Chamber News

Two Norfolk buildings in the East of England have been nominated for the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award, which will take place on Wednesday 8 October in London.

The British Construction Industry Awards are the industry’s ‘Oscars’ for all round excellence in construction. The principal aim of these awards is to recognise excellence in its broadest sense – the overall design, construction and delivery of buildings and civil engineering projects. The Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award is the pinnacle of this awards ceremony.

The Norfolk shortlisted buildings are exceptional examples of British construction projects:

Building 57 (The Julian Study Centre), University of East Anglia (UEA)

• Despite its humble appearance, Building 57 is an ambitious structure. Building 57 is a quality project that has exceeded expectations and demonstrated a sustainable approach that is scalable to other buildings.
• UEA has said, without hesitating this is the lowest carbon building on campus. In the long term this building will provide a space that continues to meet the needs of the university whilst also continuing to address the needs of society in relation to carbon dioxide emissions.

Creative Arts Building, City College Norwich

• The building supports the college’s vision to deliver outstanding and innovative creative arts provision, with three purpose-built floors for performing arts rehearsal spaces, digital arts, and traditional art and design including fashion. Its strong and pure architectural frame means that it can absorb these transient and messy activities well.
• The ground floor of the building is largely glazed in order to promote transparency, allowing views towards each of the diverse activities and through the dance studio, to the garden beyond.

The judging of the award marks the projects against the key reform priorities of the Government Construction Strategy, ensuring fair payment, efficient supply chain integration, efficient procurement processes, sustainability, safety and performance against milestones, practises can be shared and re-used.

The judges will assess each nominee in terms of:

• High quality design
• Efficient procurement
• Economic and social value
• Collaborative working between client, designer and contractor
• Sound financial management
• Whole-life value for money
• Sustainability

Caroline Williams, Chief Executive Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said: “It is fantastic that two of Norfolk’s buildings have been nominated for their excellence and we wish them every success for the awards ceremony in London. The Norfolk business community is striving to become more energy and resource efficient and is working in conjunction with the construction industry locally to ensure new buildings are constructed with both low carbon and sustainability in mind.”

The Chamber’s Transport, Planning and Construction Group also welcomed the news that Norfolk building projects had been nominated for their high quality design, sustainability and ‘whole-life’ value for money.

Jonathan Cage, Chair of the Transport, Planning & Development Group and Managing Director of Create Consulting Engineers said: It’s great to see sustainable architecturally interesting developments within the Norwich area being recognised in a National Arena. It clearly demonstrates in times of extreme cost awareness through every phase of the construction process that good design can still be achieved. We wish both scheme the best of luck in the awards and look forward to future Norfolk projects achieving similar recognition.”

On Friday 3 October over 40 Norfolk Chamber Members attended our business breakfast to get the unique opportunity to ask their local MP, Henry Bellingham, MP for North West Norfolk, questions on the future in their local area.

The breakfast took place in the Ballroom at Dukes Head Hotel with our host for the morning, Heather Garrod, President of the West Norfolk Chamber Council taking the delegates through the agenda.

Members heard from sponsor, The Skills Service, on the work they have been doing to get better training for young people and how businesses can help. To follow this Norfolk Chamber’s Nova Fairbank highlighted to the delegates our Business Plan for Norfolk following feedback from the membership on what they wanted to see. There is still a chance to have your say on this in our online consultation.

Breakfast and a chance to discuss what more needed to be done followed this as delegates had their chance to voice their opinion. After breakfast, Henry Bellingham gave the delegates the larger picture of what is to come for businesses.

A Q&A session then took place with various questions from delegates to better understand the opportunities and plans for the coming year.

To view photos of the event, visit our Facebook page or Google+ page

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Commenting on the speech by Secretary of State for Business Vince Cable MP, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber said:

“Vince Cable was right to put the economy at the heart of his speech, and issue a warning that we should not become complacent. There is no doubt that tax or cuts, or in fact both, will be needed to deal with the deficit and the growing national debt.

“It is positive to hear the Secretary of State speak of the importance of long-termisim in both business investment and in government policy. But too often in the past the rhetoric of politicians is at odds with the reality of what businesses see on the ground. Actions, not words are what count and this means sticking by an evidence-led approach to policy, not cutting across established mechanisms such as the Low Pay Commission for the minimum wage, and abiding by the findings of the Davies Commission on building new runways.

“Some of the most successful economies in the world exhibit a true partnership between business and government. Although Vince Cable touched on some critical business issues today, we will wait expectantly for the Autumn Statement in December, where we hope to see radical measures announced to support business growth in the Norfolk.”

On infrastructure:

“Vince Cable only briefly mentioned infrastructure, which is disappointing given Norfolk faces a huge infrastructure investment challenge over the next decade. Ageing road, rail and energy networks need upgrading and replacing, and more houses need to be built. While many companies rely on private investment, some sectors are heavily dependent on public investment. It is therefore important to explore new ways for the government to help finance these vital projects. We are calling on the next government to exclude borrowing for investment in infrastructure from any public debt target.

On the minimum wage for apprentices:

“Most businesses value their apprentices highly, and already pay them significantly above the apprenticeship minimum wage rate. For that reason the proposed change will have minimal impact on businesses bottom line, but it must be up to the Low Pay Commission to make evidence-based recommendations to ensure that wage rates are right for market conditions.”

On business rates:

“We would have liked to have heard more from Vince Cable on the issue of business rates in his Conference speech. British companies now pay the highest business rates in Europe which has a huge impact on investment, and ultimately jobs and growth too. We are calling on the next government to commit to a thorough review of the system and freeze rates for all businesses until 2017 when a full review is due to take place.”

The latest meeting of the Norfolk Chamber’s Representation Council was held at Barnham Broom Hotel.

The members looked at a briefing document outlining Norfolk Chamber’s ‘Business Plan for Norfolk’. The document pulled together the key priorities of the two Local Enterprise Partnerships; the British Chambers of Commerce; and Norfolk County Council and the local authorities. Both Chris Starkie, Managing Director of New Anglia LEP, and Tom McCabe, Director of Environment, Transport and Development at Norfolk County Council attended the meeting to add their input into the discussion.

The group talked about some of the key issues, including continued support for improved rail infrastructure; the energy sector; better broadband; the visibility of Norfolk; improvements to the A47 and the concept of a central brand for the East of England.

Key areas considered were businesses competitive advantage; value for money; Norfolk’s proximity to London and Europe; quality of life; and the need to ensure Norfolk’s key selling points are visible to the rest of the UK and overseas.

Over the next few months the Norfolk Chamber will survey the different areas of Norfolk’s business community to ensure that all their main priorities have been taken into consideration in the Chamber’s Business Plan for Norfolk. The West Norfolk business survey was undertaken in September/October and other areas will be surveyed shortly.

Ian Hacon, President of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said “Norfolk Chamber is keen to ensure that the outside perception of Norfolk is that we are ‘open for business’. The Norfolk business community has lobbied hard over the years for improvements in Norfolk’s infrastructure and the success in getting the last section of the A11 dualled, shows the power of the ‘voice of business’ in Norfolk. We now need to rally together to continue to call for improvements to the A47, rail links and broadband.”

Caroline Williams, Chief Executive said: “We are keen to ensure that the Chamber Business Plan for Norfolk is a comprehensive document that truly reflects the needs of the business community to ensure that we create jobs and economic growth for Norfolk.”

To coincide with its International Trade Conference (9 October), the British Chambers of Commerce is leading a trade mission to India (7-12 October) with a group of businesses seeking to grow their exports to the subcontinent. The delegation will visit Mumbai, where thanks to the support of the UK India Business Council, they will have the opportunity to connect with prospective partners and distributors, and meet UK businesses already operating in India.

The delegation will then travel to New Delhi to join up with other delegations of British businesses, including one led by Business Secretary, Vince Cable, at the Britain in India Business Convention. Delegates will have the chance to hear about growth sectors in India and to network with Indian and British businesses, with one of the events hosted by the British High Commissioner. Delegates are members of Chambers of Commerce from across the UK, with an additional place sponsored by the Virgin Startup programme.

The BCC trade mission delegates include:

• Angelberry (member of Business West) – operate quick service restaurants specialising in frozen yogurt
• Innovashion (participant in the Virgin Startup programme) – developed the T-Stick, a new way of drinking tea
• Kromek (member of North East Chamber of Commerce) – provide security technology to the nuclear and medical markets
• SASIE (member of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire & Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce) – a developer and installer of sustainable energy systems
• Soilutions (member of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce) – provide soil and water cleaning solution
• Tendeka (member of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber) – provide services to the oil and gas industry

David Riches, Executive Director of Commercial Services at the British Chambers of Commerce, said:

“There couldn’t be a more important time for the UK economy to support trade to overseas markets which offer sustained growth. The Accredited Chamber Network runs a trade mission programme throughout the year, linking with overseas British Chambers and business groups, to help UK businesses access opportunities in key markets around the world. This trade mission will provide our delegates with insight and contacts on the ground in India – an essential first step in the journey towards export growth.”

Commenting on the revised estimate of UK GDP, published today by the ONS, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber said:

“Overall the GDP figures are positive – they show an upward revision in quarterly growth in Q2 and growth in business investment. The current level of GDP is considerably higher than its pre-recession level, which mirrors the Chamber’s view that earlier official estimates have understated growth in recent years. However, there are concerning features in the latest figures – the volume of exports has fallen slightly and the current account deficit has widened to above 5% of GDP, a level which in the long- term will prove to be unsustainable.

“While the strength of the recovery will support business confidence, these figures reinforce the need to rebalance the economy towards exports and investment. It is important that the MPC and the government make every effort to sustain the recovery. Interest rates must be kept low until there is a clear need to start increasing them, and government must do more to support exporters and improve access to finance for growing businesses.”

• GDP quarterly growth in Q2 2014 was revised up from 0.8% to 0.9%, but year on year growth in Q2 remains unrevised at 3.2%
• The level of GDP in Q2 2014 is now estimated to be 2.7% above its pre-recession level in 2008, this is considerably higher than previously estimated because of upward revisions to published figures for earlier years
• Business investment rose by 3.3% in Q2 2014
• Exports fell by 0.4% in Q2 2014, while imports fell by 0.3%
• The current account deficit widened from 4.7% of GDP in Q1 2014 to 5.2% in Q2 2014

https://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/naa2/quarterly-national-accounts/q2-2014/i…

Commenting on the speech by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rt Hon George Osborne MP, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:

“The Chancellor made a blistering affirmation about the importance of the UK’s economic progress – brushing aside nimbyism and those who don’t believe growth is essential for Britain’s future. He correctly identified that economic growth is a pre-condition for delivering the public services that we all want, such as pensions, NHS and education. The Chancellor has also committed not to duck big decisions on national infrastructure projects including aviation, rail and roads. Businesses are used to hearing these pledges, but will always judge politicians on whether they actually deliver.

“However there were two pieces missing. We would have liked the Chancellor’s speech to address access to finance, as this is so important to raising business investment and long-term sustainable growth. Also a commitment to export support should be a government priority, as it is vital to re-balancing the economy.”

On the economy and deficit reduction:

“The Chancellor’s ambition for UK growth is in stark contrast to others in the political discourse, some of whom seem to have accepted a ‘new normal’ of low growth.

“Businesses will support the Chancellor’s continued commitment to mend Britain’s public finances. Above all, companies value certainty, consistency and predictability when it comes to economic policy – so it is pleasing to see the measures announced by the Chancellor are in keeping with the goal of getting the deficit down.”

On pensions:

“Putting money into a pension pot is not only important for the financial health of individuals, it’s important for the health of the economy too. Savings underpin investment and we need to do more as a country to boost business investment. This must go hand in hand with measures to boost savings. So we welcome the Chancellor’s announcement to abolish the so called ‘death tax’ to give people an additional incentive to save for their retirement.”

On welfare cuts to fund apprenticeships:

“The Chancellor made the correct link between skills and immigration, as the people of Britain should be able to compete for jobs in an open market. With our open borders, the only way to do this is by ensuring the UK has a highly skilled workforce that businesses want to employ.

“The commitment to raise the level of public investment in apprenticeships will be supported by business. Increasing the number of apprenticeships from two million to three million over the next five years is a challenging but worthy aspiration. As an economy that relies on knowledge and skills, training our young people is as important as the infrastructure of our nation such as our roads, railways and airports.

“We agree with the supporting package of welfare measures that do more to make work pay for young people, and ensure that the funding is available for the additional apprenticeships.”

At a recent meeting of the Norwich Chamber Council, the feedback from members highlighted that overall the Norwich business community is buoyant. Many companies reported increased staff recruitment and overall growth of their businesses. The retail sector also reported improved sales.

The members also heard from Andrew Bell, Chief Executive of Norwich International Airport. Andrew outlined their plans for the airport, including the proposed aeropark and the Aviation Academy. He advised that the airport was now the second largest heliport in the UK with four offshore operators based there. Between them they accommodate over 100,000 offshore workers flying out of Norwich each year.

The plans for the aeropark were highlighted. The 100 acre site will be to the north of the runway and will be aimed at aviation related industries. A link from the A140 will be constructed, however it was noted that the airport and the aeropark would strongly benefit from the development of the Northern Distributor Road.

The Aviation Academy is a unique concept, backed by both the airport and the University of East Anglia. It will help create skilled aviation engineers by offering a work based skills academy that is university backed. Students who complete their training, will graduate with a degree and a Civil Aviation Authority Licence, which is necessary to work on and maintain commercial aircraft.

At a recent meeting of the Great Yarmouth Chamber Council, the members had the opportunity to hear from Jonathan Newman, the Town Centre Manager. Jonathan provided an update of what was being done in the town centre to try to encourage more shoppers and more retailers to Great Yarmouth. The cost of parking was discussed and it was noted that there are currently 1,200 free parking spaces in Great Yarmouth as long as you are prepared to walk for a few minutes to get to the main attractions.

The threat to the town centre from the retail parks on the outskirts of Great Yarmouth was also debated. Many of the national retailers require a large retail footprint and the buildings in the centre of Great Yarmouth cannot physically accommodate this. It was agreed that Great Yarmouth town centre needed to look to provide an alternative and unique offering, which the larger out of town retailers cannot offer, to ensure the continued survival of the town centre.

At a recent West Norfolk Chamber Council meeting, held at the Bank House Hotel, the members welcomed another new member, David Guyatt from Lloyds. The round table update showed the mood was very positive, with all the area council members reporting a buoyant business environment. The Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk identified that progress was being made in bringing forward housing schemes – with 20 units now sold in the housing development on the NORA site and a further housing scheme would shortly be going to Cabinet for approval.

West Norfolk Chamber Council also took an initial look at the key priorities for West Norfolk that should be included in the Chamber’s Business Plan for Norfolk, which is currently being drafted. Some of the schemes/projects identified were: the Construction Industry Innovation Facility at Bircham Newton; the creation of a Centre for Advanced Knowledge Engineering at Downham Market; additional onsite NORA infrastructure to accelerate development of the site; and improvements the A47.

It was noted that many of these projects were being highlighted to the Local Enterprise Partnerships for inclusion in the next round of bid funding.

Heather Garrod, President of West Norfolk Chamber Council said: “It is important to maximise the growth potential of the West Norfolk business community and the Area Council are confident that these types of schemes and projects will deliver economic benefits and jobs to our region.”

On 18 September Norfolk Businesses joined us at John Lewis for a relaxed evening of networking with an interactive technology element.

Delegates heard from Richard Marks Head of Branch at John Lewis on how the recent innovations in technology have helped them to develop as a company and constantly look at how they are working.

It was then onto the main part of the event; Sony were the first to stand up and they talked about the recent developments in technology, in particular there new Sony Z2 tablet which can survive under water up to 1.5m of water for 30 minutes and the attendees got to have a go with some of their latest innovations.

Google then talked to the delegates about how their Google Apps can be used across your company and customised specifically to each businesses needs. Delegates had the opportunity to edit one document all at the same time using one of Google most recent tablets.

The event finished with a prize draw with some great gifts, including a brand new Sony Z2 tablet. There was a great buzz with delegates getting to try out our sponor, customised’s lighting display and tweeting throughout. See some of the tweets below

To view more photo’s from this event visit ourFacebookorGoogle+page.

Our next After Hours event is our Super Bowl Challenge on 29 January at Hollywood Bowl. To book your place or for more detailsclick here.

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In September 2013, the UKIBC unveiled its Launchpad market entry service to help UK companies and organisations enter India. Tushar Chaudhary, who heads the initiative and also leads its client relations activities, discusses what UK companies need to know about entering India and outlines the first year’s progress.

We were confident that the UKIBC – backed by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) – had a strong brand in the UK, and that there was a need for such a bespoke initiative around market entry.

Avoid onerous and long term contracts The Launchpad concept was based on two core elements; to provide a low-risk and low-cost market-entry model, and to remove all the time-consuming hassle – such as company incorporation, hiring staff, understanding local tax and legal issues – so clients could concentrate on their core business.

Both aspects have proved very popular. It is a low cost service and more importantly, clients know in advance how much their first-year’s market entry strategy will cost, and because the service is tailored to their specific needs, they receive advice and guidance which they could not gain via generic market research or online platforms.

The beauty of Launchpad is that it can be applied to almost any sector and any size of company. We have, for example, clients from Higher and Further Education, from Manufacturing, and from Infrastructure all using the service.

Find the right people to work for you The key to its success has been the quality of Launchpad consultants, which UKIBC have recruited to spend that crucial first year working with each client.

We work with specialist HR agencies to identify potential specialists, according to the sector in which the client works, and typically, we’ll interview four or five before making our final selection.

In each case, they have to demonstrate the correct skill-set, good local contacts in India and between 10 and 15 years’ experience in the target sector. Such knowledge allows them to both take critical decisions, and act as brand ambassadors for their clients in India.

The client-consultant relationship is very flexible, so they might work on specialist market research activities, identify potential partners, distributors and suppliers, gather market data, or discuss such key issues as branding and positioning of the company’s products or services.

Feedback from our UK clients has confirmed our belief that there is no substitute for having a specialist consultant on the ground, to represent your business as it looks to enter the Indian market.

I and my colleagues in the UKIBC also manage both the performance of each consultant, and their market-entry project, to ensure they are achieving the client’s objectives.

In turn, the client and their consultant are supported by a strong and sophisticated eco-system; including UKIBC members in India, the British Business Groups, UKTI, and such national trade bodies as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Assess the Indian market’s potential for your business In the coming year, we expect demand for Launchpad to continue to increase. I think the mind-set among UK companies has evolved from ‘Why India?’ to ‘How India?’, and over the coming months and years we are going to see a lot more UK companies active in the market.

India’s potential as a market and a trading partner is well understood, and the new government has stressed its desire to make the country a global hub for international business, across all sectors.

I am confident UK companies will be a key driver in the next phase of India’s development, attracted by new business opportunities, the size of our domestic market, the abundant availability of skills, and the aspirations of our ever-growing middle class.

Tushar Chaudhary Head of Launchpad and Client Relations UK India Business Council

If you are interested in making India an export destination for your company, please contact the UKIBC Team:

UK India Business Council 12th Floor, Millbank Tower 21-24 Millbank London SW1P 4QP T: 020 7592 3040 E: [email protected]