Chamber News

In December 2012 Norfolk County Council and BT signed a deal that means all of Norfolk’s homes and businesses will have access to minimum broadband speeds of 2Mbps.

Since the first services became available in July, the programme has seen the superfast broadband set-up in dozens of areas around Norfolk. Since the start of November better broadband has been ‘switched on’ in Fiddler’s Green, Great Ellingham, Acle, Crownthorpe, Fishley, Upton, Attleborough, Belton, Silfield, Wattlefield, Wymondham and parts of Norwich south of St Crispin’s Road.

To check whether your home or business premises is can receive superfast broadband simply visit the BBfN website: www.betterbroadbandnorfolk.co.uk

Remember that you must place an order with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to be able to get superfast broadband. Please contact your existing ISP or check here for more details: www.betterbroadbandnorfolk.co.uk/service-providers.aspx

Between January and March, thousands more premises will be able to access superfast broadband; to see the next areas that will be set-up view the attached PDF file.

Great Yarmouth-based Pasta Foods has been awarded £500k from New Anglia LEP’s Growing Business Fund to support its expansion into a modern new factory in Norwich, protecting 140 jobs and creating 56 new ones. Pasta Foods is the UK market leader in the production of pasta used in the food industry for recipe dishes, canning, sauces, salads and snack pots. The business is also a global leader in the production of snack pellets typically made from materials like potato, lentil or chickpeas and trades with customers in 40 countries across the world.

Pasta Foods’ new factory will include a new production line, and leased warehousing will now also be brought into one warehouse in the new building. Karl Jermyn, Pasta Foods Managing Director, said: “The business has been growing successfully and the Board concluded that we should invest significant sums to add capacity to our current production facilities to capture the growth in demand for our products.”

“Ordinarily, the investment to deliver additional capacity would have been made at our Pasteur Road site, in Great Yarmouth. However, modern production line designs meeting our requirements and incorporating the latest technology are simply too large to fit within that facility. Norfolk County Council brought to our attention the factory at Forest Way, in Norwich.”

“The new facility is an excellent, modern unit with good roof height. We will run this site along with the factory at Pasteur Road. It is being funded, subject to contract, with £500k from New Anglia LEP’s Growing Business Fund. This will allow us to move forward with the project and will meet our objectives of supporting growth and employment in Norfolk and Suffolk.”

“The investment in the new factory is the first step in delivering our growth strategy. We are delighted to have been able to secure such a good facility and are grateful for the help and support from Norfolk County Council, Lloyds and New Anglia.”

Dr Andy Wood OBE, Chairman of New Anglia LEP, said: “This is an exciting development for Pasta Foods and we’re really pleased to offer a £500k grant to help the company expand and create more jobs for the future. We are also keen to talk to other businesses about how we could help fund their future plans for growth, through the Growing Business Fund that is supported by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund.”

Colleen Walker, Cabinet Member for Economic Development said “It’s so important that Pasta Foods is increasing its workforce in Norfolk. Not only are they protecting the 140 existing jobs, but adding another 56 over the coming three years. It is so encouraging to get this vote of confidence in Norfolk as a place to do business and toinvest and I’m proud of the fact that we and the Local Enterprise Partnership were able to help secure this.”

• BCC upgrades its short-term GDP growth forecasts from 1.3% to 1.4% for 2013 and from 2.2% to 2.7% for 2014, but slightly downgrades its 2015 forecast from 2.5% to 2.4%
• This will take UK GDP above its Q1 2008 pre-recession peak in the second half of 2014
• Household consumption (which accounts for two-thirds of UK GDP) is expected to be the main driver of growth in 2013 and 2014, boosted by the strong housing market
• But GDP will slow marginally in 2015 as household consumption moderates due to high personal debt levels
• The MPC’s 7% unemployment rate threshold will be reached in Q3 2015, one quarter earlier than previously forecast
• Public sector borrowing is forecast at £106.0bn in 2013-14, £5.2bn lower than the OBR predicted earlier this month

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has today (Thursday) upgraded its growth forecasts from 1.3% to 1.4% in 2013 and from 2.2% to 2.7% in 2014, although the business group has marginally downgraded its 2015 forecast from 2.5% to 2.4%. John Longworth, BCC Director General, pays tribute to UK businesses for remaining ‘determined to compete and grow in the face of difficult circumstances’, but urges the government to do everything in its power to maintain the economic recovery. The BCC believes that an environment that fosters enterprise and wealth creation is essential so that UK firms can continue to trade the world, invest at home, and create jobs.

ECONOMIC FORECAST

• The BCC is raising its short-term GDP growth forecast to 1.4% in 2013 and to 2.7% for 2014, but we are marginally lowering our 2015 growth forecast to 2.4%
• In August 2013 we predicted GDP growth of 1.3% in 2013, 2.2% in 2014 and 2.5% in 2015.
• The upward revisions for 2013 and 2014 are mainly due to the stronger GDP growth in Q3 2013, the robust growth across all main sectors of the economy, a marked increase in household consumption (which accounts for two-thirds of UK GDP), and in part due to the strong housing market.
• However the strong growth in household consumption will moderate slowly, in reaction to high personal debt levels, and this will work to slow GDP growth in 2015
• UK GDP quarterly growth is forecast at 0.8% in Q4 2013, and 0.7% in Q1 2014, then slowing to an average of 0.6% per quarter until the end of 2015.

Caroline Williams, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:

“It is really great that next year the UK economy is finally expected to bounce back from the deepest recession in modern times. Norfolk businesses have remained determined to compete and grow in the face of difficult circumstances, and the upgrading of our short-term forecast is testament to their sheer hard work, resilience and creativity.

However, we must acknowledge that longer-term challenges are still looming. As household consumption slows in the medium-term, we have to find ways of boosting business investment and exports as rebalancing the economy is critical to the long-term economic future. The confidence displayed by Norfolk firms must be nurtured through more government support. Young, growing firms, and many SMEs, continue to struggle with a lack of access to available credit, while consumers are getting the support they need to buy homes.”

John Longworth, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“Politicians must not take their eye off the ball in the run up to the General Election, and must ensure that the economy remains front and centre at all times. If we make important decisions to fix the long term structural failure in business finance, continue to deliver a major infrastructure upgrade and do more to support exports, it is possible to achieve not just a good recovery, but a truly great and sustainable economy.”

David Kern, BCC Chief Economist, added:

“We expect GDP growth to remain strong in the short-term, as the housing market continues to boost household consumption. But while it was necessary to rely on the consumer and on housing in the early part of the recovery, it must now become more balanced, particularly towards exports, as household consumption will slow. While we forecast a degree of rebalancing, net exports are not making enough progress, and risks still emanate from the eurozone where the present calm could be deceptive.

“Our own research shows that business confidence remains high, but policymakers need to ensure that the stable environment we are seeing at the moment isn’t choked off. Not raising rates ahead of time is critical to maintaining this confidence in the medium term. Any decision to raise rates should be based on a lasting improvement in wider economic conditions, while ensuring that meeting the 2% inflation target remains the MPC’s major objective.

“Although the budget deficit is being brought down gradually, the government still has a big task on its hands. The problems facing our financial sector, and the falls in oil and gas reserves have created a long-term shortfall in the economy’s ability to generate tax receipts. Plugging this gap will take some time, and cuts in current spending are still needed.

“We believe that in 2014 UK GDP will at long last move above its 2008 pre-recession level. But long term trends show we can do much better, and with the right policies in place we can expect a much stronger recovery in the second half of the decade.”

OTHER ELEMENTS FROM WITHIN THE FORECAST

Main components of demand

• We are expecting household consumption to grow by 2.2% in 2013, 3.1% in 2014 and 2.5% in 2015. The new forecasts are stronger than predicted in Q3 for 2013 and 2014, but slightly weaker for 2015.
• Business investment has been very volatile in recent years. Despite the 1.4% rise in Q3 2013, we expect business investment to fall by 5.3% in 2013, but this will be followed by strong growth of 5.7% in 2014 and 5.8% in 2015 as businesses look to rebuild their capital stocks as the UK economy continues to grow. However, business investment in 2015 will still be 7.5% below its 2008 level.
• The trade balance: rebalancing the economy towards net exports suffered setbacks in 2012 and 2013. However despite recent setbacks, the UK trade deficit in goods and services is now smaller than before the financial crisis, both in nominal and real terms, and it will continue to narrow gradually in the next few years, thanks largely to services.

Main sectors of the economy

• Total industrial output is forecast to decline by a further 0.4% in 2013, followed by positive growth of 1.6% in 2014 and 1.1% in 2015. These are all improvements on the Q3 2013 forecast (0.9% in 2013, 0.8% in 2014 and 1% in 2015).
• Growth in manufacturing has strengthened this year, with 0.9% recorded in the last two quarters. However longer-term trends show a weak performance, and output is still 9.0% below its pre-recession level. Output is expected to decline by a further 0.1% in 2013, followed by growth of 2% in 2014 and 1.4% in 2015.
• Construction output is still 13.2% below its Q1 2008 pre-recession level, but the housing market upturn has improved the outlook. We predict growth of 0.6% in 2013, 4.1% in 2014, and 1.7% in 2015.
• The services sector, the long-standing driver of the economic recovery, accounting for ¾ of total economic output, is forecast to record growth of 2% in 2013, 2.8% in 2014, and 2.7% in 2015, stronger than GDP. Only the 2015 forecast is a downgrade from our Q3 estimate (3%).

Unemployment and productivity

• We forecast that the 7% unemployment rate threshold will be reached in Q3 2015, one quarter earlier than we predicted in August. However the MPC’s suggestion that there is a 40% probability that this could be reached by the end of 2014 is too ambitious in our view.
• We expect UK unemployment to fall from 2.466 million (7.6% of the workforce) in Q3 2013, to 2.400 million (7.3% of the workforce) in Q3 2014, and to 2.304 million (7.0% of the workforce) in Q3 2015, a net overall fall of 162,000.
• This predicted fall is due to improved short-term growth prospects and increased labour market flexibility. However there is a risk of further public sector job losses, which would limit the size of any decline. In addition, there will be a rise in the number of inactive people returning to the workforce.
• We are forecasting that youth unemployment (people aged 16 to 24) will fall from 965,000 in Q3 2013 to 910,000 in Q4 2015, a net fall of 55,000.
• Productivity: Output per worker is forecast to regain more than half its losses over the next two years. But in Q3 2015, productivity would still be 1.7% below its Q1 2008 level, and more than 15% below where it would have been if it continued growing at its pre-recession average rate.

Public finances and inflation

• UK public finances: The new OBR forecasts announced at the time of the Autumn Statement confirm that the structural deficit remains unacceptably large, despite the drop in borrowing. For 2013-14 we are forecasting borrowing at £106.0bn, £5.2bn lower than the OBR predicted. For 2014-15 and 2015-16, we also expect borrowing to be £4-5bn less than the OBR has stated.
• In annual average terms, we are now predicting annual CPI inflation to be 2.6% in 2013, 2.5% in 2014, and 2.3% in 2015. This compares with a Q3 comparison of 2.7%, 2.4% and 2.3% respectively.
• For annual average RPI inflation we are now predicting 3.1% in 2013, 2.9% in 2014, and 2.8% in 2015. In Q2 we predicted 3.1% in 2013, 3.0% in 2014 and 3.0% in 2015.

Interest rates and Quantitative Easing (QE)

• Our central forecast is that UK official interest rates will rise to 0.75% in Q4 2015, following the 7% unemployment rate threshold being reached in the previous quarter. A further increase to 1.0% can be expected in Q1 2016. In Q3 2013 we predicted these rate rises one quarter later respectively.
• We expect the Quantitative Easing programme will stay unchanged until at least Q1 2016. Our view remains that more QE is unnecessary at present, as it would heighten risks of higher inflation and bubbles in the future.

New recruitment consultancy in Norwich

Olsen Recruitment Services is a new specialist consultancy, which opened in central Norwich on 3 December 2013. Olsen has been established to service professional firms in Norwich and the surrounding area. Specialist placement areas include:

• Legal
• Human Resources
• Marketing
• Finance
• Office administration

According to founder Anna Godfrey, there is a particular need in the Norwich area for a specialised recruitment partner with a good knowledge of the local market.

Anna has over ten years’ experience in Human Resources, having worked with both businesses and not-for-profit organisations in the Norwich area. For the past four-and-a-half years, she has worked for an East Anglian law firm, as their HR Manager. She believes her personalised, tailored approach and local business knowledge, combined with a competitive fee structure, will be highly beneficial to clients. In addition to sourcing candidates, she is also able to use her expertise to carry out a range of background checks on candidates – including taking up references, checking professional status and qualifications and carrying out criminal records checks (for eligible roles).

Contact Information:

Anna Godfrey Olsen Recruitment Services Cavell House Stannard Place St. Crispins Road Norwich NR3 1YE

Tel: 01603 821100Web: www.olsenrecruitment.comEmail: [email protected]Twitter: @OlsenRecruit

• Manufacturing output in October 2013 up 0.4% on the month, up 2.7% on the year
• Total production figures: up 0.4% on the month, up 3.2% on the year
• The UK deficit on trade in goods and services was 2.6% in October, unchanged from September; but the September deficit was revised down significantly from £3.3bn to £2.6bn
• The trade deficit in goods with the EU reached a record of £6.5bn in October

Commenting on the trade and index of production figures for October 2013, published today by the ONS, David Kern, Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“These figures show that the economy has continued growing into the fourth quarter of the year, which will boost business confidence and encourage companies to invest. But they also highlight the economic challenges that still remain. Though manufacturing is recovering, output is almost 9% below its pre-crisis level. The share of manufacturing in the economy has fallen considerably in recent years but the sector has maintained its skills base during the downturn and there is scope for improvement in the future.

“We still have a large trade deficit and not enough progress is being made to rebalance the economy towards net exports. Despite this, it is encouraging that the September deficit was not as large as originally estimated. Problems in the eurozone remain a major challenge for our exporters, especially given the record deficit with the EU in October. This shows there is a need to diversify our trade efforts towards other areas of the economy. British businesses want to drive the recovery, but the government must do more to help by introducing policies that will boost growth and by ensuring there is enough support for firms looking to export.”

Norwich City Council has released their quarterly economic barometer. This quarter shows the economy of the eurozone grew by just 0.1% in the July-to-September period, which was down from 0.3% growth in the previous quarter. Whilst the Office of National Statistics reported that the number of unemployed people in the UK fell by 48,000 to 2.47 million in the same period. Firms in this region took on more staff during October and the rate of job creation was the fastest since March 2007.

However, the gap between imports and exports was at its widest for over a year. The trades goods deficit widened from £9.557 billion in August to £9.816 billion now. Mild weather adversely affected the sales of winter clothing, which may account for the fall of 0.7% in retail sales volume. To read more, the full Norwich Economic Barometer is attached.

The New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership will be helping to support at least 1,000 businesses, and create 200 business start-ups and 200 new jobs, after securing £3.9 million of Regional Growth Funding as part of the Ipswich and Norwich City Deals. The deal will also lever in at least a further £8 million of public and private sector funding.

Funding will be used to create a Growth Hub for Greater Ipswich and Greater Norwich, which will provide Norfolk and Suffolk businesses with a ‘no wrong door’ route for accessing business support.

Through the Growth Hubs, businesses will have greater and simpler access to national and local business support, as well as access to several new business support programmes, including: –

Early Stage Grant Scheme – Providing grants between £5k-£50k for businesses in first year of trading, to help them grow and employ people.

Innovation Readiness Programme – Two dedicated coordinators to help businesses apply to innovation programmes and draw down higher levels of funding to support their growth.

Innovation Vouchers – Allowing companies to purchase expertise at reduced cost from regional universities to access specialist facilities, mentoring, internships and consultancy or a combination of the above

Business Start-up Programme – Expanding support for business start-up through dedicated support, to increase the number of new businesses.

Growth Hub coordinators will be able to provide a first point of contact for any business, providing a diagnostic service and accurate, up-to-date information on support schemes to unlock both local and national support and funding.

Suffolk Chamber of Commerce will be responsible for the management of the Growth Hub, working in conjunction with Norfolk Chamber and with other elements being provided by enterprise agencies NWES, MENTA, Finance East, University of East Anglia, University Campus Suffolk and Norwich University for the Arts.

Caroline Williams, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:

“It’s great that the Chambers have the opportunity to ‘front up’ the Growth Hubs across Norfolk and Suffolk and we will be looking to make sure that the Norfolk business community is aware of all the opportunities available to help them to grow their businesses and create jobs.”

Andy Wood, Chairman of the New Anglia LEP, said:

“We know that business support is complex and often businesses aren’t able to find the help and support they require.

“Our aim is to break down the barriers caused by this uncertainty and guide businesses to help and support to enable them grow to their full potential.”

Brenda Arthur, Leader of Norwich City Council, said:

“I’m delighted that we’ve secured funding for the business support element of our City Deal, which is a huge boost for the Greater Norwich economy.

“It will allow us to improve help available to local businesses for innovation and enterprise, which will in turn generate sustainable growth in quality local job opportunities.”

George Nobbs, Leader of Norfolk County Council, said:

“This is the news we’ve been waiting for for a long time. It will unlock even more business potential within our region.

“I can’t exaggerate how important this news is, not just for Norwich but for the whole of Norfolk and Suffolk. I want to thank all the people who’ve been working so hard for so long to achieve this fantastic outcome for us all.

“Any support to help boost business growth can only be a good thing and it appears that the Growth Hubs will allow the creation and development of business growth opportunities using practical and tangible means.”

Peter Funnell, President of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, said:

“The main barrier to SMEs taking up business advice and support is that the business community often finds the current landscape complex, opaque and difficult to engage with.

“The Chamber and our partners including NWES, Menta, Enterprise Hub, FSB and IoD, will introduce a ‘no wrong door’ service that will improve access and at the same time broaden the range of services on offer.

“This is the grass rooted support that businesses in Suffolk need and we are delighted to be leading such an exciting initiative working with our key partners”

Chris Soule, Policy Lead at the East Anglia Federation of Small Businesses, said:

“The programme will bring real and tangible support to our members and will transform this region.

“The growth fund is for people like our members, it is about government putting its trust in Small and Medium businesses to deliver where others have failed.”

Allocation of The Regional Growth Funding will be through Lancaster University. As well as helping to decide which cities’ proposals received funding, Lancaster University academics will also be providing on-going support and evaluation of the cities.

Lancaster, which was named as a top-ten university for SME engagement by the recent review by Sir Andrew Witty, was brought in because of its experience and expertise in working with business, local authorities, as well as Local Enterprise Partnerships and growth hubs.

Lancaster has worked with more than 5,000 SMEs since 1999. It has also helped the creation of more than 250 new business and more than 4,000 new jobs.

Following today’s announcement (Friday) the LEP will work with partners to finalise contract terms with the Government, with the Growth Hubs expected to begin operating in the spring of 2014.

Commenting on reports that the upgrade of the A14 will be funded by the government rather than through tolling, Dr Adam Marshall, Director of Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said:

“Business has long campaigned for improvements to the A14, which is a vital import-export lifeline for companies across the UK. This has been in the BCC’s ‘top ten’ transport priorities for years now, as successive governments have dithered over how to address the road’s bottlenecks.

“We welcome the news that long-delayed improvements to the A14 will finally go ahead – and without the uncertainty generated by a tolling plan that lacked support from local business.”

During a round robin update, Norwich Chamber Council members highlighted that business confidence appeared to be growing, with members reporting that their businesses was getting busier. Hugh J Boswell advised that following a slow start to the year, trading was strong this was despite insurance companies hardening their rates, which will lead to price increases. John Lewis, Norwich reported that their Christmas ‘Bear and Hare’ TV advertising was already increasing footfall and Arnold Keys reported that the housing market was slowly picking up and the commercial property market was also showing signs of improvement.

An update on the Norwich Business Improvement District highlighted that some of their focus areas were: enabling Wifi across the city centre; improvements to the Park & Ride; and business rates.

• British banks and building societies drew down £5.5bn in Q3 2013 from the Funding for Lending Scheme. Net lending increased by £5.8bn in Q3 2013.
• The Business Bank to receive an extra £250m of funding

Commenting on the latest figures on the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) and the announcement of extra funding for the British Business Bank, John Longworth, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“It is really encouraging that overall lending is rising, as this will boost the confidence of businesses across the UK. However, the real litmus test for the Funding for Lending scheme is whether it can really get finance flowing to SMEs, and unfortunately the improvement in credit availability is still mostly being felt by the usual suspects in the mortgage market and among large firms. Young, high growth businesses that could be the wealth creators of tomorrow are still being left out in the cold when trying to access finance. Lack of access to long-term patient capital is a particular problem for small firms who want to expand, and this cannot continue.

“The re-focusing of FLS towards business lending plus the announcement that the British Business Bank will receive an extra £250m are both positive steps in the right direction. Both are evidence that policymakers are listening to SMEs about the continued difficulties they face in accessing finance. However, there is a long-term structural failure of business finance in the UK, and a fully functioning Business Bank is the most promising way to solve this problem. But the government’s current plans just aren’t ambitious enough. Unless the Business Bank is scaled up, and has the ability to work directly with high-growth enterprises, we will continue to miss out on a British Google, Apple or Samsung.”

Great Yarmouth Chamber Council members recently met with East Norfolk Sixth Form College to discuss employer engagement with their Work Placement Programme. Kasia Beblot, the Work Place Co-ordinator at the college advised that 130 students had currently registered for the Work Placement programme, however there were very few actual work placements available, due to lack of employer participation.

Kasia is very keen to hear from any employer in the Great Yarmouth area that could offer students a work placement of between 6 weeks to 8 weeks for one morning or afternoon per week. In addition, they are also looking for Great Yarmouth business community interaction to conduct mock interviews and help students make the most of their CVs.

John Morse, President of Great Yarmouth Chamber Council, said “It is really important for Great Yarmouth employers to get involved in any way they can. We need to invest time in the young people of today, as they are the workforce for tomorrow.”

For more information and to pledge your support, please contact Nova Fairbank – email: [email protected]

The Norfolk Chamber is proudly sponsoring the Customer Care Award for the Mayor’s Business Awards this year. We are aware that West Norfolk Chamber members are successful, dynamic and hard working and one of the key aspects that we keep hearing, is that customer care is central to their business ethos.

Does your organisation pride itself on its exemplary customer care? Have you incorporated initiatives designed to raise service standards and can show increased customer satisfaction? Then highlight your achievements by entering the Customer Care category of the Mayor’s Business Awards.

These awards are important for West Norfolk, as they show the rest of the county what fantastic companies we have here, but for your business, it will demonstrate to a wider audience what you already know – that you are a great company. It is also a wonderful staff motivator to collate all your good points and even better when you win!

Click here to complete the online nomination forms for the Customer Care category

The full list of categories for the Mayor’s Business Awards are:

• Apprentice/Trainee of the Year
• Community Contribution
• Customer Care
• Independent Retailer
• Leisure & Tourism
• Service with a Smith
• Small Growing Business (up to 5 years)
• Business Person of the Year
• Mayor’s Business of the Year

For full information on the Mayors Awards and details on all categories go to www.lynnnews.co.uk/mayors-awards

The deadline for entries is Friday 29 November 2013.

We look forward to seeing lots of our successful West Norfolk Chamber members entering and winning the Mayor’s Business Awards.