Drivers are warned to expect delays on the A140 into Norwich from the north today (Fri 11 August) following the urgent reprogramming of work that will require two-way traffic lights from around 8.00am. Some of the work on the construction of the A140 Cromer Road/A1270 Norwich Northern Distributor Road junction, has to be carried out under the observation of a gas inspector, who became available at short notice for a limited period. The traffic lights will be under manual control to minimise delays. Norfolk County Council and Balfour Beatty apologise for this late announcement and for the disruption this will cause on the A140, especially following the closure yesterday of the B1149 Holt Road for up to three months. ~ The start of work on breaking up Holt Road was delayed by Wednesday’s bad weather and will now start today (Fri).
Traffic lights on the A140 Cromer Road at the Norwich NDR junction construction site will be lifted for the opening weekend (12-13 August) of Cromer Carnival, which runs from Saturday 12 August to Friday 18th.
Traffic lights will be needed on the A140 again next week, but only during the day. Where possible, they will be used out of peak hours, and will be manually controlled if they have to be used during busy times. They are needed because work on the approaches to the new north roundabout and bridge over the NDR is very close to live traffic on the A140 Cromer Road.
Motorists are advised to allow for similar delays on the A140 Cromer Road over the coming weeks as construction teams carry out as much work as possible ahead of two weeks of A140 overnight closures (8pm to 6am). These are scheduled to start on Monday 4 September to tie-in the new roundabout and bridge over the NDR to the existing road.
Buxton Road, Spixworth
On Buxton Road, Spixworth, 24-hour two-way traffic lights will remain in use until the closure of the road to vehicles for two weeks from Monday 21 August to tie-in and surface the new bridge over the NDR. Cyclists and pedestrians will not be affected since the separate cycling and pedestrian path over the bridge should be complete next week.
Holt Road closure – diverting traffic
Additional signs are being added on Church Street, Horsford, directing all traffic from the A140 to turn left at its junction with the B1149 Holt Road. Drivers heading for Horsford and towards Holt can then use the New Drayton Lane roundabout to return north. This avoids a build-up of traffic on Church Street caused by right turning vehicles.
Plumstead Road, Thorpe End footway and mini-roundabout Work on a footway extension and mini-roundabout that was postponed this week because of the bad weather will resume in Thorpe End on Tuesday when a vacuum excavator will start excavating around buried service pipes and cables. Two-way temporary lights will be needed during the footway works, and three-way lights when work moves on to the mini-roundabout at the junction of Plumstead Road with Broadland Drive. The work, which is part of the main Northern Distributor Road project, will take up to six weeks altogether. Norfolk County Council and Balfour Beatty apologise for the disruption caused by these and other traffic management measures during construction of the new road.
UK GDP growth up slightly in Q2, boosted by stronger service sector output
Inflation slows in June, while the UK jobs market goes from strength to strength
IMF downgrades its UK growth forecast as latest BCC QES points to subdued economic activity
The first official estimate for Q2 2017 GDP growth revealed that the UK economy grew by 0.3% in Q2 2017, up slightly from the growth of 0.2% recorded in Q1.
UK CPI inflation stood at 2.6% in June 2017, down from the 2.9% rise recorded in the previous month, but is still above the Bank of England’s 2% inflation target. Falling fuel prices were the main driver behind the fall in the inflation rate last month.
In the three months to May 2017, UK employment rose by 175,000, mainly driven by a 133,000 rise in the number of full time workers. UK unemployment dropped by 64,000 over the same period. These figures suggest the UK’s jobs market is edging closer to full capacity.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its outlook for the UK economy. The IMF cut its GDP forecast for 2017 to 1.7%, from its previous forecast of 2.0%. The IMF forecast for UK growth in 2018 was unchanged at 1.5%.
Chamber members had the opportunity to highlight and discuss the challenges facing the local business community with Chloe Smith, MP for Norwich North today (Wednesday 09 August).
Amongst the topics discussed were Brexit; business rates; the need for better broadband and mobile coverage; road and rail improvements; and the skills and enterprise agenda.
On Brexit, the business community highlighted the need for the Government to move forward with negotiations and asked for continued communication and engagement when considering replacement UK regulations. With business rates, the group stressed the urgent need for the Government to review the business rates system to provide a much fairer system of collecting business contributions.
Mobile and broadband coverage was again raised as a considerable challenge to those businesses wanting to be able to take advantage of new technology developments and compete with the rest of the UK. They noted that unreliable connections act as barriers to growth, which put those companies most in need of support at a competitive disadvantage.
All agreed that more work needed to be done to close the gap between business and education, some of which can be done locally, but more support from central Government was called for to help put more focus on the enterprise.
Commenting on the meeting, Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager from Norfolk Chamber said:
“We are really pleased to welcome Chloe Smith to the Norfolk Chamber office to hear from the local business community. It is important that our MPs understand the needs of business and the Chamber will continue to ensure our members views are hear loud and clear in Westminster.”
Fox Studio is a Design Agency based in Norwich, Norfolk. We are a web and brand design agency, specialising in the design and development of a companies or a brands online presence. We deliver big ideas and even bigger results with more agility and efficiency than larger digital agencies. We succeed because we are good, not because we are big.
We pride ourselves on being honest and transparent. We’ll never try to confuse your with industry buzzwords or jargon. We have a genuine passion for all things digital, putting a lot of effort into all the projects we do, not just to make a quick buck!
Being at the heart of Norfolk (Norwich), joining Norfolk Chamber of Commerce was a fundamental choice in progressing Fox Studio’s future. All businesses and brands need to look good. Statistics shows 81% of people conduct online research before buying or making contact with a business. This is a given that design is number one priority when it comes to presenting yourself or your business online.
Fox Studio is supported by Princes Trust and also members of The UK Web Design Association, RAR+ and Google Partner.
The B1149 Holt Road will be closed south of Horsford in the early hours of Wednesday, 9 August.
The road has to close to make way for the A1270 Norwich Northern Distributor Road dual carriageway and to allow construction of slip roads serving the major junction with the A140 Cromer Road. Work to break up the redundant section of Holt Road will begin immediately, and there will be no access through the site for cyclists or pedestrians.
All B1149 traffic, including cyclists, will be diverted via New Drayton Lane (opened in July) and Reepham Road to join the A140 Cromer Road at the Boundary Junction (reverse for northbound traffic). This diversion will remain in place until traffic can use the NDR dual carriageway and A140 junction to restore access to the A140 Cromer Road. It is expected to take up to three months to complete the junction.
The closure and diversion will put pressure on the surrounding network, including roads through Hellesdon and Drayton and on Church Street, Horsford. A number of measures have been taken for safety and to reduce delays, including:
Advisory signs (from Wednesday) on Holt Road at the Cawston roundabout (B1145) and the Shortthorn Road junction to reduce B1149 traffic.
Extension north of the 30mph temporary speed limit on the A140 Cromer Road to include the Church Street junction.
A variable message electronic sign on the A140 soutbound approach to the Church Street junction and 30mph speed limit..
Signs asking all traffic heading into Horsford along Church Street to turn left at the junction with Holt Road. Drivers heading north into Horsford will be able to loop around the New Drayton Lane roundabout. This should reduce peak hour delays.
Adjustment of traffic light timings at the Middleton’s Lane/A140 junction to allow for extra traffic from Reepham Road. (There is limited scope for adjustment at the Boundary Junction lights.)
Norfolk County Council and Balfour Beatty apologise for the unavoidable disruption to normal travel.
No reopening for vehicles, a quieter route for cyclists
Holt Road south of the New Drayton Lane roundabout will not reopen as a through-route for vehicles. Instead, the B1149 will be re-routed along New Drayton Lane to the NDR’s Drayton Lane Roundabout. Drivers will then be able to leave the NDR at the A140 junction, or continue on the dual carriageway to destinations east of Norwich Airport. This arrangement will ensure that the A140/NDR junction – where the A140 goes over the NDR, linked to the dual carriageway by roundabouts and slip roads – works as efficiently as possible. In particular, it will prevent the recurrence of a current problem where A140 traffic has to give way at the roundabout to all B-road traffic, often causing tail-backs on the A-road.
Once the NDR/Cromer Road junction is complete, cyclists will be able to use the closed section of Holt Road as a short-cut to the junction, where a cycle track will lead to a crossing point on A140 Cromer Road, from which point cyclists can use New Home Lane to Horsham St Faith, or the cycle route on the east side of the A140 bridge over the NDR.
The Norfolk Strategic Framework covers the whole of the County and aims to provide high level strategic guidance to inform the next round of Local Plans and is now out for consultation.
The document is prepared jointly by Breckland Council, Broadland District Council, Broads Authority, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, North Norfolk District Council, Norwich City Council, Norfolk County Council and South Norfolk Council. It sets out their shared objectives on housing, employment and infrastructure.
They are now looking for feedback from individuals and businesses on the Norfolk Strategic Framework document. The deadline for submitting your comments is: Friday 22 Sept 2017.
The document explains the main demographic, household and employment forecasts and how these affect the future development needs of the County, outlines national planning policy requirements, and includes high level visions relating to the economy, climate change, housing, quality of life and the environment.
Comments are invited on any aspect of the document but please make it clear which section/paragraph number(s) your comments relate to.
The B2B Exhibition 2017 is the region’s premier business to business exhibition taking place on Thursday 12 October 2017.
Jake Humphrey, Sport Presenter was our special guest in 2016 with over 750+ business people attending the exhibition at Norwich City Football Club.
This year we are delighted to announce Steve Stone, Managing Director at Norwich City Football Club as our special guest who will officially open the exhibition and judge the best stand award. Steve was appointed as Managing Director in March 2017, having previously worked as the Club’s Director of Finance while also serving as interim Chief Executive on two occasions.
Steve will be officially opening the region’s premier business to business exhibition with over 750+ attendees. Steve will meet all 100+ exhibitors as he judges the prestigious Best Stand Award.
About Steve Stone
Steve was appointed as Managing Director in March 2017, having previously worked as the Club’s Director of Finance while also serving as interim Chief Executive on two occasions.First joining Norwich City in 2015, Steve previously held financial roles at Spirit Pub Company and Gala Bingo from 2005 onwards and is responsible for leading the business side of the Club.
Come along
There are limited exhibition stands remaining across the two floors of the exhibition with rates from £325+VAT. The event is FREE to attend. To find out more about The B2B Exhibition 2017 click here.
The Arab British Chamber of Commerce, London have issued new regulations received from the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq for exempted goods or deferred payment goods that will be exported to Iraq.
The new regulations require that the Consignors should have the following:
The Goods & Commodities is under the consignee name.
The Goods & Commodities that are exempted from the duty taxes and customs tariffs should have the name of the Consignee witht he phrase “Not for Sale” printed in clear label for each item.
The Goods & Commodities should be related to the Consignee type of business.
Notification has been received from the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq that Companies exporting hazardous chemcial materials to Iraq will now require an import license before exporting to the Republic.
The Arab British Chamber of Commece in London has issued an up-to-date list of the chemicals that need an import licence, which are:
Nitric Acid Sulfuric Acid Potassium nitrate Sodium nitrate Ammonium nitrate Lead (II) nitrate Urea nitrate
Norfolk Chamber’s Planning & Development Group, recently invited Julian Munson, the new Head of Enterprise Zones and Innovation for New Anglia LEP to present his perception of economic growth for Norfolk and Suffolk.
Also in attendance were the economic development officers from the majority of Norfolk’s local authorities. The group then debated how to best bring forward economic growth. Skills was noted as one of the top issues affecting growth in all areas.
All agreed that more work needed to be done to raise the profile of Norfolk and that it is fundamental to broadcast a positive message that is relevant to all businesses. The group concluded that a suite of marketing messages/tools was needed, which could then be used to target specific audiences.
The discussion closed with agreement to work together to create the right messages and help target greater economic growth for Norfolk.
Norfolk Chamber recently hosted a visit to Norwich by representatives from HM Treasury.
Charles Roxburgh, Second Permanent Secretary, Clare Lombardelli, Director of Strategy, Planning and Budget, and Beth Russell, Director of Personal Tax, Welfare and Pensions met with a cross-section of businesses at the Chamber office.
Among the topics discussed was consumer spending; the challenge of accessing a skilled workforce and delivering skills, including the impact of the apprenticeship levy on businesses. As well as broadband difficulties in relation to online filing; the need to review the business rates system; and potential impact on customs tariffs from Brexit. Members also aired their views on changes to personal tax/National Insurance for the self-employed.
In addition, Norfolk Chamber arranged for HM Treasury to visit the premises of Start-Rite Shoes Ltd.