Chamber News

Responding to the House of Lords European Affairs Committee report on the future of the UK-EU relationship, William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the BCC, said: “The BCC welcomes these clear and well-evidenced proposals for reform of access to the UK labour market. We provided evidence to the Committee based on our research among businesses in key economic sectors. “There are still particularly tough issues faced by firms who cannot attract sufficient UK staff in care, hospitality, manufacturing and logistics. “We need a fast, efficient and affordable system to access skills from outside the UK when we can’t recruit and train locally.   The Shortage Occupations List (SOL) is key tool to do this, but it must reflect the reality on the ground. “UK firms are also hampered when it comes to travelling to Europe due to the lack of flexibility in some of the business travel and mobility rules in the Brexit deal, especially in relation to financial, professional and business services. “We urge the UK Government to respond decisively to these findings, so that firms can have the confidence in access to the skilled workers they need to grow their businesses and get economic growth moving.” A copy of the full committee report can be found here.

The Norwich BID (Business Improvement District) has acquired a limited number of licenses for Rio Carbon Reporting’s Carbon Tracker. “What is Rio? Rio is an intelligent sustainability management system. This platform helps businesses, public sector organisations, and SME’s track their sustainability data, report on their progress, and learn to become more sustainable. Rio can not only help businesses track their sustainability journey, but the platform also analyses your data and provides actionable ways to improve your sustainability and save you money! Rio can help with:

• Target-setting establish your organisation’s targets and monitor progress
• Reporting provide information to key stakeholders
• Legislation access a legal library of environmental legislation (with synopses!)
• Identify opportunities to reduce your carbon footprint
• Training Rio Learn provides training resources on a range of topics to increase sustainability knowledge.”

See the full article on the BID’s website here.

Anglian Waste Recycling are excited to have launched their latest initiative, the Anglian Green Scheme, which aims to educate school pupils on the importance of waste reduction and responsible recycling. The waste management company hopes that this engaging scheme will create a long-term change in the way young people approach recycling to protect our environment. With concerns over climate change and environmental damage on the rise, the recycling initiative seeks to inspire students across the region to reduce the amount of waste they produce and introduce positive recycling behaviors into their daily routines. Influencing the next generation to make sustainable choices that have less harmful impacts on the environment will play a key role in the solution to limit global warming in the future. Designed to make recycling fun, interactive and accessible, Anglian aspired to make all activities within the scheme rewarding, to encourage children to recycle using the separate waste streams. Participating schools receive a range of educational resources including workshops and assemblies led by Anglian, digital toolkits, and their most popular learning tool, the Anglian Recycling Station. “We believe that educating our future generations about the importance of recycling is crucial in creating a sustainable future,” said Matthew Raven, Field Sales Executive of Anglian Waste Recycling. “Through the Anglian Green Scheme, we hope to ignite a passion in young people to become environmental stewards by instilling a culture of recycling in them from an early age.” Bawburgh School are one of the first schools to sign up to the Green Scheme initiative to increase recycling rates within their facility. Zoe Courtney, Caretaker of Bawburgh School, said “It’s fantastic to see how Anglian Waste Recycling have helped to raise awareness for recycling among our pupils. Our students are having so much fun while they learn about this topic and it’s wonderful to see them taking an active interest in protecting our environment.” After running a recycling themed poster competition for the students at Bawburgh, Anglian hosted an assembly where the two winners were announced and awarded with goody bags – Asta (Kingfishers – Year 2) and Evie-Rose (Jackdaws – Year 4). The two poster designs have been printed onto the Anglian Recycling Station in the playground by CIM Signs & Graphics, who kindly donated their time and materials to this project. Anglian Waste Recycling would like to encourage all schools in East Anglia to participate in the Green Scheme to support their local communities in creating a cleaner, greener environment for all. Established in 2007, Anglian originated as a demolition and asbestos company, but has rapidly grown over the years to include multiple divisions, including waste management. Providing commercial waste and recycling collections, skip hire and scrap metal processing, they are also the new preferred waste supplier for Norwich Business Improvement District – offering levy payers access to exclusive rates to increase recycling across Norwich City. To stay up to date with Anglian Waste Recycling’s initiatives, visit their website, www.anglianrecycling.co.uk or find them on social media.

Meet the Buyer | 25^th April 2023 | Hitachi Energy Hitachi Energy has been appointed by Ørsted, the world’s most sustainable energy company, to deliver the construction of two HVDC Converter stations Link 1 & 2 for the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm. The Norfolk Chambers of Commerce worked closely with Hitachi Energy to deliver an event which gave Local Businesses the opportunity to showcase their skills and expertise to Hitachi Energy. Businesses from different sectors joined us on Tuesday 25^th April to meet and discuss the opportunities to work on the Hornsea 3 project with Hitachi Energy. Meet the Buyer was an opportunity for local businesses to sit down and have a 15 minute meeting with a representative from Hitachi Energy to learn more about the project and showcase how their business can support them. Several attendees joined us at Hitachi Energy’s Meet the Buyer after attending our previous Meet the Buyer in November 2022, including Wensum Print. Oli Smith from Wensum print said “This is the second meet the buyer we have attended, we provided the signage for the Hornsea 3 Onshore Cable Works project after attending Meet the Buyer at the end of last year and we have come back today to represent our business again and showcase what we can offer and hopefully build some new business relationships.” Office Water Supplies also attended the event after being subcontracted after last year’s Meet the Buyer. When asked how important do you think it is that the Norfolk Chambers of Commerce are apart of an event like this they said: “It is massively important that the Chambers are a part of an event like this, it’s a huge opportunity for us and many other local businesses.” After the event, Michael Chappell from Hitachi Energy said: “The one-to-one meetings provided meaningful new potential suppliers for which we will be looking to explore more in the coming months. In addition to which, Simon Knapper, who welcomed visitors to the Hitachi Stand, received significant interest and thoroughly enjoyed discussing how Hitachi’s HVDC technology is bringing power from the Hornsea Offshore Windfarm into the UK transmission network at Necton. Initial feedback from the Hitachi team was all extremely positive.” Amy Wright, Events Manager, Norfolk Chambers of Commerce: “I would like to thank all the businesses who attended the event, it was fantastic to hear the buzz of the networking area and to meet some of our members. Norwich City Football Club’s hospitality was outstanding and it was a very engaging environment to be in.” Thank you to Sizewell C Supply Chain and Hitachi Energy for exhibiting at Meet the Buyer and thank you to Norwich City Football Club for their venue space in the Top of the Terrace.

• 80% of businesses surveyed (92% of whom are SMEs) attempting to recruit have faced challenges, with hospitality and manufacturing firms still the most likely to report difficulties
• Almost six in ten (59%) businesses are actively trying to recruit staff

• BCC calls on Government to work with business on solutions including skills training, investment and urgent reform of the Shortage Occupations List (SOL) 

The latest Quarterly Recruitment Outlook (QRO), a survey of more than 5,000 UK firms of all sectors and sizes by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) reveals businesses are still facing record high difficulties in hiring new staff. The first quarter results for 2023 show that recruitment difficulties have fallen just two percentage points from the record high level of 82% in Q4 2022. Attempted recruitment in Q1 was virtually unchanged from the previous quarter, with 59% of those surveyed looking to find staff (61% in Q4 2022). While recruitment difficulties are being experienced across the economy, firms in the hospitality and manufacturing sectors were the most likely to report recruitment difficulties (83% in each sector). This is closely followed by the construction and engineering sector (81%) and then professional services; and public, education, health sector on 79%. The recruitment pressure points vary across sectors. For firms who struggled to recruit in the construction and engineering sector, 71% faced difficulties in finding skilled manual/technical workers. However, for hospitality businesses that struggled to recruit, 64% faced difficulties in finding semi/unskilled workers. Investment in training remains stubbornly low in an environment of increasing cost pressures. Just over a quarter of firms (27%) reported an increase in their training investment plans over the last three months (24% Q4 2022), while 14% report a drop. Overall, 67% of businesses say labour costs are a source of inflationary pressure, with a similar number (66%) worried about energy costs. Concerns around labour costs are highest in manufacturing (76%) followed by construction and engineering, logistics, and hospitality (each at 70%). Responding to the findings, Nova Fairbank, Chief Executive at the Norfolk Chambers of Commerce said: “People shortages are a massive issue and employers can see little sign of improvement. The high number of unfilled job vacancies is damaging businesses and the economy. Norfolk firms are struggling to fulfil order books and turning down new work. “While investment in training is part of the solution, it is being held back by rising overall cost pressures and a lack of time and resource at firms to mentor and support new recruits. “There is no quick fix and employers and the government need to work together to find solutions. While firms can do more to make workplaces more flexible and jobs easier to access, the government must redouble its efforts to encourage and help people into work. “Support for parents and carers, older workers and those with health issues will be crucial. At the same time, where there is evidence of urgent and critical skills shortages that are crippling business sectors, the government must adopt a sensible and pragmatic approach to immigration and ensure that the Shortage Occupations List reflects the reality on the ground. “The Chamber Network is rooted in its communities, representing businesses of all sizes across Norfolk and the UK, and these are the big issues they are telling us need addressing if we are to get the economy growing again.”

Reacting to the latest ONS inflation data for March, Nova Fairbank, CEO of Norfolk Chambers of Commerce, said: “Today’s CPI rate of 10.1% means that prices continue to rise at an alarming rate. Driven largely by housing and food costs, this is on top of an already high growth rate from this time last year. “More positively, today’s figures show that the Producer Price Index has eased to 7.6% from 12.8%, indicating the peak may have passed for input price growth. “Our research shows that inflation is still by far and away the top concern for UK SMEs. This has been driven by three years of global lockdowns, supply chain crises, energy shocks, and new trade barriers with the EU. “Small businesses, particularly those in the retail and hospitality sector, have been the least able to absorb cost rises, and we see that most have not invested or grown. “Businesses need to see a reduction in the cost and burden of exporting and importing, particularly with the EU, as well as increased support to deal with the unprecedented energy price shock.”

Reacting to the ONS GDP figures for February, Nova Fairbank, Chief Executive at the Norfolk Chambers of Commerce, said: “Although today’s GDP figures indicate the UK economy continues to technically avoid a recession, it’s now clear we are stuck in a prolonged period of almost no growth. “After a sharp drop in business confidence last year, our latest research shows that optimism among Norfolk SMEs is now on the way up. But this is yet to translate into an improvement to business conditions in general. “The Chambers expects GDP to contract overall by 0.3% in 2023, a view echoed by the IMF forecast in their World Economic Outlook published earlier this week. “The business environment needs to improve quickly to ensure confidence doesn’t fall back to the levels we saw last year. While last month’s Budget included several positive measures for Norfolk’s economy, it did not go far enough to shift the dial on growth which remains stubbornly low. “The Government has not addressed some of the major issues holding firms back, such as the unprecedented energy price shock and record tightness in the labour market. “Following the attention being given to the Windsor Framework by world leaders this week, global trade also needs to be a core priority. UK exporters have faced major administrative costs since the introduction of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU and the focus must now be on ensuring the new customs and paperwork arrangements work smoothly for businesses both side of the Irish Sea.”

Reacting to the latest ONS Trade data for February, William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the BCC, said: “This latest data provides further evidence the UK is finding it tough to generate any sustained rise in exports. The overall picture for the last two years is broadly static, although this masks a better position on services than with goods. “Services exports values showed a modest rise in February 2023 by 0.7% (excluding inflation). This mirrors the shallow recovery in services export volumes over the past two years. “But this is not enough to compensate for a lacklustre performance elsewhere. Additional data from the Bank of England and the Office for Budget Responsibility indicates that the UK’s export performance is the worst in the G7. “The World Trade Organisation’s latest forecast for global trade growth of only 1.7% in 2023 demonstrates the strength of the headwinds facing all exporters. “But this is precisely the time to be putting measures in place to raise export capacity and readiness here at home. The Government must do more to help firms export – it is vital for the overall growth of our economy.” Analysis of the data:   Removing the effects of inflation, total UK goods export values fell by 0.8% compared to January. A fall in goods export values to the EU of 6.2% (driven by lower volumes of fuels, machinery and transport equipment) was accompanied by a fall in sales to the rest of the world of 0.7% (largely in lower chemicals exports to China and South Korea). Total goods imports values (excluding inflation) fell by 1.5%. Import values from the EU rose by 1.5% on January driven by machinery and transport equipment import gains (including cars from Germany) and higher fuel imports (refined oil from the Netherlands). But import values from the rest of the world fell by 4.5%, with reduced gas and oil imports from the US and Norway, and lower chemicals imports from the US. In services, excluding inflation, import values rose by 0.6% while export values rose by 0.7%.    In the three months to February 2023, goods export values fell by 3.8%, and goods import values by a smaller amount of 1.8%. Services export values fell over the same period by 1.6%, while imports fell slightly by 0.4%.  In the three months to February 2023, the overall UK trade deficit, removing inflationary effects, widened to £13.2bn.  More detail on the ONS data can be found here.

The remit for the Norfolk and Suffolk LSIP is in four parts:

• Articulate the employers skills needs – what are the skills employers need locally and struggle to find?
• Translating employers needs into changes in provision – how can those employers needs best be met by the provider in more responsive ways?
• Address learner demand and employer engagement – what can local stakeholders and employers do to raise demand for and make better use of those skills?
• Report annually to the DfE on what we want to achieve, why it matters, what changes are needed, and who needs to be involved.  In other words what does skills success look like?

As you will be aware, the timescale for engaging the wider business community across Norfolk and Suffolk has been extremely tight and continues to be ongoing.  Next steps for the LSIP include further interaction with our four Working Groups and the convening of the Common Framework Group to consider potential solutions and actions.  The full Local Skills Improvement Plan will be submitted to the Secretary of State by 31 May 2023. As required by the Department for Education, we are pleased to provide you with the draft priorities, as identified by a range of businesses across our region to help support your consideration for the LSIF bid. Click here to view 

Join us on Wednesday April 26th at Newmarket Racecourse for our LSIP Co.llaboration event

This Norfolk and Suffolk Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) collaboration event is a chance to showcase the extensive employer engagement which has taken place, detailing the analysis and key findings in which businesses are communicating the regions skills gaps and needs.

We will be showcasing what’s working well in the region and how we can continue to influence a local skills system which puts employer engagement at the heart of the agenda.

Norfolk Chambers of Commerce is working closely with Hitachi Energy to bring a Meet the Buyer event for the Hornsea 3 on 25^th April at Norwich City Football Club. This event is a key chance for local SMEs in specific sectors, to meet and discuss the opportunities to work on the Hornsea 3 Offshore Wind. This project will provide huge value for local businesses and will enable opportunities for collaboration within the supply chain. Hitachi Energy has been appointed by Ørsted, the world’s most sustainable energy company, to deliver the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm. With a capacity of 2,852 MW, Hornsea 3 will produce enough low-cost, clean, renewable electricity to power around 3.2 million UK homes, making a significant contribution to the UK Government’s ambition of having 50 GW offshore wind in operation by 2030 as part of the British Energy Security Strategy. The project (subject to Ørsted taking a Final Investment Decision on Hornsea 3) will see the installation of 240 km of onshore cables that will connect the offshore wind farm from the landfall at Weybourne in Norfolk to the Norwich Main National Grid Substation. Works are scheduled to commence in March 2023 with an anticipated completion in 2027. Both Hitachi Energy and Ørsted are committed to engaging with the local community and supply chain to maximise the benefits and opportunities for individuals and the local economy. Hitachi Energy has proactively identified a number of the relevant trades, services, commodities, and skills required and is working closely with Norfolk Chambers to co-ordinate and facilitate as many opportunities as possible for local, and particularly, for small businesses and individuals to get involved and benefit from this exciting project. Hitachi Energy is advancing the world’s energy system to be more sustainable, flexible, and secure. As the pioneering technology leader, we collaborate with customers and partners to enable a sustainable energy future – for today’s generations and those to come. Norfolk Chambers of Commerce, Chief Executive, Nova Fairbank said “Following previous successful Meet the Buyer events, we’re delighted to be bringing back another event. Our mission is to connect the Norfolk community and what better way than bringing Norfolk businesses together on such a significant project”. If you’re interested in attending the event to showcase your services, please click here.

Reacting to news of an agreement on the UK’s accession to the CPTPP, William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the BCC, said: “The addition of the UK to this trading bloc takes it to 12 countries which account for 15% of global economic output. “It will open up new opportunities for our businesses in both inward and external investment with the other 11 countries. “The UK has bilateral trading terms negotiated with nine of the eleven current members, but no agreements had previously been reached with Malaysia and Brunei, so they will be of particular interest. “There are not many multi-national trade agreements like this one, so it is an interesting new prospect. “We see particular relevance for small and medium sized businesses in reduced costs to import components from member countries to use in manufactured goods for export through the rules of origin in the agreement. “There are also generous terms for data flows which underpin an increasing part of international trade.   “We will be scrutinising the deal in detail, but at first glance this looks to be good news for UK businesses to enter or upscale their trade in these markets, with increased confidence and more generous trading terms. “We look forward to speedy ratification and then working with the UK Government, and others, to ensure firms get the best possible access to this thriving market within the global trade system.”  More information on the CPTPP can be found here.

• Over half (52%) of UK firms believe their business turnover will increase over the next 12 months, up from 44% in Q3 2022.
• However, only one in three (34%) firms experienced an increase in sales over the past three months.
• Almost half (47%) of hospitality businesses reported a drop in cashflow in the last quarter.

The BCC’s Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) for Q1 2023 shows that while business confidence has improved from a very weak base, most firms see no improvement to business conditions. The survey of over 5,200 firms – 92% of whom are SMEs – reveals a sectoral division in business performance, with hospitality and retail firms consistently more likely to report worsening cash flow, investment, and turnover than other sectors. The research took place between February 13 and March 9, before the Chancellor’s Spring Budget was announced. Growth in business activity remains weak, with retail and hospitality sectors facing most significant challenges. The percentage of firms reporting increased domestic sales has not seen any bounce back since it fell significantly in Q3 2022. Only one in three (34%) firms experienced an increase in sales over the past three months, while 24% reported a decrease and 41% reported no change.  The retail and hospitality sectors remain particularly weak. Almost two in five (38%) retail firms experienced a decrease in sales over the past three months, with one in three (32%) hospitality businesses reporting a fall. More businesses continue to report a decrease, rather than an increase, in cash flow, highlighting the precarious state many SMEs are still in. Only one in four (25%) businesses said their cash flow has increased over the last three months, while 30% have seen it decrease.  The hospitality and retail sectors are again facing the greatest challenges. 40% of retail firms, and almost half (47%) of hospitality businesses, reported decreased cashflow. After a significant fall in Q3 2022, business confidence is now on the up. After business confidence plummeted to historically low levels in the second half of 2022, there has been a marked improvement in sentiment in the first quarter of 2023. Over half (52%) of firms believe their business turnover will increase over the next 12 months, up from 44% in Q3 2022. While profitability confidence has also improved, it continues to remain weaker than turnover confidence. 42% of businesses now expect their profits to increase over the next year, up from 34% in Q4 2022. Little discernible improvement to business investment over past six years Three quarters (75%) of respondents reported no increase to investment in plant/equipment. There has been little discernible improvement to investment over the past six years; only a quarter of firms planned to increase investment in Q1 2023, the same level as reported in Q2 2017. Inflationary pressures continue to ease slightly, but still remain the top concern Following a drop last quarter, the percentage of firms expecting their prices to rise shows further signs of easing, as it fell five percentage points from 60% in Q4 2022 to 55% in Q1 2023. The overall level of concern regarding inflation has dropped for the first time in over two years. However, at 74%, the level remains close to the historical high. Cost pressures are varied, but labour costs and utilities come out top overall Cost pressures vary considerable across sectors; 87% of hospitality firms reported utilities as a factor driving price increases while 86% of manufacturers cited raw materials. David Bharier, Head of Research at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said: “After a significant decline in business confidence in the second half of 2022, results from QES Q1 show an improvement in business sentiment as political turmoil and inflationary pressures show some signs of easing. “However, this comes from a very weak base, and while confidence has improved, this is yet to translate into an overall improvement of business conditions. Most SMEs still report no improvement to sales, cash flow, and investment. “Three years of economic shocks – Covid lockdowns, global supply chain crises, inflation, and Brexit – have taken a significant toll on UK SMEs. The QES Q1 data once again confirms that these shocks have disproportionately impacted the retail and hospitality sectors, which are once again most likely to be reporting worsening sales and cash flow.” Responding to the findings, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, Shevaun Haviland, said:  “Last month’s Budget included several positive measures for business, including increased childcare support as well as plans for full capital expensing. However, it did not go far enough to shift the dial on growth which remains stubbornly low. “The Government failed to tackle some of the major issues holding firms back from their potential, in particular energy costs and the tight labour market which remain top business concerns. “The Government’s new energy support package represents a drop of 85% in the financial help available to businesses. We reiterate our calls for increased, targeted support for those firms who desperately need it. “The energy crisis faced by firms and households are two sides of the same coin. Yet, non-domestic customers do not enjoy the same protection as households. “To ensure competition in the business energy sector, and solve market failures, Government must also ensure Ofgem has the necessary powers to properly regulate the industry. “While we welcomed the Government’s decision to add five new construction jobs to the Shortage Occupation List, the lack of skilled labour is having a corrosive effect on our economy. This shift to a new system cannot come fast enough and other sectors facing huge recruitment pressures, such as hospitality, must be given help.” What businesses say: “Increases in prices, in general, have affected profitability and cash flow to the point I am having to borrow more finance. If I don’t get the finance, my business will fold.”– Micro services firm in Northern Ireland “As an advanced manufacturing organisation, we have a huge reliance on energy, we’re a very high user consuming >27Giga Watts of electricity. Our fixed pricing contract expires in March and the uplift in cost will be >£5m so will need to be passed through to our customers.” – Large manufacturer in Business West “The market feels buoyant, lots of enquiries and activity, it doesn’t seem to fit with the mood music from government or the media.” – Small retail or wholesale firm in the East Midlands Link to QES infosheet Q1 2023