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We’re all familiar with the concept of defining the values that characterise our businesses. But how may of us really mean what we say? How often do we imbue those values with total commitment? Lyndsay Carter is Chief Executive of The Norfolk Hospice, Tapping House, and her views and val-ues are of real interest. Key among them are ‘to provide service sufficient to the need’ and to ‘al-ways treat people as you would want to be treated yourself’. Bear in mind that The Norfolk Hospice is a nonprofit making organisation. Therefore every penny it raises from events, donations and sponsorships has to be put directly to work; every single penny has to perform, making the organisation do better. And the challenges are very real. “33% of pa-tients waiting to come here, die before they get to us, because not enough beds are commissioned” says Lyndsay. What that means in, to be brutally frank, ‘commercial’ terms, is that the income, or revenue, has to be managed with laser like precision. It can be difficult. For instance there’s The Dr Hugh Ford In-patient Unit providing support for patients with life shortening illnesses, or there’s providing support  for families. They are equally valid calls on resources, which have to be allocated to precisely where the need is, in order to provide service sufficient to the need. With the demands that Lyndsay and her team face the corporate values are not trite management speak. You have to believe in them. The values that the Tapping House believe in are Compassion, Inclusivity, Transparency, Integrity and Excellence. Everybody in this team is under enormous pressure. Every day brings emotional challenge. You can’t function as a team, and you can’t deliver that service, unless everyone is motivated and sup-ported. That happens through training volunteers for example, with programmes designed for their specific role. And what better way motivate and support than by treating everyone as you would want to be treated yourself? In Tapping House these values have to be totally genuine. Believed in. In reality, no matter how demanding it gets, your business decisions will not, unlike Lyndsay’s team’s, be matters of life and death. But think how much better your business could be if you really deliver service to meet need; and you really treat staff and customers alike as you would want to be treated. Think how your business would look if you made your decisions and implemented your strategies based on values that, like Lyndsay Carter’s team, you really believed in.  Tell us more about your plans and what’s on your mind.  e mail [email protected]

In the last year in which full data is available the arts and culture sector supported 360,000 jobs, contributed £10.8 billion to the nation’s economy, and had a gross value added per worker of £62,000 compared to £46,800 for the wider UK economy. Chris Gribble, CEO of National Centre for Writing, began his talk at our Norwich Networking Breakfast on Tuesday 16th July with these facts as a way of highlighting to the business community the contribution the arts and culture sector makes to the local and UK economy.

There is a booming culture scene in Norfolk and Suffolk with proportionally more people working in the sector than regionally or nationally. Considering that Norfolk is steeped in history this is hardly a surprising statistic, but the thing that did surprise a number of people in the room was just how much has always been going on in our fine city. Norwich was the first city in England to establish a municipal library in 1608 and the Millennium Library has been the most used public library in 6 out of the last 7 years. If you’ve ever been to an event as part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival you’ve attended England’s oldest city arts festival, which began in 1772. Julian of Norwich, one of Europe’s great mystics, wrote Revelations of Divine Love in an anchorite cell in Norwich and was the first woman to be published in English. Britain’s first and most famous MR Creative Writing was founded at the University of East Anglia and the first student was Ian McEwan! In 2006 Norwich became the first and only UK city to join the International Cities of Refuge Network which promotes free speech and supports persecuted writers.

Chris was a hard act to follow but Hannah Garrard, Programme Manager, did an excellent job. She highlighted the programme the National Centre for Writing ran to encourage young people to consider a career in the arts sector. As part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival the Engage! Group put together a festival in a day which included programming 5 events, designing the logo and marketing, and managing the event on the day. The feedback the event received was extremely positive and the National Centre for Writing are planning on running a similar event for next year’s festival.

Everyone came away from the morning with fun Norwich facts to wow people with and a renewed excitement for the arts and culture sector in Norwich. We are certainly going to be taking advantage of some of the fantastic events and venues on our doorstep and encourage you to do the same!

Big thanks go to the team at the National Centre for Writing and Ginger Lily for providing us with some fantastic food.

You can find all the slides from the morning here and information about 1000 years of Norwich’s history here.  

Whilst businesses quieten down for summer, it’s the perfect time to do some much needed planning. If you or your business runs events, a fundamental part of that planning is your venue – but where do you begin?! Norfolk has so many great venues, each offering different spaces and abilities. Here are five of the most important questions you need to be asking when researching:

1. Where is it? Often potential attendees can be put off the idea of having to travel far to get to an event. You have to consider that it’s not just the time for the event they have to factor into their diary, but also the travel time. Where is your main audience based and can you find a venue central to them to give easy access?

2. What is the scale? Event bookings can be unpredictable at times, so you need to check the maximum capacity your venue can hold, and what are the options if you need to scale up – or even down. Remember that seating can play a huge part in your capacity, you will fit a lot more attendees in a room doing theatre style than round table. These may be decisions that need to be made once the bookings start coming.

3. Catering? If you want to provide catering for your event, or even just basic tea and coffee, check that the venue are able to provide this and how the catering will be served. Make sure they can adapt to dietary requirements with everything from gluten free to vegan.

4. What equipment do they have? Review what you need before going to view a venue. Will you need a microphone, projector, screen etc.? It may sound silly, but even check if they have cables to plug in your laptop to a projector! If you don’t check these could end up being nasty surprises later in the event planning process.

5. Costs? Make sure when you meet with the venue that you know what your budget is. Some venues will work everything into a cost per head, whereas others will charge room hire, equipment hire, catering etc. as separate amounts. I find the easiest way is to do a cost per head which includes everything, this will then help you to adjust ticket prices to cover those costs depending on your expected minimum numbers. Make sure that if your chosen venue is missing something like a PA system that you will need to hire in, that you don’t confirm anything until you are sure of all costs involved.

Don’t forget to make sure everything you’ve agreed and discussed with the venue is in writing and agreed by both parties. This should include all equipment being used, room set up, catering and costs. An agreement like this will back you up should any issues arise.

When going for a site visit don’t be afraid to take a checklist of things you want to look out for. Below you will find our basic site visit checklist, please feel free to download, use and add to this for all your future site visits!

This blog has been brought to you by our Conference and Events Manager Sam Brown. If you would like any advice on running your own events, or any venue recommendations then please get in touch with Sam on 01603 625977 or at [email protected]

If anybody knows the importance of people to a business, it has to be Norfolk Chambers Member Katrina Massingham.

Katrina is the  owner of Technique Recruitment Solutions,  a niche recruitment agency specialising in the engineering, manufacturing, packaging, oil and gas, and pharmaceutical sectors.

As a recruiter she sees the complete picture, because her business has two vital sets of customers. She has to find the right people for employers looking for staff; and she has to find the right jobs for people who are looking for work.

It’s a tall order and it’s helped Katrina frame her views on some important issues.

Recruitment is a legendarily competitive market sector. ‘It’s a little publicised fact that there are almost 30,000 recruitment agencies in the UK and growing every year’ says Katrina, who readily acknowledges, in those circumstances, that every recruitment business has to ‘up their game’.

‘Without doubt’ she says,’for our business, and most other businesses, this year the key challenge is two-fold: boost retention of staff and recruit for talent’.

That’s where investment becomes important. Yes, there is financial investment in hiring new, and retaining and motivating existing, staff but there’s more to it than that.  In Katrina’s view it means internal promotions and further training.  It also means introducing bespoke employee benefits such as flexible hours, innovative holiday entitlements and childcare; all things that put the smaller independent business on a par with larger organisations.

These, often intangible investments are what brings out the best in people. When they feel valued, supported and engaged they deliver commitment. And it’s a high  level of commitment that creates the essential point of difference, which in Katrina’s world of recruitment, is outstanding customer service.

‘Small independents have the advantage of being closer to their customers enabling them to meet their needs more accurately and to offer a more individualised and bespoke service’ is what Katrina says.  Creating the atmosphere in which those levels of service can be attained only happens when the team has been invested in; when the people feel like they matter.

A financial investment will, wisely made, bring a return. So too will an investment of trust, motivation and the promise of career development and a future. It brings a return of loyalty, purposefulness and focus.

‘So yes’, says Katrina, ‘we are in challenging times but it’s all about focussing on any opportunities that the changes in the recruitment landscape brings. Technology develops constantly, there will certainly be changes coming out of Brexit. It’s about analysing and maximising on those opportunities’ and using a recruitment agency can greatly enhance finding the right people, at the right time, particularly during a process of change.

The same values apply to all of the businesses in the sectors in which Katrina’s team operates. We all, now more than ever, have to be positive, see the opportunities and grasp them. That can’t be achieved by any business unless you’ve recruited and retained the right team. You won’t do that unless you’ve invested in them. And perhaps the biggest investment, giving the biggest return, is not the financial one.

It’s all those other things that let them know, that you know, they matter. As people.

Running any business is tough, running a small one, in a competitive market, is really tough. To succeed you need to be in the right place – physically and mentally.  Norfolk Chambers member Mark Flowers knows all about that because he runs a small business, in a competitive market – and it’s all about physical and mental health. Motiv8 Exercise and Fitness Ltd is family run and that, Mark says, has real positives. ‘It makes us stand out from the big gym chains, and it means that we know all our members and their goals’.  Mark sees his company’s role as helping people on their fitness journey, and believes firm-ly that the extra level of attention they deliver, as a small business, makes Motiv8 a better bet than some of his bigger competitors. Mark is very clear about his mission. It’s ‘to educate about the importance of health, fitness and nutrition’ is how he sees it. He especially wants to highlight the importance of mental health.  ‘I believe we offer something completely different, we are more functional fitness based’ he says. But he’s more than aware of the challenges.  He freely admits that  ‘Living in a small town with lots of other gyms in the area was never going to be easy’. Which is why he can identify with the stresses and strains faced by the owners of other small to medium size businesses. ‘It’s demanding’ he says. ‘You work long hours and, no matter how positive you are, you worry’. Stressing about finances, sorting out taxation issues, keeping all the admin up to date – they all take their toll on a business owner’s well being. ‘Exercising doesn’t only leave you with a healthy body, but also a healthy mind. Exercising has a positive impact on depression, anxiety, stress and more.  In today’s commercial environment good physical and mental health are essentials.  “I see it like this’, says Mark, ‘you, as a person, have to be like your business. Fit for pur-pose. We believe with motivation and education we can help people get fit and run their businesses with real purpose”. This article was recently featured in the Lynn News as our Chambers Column. Tell us more about your plans and what’s on your mind.  e mail [email protected]