Chamber News

• BCC’s EU Business Barometer of more than 4,000 businesses shows support for renegotiation with Europe
• John Longworth: “Companies believe that re-negotiation, rather than further integration or outright withdrawal, is most likely to deliver business and economic benefit to the UK.”

The first major survey of British business following the Prime Minister’s policy speech on Europe in January 2013 has revealed broad support for the re-negotiation of Britain’s relationship with the European Union.

The British Chambers of Commerce’s new “EU Business Barometer”, which gathered responses from nearly 4,400 businesses of all sizes and sectors across the UK, tested five scenarios for Britain’s future relationship with the EU. Respondents were asked to give their view on the potential impact of each scenario on Britain’s business and economic prospects.

The results showed that:

• ‘Remain in the European Union, but with specific powers transferred back from Brussels to Westminster’ received the highest positive impact rating, with 64%. This scenario also received the lowest negative impact rating, with 11%.
• ‘Full withdrawal from the European Union’ received the highest negative impact rating, with 60%.
• Remain in the European Union with no change to current relationship’ received the lowest positive impact rating, with 15%.

The survey also reveals that British business’s “top three” priorities for any re-negotiation of the balance of competences between Brussels and Westminster are 1) employment law (54%), 2) health and safety law (46%), and 3) regional development policies (33%). Other areas where significant numbers of businesses wanted to see change included justice and home affairs policies and public-sector procurement rules.

Commenting on the results, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce , said:

“These results say a lot about the UK business community’s attitudes towards Britain’s relationship with the European Union. Companies believe that re-negotiation, rather than further integration or outright withdrawal, is most likely to deliver business and economic benefit to the UK.

“There are some striking features in the BCC survey of business opinion which included Norfolk businesses. 42%, a plurality, now believe that maintaining the status quo in Britain’s relationship with the EU could have a negative impact on our economic interests – nearly three times as many as the 15% who view the status quo positively. These findings suggest that UK businesses increasingly feel that some sort of change to Britain’s relationship with the EU is needed to boost our trading prospects.

“We now have confirmation of what we’ve suspected for some time: namely, that employment and health and safety are the areas where companies would like to see legislative competence return to Westminster from Brussels. From a business perspective, any re-negotiation of Britain’s relationship with the European Union must therefore focus on these areas which are not integral to the functioning of the Single Market in goods and services.”

Work to extend the Postwick Park and Ride site will begin on Monday 22 April 2013. Construction will be carried out for Norfolk County Council by Birse Civils Ltd.

The existing Park and Ride site is one of the smallest of the six around Norwich and the expansion will allow the number of parking spaces to increase from 500 to 1000.

The extension of the site already has planning consent, but this lapses in May this year, so work will start on construction of the access road to protect the existing planning consent and avoid the need and cost of going through the planning application process again. Extension of the car park itself is expected to be carried out in 2015. Cost of the initial work is approximately £50,000.

The majority of the works will be off highway and delays are not anticipated for general traffic or users of the existing Park and Ride site.

The planning permission for the park and ride extension is separate from the planning permission for the Postwick Hub junction improvement, for which Side Road and Slip Road Orders are also required. These are subject to a public inquiry scheduled to start on 3 July.

The contract to supply the design, editing, printing and distribution of the Norfolk Chamber’s bi-monthly magazine, the ‘Norfolk Voice’ is due for renewal in July. The contract is now out to tender amongst the Chamber membership to try to bring this contract to Norfolk.

For more information and to receive a copy of the tender documents, please contact Nova Fairbank, on Tel: 01603 729 713 or Email: [email protected]

The closing date for receipt of completed bid proposals is Friday 3 May 2013.

A local Chamber of Commerce in Colombia, South America (Cámara de Comercio de Valledupar) is planning to visit to the United Kingdom during April for a reference trip relating to the Dairy Sector. The delegation will be composed of Chamber of Commerce of Valledupar`s CEO and the small project team that is leading this effort.

The Chamber of Commerce of Valledupar, jointly with The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism have launched an initiative to improve the competitiveness of the Dairy Sector in the Department of Cesar – Colombia. More information on the initiative is available here.

Through this process it is conducting a strategic review of the sector, accompanied by an action plan aimed at improving the competitiveness of companies in the region. Within this analysis they have identified interesting opportunities to grow and become more competitive in milk production and processing to derivatives milk, taking into account the trends of differential products that have added value in addition to functionality more features specific to each market segment.

In order to understand these opportunities better, they are are organising a study trip for representatives from Chamber of Commerce of Valledupar to visit international best practices in the production and consumption of the dairy sector. They have identified Norfolk as a relevant region and would be very interested in having the opportunity to meet anyone in this sector, during their visit.

They are interested in meeting producers, retailers and manufacturers of complementary goods (machinery, logistics) for the sector, with the aim of learning from British companies and establish commercial relationships.

For more detailed information on the visit, please take a look at the Executive Summary.

The trip is pencilled in for April 22nd to 24th, but these dates are still tentative and may therefore change slightly. As there are only a couple of weeks left before their planned trip, if you would like to be included in their agenda of visits to our region, please contact the International Trade Team as soon as possible, on Tel. 01603 729712 or email us at [email protected].

Commenting on the government’s announcement of £300m to boost SME lending, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:

“We welcome the government’s move to increase competition in SME finance by offering £300m to co-invest alongside the private sector.

“Vince Cable is right to say that the creation of a fully-fledged business bank is a long-term project.

“However, for the business bank to be a game-changer, it urgently requires both vision and scale. To that end, we continue to urge ministers and the Bank of England to ‘think bigger’ when it comes to the bank’s investment capital, to ensure the bank can operate independently of Whitehall, and allow to it to work directly with dynamic new and growing companies as soon as possible, and for the long term.”

• Manufacturing output in February 2013: up 0.8% on the month, down 1.4% on the year
• UK trade deficit in goods and services was £3.6bn in February 2013, compared with a deficit of £2.5bn in January
• Value of UK exports fell by 1.1% between January and February 2013, while the value of imports rose by 1.7% in the same period

Commenting on the February 2013 UK trade figures, published today by the ONS, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:

“It is disappointing to see that the UK trade deficit worsened substantially in February, driven largely by falling goods exports and rising goods imports.

“However, our latest forward-looking economic survey shows near record growth in service sector export orders. This demonstrates that many of Britain’s companies are growing and expanding into new markets across the globe. What’s more, remittances from these service-sector orders may not come through into the statistics for some time.

“The Norfolk businesses that I see are ambitious and hard working, and want to take their products and services overseas – but the UK’s overall export performance is still not where it could or should be. The latest trade deficit numbers highlight the need for international trade and commerce to be at the heart of both business and government thinking. If we are to win the ‘global race’ that the Prime Minister has described on numerous occasions, we need both a more enterprise-friendly environment and a large-scale increase in the resources and attention dedicated to supporting international trade.

“This is one of the topics we will be talking through with Lord Green Minister of State for Trade & Investment when he visits Norfolk to speak at our networking lunch on 11 July”

Commenting on the UK trade and manufacturing output figures, David Kern, Chief Economist at the BCC, added:

“These economic figures send conflicting messages. The increase in manufacturing and total production output was stronger than expected, but the deterioration in the trade balance was larger than most analysts predicted. On the positive side, the output figures reinforce hopes that GDP will grow in the first quarter. But it is worrying that exports fell in February, while imports rose, and that there was a large fall in exports to non-EU countries.

“Despondency over the economy is unjustified. Although we are facing difficult circumstances, our short-term economic performance remains stronger than that of the eurozone. At the same time, the government should be more forceful in boosting exports, and do more to support companies seeking to break into new markets.”

ONS Trade statistics: https://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/uktrade/uk-trade/february-2013/stb-uk-trad…

ONS Production figures: https://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/iop/index-of-production/february-2013/stb-…

At a recent meeting of the Chamber’s Planning & Development Group, a debate was held with the Highways Agency, Norfolk County Council, Norwich International Airport and various utility companies, including BT, Anglia Water and UK Power Networks on how to unlock growth through infrastructure delivery.

The debate highlighted that whilst there was a certain amount of cooperation between each of the utilities and the public agencies, there was little or no discussion with landowners and the development industry. Most of the utilities planned their capital expenditure programmes for a 5 or 8 year period and did not take into account speculative development. This is clearly a problem when developers are often keen to try and bring forward development quicker than this timeframe, especially when the utilities only consider development as not being speculative if it has planning permission.

The meeting discussed potential ways of working around these problems, including the opportunity for new types of funding and income streams to come into the market. It was clear that it is essential for developers to talk to the utilities at the earliest stage possible. The Chamber Planning & Development Group agreed to continue their liaison with the utilities and would advise the teams of any constraints that they were made aware of that stopped growth from coming forward.

All parties agreed to work together to lobby Government in respect of rail, road and general infrastructure improvements.

Celebrating ten years of success, the Chamber Awards are considered one of the UK’s most hotly contested and prestigious business awards.

There are lots of highly successful businesses throughout Norfolk and this is their opportunity to showcase the best of Norfolk at a national level. The Awards recognise and reward business success across the UK, with a range of specialist categories to meet the needs of any organisation. Each year hundreds of businesses compete for the coveted National Chamber Awards along with the £25,000 cash prize on offer.

The following categories are now open for entry:

• Online Business of the Year
• Most Promising New Business
• Exporter of the Year
• Excellence in Innovation
• Commitment to People Development
• Marketing Campaign of the Year
• Outstanding Personal Achievement
• The Sustainability Award

Entry to the Chamber Awards is free for Norfolk Chamber members – so take the first step towards winning and enter your business today.

The closing date for entries is 28 June and the regional winners will be announced on 30th September. The winners will go through to compete in the National Final, where they will be judged by a panel of business leaders and entrepreneurs. The Chamber Awards programme will conclude with the prestigious gala awards dinner on 28th November in central London, where one business will be awarded the £25,000 prize courtesy of the RBS Group. To enter online click here.

Simon Francis (ESE Direct) said regarding the awards:“I don’t think anyone can assume they are the best, only that they are doing their best with the skills and resources they have available.

As a past winner of Chamber awards and current finalist in two National Industry awards I would recommend entering as it can help raise awareness of your business to new markets and potential customers.

Small businesses stand as much chance as big ones, we have won 10 out of 15 awards we have entered in the last five years and we are only a small bussiness.

You have nothing to lose apart from a few hours of your time to prepare your entry, and if you have a business plan and regularly measure yourself against the targets and results you are aiming for it should be relatively easy.

As they say “I’m in””

Do you know any entrepreneurs who would be interested in an opportunity to meet with other entrepreneurs from G20 countries? If so, read on!

Your national Global Entrepreneurship Week host, Youth Business International, also co-represents the UK in the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance, alongside Young Brits.

The G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (G20 YEA) is a global network of young entrepreneurs and the organisations that support them. It was established to convene each year in advance of the G20 Summit, with the aim of championing the importance of young entrepreneurs to the G20 member nations and to share best practices. More information can be found here.

To join the UK delegation to attend this year’s G20YEA Summit among your young entrepreneur networks, delegates should be active entrepreneurs aged 40 or below. The programme and application form is here.

Feel free to contact YBI for more details:

Helen Gale, Director, Strategy and Performance[email protected]

The Budget

Find out more about how this may have affected your business with HMRC

Simpler Income Tax – Cash Basis and Simplified Expenses

In the Budget statement on 20 March, the Government announced that two new measures – together called Simpler Income Tax – are being introduced to help small businesses to do their income tax.

For the 2013/14 tax year onwards, unincorporated businesses whose income does not exceed the VAT registration limit will be able to choose to work out their tax on the money that flows in and out of their business; this is what is meant by “cash basis”. Using this scheme will mean that these businesses will avoid the need to make year-end tax adjustments, required under current rules that were designed for more complex businesses.

In addition, all unincorporated businesses, no matter what their size, can also choose to use simpler schemes to claim some common business expenses; this is what is meant by “simplified expenses”.

Further guidance on eligibility and suitability etc will be published on the new Government website, GOV.UK, from 6 April. HMRC will also offer guidance, a webinar and a YouTube video that will help businesses understand and use the new schemes. Look out for our special editorial with next month’s Key Messages, which will have a lot more detail.

RTI (Real Time Information) starts now: are you ready?

Throughout March we published a number of Press Releases to help employers prepare for reporting PAYE in real time.

We also published an announcement on the relaxation of reporting arrangements for small businesses and the latest Employer update. Free help and advice for employers on RTI is available as HMRC starts a series of Road Shows. Please call 0845 603 2691 or book online to reserve your place.

Employers: How your employees should tell HMRC that they have changed address

If your employees change address, please ask them to let HMRC know by using the HMRC address change email template. This is the quickest and most secure way of doing it and also means that any repayment due won’t go to an old address.

VAT relief from bad debts

If you make supplies of goods or services to a customer but you are not paid, you may be able to claim relief from VAT on these bad debts. Also, you may have to repay VAT you have claimed if you have received supplies of goods or services which you have not paid for.

Read updates issued by the Export Control Organisation including details about imposition of arms embargoes, Open General Export Licence amendments or announcements about Control List changes.

Notice to Exporters 2013/09 The ECO has reviewed its guidance regarding strategic export licence applications for controlled military goods made by freight forwarders and other transport providers

Notice to Exporters 2013/10 This Order replaces Schedule 2 to the Export Control Order 2008, which lists military goods, software and technology that are subject to export controls. The Schedule has been amended in line with updates agreed during 2011 in the international export control regime known as the Wassenaar Arrangement and also consolidates previous amendments to Schedule 2.

Notice to Exporters 2013/11 Work is in hand to make the necessary technical changes to SPIRE, and to the Reports and Statistics websites, and in preparing guidance for exporters. The ECO is working with a number of exporters who will be participating in user testing to help ensure that the system is user-friendly, and they have undertaken internal (within ECO) testing of the system

Notice to Exporters 2013/12 On 11 January 2013 the ECO amended the Open General Export Licence (Military Goods) to Open General Export Licence (Military Goods, Software and Technology). To reflect the changes in this licence, a new undertaking template has been issued

Notice to Exporters 2013/13 The ECO has amended the Export Control Order 2008. This amendment consists of a replacement of Schedule 2 to the 2008 Order, which lists military goods, software and technology that are subject to export controls.

RMP Site Engineering, based on Yarmouth Road in Norwich, was established in 2007 by Rob Pinchbeck. We are currently working throughout Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex and are rapidly expanding into the rest of the UK.

RMP provides expert Site Engineering and Site Management services for a variety of Civil Engineering, Utilities and Construction Projects from pre-start to final fit-out.

Our experienced, knowledgeable and professional Site Engineers work on behalf of a main contractor. Unlike other Site Engineering Companies, our responsibilities include technical, supervisory and organisational services including:

• Site Setting Out
• Site Surveying
• Site and Project Management
• Contracting Services

We can work as part of the on-site management team to help progress and complete projects. We provide quality assurance, including the design of quality inspection test plans and take responsibility for site Health and Safety, and security. For your peace of mind we carry full Professional Indemnity, Public Liability and Employers Liability Insurance.

RMP also have an established contracting division able to offer all elements of construction, from groundworks to final fit-out.

Our mission is to create and reproduce a culture that challenges the status quo and long established mindsets-raising the standard to a higher level across the board. RMP promotes the very highest levels of Health and Safety making the Industry a much safer and happier place to work.

Our Culture is to bring Quality, Excellence, Honesty, Innovation, Dynamism, Accountability and Responsibility. We endeavour to train and develop our workforce, both those who are permanently employed by RMP and those who sub-contract to us, making sure that all our workers feel valued and well managed.

We are CHAS accredited, Achilles UVDB and Builders Profile registered & Considerate Constructors; we are also working towards Investors in People and hope to have achieved ISO9001 by the end of 2013.

www.rmpsiteengineering.co.uk