Commenting on the first estimate of GDP for Q2 2017, published yesterday by the ONS, Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber, said:
“The first estimate of economic activity for Q2 2017 of 0.3% on the previous quarter is broadly in line with our expectations, though slightly lower than our current forecasts
“UK economic growth remains unbalanced, with the service sector accounting for all of the growth recorded in Q2, while the industrial production and construction sectors were a drag on growth in the quarter.
“Inflation is likely to continue to rise in the coming months and this could trigger a marked economic slowdown by increasing the squeeze on consumer spending. Rising inflation together with continued uncertainty over the longer-term impacts of Brexit is also likely to stifle Norfolk business investment intentions.
“The recent Chamber Quarterly Economic Survey confirmed that Norfolk’s service sector, was the key driver of economic growth. But consumer-facing industries such as retail outlets and hotels reported weaker growth rates. Many Norfolk firms reported rising concern over raw material costs and pay settlements.
“Our view for the future growth of the UK economy remains slightly muted by historic comparison, with a combination of the uncertainty over Brexit negotiations, increased inflation caused by the depreciation of Sterling and an expected softening of both consumer spending and business investment over the coming year. Government can support confidence in the near term by being clearer over its desired outcome of the Brexit negotiations (and we applaud the softening of its stance over the past week) and by greater commitments to investment, particularly in infrastructure, as well as accelerating its plans for its new industrial strategy.”
Norwich Airport is looking for the local business community to help them secure new air services and further develop existing services from Norwich to key city destinations.
As part of the discussion process with potential air carriers, it is invaluable for the airport’s Aviation Development Team to be able to present ‘real world’ data in terms of the travel demand of businesses in our region.
What are your domestic and international travel requirements? Have your say now
Since the financial crisis, exports have grown at a disappointingly slow rate, with trade volumes globally running at over 20% below their pre-crisis trend.
That represents a much weaker recovery than in the wake of previous economic downturns according to a new report from the EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation: Global Trade – Run Aground or Structurally Sound? (available via www.eef.org.uk).
This reveals that export volumes have grown at an annual average rate of 1.3% per year, compared with growth of 5.1% in the decade leading up to the financial crash.
Sluggish demand is only partly responsible for the low growth rate, the EEF suggests, citing international bodies such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for evidence supporting that view.
These organisations have highlighted protectionism, lack of trade finance, and interventions by national governments in support of local businesses as factors which are holding back the recovery of world trade flows.
This perspective is at odds with many short-term business surveys hailing the benefits of a recovering global economy, the EEF points out.
In reality, it claims, many export destinations are not as open to trade as they were before the financial crisis.
Examples cited include: some 17% of exporters to China have seen their trade affected by moves to support local businesses while 10% of companies selling to the USA have experienced an increase in tariffs.
Such protectionist policies may have been justified in the wake of the crisis, the EEF accepts, but their ongoing impact – and the potential for them to be further ramped up – raises questions about trade growth potential in the UK.
Yesterday, local businesses were invited to hear an economic update directly from the Bank of England at a meeting held at the Chamber’s office in Norwich. A range of businesses attended the event including those from the manufacturing, retail and service sectors.
Tim Pike, the Bank of England’s Agent for the South East, provided an update on the national economy and discussed what the local economic picture looked like from the perspective of the businesses around the table. Business confidence; investment and employee recruitment expectations; quantitative easing; and Brexit were amongst the topics raised at the meeting.
Feedback from the businesses highlighted that whilst an actual Brexit deal is still at least 2 years away, the business community intend to drive their businesses to success and invest for future growth and jobs.
DP World London Gateway, which has been described as the UK’s most integrated logistics facility, has now added Mediterranean Shipping Company’s (MSC) West Africa Service to its list of weekly services.
This provides a fast link for shippers between the UK and Northern Europe and Senegal, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, with transit times of under 22 days to ports of call in those countries, including Dakar, Abidjan, Lagos and Tema.
James Leeson, the DP World London Gateway’s Head of Port Commercial, said: “Shippers using this MSC service to export to West Africa can be assured of the very best in port service, with access to our Where’s My Container application, class-leading resilience and reliability and use of the very best port technology, all of which ensure we’re well placed to offer greater speed, visibility and improved supply chain certainty.”
The port now has 15 weekly services calling into the terminal, with direct, deep-sea access available to and from more of the world’s locations than any other UK container port.
Michael Collins, UK Commercial Director at MSC, explained that, following the reconfiguration of its West African services it has decided that its UK link to West Africa should DP World London Gateway.
“This will enable us to offer market-leading, direct transits and enhance our nationwide coverage while improving our London and South-East services,” he went on.
Located just 10 miles from the M25 and with a rail terminal providing direct services daily to all of the UK’s major rail freight hubs, the terminal, which opened in November 2013, is already handling cargo from across the globe.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) wants to hear the views of traders and other interested parties on its plans to provide more detailed estimates of UK trade data, particularly for sub-national breakdowns with regard to the export of services.
As part of the UK trade development plan, and the Supporting Devolution programme, the ONS has carried out experimental analysis analysing sub-national trade.
In July 2016, it published the first estimated values of service exports from each region and country of the UK covering the period 2011-2014. Then, in May 2017, it followed this with figures for 2015 and finally, in July, it published additional analysis breaking down by country of destination of exports.
“This new set of statistical outputs is designed to support local-level decision and policy-making,” the ONS explains, “particularly in light of recent events including the UK’s declaration to leave the EU, the publication of the consultation on the Industrial Strategy, and continued devolution negotiations.”
This is the first time estimates of service exports at sub-national level have been created and feedback is wanted to determine whether the outputs are meeting users’ requirements, whether the methodology is appropriate and to consider the future development of the estimates.
Details of the consultation, including access to supporting documents can be found at consultations.ons.gov.uk; the deadline for submitting comments is 8 September 2017.
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.
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 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.
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.”
The plans for the long-awaited £300m upgrade of the A47 have been revealed today (Monday 14 August), with the preferred routes for the various section improvements being confirmed.
Highways England, who have been consulting over the details of the project, confirmed improvements for junctions and roundabouts, including Thickthorn roundabout, on the edge of Norwich, and two roundabouts in Great Yarmouth. The two Norfolk sections earmarked for dualling are between North Tuddenham and Easton and between Blofield and North Burlingham.
Philip Davie, Highways England programme leader for the A47, said:
“We have listened to the public’s views and these have helped shape and inform our approach to our proposed schemes. Work now continues, adding detail to the design for each of the dualling and junction improvements, and on planning how we will deliver them in a way that keeps traffic moving.”
Norfolk Chamber and council leaders welcomed the news but highlighted the need to keep up the momentum for the work to be completed as soon as possible and also for further investment to dual more sections of the 115 mile route between Great Yarmouth and Peterborough.
Commenting on the preferred route announcements, Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:
“”We welcome the announcement of the preferred route options, as the next steps towards delivering the long awaited improvements along the A47. The A47 is a main route across Norfolk and is very important to the local economy, so we are keen to see these improvements delivered at the earliest opportunity.
“However, there is still a significant way to go to bring one of Norfolk’s main routes up to standard, even with the current planned improvement schemes. Norfolk Chamber and its members will be working in partnership with the A47 Alliance, to call on Westminster to provide funding for further improvements, such as the dualling of the Acle Straight and the dualling of the section between Tilney and East Winch, both of which will help businesses to deliver greater economic growth and jobs in our region.”
For more details on the preferred option, see the below links:
Highways England must follow due process in delivering the improvements to the A47. The announcement of the preferred routes will be followed by detailed survey works, which will lead to a formal Statutory Consultation period and eventually to an application for a Development Consent Order. It is hoped that the actual construction works will commence in Spring of 2020.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), in partnership with DHL, today (Thursday) publishes its latest Quarterly International Trade Outlook, which shows that while many exporters continue to put in a solid performance, wider economic factors are a cause of concern.
The BCC/DHL Trade Confidence Index, which measures the volume of trade documentation issued by accredited Chambers of Commerce for goods shipments, fell by 2.25% on the quarter – but still stands at the third highest level on record.
The survey, based on the responses of over 3,500 exporting businesses, including those from Norfolk shows that while export sales remained steady during Q2 2017, there are a number of economic factors that are giving businesses cause for concern.
As the pound continues to fluctuate, the findings of the survey show that 68% of manufacturers who export consider exchange rates as a concern to their business.
Recruitment difficulties are high for exporters in both sectors, with 67% in manufacturing and 51% in services reporting problems finding the right people. Access to skilled manual or technical labour was a particular issue for exporters in the manufacturing sector (69%).
Just over a third of exporters are concerned about inflation (36% in manufacturing and 33% in services). The results also show that 39% of exporting manufacturers expect the price of their products to increase over the next three months. Of these, 81% say this is due to the pressure from the cost of raw materials.
Key findings from the report:
The balance of manufacturers reporting improved export sales rose to +27% from +26% in Q1, the highest level since Q4 2014. In services, the balance of firms reporting improved export sales rose to +13% from +10% in Q1, which remains below the historical average of the sector
The balance of manufacturers reporting improved export orders fell to +20% from +22% in Q1, while in services it rose to +9% from +5%
The balance of exporting manufacturers who expect their prices to rise stands at +39%, and raw materials were the cause of price pressures for 81%
68% of exporting manufacturers cite exchange rates as a concern to their business, and 49% in the services sector
36% of manufacturers and 33% of services firms view inflation as a concern
The BCC/DHL Trade Confidence Index, a measure of the volume of trade documentation issued nationally, fell by 2.25% on the quarter. The Index now stands at 123.72 – down 2.54% on Q2 2016 – but stands at the third highest level since records began in 2004
Commenting on the findings, Julie Austin, International Trade Manager at Norfolk Chamber said:
“Norfolk exporters continue to put in a solid performance but are keeping a watchful eye on volatile exchange rates, rising inflation, and ongoing skills shortages.
“Many Norfolk manufacturers are capitalising on the advantages the fall in sterling has brought to overseas sellers since the EU referendum. That said, exporters also tend to import raw materials and product components, and are concerned that the sustained depreciation of the pound may erode their margins.
“The recruitment difficulties facing Norfolk companies reaffirms the need for action on the domestic agenda. Tackling skills shortages, and ensuring the UK’s future immigration system is responsive to economic need, will help boost the growth potential of Norfolk’s all-important exporting businesses. At the same time, a real push to provide local firms with practical exporting advice and on-the-ground support, will put the UK in a better position to take advantage of post-Brexit trading opportunities.”
Ian Wilson, CEO DHL Express UK and Ireland, said:
“Whilst UK businesses continue to deliver a strong export performance, they are increasingly concerned about what lies on the economic horizon.
“68% of manufacturers report exchange rates as a concern, and over a third of exporters are concerned about inflation and rising costs of raw materials. Access to the right talent is also an issue and, combined, these concerns serve as a stark reminder that more needs to be done to secure the future of UK exporters.
“As we begin negotiations for our departure from the EU, the UK government must ensure that the concerns of businesses are acknowledged and that the necessary infrastructure is put in place to ensure Britain continues to be truly global – maintaining and further developing our country’s international trading links.”