Chamber News

Service operator, Stagecoach in Norfolk, has revealed details of an investment plan, which they say is worth “well over £1 million”. Of that, £600,000 has been spent on five new buses, which have already come into service on routes in Lynn and immediate surrounding areas.

The remainder will go towards an upgrade and expansion of facilities at the company’s maintenance depot in Hamlin Way, on the Hardwick Narrows estate, which was given planning permission by West Norfolk Council in June.

Mr Campbell said managers had had to address a number of issues since the West Norfolk services, which were formerly run under the Norfolk Green banner, came under their control in May

Managing director Andy Campbell said: “We are working through the problems that we have to improve the services in line with what I would expect from a Stagecoach operation.”

Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:”We very much welcome the news that Stagecoach are investing in their vital service across West Norfolk and look forward to seeing improvement in the near future.”

Changes to the taxation of cash machines outside shops could result in smaller retailers being hit with increased bills and there is concern that the tax charge could result in the demise of free ATMs for shoppers. Norfolk Chamber of Commerce is calling for this to be reviewed.

In 2013 the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) ruled that cash machines situated outside the front of a shop should have a separate rates bill to the main business.

Business rates can cost convenience stores up to £15,000 per year, per machine. It is thought that more than 10,000 ATMs are liable to the charge, which will vary according to how often the machine is used and how much cash is withdrawn.

With the charges set to be backdated to 2010, there is concern that the service is becoming too expensive and financially unviable for an increasing number of smaller shops.

Around 60% of convenience stores currently offer ATMs for their customers to use, but changes to the way rates are calculated could lead to more shops having to introduce charges for using cash machines.

Norfolk Chamber has written to the Government highlighting the issue and calling for ministers to to scrap the charge on free ATMs, arguing that they offer customers access to their money at a time when many banks in town are closing. The Chamber will also be looking for local authority power to grantdiscretionary rate reliefto cover ATM rates.

Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:

“A representative of the VOA said: ‘We are currently reviewing ATM sites to ensure all sites that should be assessed are correctly rated. This treats all businesses equally, and ensures they pay their fair share of the overall business rates bill. ‘We will continue to consult with the machine operators who will be affected by this exercise.”

In response to strong lobbying from the Chamber network and other business representation organisations In March 2015 the Government pledged the most ‘ambitious’ and ‘wide-ranging review’ of business rates for a generation, paving the way for a major overhaul of the existing system.

The review will examine how businesses use property, what the UK can learn from other countries about local business taxes, and how the system can be modernised so it better reflects changes in the value of property. It is set to report its findings by the 2016 Budget.

Hear from local exporters on how they have used international trading to grow their businesses. It is worth remembering that exporting doesn’t have to mean doing business in another continent .

Western Europe is an underexploited marketplace, and further afield traditional exporting markets, such as America, remain strong and an important market for the UK. Click here to access examples of our region exporters’ experiences.

Dennis Blackmore, managing director of Learning Resources based in King’s Lynn, joined the first members’ meeting of the Hanse Business Network in Herford, Germany and explored possible opportunities in the region.

The Business Hanse was established in 2013 and is based on the town’s historic Hanseatic League, a network which promoted trade links in medieval times. King’s Lynn is a founding member of the Business Hanse, a network launched for businesses to access international markets and stimulate overseas trade.

Nick Daubney, leader of West Norfolk Council and driving force behind King’s Lynn’s involvement with Business Hanse, said: “The network has grown, with over 100 members from across Europe, the Baltic region and Russia.”

It has been calculated that part the entire area involved covers a market with a combined population of over 300 million.

He added: “In 10 or 20 years’ time King’s Lynn businesses could be very much involved in this potentially huge overseas market.

“The town is very much at the heart of the network and is becoming well-known across Northern Europe. But these networks are not going to be established in a matter of a few months, they will take a some time.”

To find out how your business could be involved visitNew Business Hanse.

For any help or advice of tackling new markets or starting to export check out the export section of our website or contact the Norfolk Chamber’s International Team [email protected]

Julian Support provides support for people with complex mental health problems. We provide this support to people across Norfolk and Suffolk in a range of supported housing schemes and to people living in their own homes. Our focus is on empowering people to build and maintain skills that will enable them to live independent and meaningful lives.

We work with people, helping them recognise and build on the strengths they already have and to eliminate barriers that impact on their mental health.

Social factors such as unaffordable housing, homelessness, living on a low income and feeling isolated from the community can all be major barriers to recovery.

We also work to a recovery model and offer practical advice and assistance, including assistance with daily living skills, benefits, budgeting, accessing social activities and exploring opportunities for work and education.

When people feel ready to move on we have the skills and experience to offer housing advice and assist with accessing independent accommodation. We can provide expert advice on housing and homelessness, benefits, budgeting and debt issues. We do our best to ensure that people have access to appropriate housing for their needs, have enough money to live on and are free from the burden of unaffordable debt.

We work in partnership with people, their families and friends, and wider care teams to promote and maintain good mental health and wellbeing.

Pip Coker, Chief Executive said:

“Julian Support promotes recovery across all of its services. We believe that recovery is not just about treating or managing symptoms but about enabling the people we work with to gain and remain in control of their lives. A key concept in recovery is hope and we believe that it is possible for all the people we support to have rewarding and fulfilling lives, and engage meaningfully in society”.

https://www.juliansupport.org/[email protected] 01603 767718

Funding to support innovation within the local Voluntary and Social Enterprise sector was unveiled today as the next round of the £1 million LEP Prize Challenge opened for bids including the West Norfolk area.

The Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is encouraging charities and social enterprises to help people furthest away from the workplace to gain the skills they need to become job ready and ultimately get back into work.

Grants of £40,000 are available for charities and social enterprises to develop and deliver projects that will tackle worklessness and skill shortages in our area. The funding will support up to seven projects throughout 2016, with the strongest three organisations receiving a further £50,000 to scale up their projects in 2017.

Launched in May 2013, the LEP Prize Challenge has invested £360,000 into the local community, which has so far helped 110 people to gain paid employment and has supported over 300 people to become work-ready. In Round 2, we aim to reach our target of helping 1,000 disadvantaged people and get 250 people back into work.

Jane Darlington, LEP Prize Challenge Panel member and Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire Community Foundation who administer the scheme, said:

“I’m pleased to see the second phase going live to build on the great work already achieved by projects funded under the LEP Prize Challenge. There have been some changes to this phase to build on what was learned in the earlier round.”

For more information visit https://www.gcgp.co.uk/2015/08/1-million-to-help-local-people-get-back-to-work/

There is competition to run the trains between Norwich and London with National Express and FirstGroup wanting to take over the services from Abellio, who hope to continue the franchise under a new tie-up with Stagecoach.

What is important to Norfolk’s business community, however, is the service which will be delivered under the new franchise from October 2016. This includes faster trains, more reliable services and better timetabling – so trains can travel between Norwich and London in 90 minutes.

Jonathan Cage Vice President of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce has met with each of the parties and has made it clear to them the service what passengers expect and need from a modern railway.

Mark Pendlington chairman of New Anglia LEP and MP Chloe Smith joint chairmen of the Great Eastern Main Line Taskforce, which includes Norfolk Chamber, are meeting senior representatives from the companies today.

Mr Pendlington said” We will be driving home to each of the bidders the importance of achieving our goals and delivering on the key recommendations from our campaign. This is so much more than business as usual, it about fresh ideas and innovative thinking and about transforming the Great Eastern main Line into the 21st century service that passengers need and deserve. “

Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said “An efficient rail service is a key priority for Norfolk members and essential if we are to build on the reputation of Norfolk as a top business location. We all need to work together to ensure that the new franchise gives us the quality of rail service we need now and as importantly in the future.”

Construction work on the £19m Postwick junction, at the eastern end of the A47 Southern bypass, started in May last year. Earlier this summer, the road was shut while beams for the new bridge over the A47 were hoisted into place.

A council spokeswoman said: “The new Postwick junction is expected to be open to traffic in November. However, it won’t be open in its entirety until the beginning of December as final works to the existing bridge need to take place.”

The council says the junction will release land for 1,600 homes and unlock some £80m of private investment, potentially paving the way for 5,000 jobs. But protestors criticised it as an over-engineered gateway to the controversial Norwich Northern Distributor Road.

Drivers will face some disruption as last night saw the start of overnight closures on the A47. They are full closures both east and west to ensure safety and traffic is having to use the slip roads.

And the A1042 Yarmouth Road will need to shut next month, so surfacing of the junction, white lining and installation of loops for the new traffic signals can be carried out.

Weekend closures will take place from 8pm on Saturday, September 19 until 6am on Monday, September 21 and between the same times on Saturday, September 26 until Monday, September 28.

There will also be a series of weekday overnight closures, from 8pm to 6am from Monday, September 21 until Friday, September 25 and between the same times from Monday, September 28 until Friday, October 2.

The council says the closures have been planned for the weekend and overnight in an attempt to minimise disruption to the travelling public and to the Postwick Park and Ride site.

Norfolk Chamber is urging Norfolk and Suffolk’s successful women from every sector to show their support for women in business by celebrating their achievements at one of the country’s longest running awards ceremonies.

Now in their 33rd year, the annual Women of the Year Awards highlight and celebrate women’s successes in business and society, promoting role models and inspiring women to reach their potential.

Now, with nominations for the Businesswoman of the Year still open, the event’s supporters are urging Britain’s leading female executives and entrepreneurs to encourage others by putting themselves forward or nominating colleagues whose achievements deserve greater notice.

Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber said: “As we work to inspire our young people it is more important than ever that our women leaders and their achievements are more visible.

“If you are a business leader, who happens to be a woman with a story to tell or work with somebody that answers that description, we urge you to step forward and be seen. All it requires is an email.”

Apprentice star Karren Brady, a former winner, also lent her voice to the call: “The Woman of the Year awards are an important opportunity to celebrate the many examples of women who are wonderful business role-models. It is critical that women in senior positions who are creating and leading businesses are recognised – not only for their own efforts and achievements but also to inspire future generations.

“The only way more women are going to be in the boardrooms of the future are if there are a wide range of role-models now who lead by example. Awards like Woman of the Year provide a perfect showcase and as a former winner myself, I can testify personally the positive experience it provides. I would urge women to put themselves forward and enter this year’s awards.”

The event has earned the support of a wide range of business organisations including the Engineering Employers Federation and the Royal Aeronautical Society, and participation can have a hugely positive impact on both the nominees’ business profiles and their bottom line.

“On a very practical level, there’s no doubt that even being nominated for an award can contribute directly to your bottom line. It boosts your business profile as a whole and lends credibility, attracting new opportunities within a wider market,” says 2011 Businesswoman of the Year winner Julie White, Managing Director of D-Drill.

“I was initially reluctant to put myself forward, but winning has had a huge impact and since then I’ve received a lot of media attention, appearing on a range of shows from the Daily Politics to Question Time. It’s taken me to places I thought I’d never see, and has given me a platform to both raise the profile of my industry and discuss the issues affecting it.”

To lodge a nomination for the Businesswoman of the Year Award, email Award Chair Judy Groves, at [email protected] Full details https://womenoftheyear.org.uk/img/wotynomform.pdf

Closing date for nominations is September 11, 2015.

The 2015 winner will be announced exclusively at the Women of the Year Luncheon and Awards ceremony on Friday, October 9 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole near the NEC. The Women of the Year Luncheon and Awards attracts several hundred high-profile guests which have in the past included Lord Digby Jones, Dragon’s Den panelist Hilary Devey, and guest speaker Britain’s double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes MBE.

There will be plenty of time to network at the 33rd successive year of the eagerly-anticipated awards when funds will once again be raised for two official charities and there will also be an opportunity to shop in a select number of boutique stores. All finalists will be invited to attend the Luncheon and Awards as the guests of the Awards Chair.

To buy tickets for the luncheon event, visit: www.womenoftheyearawards.org.uk.

The Supported Charities

Tomorrow’s People

Tomorrow’s People is dedicated to helping disadvantaged adults and young people find and retain employment, with a focus on improving the long-term work prospects of those who face the greatest barriers to work. The charity’s vision is to break the cycle of unemployment and dependency in deprived communities throughout the UK, transforming lives by ‘re-skilling’ the long-term unemployed.

Revitalise

Revitalise is a national charity providing essential services for the disabled, visually impaired and their carers. The charity runs three centres nationwide, offering short-breaks with 24-hour care and personal support in relaxed surroundings.

Andrew Wright, CEO of UK Colombia Trade, will visit the United Kingdom along with the President of Colombia’s National Hydrocarbons Agency and the President of the Colombian Oil Association the week of 7-11th September 2015 to build bilateral ties and strengthen the supply chain relationship with Colombian companies to develop the budding offshore industry.

British companies have historically played a significant role in the development of Colombia’s oil and gas industry and in the light of recent offshore finds, there exists another opportunity for the UK to support Colombia in the development of a new, dynamic offshore market to complement falling onshore reserves. In the 1980s, BP developed the prolific Coveñas field and today Shell holds a large acreage of offshore blocks. UK Colombia Trade aims to promote and assist not only Operators, but also the entrance of British service and supply chain firms into the Colombian hydrocarbons market, particularly in the area of offshore and subsea services including seismic, environmental studies, HSEQ, subsea, FEED and workover.

Looking towards the future, the Colombian Caribbean represents an opportunity to create new jobs, technical training and to establish a hub for oil & gas services providing knowledge and expertise to other emerging countries in the region.

Andrew Wright, CEO of UK Colombia Trade comments: “The Orca-1 discovery opened our minds about the realistic size of opportunity for specialist UK firms in Offshore exploration and services, but with the latest Kronos find it is now clear that Colombia could host the next Latin America Offshore boom and should be on the radar of British companies already looking at Brazil and Mexico. Colombia is currently ranked by the World Bank as Number 1 in terms of Ease of Doing Business in Latin America, so we encourage British companies to take advantage of this exciting development.”

The Colombian delegation will attend a Colombia Export Showcase event at the Energy Industry Council premises on Monday 7th, followed by an active commercial and technical agenda at Offshore Europe 2015 in Aberdeen from 8th-11th September. This visit follows a delegation of British companies that already visited Colombia as part of an Energy Industry Council trade delegation to build commercial ties with Colombia and UK Colombia Trade will be hosting a further visit of UK firms to Colombia in October 2015, led by the trade body NOF Energy.

Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber said: “Our links with the Chamber Global Network gives real competitive advantage to business who want to start or increase their businesses overseas. If Columbia is of interest to you please do contact Julie Austin [email protected] our Norfolk Chamber International Trade Manager”

The British Chambers of Commerce Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) is used by the Bank of England and the Chancellor to plan the future of the UK economy and over 7,000 businesses across the UK take part.

The Q2 2015 results for Norfolk pointed to continued moderate growth in the local economy over the next year. It was encouraging to see that several of Norfolk balances positively ‘bucked’ the national trend, with some results being stronger than the national balances, compared to the last quarter. However concerns over the EU and the possibility of Grexit are still causing some uncertainty within the business community and the impact of the reduced oil prices are being felt locally.

The previousQ2 QES results identified that the majority of Norfolk businesses continue to remain positive. Both the service and manufacturing sector continued to strengthen their exports, but there were some concerns about investment in plant, machinery and training and also recruitment difficulties, particularly in the manufacturing sector.

Are you more confident about your business? Have you had difficulty in recruiting new staff or have your got plans to invest in plant, machinery and training? Let us know by taking part in this important economic survey.

The survey takes less than 3 minutes to complete, so please take the time to input into this survey to ensure Norfolk has a voice. The survey needs to be completed online by Monday 14 September 2015.

Complete the Online Survey now.

On Thursday 20th August over 50 delegates joined us for an evening of fun, fashion and of course plenty of networking! This year we were back at Jarrold and had an exclusive sneak peek to their newly refurbished fashion floor.

The evening started with talk on the development of the fashion floor before delegates were rounded into groups to start the networking activity: The Outfit Challenge. Our delegates were sent off around the fashion floor with a budget of £250 and were set the challenge of finding the most ‘on-trend’ outfit. Throughout the activity there were tough decisions; especially in the shoe department; but all delegates returned with an in budget outfit ready for judging.

Jarrold’s personal stylist Lucy Hurrel was on hand to judge the outfits. A delegate from each team was sent up to present the outfits to Lucy and explain their choices. One delegate in particular, Trevor Saunders of Grosvenor Casino, gave an impressive presentation of his group’s outfit named ‘a day at the races’, and even used his 20% off voucher to keep his outfit in budget!

Following the networking activity delegates had time to relax with a beauty demonstration from Jarrold’s expert make-up artist who demonstrated several different make-up brands for delegates to indulge in. Up next came the fashion show with rounds of casual, smart-casual and special occasion wear all modelled by Jarrold staff.

The evening was closed with a raffle prize draw an exclusive hour for delegates to shop around the new fashion floor with a selection of vouchers given to them from Jarrold. All delegates left with a big smile on their face, and several left with a new piece for their wardrobe!

View more photos from the event on our Facebook Page.

Road users are advised that the A47 at Easton in Norfolk will be closed for overnight on Monday 24 August for essential surface repairs.

Work will take place between 8pm and 6am to carry out carriageway repairs on the Easton roundabout.

To allow traffic to be diverted on suitable roads during the work, the A47 will be closed between Swaffham and Longwater. A diversion will be clearly signposted via the A11, A134 and A1065 for westbound traffic, and via the A1065, A148, A1067 and A1074 for eastbound traffic. Access to local properties will be maintained at all times.

Highways England Project Manager Andrew Dyer said:

“Carrying out this work now will ensure smoother journeys for road users along the A47 in Norfolk.

“We have worked closely with Norfolk County Council to agree diversions and have planned this work at night to minimise disruption to road users.”

Motorists affected by this work are advised to plan ahead and allow extra time for travel.