Chamber News

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

View photos from the event onFacebook

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.

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 Sherwood is Human Resources Director at Bernard Matthews who are not only one of the Norfolk Chamber’s Gold Patrons but is one of Norfolk’s biggest known brands.

Andrew’s question to the Chancellor was:

“The Prime Minister has recently announced a review of ‘Green Energy Taxes’ following the recent increases in energy prices by the major energy companies. This will bring a significant level of uncertainty to investors and developers alike, supporting the green energy agenda. Green Energy taxes make up a 9% of the average dual fuel bill and support the government’s commitment to carbon reduction and renewable energy.

Can the government give the commitment to provide certainty with green energy taxes moving forward to provide the confidence to allow investments to continue to be made in this sector?”

Find on the attached document the written response from the HM Treasury.

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.

Saul Humphrey is current Managing Director at one of the Norfolk Chamber’s longest standing members: RG Carter Ltd.

Saul’s question to the Chancellor was:

“The industry I work in is construction and as you know construction makes up 8% of GDP and accounts for about 10% of all employment. The benefit of investment in construction is however not only immediate, but also much long-term with economic and social benefits for all.

In truth my industry’s embryonic economic recovery is largely quite London centric and dominated by the house building sector following the Governments introduction of the “Help to Buy” mortgage guarantee Scheme.

Unfortunately proposal infrastructure investment in High Speed 2 is also not expected to have any benefit to the Norfolk population. It also appears the Green Deal has also not yet really caught the public imagination and even proposed capital investment for Sizewell ‘C’ will be controversial to say the least.

I am delighted that we are seeing improvements to the A11 and hopefully future investment in the NDR. Proposed improvements to the train line from Norwich to London and support for the growing science and research community at NRP is also very welcome.

What more can we all do together for the benefit of Norfolk and indeed the East of England to help accelerate the economic recovery, help achieve our carbon reduction commitment and, in doing so, help our country to grow its economy in a sustainable manner?”

Find on the attached document the written response from George Osborne.

Members of the Great Yarmouth Chamber Council recently met with Brandon Lewis, MP for Great Yarmouth, to highlight issues affecting local businesses. Among the topics discussed was the need to highlight the many and varied opportunities available to local businesses from the offshore and renewable industry; Assisted Area Status and the benefits this could bring to Great Yarmouth; skills and careers advice; and infrastructure.

Brandon outlined that Great Yarmouth’s Assisted Area Status case was being well supported and that he was cautiously optimistic that Great Yarmouth stood a good chance of being awarded Assisted Area Status, which would bring our region into line with the offerings that other Centres for Renewable Engineering (CORE) areas already benefit from.

Members of the Great Yarmouth Chamber Council highlighted the need for more Government support on the education establishments to ensure that the young people of today understand what opportunities are available to them locally. At present the schools do not have sufficient time or funding within the existing curriculum to cover careers advice in any great detail. Brandon advised that he was organising a Jobs Fair in conjunction with the Borough Council which would be held on 7 March 2014 at Great Yarmouth Racecourse.

Improvements to the A47, including extending the A47 to Lowestoft were also discussed. Brandon advised that the Norfolk Nine MPs were campaigning hard at Westminster and called for the business community to keep raising the profile of the A47 campaign locally. Brandon advised that the business case for the improvements was expected to be finalised by the Norfolk County Council in the next few weeks.