Commenting on the package of business rate and local support measures announced today (Wednesday) by the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, Dr Adam Marshall, Director of Policy and External Affairs at the British Chambers of Commerce, said:
“While the rate reliefs will help many smaller companies, anything less than a fundamental reform of Britain’s broken business rate system is just a sticking plaster.
“Westminster and the media seem to think that business rates are only a problem for retailers. Yet they are a huge, and rising, fixed cost for all businesses – and hurt firms on industrial estates and in offices just as much or more than the high street.
“The Prime Minister has recently committed to looking again at the business rates system. He and the Chancellor must set a clear timetable for this – and ensure that their own ministers, and Whitehall civil servants, do not yet again hide behind the excuse that fundamental reform of business rates is ‘too difficult’ to achieve.”
As a follow up to the Norfolk Chamber’s ‘Audience with George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’ event on the 7 November, we submitted a number of questions from our members to the Chancellor. Responses to those questions are now starting to be received from the relevant Ministers within Westminster.
John Last, Vice Chancellor at the Norwich University of the Arts (NUA), asked two questions to the Chancellor, we have now received his second response.
John’s question to the Chancellor was:
“One if the enduring strengths of UK HE plc has been the influence we have had through overseas students coming to the UK to study, in terms of their contribution to our economy and then such students taking a UK-friendly way of thinking and openness to working with and buying from the UK back to their country of origin. At Norwich University of the Arts we appreciate the concerns about appropriate monitoring of entrants to the UK but nonetheless wonder if the Government might be able to do anything further to support Universities such as NUA in giving access to UK HE to suitably qualified students?”
Find on the attached document the written response from the Department for Business innovation & Skills.
Commenting ahead of the latest GDP results, Caroline Williams, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said: At present Norfolk business confidence is high and the Norfolk and East of England business communities are resolute in their determination to take the recovery from being good to being truly great.
The recent British Chambers of Commerce Quarterly Economic Survey (released 7 January), showed that firms from all sectors across Norfolk believe they can create jobs, invest, and export. It is especially pleasing that the spurt in manufacturing has proven not to be a fluke, which demonstrates the dynamism of our small, high value, manufacturing sector. But Norfolk businesses have major ambitions, and to be able to meet them, more support must be provided. Cashflow continues to be an ongoing concern, and may hold businesses back from expanding to meet the growing levels of demand. We must give companies the opportunity to get the finance they need to go out and trade in the world if we are to succeed in rebalancing the economy.
In the manufacturing sector, key balances are at all time highs, and domestic balances in the services sector continue to break new ground. The strong export and investment balances confirm that business in the East of England is set to play a key role in rebalancing the economy.
One such example is Great Yarmouth based, Dabbrook Services Ltd who has had great success in exporting. Their first successful large export was to Kuwait in 2010, where they supplied and commissioned remote solar power systems.
Anna Smith, Finance Manager for Dabbrook said “Being one of the few companies worldwide able to offer the expertise to the design, manufacture and installation of Remote Power Systems, we are very active in exporting worldwide and to the Middle East in particular, having just successfully completed a $1.2m project, we are in the final bidding stages for a further $3m contract. With the help of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce and UKTI we are exploring further afield for new opportunities.”
Prior Diesel Ltd, operates in oil, gas, marine, power and construction industries and is also based in Great Yarmouth. They too have accomplished export success. Chris Conroy, Managing Director said:”In the last twelve months we’ve exported to over sixty different companies across the globe and we expect that number to increase this year.”
Norwich City Council has now released its Economic Barometer for the final quarter of 2013. Findings show that the period November 2013 to January 2014 highlighted some very promising signs for the New Year and beyond. The end of 2013 saw a surge in consumer spending, which was to be expected over the Christmas period, with John Lewis reporting a 10% upsurge in online sales.
December saw a fall of £2.1 billion in UK government borrowing. It now stands at £12.1 billion. With the signing of the Greater Norwich City Deal, by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, it is hoped that the city Deal will create 13,000 jobs and 3,000 homes in the area and sustain 6,000 construction jobs. Overall unemployment figures continue to fall for this region.
With the increased popularity of the summer flights schedule, Norwich International Airport achieved a year on year increase in passenger numbers of 11% and Loganair have announced that they will commence new services from Norwich to Edinburgh from the end of March 2014.
The £7.8 million expansion of Hethell Engineering Centre will be up and running from the start of March 2014 and is set to create 240 new jobs and will double the size of the current site by adding 16 new offices and workshop spaces.
The full Norwich Economic Barometer can be viewed here.
As a follow up to the Norfolk Chamber’s ‘Audience with George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’ event on the 7 November, we submitted a number of questions from our members to the Chancellor. Responses to those questions are now starting to be received from the relevant Ministers within Westminster.
Gerard Mulqueen is Business Unit Director at the King’s Lynn based agricultural company Germains Seed Technology.
Gerard’s question to the Chancellor was:
“It is predicted, from various government papers and scientific journals, that a 60% increase in food supply will be required by 2050 to meet the needs of the nine billion global population, putting increasing pressure on the current global agricultural supply chain. This will also be experienced in the UK, where although we export in the region of £12billion of food and drink (2007), we are reliant on 40% of imports to supplement our internal food needs; an increasing trend.
As referenced in ‘A UK Strategy for Agricultural Technologies’, funding is ear-marked to support the commercialisation of research into sustainable intensification of agriculture. What proportion, and in what form, will this funding be available for the Agri-tech cluster in Norfolk?”
Find on the attached document the written response from the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs.
As a follow up to the Norfolk Chamber’s ‘Audience with George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’ event on the 7 November, we submitted a number of questions from our members to the Chancellor. Responses to those questions are now starting to be received from the relevant Ministers within Westminster.
Andrew Barnes is Managing Partner at one of the Chambers longest standing members – Howes Percival – having been members for over 20 years.
Andrew’s question to the Chancellor was:
“Following your trade visit to China last month, how likely is it that there will be significant Chinese investment in our Region over the next 5 years?”
Find on the attached document the written response from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
Commenting ahead of the Prime Minister’s speech on deregulation today, John Longworth, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said:
“No business could disagree with the government’s commitment to reduce unnecessary red tape. Good progress has been made in removing domestic regulations, and the Prime Minister is right to lead a charge in Brussels to reduce European bureaucracy.
“However reducing regulation is as much about quality as it is about quantity. Removing hundreds or thousands of laws from the statute book will only have an effect if companies on the ground feel that the burden of needless regulation is lifting.
“Britain’s deregulation drive must also not be derailed by costly new laws affecting firms. At present, both tax changes and EU regulations are excluded from the government’s “One-in, Two-out” rule for new regulations. This loophole blunts the impact of the policy. All new regulations, from whatever source, should be scrutinised and their burden minimised as part of this system.”
On a crisp January morning, delegates from across the county joined the Norfolk Chamber at the Sea Life Centre for a Great Yarmouth Business Breakfast on Sales Success in 2014
Delegates got the networking off to a great start with a cup of coffee and an ice breaker to warm them up on a winter morning. They then got to take part in a prize draw to win a signed copy of Terrines & Verrines by celebrity Chef Franck Pontais & the winner was Mark Ellaway from Bigfork Ltd. Our key note speaker Elliot Symonds, Sales Manager at Jarrold Training, then delivered a fantastic presentation, providing delegates with top tips to close the deal. Following this, delegates got another chance for some more networking with a safari move and a chance for them to try out what they learnt.
Elliot started his presentation off by setting the scene of what Jarrold Training do and who they are. He then went on to outline the 7 key closing techniques that someone can use, focusing on the Duke of Wellington (or if you’re American the Abraham Lincoln) closing technique. He finished his presentation talking about the 7 Safari animals including the shark & the whale. This lead perfectly onto the safari networking where the delegates got to move to another table and try the Duke of Wellington technique on each other.
The event ended with the delegates being able to go on a tour of the Sea Life Centre and get hands on with the creatures of the deep blue sea. Our next Great Yarmouth Business Breakfast is scheduled for the 3 April 2014 to book or for more informationclick here. Some of the tweets from yesterday’s event are below
As a follow up to the Norfolk Chamber’s ‘Audience with George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’ event on the 7 November, we submitted a number of questions from our members to the Chancellor. Responses to those questions are now starting to be received from the relevant Ministers within Westminster.
Sally-Ann Forsyth is the Chief Executive at Norwich Research Partners who have been members only a short time having joined the Chamber in June of 2013.
Sally Ann’s question to the Chancellor was:
“Norwich Research Park is a concentrated science cluster comprising the complete innovation supply chain from fundamental research to clinical trials all within a 1km radius. The aim is to encourage the translation of this world class UK research in to world class innovations for the Global Market.
On site we are building a thriving science and innovation community that supports the establishment of new companies, nurtures SMEs and aims to attract inward investment to drive economic growth in the region. What role does the Chancellor see for Norwich Research Park in supporting the commercialisation of UK leading science to generate growing companies and how will the Government help it to achieve this?”
Find on the attached document the written response from the Department for Business Innovation & Skills.
As a follow up to the Norfolk Chamber’s ‘Audience with George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’ event on the 7 November, we submitted a number of questions from our members to the Chancellor. Responses to those questions are now starting to be received from the relevant Ministers within Westminster.
TaxAssist Direct Ltd are based in Norwich and have been members of the Chamber for just under a year now. Karl Sandall is the Chief Executive at TaxAssist Direct Ltd.
Karl’s question to the Chancellor was:
“We have heard that the British bankers Association are working with the banks to set up a team of Business Mentors who will help small business owners raise finance. Are Government aware of and in support of this initiative and what else are they doing to support small businesses in obtaining lending from the banks?”
Find on the attached document the written response from the Department for Education.
As a follow up to the Norfolk Chamber’s ‘Audience with George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’ event on the 7 November, we submitted a number of questions from our members to the Chancellor. Responses to those questions are now starting to be received from the relevant Ministers within Westminster.
John Last is Vice Chancellor at the Norwich University of the Arts. The University is based in Norwich and have been members of the Chamber for just under a year.
John’s question to the Chancellor was:
“Recent figures indicate that the creative industries — and especially games, film & animation and digital content creation — are growing faster out of the recession than most other areas of our economy. At Norwich University of the Arts we are working closely with these industries and especially the smaller and medium sized businesses typical of the sector. Might the Government be willing to consider extending their support for STEM subjects to include this sector, which is a significant part of our economic ecosystem, despite not having the lobby power of sectors with predominantly larger employers?”
Find on the attached document the written response from the Department for Business Innovation & Skills.
As a follow up to the Norfolk Chamber’s ‘Audience with George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’ event on the 7 November, we submitted a number of questions from our members to the Chancellor. Responses to those questions are now starting to be received from the relevant Ministers within Westminster.
Ian Hetherington is Fuel Terminal Manager of Asco UK Ltd in Great Yarmouth. Asco have been members of the Chamber for 10 months having joined in March of 2013
Ian’s question to the Chancellor was:
“According to reports this month the big six energy firms received almost £900 million last year through consumer subsidies. This was worth £200 million more than the electricity produced by on and off shore wind farms. Onshore farms receive approximately 50% of their income through subsidies and with offshore wind farms; it’s about twice the value of electricity produced. With this in mind, can the Chancellor say with any certainty that electricity generated by wind farms will at some stage become self-sufficient and affordable, thereby removing the need for consumer subsidies (and also government subsidies) and if so, how will this affect investment in future wind farm construction projects? i.e. will we see it decline?”
Find on the attached document the written response from the Department of Energy & Climate Change.
