The latest Bank of England Agents’ Summary for Quarter 3, 2016 has been published. Key highlights are:
The annual rate of activity growth had slowed overall as uncertainty rose following the EU referendum
Consumer spending growth and confidence had been more resilient
Companies’ investment and employment intentions had fallen
The annual rate of activity growth had slowed overall as uncertainty rose following the EU referendum, although it remained positive. However, business sentiment improved slightly in August following a marked dip in the immediate aftermath of the referendum.
Consumer spending growth and confidence had been more resilient. Although housing market activity had fallen markedly in London and in parts of the surrounding area, it had held up relatively well in other parts of the United Kingdom.
Companies’ investment and employment intentions had fallen, and were consistent with broadly flat levels of capital spending and employment over the coming six to twelve months.
We are delighted to be sponsoring themorning networkingevent at The National Landlord Investment Show in Norwich.Taking place onWednesday 28th September 2016,9am – 3.30pm atNorwich City Football Club, it’s free to attend as a visitor.
Come and meet Landlords, Investors and Property Professionals along with other like minded Industry Leaders to meet new contacts and widen your own network of customers and suppliers.This networking event is designed to give you an opportunity to meet and discuss local issues, share best practice and experiences, with decision makersand experts in the property industry.
The morning networking event starts at9am, with the exhibition opening at9.30am.When you register to get your free tickets to the East Anglian Landlord Investment Show there is an option for you to confirm your place for the complimentary morning networking event, including complimentary tea and coffee.
It’s a great way to start the day and meet new people. After, you are invited to explore the main exhibition and attend the industry specific seminars.Come and meet over 40+ companies exhibiting on the day plus over 10 seminars in two seminar rooms delivered by leading industry experts on subject such as Legal/Evictions, Finance, Buying at Auction, Investment Opportunities plus much more.
The National Landlord Investment ShowLocation:Norwich City Football Club, Carrow Road, Norwich, NR1 1JEDate: Wednesday 28th September 2016Time:9am – 3.30pm (FREE Entry – FREE Parking).
Gee-Force Hydraulics is a privately owned business offering a wide range of equipment and servicing to the Oil & Gas, Nuclear, Renewables, Marine and Civil Engineering industries.
Gee-Force Hydraulics specialises in the sale and hire of hydraulic torque wrench equipment and other bolting equipment including hydraulic bolt tensioners, pneumatic and electronic torque wrenches, hand torque multipliers and manual wrenches. We also sell and hire mechanical and hydraulic flange spreading and flange alignment equipment, hydraulic nut splitters, hydraulic vertical lifting wedges and hydraulic lifting cylinders.
Through our rental partnership with industry leader HTL we enjoy access to the widest range of bolting and ancillary equipment available in the UK including portable machines, cutting equipment, flushing equipment, test instrumentation, subsea equipment and maintenance equipment.
We operate from premises in Great Yarmouth and Burnley, and in addition to equipment sales and hire we also provide ECITB accredited Mechanical Joint Integrity (MJI) training and testing out of our Great Yarmouth premises in conjunction with HTL’s Training Services Division. We are a distributor for SPX Bolting Systems, SPX Power Team and UK manufacturer Norbar Torque Tools ,as well as a wide range of equipment from other manufacturers. In addition to equipment sales and hire we offer full service, repair and calibration capabilities.
We are looking to expand the company’s activities beyond our Great Yarmouth base, across the whole of Norfolk and the wider South East. By joining the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, we hope this will play an important part in building our knowledge of and relationships with the County’s business community and by doing so fast-tracking both our profile and growth.
We are inviting a select number of business owners to take part inroundtable event that Norfolk Chamber of Commerce is hosting in partnership with Heathrow Airport.
This event will be held on Friday 21 October 2016, 08:00-10:00 at Holiday Inn, Ipswich Road, Norwich.
The objective of the roundtable is to gather local business representatives together to discuss the opportunities that exist within the Heathrow Airport supply chain and how you can be more involved in their future expansion plans. Heathrow are keen to engage with local business leaders to further understand the business capabilities in your region and hear your views.
By taking part in the roundtable, you will have the opportunity to:
Discuss the challenges that businesses face in joining Heathrow Airport’s supply chain;
Contribute to Heathrow Airport’s intelligence on business capabilities in your region;
Ask your questions about the expansion of Heathrow Airport;
Learn more about how you could become a supplier.
To confirm your FREE placeat this event please email [email protected], places are limited to four.
The Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough LEP has voted firmly in favour of devolution for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough at their latest Board meeting this week.
In a unanimous decision, the Board voted in favour of the current proposals for Devolution that will see more money and powers brought to the local area.
The endorsement by the Board follows consultation with a wide variety of businesses over the summer, and reflects the much improved Devolution Deal that is now on offer.
The GCGP LEP will be a full voting member of the proposed new Combined Authority, enabling them to fully represent the views of businesses and work closely with the Mayor.
Neil Darwin, Chief Executive of Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough LEP said:
“The LEP will be a full voting member of the proposed new Combined Authority, enabling us to fully represent the views of businesses and work closely with the Mayor. We are the first of thenew Combined Authority partnership to fully back the plans, and hope that others follow our lead in securing this deal.”
Heather Garrod, President of West Norfolk Chamber Council said:
“Devolution could bring many opportunities to West Norfolk and Norfolk Chamber will work closely with the GCGP LEP to ensure that businesses in our region can take advantage of those opportunities to help them to deliver economic growth and jobs.”
Vattenfall, the Swedish energy firm, said today it has started development of Norfolk’s largest offshore wind farm.
Recently the wind farm developer agreed with The Crown Estate to take forward Norfolk Vanguard into the planning process with a target capacity of 1.8GW, 47km off the coast. This would generate enough power to meet the annual needs of more than 1.3 million UK households delivering a significant boost to future home grown, low cost, low carbon energy generation.
Recently the UK Government has said it sees the offshore wind sector making an increasing contribution to the UK generation mix with capacity doubling to 20GW by 2030, as costs reduce. Late last year, Vattenfall said it was targeting a tripling of wind power capacity to 7GW across northern Europe by 2025 as it moves to a more sustainable energy business.
Ruari Lean, Vattenfall’s Project Manager for Norfolk Vanguard, said: “Vattenfall wants to work with Norfolk to capture the benefits of offshore wind. There is an opportunity for Norfolk business and securing Norfolk jobs. There is also an opportunity to make a telling impact in the UK’s contribution to tackling climate change.”
Andy Paine, Vattenfall’s Project Director for Norfolk Vanguard and head of UK offshore wind, said: “As the industry grows costs will fall; that’s why offshore wind has a great future in the UK. An industry is emerging in Norfolk and we are convinced that the region is well placed to secure an even bigger role in the sector.”
Vattenfall has also agreed with The Crown Estate to develop Norfolk Boreas, also with a target capacity of 1.8GW. The development of Norfolk Boreas will start in 2017.
Caroline Williams, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said: “We welcome the exciting news that Vattenfall have started the development of Norfolk’s largest offshore wind farm. The Norfolk Vanguard project will provide further opportunities and jobs for our region and Norfolk Chamber looks forward to working closely with Vattenfall to achieve their objectives.”
On Thursday 8 December over 90 members joined us at Sprowston Manor for a morning of festive networking. Our featured charity for the breakfast was East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice (EACH). As delegates arrived early to get start they placed donated gifts for the charity under the Christmas tree.
The morning kicked off with a welcome from Colin Lang and Sophie Mayes from EACH. They then introduced our first networking ice breaker: The A-Z of Christmas. Delegates named a Christmas word for each letter of the alphabet, with many using ‘zzzzzz’ for the letter Z.
Breakfast was served and followed by the second ice breaker for the morning which brought out the creative side to our members. Each person was given a Christmas song to draw whilst others on their table attempted to guess what the song was. A gallery of those we collected can be seen in the images – including the best drawing from the morning (although we don’t know which song it is!).
After a safari move mixed delegates around, the last activity of a Christmas movie quiz took place. The questions were tough this year, with the highest score being 7/12. To finish the morning, EACH ran a raffle for two luxury hampers and Jay Warnes, NPS Property Consultants Ltd was crowned with the best Christmas jumper.
The morning was filled with laughter and a great festive spirit. Given the popularity of this event, we are looking to hold one in Norwich, one in Great Yarmouth and one in West Norfolk for 2017.
Reepham Road will be closed to all traffic, including cyclists and pedestrians, for five days from Monday (14 November) to allow the new NDR roundabout to be surfaced and tied in with the existing road.
The work involves the use of heavy planing and surfacing plant, and is programmed for completion on Friday 18 November, when the road will be reopened as soon as it is safe to do so. Work will be carried out during the normal NDR working hours of 7am to 7pm, but it will not be possible to reopen the road overnight.
Diversion route Traffic approaching the closure from the north will be diverted via Fir Covert Road, the A1067 Fakenham Road, Boundary Road (Norwich Ring Road), returning to Reepham Road at the Boundary Junction. Traffic approaching the closure from the south will be diverted in the reverse direction.
A plan of the diversion route can be found on the Elgin roadworks website: https://roadworks.org/. (If viewing before the 14th, make sure the map is set to show ‘Next two weeks’, not just ‘Today’).
Thorpe Marriott and local access The barriers fully closing Reepham Road will be between Drewray Drive and Furze Lane, allowing access to Thorpe Marriott from the Norwich direction via Long Dale and Drewray Drive. Access to other premises on Reepham Road will be from one or other side of the closure.
Temporary traffic lights will be in use next week (14-18 November) as follows:
A1067 Fakenham Road (road sign installation).
B1149 Holt Road near the Drayton Lane/Church Street junction (utility service diversions).
B1150 North Walsham Road (BT diversions).
Norfolk County Council and Balfour Beatty apologise for the inconvenience caused by these and other traffic management measures during construction of Norwich Northern Distributor Road.
With effect from 1 July 2016, amendments to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention require packed shipping containers to have a verified gross mass (VGM) before they can be loaded on a ship for export.
A three-month settling-in period was suggested by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to its Member States in which competent authorities were urged to adopt a “practical and pragmatic” approach to the enforcement of the SOLAS revision.
That grace period came to an end on 1 October and seems to have been effective as a recent declaration by the liner shipping association, the World Shipping Council (WSC), together with feedback from various container terminals, indicates that the compliance rate has risen steadily from 1 July and is now about 95%.
However, according to leading insurer of the international freight industry, TT Club, anecdotal evidence suggests that shippers are, in the main, simply adding the tare mass of the container to the previously declared weight of the cargo to arrive at a VGM.
TT Club’s Risk Management Director Peregrine Storrs-Fox said: “While it is positive that shippers recognise the difference between bill of lading or customs declaration weights and VGM, it is insufficient just to add the container mass.”
The industry needs the comfort of authenticated VGMs comparing the actual mass of packed containers obtained by check-weighing in order to have a true picture of compliance, he argued.
Industry guidelines issued by TT Club, in partnership with WSC, the cargo handler’s association ICHCA and the Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF) can be found atwww.ttclub.com.
Reepham Road will be closed from early on Monday 14 November for five days (to Friday 18th) to complete construction of the NDR roundabout and tie in the surface to the existing carriageway.
The work, which will involve the use of heavy plant, will be carried out between 7am and 7pm, but the road will have to remain closed to all traffic throughout, including pedestrians and cyclists.
Diversion route Traffic approaching the closure from the north will be diverted via Fir Covert Road, the A1067 Fakenham Road, Boundary Road (Norwich Ring Road), returning to Reepham Road at the Boundary Junction. Traffic approaching the closure from the south will be diverted in the reverse direction.
Local access The physically closed stretch of Reepham Road will be between Furze Lane and Drewray Drive, allowing access to Thorpe Marriott from the Norwich direction via Long Dale and Drewray Drive. Access to other premises on Reepham Road will be from one or other side of the closure.
Other NDR traffic management Diversion of utility services, including gas, water and sewerage, electricity and telecom, is continuing at a number of points along the NDR, including Holt Road, Wroxham Road and North Walsham Road. Temporary traffic control may occasionally be needed. Where possible, advance warning will be given, but these signalsmay be imposed and removed at short notice, depending upon the work being carried out.
“Norfolk businesses will benefit from improved infrastructure, so the announced increased resources forlocal and regional transportinfrastructure, broadband, housing and innovation is welcome and will hopefully boost local business confidence. The Chancellor’s strong focus on the growth requirementsof cities and regions will mean that the business voice within a rural county like Norfolk will need to be heard loud and clear. “
Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:
“While businesscommunitieswould have liked Philip Hammond to go even further to support growth,they will recognise that his hands are somewhat tied by lower tax receipts and sharplyhigher borrowing forecasts.The fact that he chose to commitsignificantnewresources to support growth and productivity demonstrates welcome flexibility during a period of uncertainty and change.
“There was very littlesupport in our business communities for further cuts to Corporation Tax, so Philip Hammond was right to stick withexisting plans. However, we would have liked to see more action on the highup-front taxes and costs of doing business in the UK, particularly business rates.
“The government’s decision to move to a single annual set of tax and spending commitments will be welcomed by businesses weary of frequent and sometimes unclear changes of direction.”
Supported by a long tradition of harmonious trade, Portugal has more recently become recognised as a country where English is widely spoken and has proven to be a hotbed of creativity and entrepreneurialism.
What can the BPCC do for you and your local members?
As a bi-lateral Chamber our interests lie not only in promoting British exports overseas, but also supporting our Portuguese companies to identify and develop opportunities in the UK. Our local knowledge is an invaluable asset for British businesses needing in-depth research, introductions to the most appropriate service provider, translations or explanations of specific legislation. We collaborate closely with other business agencies, such as UKTI (now DoI), by providing “landing services” for visiting trade missions. Similarly, we are keen to expand our partnerships with British Chambers of Commerce to organise one-to-one meetings with your members for our visiting delegations of Portuguese missioners.
We currently have companies actively seeking to participate in joint ventures and bid for contracts relating to major infrastructure projects, especially the Northern Powerhouse. A further example is a nationwide commercial cleaning company with a desire to establish a representation for robotic cleaning equipment. These are just mere examples – the possibilities are endless.
Each year we take dozens of Portuguese exhibitors to trade shows in the UK; they are particularly strong in the food and drink sectors; construction; sustainability and renewable energies; textiles, shoes, furniture and moulds. The British fashion and home furnishing sectors regard Portugal as a very important source and we regularly introduce buyers to production facilities.