Council, Norfolk Chamber, New Anglia LEP, Great Yarmouth Borough Council. County councillors meeting next week will hear that the county council has already undertaken extensive work identifying a strong case for the bridge. It has recently committed £60,000 towards developing the work so that the bid to DfT presents a compelling case to government.
Caroline Williams, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber said: “Connectivity is vitally important to businesses in Norfolk and in particular those in Great Yarmouth. A third river crossing will help to improve that connectivity and create thousands of new jobs, improve links across the town and to the rest of the region and reduce congestion. All of which will save businesses time and money, whilst allowing them to increase economic growth.”
Cllr Graham Plant, the Leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council said: “Great Yarmouth is world-renowned as England’s offshore energy sector capital, in line to share in billions of pounds of private investment over coming decades, including in offshore windfarms and gas platform decommissioning. Linking the Port, new deep-water Outer Harbour and Enterprise Zone to the trunk road network will further boost the UK’s prospects and prosperity, ensuring we are better placed to capture these jobs and investment for the nation.”
As the EU Referendum fast approaches and the assertions from both sides of the campaign escalate. Norfolk Chamber hopes to be able to help businesses in Norfolk make up their minds by sticking the just the facts. The ‘Europe: The Business Debate’ event on 10 June, hopes to be able to help local businesses make their final decisions.
In the meantime, the BBC has recently published its ‘Reality Check’ report. The report takes a critical view of claims made by both the Remain and Leave campaigners to see if they stand up to scrutiny.
Norfolk Chamber has highlighted just a few key areas that affect business in this article:
Do we have a say over EU small business regulations?
The claim: Priti Patel says the UK has no say over the amount of regulation coming from the EU. She also says the UK is constantly being outvoted.
Reality Check verdict: The UK does have a say over regulations affecting small businesses, both through its MEPs and government ministers who vote at the Council, where they have been on the “winning side” 86.7% of the time in recent years. Read more detail here.
Would staying in the EU reduce wages?
The Claim: The downward pressure on wages is a trend that will only get worse if we continue to have open borders with the EU.
Reality Check verdict: Migration does appear to have put pressure on wages, but there is some evidence that leaving the EU would reduce them even more. Read more detail here.
Is £250bn of trade at risk from Brexit?
The claim: Leaving the EU would put £250bn of trade at risk, according to Britain Stronger in Europe.
Reality Check verdict: The group has taken a set of figures predicting the benefits of EU membership and used that to reach a figure for the risks of leaving. It would not necessarily work like that. Also, the figures include imports, a fall in which would not necessarily be a bad thing. Read more detail here.
Are we giving £350m a week to Brussels?
The claim: “We are giving £20bn a year or £350m a week to Brussels.”
Reality Check verdict: We are not giving £20bn a year or £350m a week to Brussels – Britain pays £276m a week to the EU budget because of the rebate. Read more detail here.
Do farmers outside the EU get more subsidies?
The claim: Farmers in certain non-EU countries get more money from government than their EU counterparts.
Reality check verdict: True – farmers in some non-EU countries do get higher subsidies, but no reason to think that would be matched in a post-Brexit UK.
Still have more questions? Then come and get your questions answered by local and national experts and join Norfolk Chamber for Europe: The Business Debate, on 10 June. Click here to book now.
Norfolk Chamber’s new King’s Lynn based Lite Nites Networking events kicked off with the inaugural event this week. Held at the Bank House Hotel, the informal free networking event was held from 6pm to 8pm with all local businesses being welcomed.
Heather Garrod, President of West Norfolk Chamber said: “It was a great way to end the working day. The event offered the opportunity for local business people to meet and network with like-minded peers.”
Hosting the event was Vice President of West Norfolk Chamber, Michael Baldwin, General Manager of the Bank House Hotel who said “The Bank House is very happy to support the local business community and the event was very well attended. The atmosphere was relaxed but with a great buzz and we are looking forward to hosting the next evening in a couple of weeks time.”
The events are open to all West Norfolk businesses and are free to attend. Places are limited, sobook your place now. The next event will be on Tuesday 7 June from 6pm – 8pm.