Chamber News

There would be some reductions in consumer prices, but nothing to get too excited about according to new research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

In The Customs Union, Tariff Reductions and Consumer Prices, the IFS estimates the scale of the gains that consumers might expect if the UK were to leave the Customs Union and reduce its tariffs.

Its analysis shows that this would have only a limited impact on the cost of living of the average household because the average tariff rates that the EU charges on the sorts of goods consumed in the UK are not particularly high.

The IFS points out that the average tariff under the World Trade Organization (WTO) most-favoured-nation (MFN) status that would apply to UK imports from countries with which the EU has no trade agreements is 4.6%.

Once the EU’s various trade agreements which waive or reduce tariffs on imports from certain countries are taken into account, the average is 2.8%.

With services dominating the UK economy, just £26 of every £100 spent by UK households is affected, directly or indirectly, by the import prices of goods on which tariffs are charged.

“Simple arithmetic suggests therefore that even cutting all tariffs to zero could only reduce prices overall by 1.2% at most,” report author Peter Levell concludes.

Crucially, any benefits that might accrue to consumers from running an independent tariff policy also need to be set against the inevitable costs to UK trade that would result from leaving the Customs Union, the report warns.

Businesses will probably be affected by customs delays and storage costs that would result from the erection of customs barriers on trade with the EU, while regulatory differences between the EU and the UK are also likely to create various non-tariff barriers to trade.

Such changes are likely to increase costs for consumers and offset the (already rather limited) gains from tariff reductions, the IFS argues.

Vattenfall’s Supply Chain Information Pack has been launched today and gives lots of early information on the background to the project for Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas windfarms.  It outlines the timelines for construction, the range of opportunities available and links to sources of support and advice for local companies interested in getting involved with the project.

Initial focus on the 60km onshore cable route works means exploring a wide variety of opportunities, ranging from landscaping, composites, plant hire, waste management, fabricators and farmers to transport, accommodation and safety supplies. 

Commenting on the launch of the Supply Chain Information Pack, Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:

“Norfolk Chamber believes that Vattenfall will help deliver skills and local jobs for the future generations both onshore and offshore in our region.

Vattenfall can offer supply chain opportunities to a diverse range sectors and more importantly, they are keen to ensure that their investment remains within the region.  This investment, together with their support to create a future skilled workforce, will help support greater economic growth and prosperity and long term sustainable relationships with the Norfolk business community.”

You can now register your business interest with Vattenfall by completing their online form – click here to complete it now. 

If you have any immediate questions about the supply chain opportunities at this early stage, you can contact Vattenfall direct.

Alternatively, Vattenfall will also be at the EEEGR Southern North Sea conference and Exhibition on the 16th and 17th May at the Norfolk Showground Arena.

Do you have some interesting business news you would like to share or shout about? Maybe your company or a member of your team has recently won an award or achieved something fantastic. Our printied magazine,The Norfolk Voice is a great place to share this news. All we need is some information from you and a high-quality photograph to accompany your text.

It’s not too late to make this edition May/June, and we would love to feature your news or a detailed article in the magazine. If you could get some information to us before Monday 9 April please get in contact with Dominique Bivar Segurado our Marketing Coordinator [email protected]. Alternatively upload our news/blog to Members News section of our website to be automated considered for inclusion. You can find out how to upload Member News with our step by step guide here.

Access to mobile voice call services is a basic requirement of business today: it’s essential to consumers and for linking people and communities. That’s why the British Chambers of Commerce has launched a campaign calling for No More Not Spots!

A 2017 survey by the BCC found that 70% of UK firms experience ‘not spots’, areas of no mobile coverage by any operator, or ‘partial not spots’, where there is some coverage but not from all networks, in their local area.

The aim of this campaign is to end not spots for voice coverage for UK phone users where they live, work, travel or plans.

From the time that cell phone services were first introduced in the UK to the present day, the locations with signal coverage have grown from a handful of urban areas to around 98% of UK premises (the area immediately adjacent to a property). The UK’s four Mobile Network Operators have invested heavily to deliver against their licence obligation of 90% geographic coverage for voice and text by the end of 2017.

However, despite welcome progress in network rollout, the lived experience of mobile phone users can differ from the scale and consistency suggested by these numbers. With about 30 million residential and commercial properties in the UK, 98% of premises would still leave around 600,000 buildings without coverage; with only 10% of Britain’s landmass ‘developed’ – 90% geographic coverage still leaves not spots in areas like dense commercial centres, road and rail corridors where access issues and the economics of new infrastructure investment are challenging.

Results from BCC’s infrastructure survey, conducted in February this year showed that a majority (53%) of responding businesses perceived the reliability of the UK mobile phone network to have improved over the last five years. But a substantial number (21%) did not agree that the network meets its needs for accessing new and existing customers, suppliers, and employees.

The reasons for patchy coverage are many and varied: from building and vehicle design to the number and location of masts and cells; from the topography of the built and natural landscapes to the technologies in phones. 

Through this campaign, we will continue to engage with the Norfolk business community to identify gaps in coverage, and to work constructively with industry and government to resolve this locally.

Over the next year, Norfolk Chamber of Commerce will be convening to business communities and those involved in delivering coverage, so do keep an eye out for events and let us know if you want to get involved.

And, if you experience a not spot be sure to report it to the British Chambers of Commerce, and tell us about it on Twitter using the hashtag #ShareYourNotSpots. 

The message at the South Norfolk Business Breakfast last week was how focusing on your staff satisfaction will have a direct impact on your business success!

We welcomed Chamber members to Park Farm Hotel, Hethersett for our sold out breakfast for a morning of networking and an inspiring talk. 

As guests enjoyed their first cup of coffee of the morning, they made the most of interacting with the stands present at the breakfast: Buy local Norfolk, Cneqt DNA Limited, Inspired Renewables and Select Office Furniture.

After some time getting to know one another, they enjoyed a delicious spread of breakfast.

Guests then heard from our expert speaker Lisa Collen, Director of People for Flagship Group. She spoke about the undeniable correlation between a happy workforce, customer satisfaction and ultimately, profitability and how Flagship have introduced agile working, a relaxed dress code and flexible benefits among other well-being measures for their staff to enhance overall employee satisfaction.

At the beginning of the week, Norfolk Chamber, the EDP and Norfolk County Council, together with MPs, political leaders and the business community hosted a visit by the Roads Minister, Jesse Norman MP in King’s Lynn and launched our ‘Just Dual It!’ campaign

The event, held at the Town Hall in King’s Lynn was to highlight to the Roads Minister that Norfolk is no longer prepared to wait for much needed improvements.  It was a chance to garner the support of local MPs and for the business community to highlight the benefits that a dualled A47 could bring to our local economy.

Respondng to the calls for a47 improvements, Mr Norman said “I can only admire the steadfastness the energy and perseverance of everyone working together to make a collective case for action.”

The Just Dual It campaign is backed by the A47 Alliance and is looking for a commitment from Government to fund dualling the entire length of the A47 from Lowestoft in the East to Peterborough in the West by 2030.  How well we make the case for dualling the entire length, is up to us as a business community.  We need your support to join us to make the business case for the A47 improvements.

Commenting on the need for county-wide support, Nova Fairbank. Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber said:  “To access further funding, we have to work within the Government’s frameworks and back that with the support of the business community and general public.  We need to have a strong clear and consistent message and keep going until we achieve the full dualling of the A47.”

How can you help?

We need to hear from you about what benefits a fully dualled A47 will make to your business.  Could it help create more jobs; enable your business expand; make it easier for your clients to visit you; or would you be able to move your goods more easily?

We need you to be specific in your responses, which will help build the overall business case.  The more support we can garner and the more specific we are in the benefits; the more compelling our case will be.

There are several ways you can get involved:

• Use the following link to write your e-postcard: https://norfolkchamber.co.uk/contact/just-dual-it

• Buy today’s EDP (Friday 23 March 2018) which includes with a Freepost postcard on which you can send your message to government

• Pick up a postcard from the Chamber offices in Whiting Road, Norwich; the EDP’s offices, Rouen Road, Norwich; Norfolk County Council, Martineau Lane, Norwich; Great Yarmouth Town Hall; or West Norfolk Council offices in King’s Lynn

• Tweet your support using the hashtag: #JustDualIt

Improved global demand continues to feed growth across most of the manufacturing supply chain, a new survey has revealed.

Published by the manufacturers’ organisation, EEF, and accountancy and business advisory firm BDO LLP, the EEF/BDO Manufacturing Outlook for the first quarter (Q1) of 2018 shows that demand from European and capital equipment markets, in particular, is helping UK manufacturers start this year in the same positive way they ended 2017.

Manufacturing activity stepped up a gear through 2017 providing industry with some decent momentum coming into this year, EEF Chief Economist Lee Hopley said.

“The importance of a buoyant global economy to export-focused manufacturing sectors is again reinforced,” she explained, “with growing overseas demand encouraging international manufacturers to ramp up their investment which in turn is spurring particularly strong activity in UK capital goods sectors.”

According to the survey, two-thirds of manufacturers see the EU as offering good prospects for growth, with the next best markets of Asia and North America seen as supportive by around a quarter of companies.

With output, orders, investment and recruitment all significantly above their long-run averages, EEF has upgraded its growth forecasts for manufacturing in 2018 from 1.4% to +2.0% (the EEF forecast for the overall UK economy this year is 1.5%).

EEF also notes that growth in world trade has been matched by a large improvement in the UK orders balance at the start of this year. Although export orders eased slightly (from +33% in 2017 Q4 to +29% in 2018 Q1), domestic order balances almost doubled (from +12% to +21%).

A word of warning was also issued: there are some sign in the survey that automotive and construction supply chains are seeing signs of weaker demand, which could see a greater sector variation in performance both this year and next. 

At a breakfast meeting at Norwich City Football Club, Norfolk Chamber hosted John Holland-Kaye, the CEO of London Heathrow Airport, who came to talk to local businesses about the economic benefits and the opportunities available as a result of expansion at London Heathrow.

Mr Holland-Kaye outlined that Heathrow were looking to become the best connected airport in the world, with more flights and a new runway by 2025.  The £14 billion privately funded project will open up supply chain opportunities across the UK – including here Norfolk.  He also noted that the Heathrow expansion project was not governed OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union) and that their preferred option was for a predominantly UK based supply chain.

He also advised that Heathrow was looking to take the lead in a new way to deliver large scale infrastructure projects by building their key components away from the airport and assembling them locally.  This is a method that is becoming more prevalent internationally, which the UK has not fully adopted yet.  To achieve this, they will be creating four logistic hubs – for which Great Yarmouth is one of 65 bids from across the UK.  Heathrow has already committed to one of the logistic hubs being located in Scotland, however the other three hub locations have yet to be decided.

To help develop their supply chain for the Heathrow expansion, they will be holding a series of Business Summits across the UK – the nearest one to our region is being held at Colchester on Tuesday 17 April 2018 and is free to attend.

There will be speed-networking sessions to improve networking opportunities and connectivity. Also in attendance will be Heathrow’s Commercial and Procurement teams, to answer questions about business opportunities available at the airport. To date, Heathrow have advised that an estimated £93.4 million of new deals have been won by businesses as a result of the partnerships formed at their Business Summits.

Why Attend?

• The Heathrow Business Summits each provide a great platform for SMEs to get a foot in the door and capitalise on the business opportunities available at Heathrow
• Promote your business to Heathrow’s supply chain through face-to-face appointments on the day
• Meet and network with other businesses visiting the event.
• Meet with the Department of International Trade to explore exporting opportunities
• Meet and network with exhibitor partners including the Local Councils, Chambers of Commerce, Local Enterprise Partnerships, and the Department for International Trade.
• Meet local colleges and universities to support your skills and recruitment needs.
• All exhibitors actively support and guide businesses on how to connect and build trade relations into new supply chains at Heathrow

Attendance is free – book your place now

Leaders in East Anglia are being invited to attend a major conference which will put wellbeing at the heart of leadership in the region. The ‘Leaders in Wellbeing’ event – taking place during Mental Health Awareness Week –  is aimed at chief executives, senior managers and HR directors and will showcase the latest thinking from speakers who are leading the way in wellbeing in the region.

Taking place from 9.30am – 1.30pm on Tuesday 15th May at The Space in Norwich, the free event will focus on the role of leadership in wellbeing. It will include personal stories from leaders as well as ideas about practical ways to role model wellbeing, and how to embed it within organisational culture.

Stuart Rimmer, Chief Executive of East Coast College who will be charing the event explained: “Coming together to discuss wellbeing in leadership creates space to consider innovation and better ways to run our businesses for the twenty first century.”

Also speaking at the event will be Andy Wood, Chief Executive of Adnams. He said: “We take this issue extremely seriously at Adnams.  It makes great business sense as the first line of serving our customers well is a happy and well-motivated workforce that knows if they need help in their lives the organisation is there for them”.

There will also be personal testimony from Nigel Cushion, Founder of Nelsonspirit, Ian Hacon, Founder of Yellow Brick Road, and Michelle Gant, Director of The Engaging People Company.

Aviva’s recent experience of delivering a widescale wellbeing programme will also be in the spotlight with Katherine Billingham-Mohamed and Gemma Sandwell on hand to share their knowledge and experience. Katherine said: “Wellbeing is quite a buzz word at the moment, but essentially healthy and happy employees generally result in happy customers! It’s about helping people to make small steps to change behaviour, be that in their mental, physical or any other aspect of wellbeing”.

The event has been co-organised by Tim Handley, an education consultant who heads up TEDxNorwichED. And, underlining the emerging importance of wellbeing as a leadership and workplace priority, both New Anglia LEP and Norfolk Chamber of Commerce have pledged their support. Charlotte Purves of New Anglia LEP said: “This is a really important issue to address if the East is going to stand out as the place to live and work. Wellbeing should be top of the agenda for every business and this event will provide business leaders with tools to embed this in their own organisations.”

Chris Sargisson, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber added: “Wellbeing and the culture of wellbeing starts at the top and should always, always include the valuable and influential people at the top. By doing so means organisations can genuinely lead by example in the building of brilliant, healthy, high performing places of work.”

Organisers expect places to be snapped up quickly and so interested leaders are encouraged to book early: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/leaders-in-wellbeing-tickets-43021693042  

Business leaders gathered last night to hear Vicky Pryce, Chief Economic Advisor and Board Member at the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) outline her views on the future of the UK economy.

Norfolk Chamber and Norse Commercial Services hosted the gala dinner at Langley Abbey, which was attended by a wide range of businesses from traditional engineering companies, such as KLM Engineering to Rainbird, an innovative tech firm.

Ms Pryce presented her thoughts on how the UK economy had fared since the triggering of Article 50, through to how she thought it would progress after the post-Brexit transition period.  She went on to note how interest rates and consumer spending could potentially impact on the economy and that the continued uncertainty of Brexit was impacting on business confidence.

Tension between the UK Government and the European Commission which has built up during the Brexit negotiations is hardly likely to have been eased by a demand from Brussels that the UK should pay an extra €2.7 billion.

This is nothing to do with the so-called Divorce Bill but has resulted from a dispute over customs duties going back several years.

The Commission has sent a letter of formal notice to the UK because, it argues, the Government refuses to make customs duties available to the EU budget, as required by EU law.

A 2017 report by the EU fraud office found that importers in the UK had evaded a large amount of customs duties by using fictitious and false invoices and incorrect customs value declarations at importation.

Further Commission inspections brought to light a dramatic increase of the scale of that undervaluation fraud scheme operating through the hub in the UK between 2011 and 2017.

“Despite having been informed of the risks of fraud relating to the importation of textiles and footwear originating in China since 2007, and despite having been asked to take appropriate risk control measures, the United Kingdom failed to take action to prevent the fraud,” the Commission claimed.

It calculates that the infringement of EU legislation resulted in losses to the EU budget amounting to €2.7 billion (minus collection costs) during the period November 2011 until December 2017.

In addition, the Commission argues, the UK infringed EU VAT legislation, leading to potential losses to the EU budget.

If the Commission is unhappy with the UK’s response, it may refer the case to the EU’s Court of Justice (CJEU) for a decision.

Commenting on the inflation statistics for February 2018, published today by the Office for National Statistics, Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

The drop-in price growth in February was more than expected and supports our view that inflation remains on a downward trajectory. The largest downward pressure on inflation in the month came from transport and food prices, which rose by less than a year ago.

It is increasingly likely that the UK is now past the peak of the recent spike in inflation, and price growth will ease further over the coming months as the impact of the post-EU referendum decline in sterling drops out of the calculation. However, upward pressure from rising global commodity prices could well mean that it will be some time before inflation returns to the Bank of England’s 2% target.

Nonetheless, with the latest inflation data suggesting that underlying price pressures are weakening, this should give the Bank of England sufficient scope to shift its focus a little from tackling inflation to supporting a weakening economy. While the prospect of a single rise in interest rates this year remains on the table, the probability of multiple rate hikes looks unlikely at this stage.

With economic conditions likely to become more subdued, the MPC should opt for a prolonged period of monetary stability and keep interest rates steady over the near term. More also needs to be done to boost business investment, including tackling the high upfront cost of doing business in the UK.