Norfolk Chamber welcomed a new initiative from KLM through Norwich International Airport to attract more users to the regional airport. The initiative will allow a FREE lounge pass for Amsterdam Schipol Airport (worth 50 euros) and is available to the first 10 responders.
There has been a sharp fall in the number of apprenticeships in the construction and IT sectors over the past five years.
There were 16,890 construction, planning and built environment apprentices in 2009-10, but this had more than halved to barely 8,000 just four years later. The construction industry has complained of an ageing workforce, but apprentice numbers suffered as companies struggled for work when they were badly hit by the economic crisis.
There were 10,510 apprentices who entered the information and communications technology sector in 2010-11, but this fell to under 8,000 for the following two years – still much higher than pre-financial crisis levels. Retail and leisure travel and tourism sectors have suffered declines since 2012.
There is also concerned about an apparent lack of take-up in certain sectors of high-level apprentices, which can lead to degrees by the end of the training.
By contrast, apprenticeships in health, public services and care shot up from 28,230 in 2009-10 to nearly 58,000 four years later. The number setting out in careers in agriculture, animal care and horticulture was up 22.4 per cent to 4,480 over the same time.
The Skills minister, Nick Boles, said: “We want far more employers to get involved in apprenticeships. This means making sure that we practise what we preach in government, so we’re going require all public-sector bodies – schools, hospitals, prisons and police forces – to employ apprentices.”
Caroline Williams, CEO Norfolk Chamber said “These statistics back up what we are hearing from our members. Many of our larger companies, especially in IT, are finding it hard to recruit the number of apprentices needed to meet their requirements. There continues to be a misunderstanding about the opportunities that especially the high level apprentices can bring to a young person. The drive to go to university is still strong for our more able students but we would encourage Norfolk’s young people and their parents to ensure that the apprenticeship route is considered carefully as a real alternative”
At a recent Norwich Chamber Council meeting, the members received an update on the work being done by the Norwich BID on accessibility to Norwich. This included looking at the Park and Ride contract, understanding the Norwich Area Transport Strategy (NATS) and city centre congestion.
It was agreed that these issues affected not just city centre businesses community, but the wider business community and the Chamber should work in partnership with the Norwich BID to ensure that the thoughts and views of the Greater Norwich business community and further were taken into account.
The economic update from the council members highlighted that there is a strong positive feel to the business community, although recruitment is still seen as an issue. More organisations are looking to recruit apprentices and in particular those between 16 – 18 years old.
Peter Foster, Chair of Norwich Chamber Council said:
“Accessibility to Norwich is very important, as a rural county, we need the city to remain fully accessible to all forms of transport. For the benefit of the city centre retail and businesses, we need a strong and effective Park and Ride Service, which makes Norwich accessible to both visitors and commuters alike. There are many changes taking place to the traffic flows in Norwich, the local business community needs to understand what these changes mean to them and have the ability to give their input.”
Ahead of the latest Great Yarmouth Chamber Council meeting, the members toured the 65% complete Beacon Park with Robin Neve. Beacon Park is part of the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft Enterprise Zone and is a mixture of offices light industrial units and warehousing, all aimed at the energy sector and clean modern industry. Details for Beacon Park can be found on their website: www.beaconpark.co.uk
The overall goal of the Enterprise Zone is to create new jobs and attract new businesses and enquiries for the Enterprise Zone are strong. Some of the benefits of the Enterprise Zone are simplified planning, reduce business rates for the first 5 years of occupancy, if premises are occupied before March 2018.
The Great Yarmouth Chamber council received an update on the overall Enterprise Zone from Eunice Edwards, the EZ Co-ordinator.
The Enterprise Zone in Great Yarmouth consists of Beacon Park and the larger South Denes area. In the Lowestoft Enterprise Zone there are a further 4 sites. At present 90% of those who have occupied units in the Great Yarmouth Enterprise Zone are from the local area and are looking to expand their businesses. The premises that they are vacating are quickly being filled, so the Great Yarmouth economy appears to be continuing to thrive, despite the recent slow down in the oil and gas industry.
Andy Penman, President of Great Yarmouth Chamber said:
“It is important to support the local business community and help drive economic growth and jobs in our region. Key issues for Great Yarmouth are skills shortages and the decline of our town centre. Therefore the Great Yarmouth Chamber Council members have set themselves three goals:
Create 6 x new apprenticeships in the 12 month period between April 2015 – March 2016.
Work towards securing a nationally known brand retailer to Great Yarmouth town centre
Increase the Chamber membership in Great Yarmouth by 10%
We will work in partnership with local businesses, education establishments and the Great Yarmouth Borough Council to achieve these goals.”
Is your current broadband speed slowing down your business? You can now do something about it!
If your business employs less than 250 employees and you are based in the Norwich City Council area, then it is likely that you are eligible for free funding through the government’s Superfast Britain Broadband Connection Vouchers scheme.
Eligible businesses can get a connection voucher of between £100 and £3,000 towards the charge of installing superfast broadband. This is usually enough to cover the costs involved. If your business is based at home, the connection voucher can also be used to get superfast broadband there.
It canfund associated installation costs including infrastructure equipment, construction charges, engineering works and surveys.
What types of broadband are eligible?
Cable
Ethernet First Mile (EFM)
Fibre to the Premise (FttP)
Fibre to the Cabinet (FttC)
Fixed Wireless Access (FWA)
Leased lines
Microwave
Satellite
Multiple organisations can jointly apply to the scheme and pool the funding. This can help where a whole office block wants to get superfast broadband,though all organisations must meet theeligibility criteria. The offer is also open to registered charities, social enterprises and sole traders.
The benefits to you business could include:
Increasing profits by offering better services to more satisfied customers.
Improving customers’ experience with quicker upload and download speeds and faster file-sharing, especially for large files.
Reducing software and hardware costs by helping businesses switch to online data storage solutions.
Enhancing the way businesses communicate and collaborate through online video conference and cloud-based information sharing.
How to apply
You can claim your broadband connection voucher in three simple steps:
Check your business is eligible using the scheme’spostcode checker.
Get a quote from aregistered supplieron a package tomeet your specific needs.
Click on the button below and fill in an application form. We’ll do the rest!
You can also go for an off-the-shelf deal directly throughwww.connectionvouchers.co.uk. Just check your postcode is eligible then click on option one ‘off the shelf deal’.Your chosen supplier will then complete the administration for you.
MedSec 7 is an accredited training and development provider, with experience of delivering training to Individual, Local and Corporate Companies, the Armed Forces, Private Security and the Oil and Gas Industry.We specialise in a variety of disciplines, in particular First Aid and Medical Qualifications, Event First Aid Cover, Teaching Qualifications, Assessor & Verifier Qualifications, Security Qualifications and Hostile & Challenging Environments Training.Our head office is in Taverham, Norwich but we have the ability and experience to deliver contracts at a regional, national and international level.
We are undergoing a period of introspection whereby, although to date our business has been concentrated on training personnel in support of contracts further afield in countries such as Cambodia, Iraq & Afghanistan, we are turning our attention to the part of the country that looks after us, East Anglia.
Our CEO, Training Director, Business Development Manager & Clinical Lead were all raised in East Anglia, with one joining the local Royal Anglian Regiment of the British Army and another spending the latter part of his Royal Air Force career in the skies of the region as a Search & Rescue Winchman Paramedic. It is now time to give something back and as a company we are getting involved with local business groups such as Norfolk Chambers of Commerce and running promotions for the regions residents.
The number 3 service, operated by First using low-floor fully accessible buses, will connect with trains at Abellio Greater Anglia’s Great Yarmouth (Vauxhall) station seven days a week, including Bank Holidays. The service will run hourly from Sunday 24th May until Saturday 19th September, increasing to a 30 minute frequency between Sunday 26th July and Saturday 29th August.
David Squire, Managing Director of First Eastern Counties said “The re-introduction last summer of a bus service to Great Yarmouth rail station was very well received by local residents and visitors alike. Service 3 provides direct links to many holiday centres and other attractions such as Yarmouth Racecourse and Stadium as well as connections to the extensive local bus network at Market Gates. We are happy to be working in partnership with Abellio Greater Anglia once again and look forward to welcoming passengers on board the service this summer.”
James Reeve, Abellio Greater Anglia’s Head of Customer Service North for Abellio Greater Anglia said: “We are pleased to work with FirstGroup at Yarmouth to promote the service between the rail station and the key tourist leisure attractions in the district. Many visitors to the town arrive by train and being able to offer a seamless travel experience for onward journeys from the station is very important for our customers and helps to showcase Great Yarmouth as a great holiday destination.”
Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said “The linking of our transport is essential for a seamless journey both for our visitors and residents so we very much welcome the news that this bus service will be running for its second season”
Service 3 links Great Yarmouth Rail Station with Vauxhall Holiday Park, Great Yarmouth Town Centre, Britannia Pier, the Waterways, Seashore Holiday Centre, Yarmouth Racecourse, Yarmouth Stadium, Caister Holiday Centre, California Holiday Village, Scratby, Newport Caravan Park, and Hemsby Village and Beach.
Commenting on the Chancellor’s Mansion House speech, where George Osborne set out strict new fiscal rules, John Longworth, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:
“While running a budget surplus is a laudable aim, economic history shows that the national interest sometimes requires fiscal flexibility. It is impossible to predict global economic conditions with any certainty, so no government should put itself into a fiscal straitjacket that limits its scope to respond.
“Any move to constrain future spending should explicitly exclude infrastructure, which is an investment rather than just a cost. Roads, railways, energy grids and broadband drive productivity and job creation – and it is time for government’s contributions to national infrastructure to be removed from the debate on the deficit and the national debt.
“Far too often, Britain’s infrastructure needs have been sacrificed to short-term spending considerations. This must stop.”
Norfolk has historically lagged behind in terms of infrastructure and Norfolk Chamber and our members, from start ups to our large scale members have been lobbying hard for those improvements. In December last year funding was announced in the Autumn Statement to deliver improvements along the A47.
Improvements announced in Autumn Statement:
A47 North Tuddenham to Easton
A47 Blofield to North Burlingham
A47/A12 Great Yarmouth: junction improvements, including reconstruction of the Vauxhall roundabout.
Acle Straight – Safety improvements at key hotspots
We would call for the Government to honour its Autumn Statement funding announcements and provide the necessary infrastructure for Norfolk businesses to deliver economic growth and jobs for our region.
A huge congratulations to Sam Brown, Events Assistant Apprentice, on passing her driving test on Wednesday 10 June! She becomes the final member of the Event’s team who we will no doubt see whizzing off to organise and attendmore of our fantastic events.
Norfolk Chamber welcomes the news that Ikea have confirmed that they will be locating one of their stores onto the Sweetbriar Retail Park in Norwich. Norwich is becoming much more visible on the national stage and rightfully earns is place in the top 15 of retail destinations in the UK.
With the opening of the A11 last year and more road and rail improvements in the pipeline, Norfolk is fast becoming a popular choice for both visitors and businesses alike. Investment in our region is very welcome and as more nationally known brands invest in Norwich and the wider area, this brings greater economic prosperity and growth to Norfolk.
On Thursday 5 June 25 members of the Norfolk Chamber joined us for an intimate cocktail making and networking evening, with plenty of networking opportunities there was a great atmosphere. It was held at Mr Postles Apothecary, a new bar in Norwich which opened on 19th March this year.
Delegates started their night off with a complimentary drink and a networking activity which got them networking in new groups and making new contacts which they continued with throughout the night.
It was then onto the cocktail making where delegates had the option of making either a Cosmopolitan or a Virgin Mr Postle, they paired up and took turns in shaking and mixing up their drink and while others either continued the networking or were checking out the competition and learning the tricks of the trade.
Delegates then had free networking for the rest of the evening and many continued this late into the night.
To see photos of this great night visit our Facebook or Google+ pages.
The next instalment of the After Hours series is Look the Business as Jarrold on 20 August, for more information or to book you place visit our event page.
Norfolk Chamber welcomed the reports in the local press that the next priority for Norfolk County Council is to secure the dualling of the Acle Straight, as outlined in their Annual Review for 2014-2015.
Norfolk has historically lagged behind in terms of infrastructure and Norfolk Chamber and our members, from start ups to our large scale members have been lobbying the Government and Highways Agency hard for improvements to the A47. In December 2014, funding was announced in the Autumn Statement to deliver improvements along the A47, including safety improvements along the Acle Straight.
Improvements announced in last year’s Autumn Statement:
A47 North Tuddenham to Easton: dualling to provide continuous dual carriageway between Norwich and Dereham; combined with the Blofield to North Burlingham scheme, this will provide full dualling between Dereham and Acle.
A47 Blofield to North Burlingham: dualling to complete a gap in the dual carriageway between Norwich and Acle; combined with the North Tuddenham to Easton scheme this will provide full dualling between Dereham and Acle.
A47/A12 Great Yarmouth: junction improvements, including reconstruction of the Vauxhall roundabout.
Safety improvements at key hotspots and joint working with Natural England to establish environmental impacts and mitigation measures for the medium and long term which could include installation of safety barriers, junction improvements and road widening or capacity improvements.
A47/A11 Thickthorn junction: improvement of the interchange to give improved access to Norwich.
However to make this notorious stretch of road between Acle and Great Yarmouth truly safe, requires the total dualling of this road. Norfolk Chamber will continue to lobby for road improvements along the Acle Straight and will work in partnership with Norfolk County Council to support the delivery of this goal.
Andy Penman, President of Great Yarmouth Chamber Council said:
“The “Acle Straight” has been a motorist “accident hot spot” for many years and is well overdue for an upgrade from single to dual carriage-way, so this is excellent news for one and all that travels this route on a daily basis.”