We are back at Norfolk’s largest two-day county show, which takes place on Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th June at the Norfolk Showground. Organised by Chamber members the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association (RNAA), The Royal Norfolk Show offers visitors an unmatched range of activities, displays and experiences. Following a successful return to the show in 2018, we are back and we want you to come and get involved. We’ll be on stand 82 on Third Drive, same location is in 2018 so you can find us easily! We’ll also be bringing back our colourful deckchairs (if the weather is nice!) and some new, pink flags to welcome you to our marquee – you won’t miss us! We have a jam-packed schedule of activities throughout the two days, all of which we encourage visitors to the show to come and take part in. We’re bringing back our networking breakfasts both mornings of the show, as well as extending our popular gin hour to both days at 2pm. We’ve also added some networking games, a Netwalking route around the show to visit our Members and an evening celebration event on the Wednesday night. On top of all of this, we’ll also be working on something really exciting in our marquee that we want you to get involved in – Norfolk’s Voice! Our new digital platform is coming soon and we want you to come create exciting content with us at the show ready for its launch. Tickets for the show must be purchased to attend the show, but once inside you can visit us anytime! If you’re a Chamber member, you can also get 10% off two day and one day adult tickets! Just email us or give us a call on 01603 625977 to get the code. To see our full schedule of activities and what we’ll be up to on stand 82, click here.
Our Women in Golf networking event got off to a fantastic start on Tuesday!
Set in the middle of the beautiful South Norfolk countryside, Barnham Broom Hotel was the perfect place to be to celebrate Women in Golf Day.
Sarah Jones and Karen Woodrow welcomed us with coffee and pastries, in the newly refurbished Barford Suite, which looked out over the large golf course. Karen Woodrow, Head of Golf at Barnham Broom shared her golfing story, and it was interesting to hear the statistics on how many women are taking up the sport. It was great to hear that this is changing, and that more women are taking up the sport, and that it does not have to be expensive. We headed out onto the course with Allan Helmsley, a lovely chap and very experienced Golf Pro. Allan went through some of the basics, correct stance, swing and Irons. We paired up and putted our way through some fun exercises. Our group was a mix of those who regularly played Golf and those who had dabbled (I was grateful for my own extensive Pitch and Putt experience), so there was additional support on hand. The smaller networking group was a definite positive, and it was an opportunity to have more one to one chats. So, an enormous thank you to all the women (and Matt) who came along, it was fantastic to spend the morning with you! Thanks also to Sarah Jones and Karen Woodrow for looking after us. If you are interested in Golfing lessons, or hitting the course at Barnham Broom you can find out more details here. Karen and Allan will be more than happy to chat with you.
Following on from the success of last year’s celebrations, Norfolk Day is back! This year Norfolk Day will be held on Saturday 27th July. With this in mind, and supporting our great county, it is a great opportunity to showcase our brilliant businesses. Several organisations will be celebrating with events being held on Friday, which is an ideal chance to involve your staff, and fit around the working week too.
Last year over sixty of you; our members shared your #15SecBiz, these films were a fantastic insight, and inspiration into the great work being achieved in our county, on a daily basis. So, this year, whatever you are planning, we want to hear about how you and your staff members will be celebrating Norfolk Day this year. Maybe you are planning something big or small to mark this day. Keep us posted so we can support you with the promotion of this and potentially link up other members with you too.
Do get in touch with us at the Chambers [email protected] and the EDP are really keen to hear about what you have got planned too [email protected] so we can all spread the word!
Remember you can always use #NorfolkDay share your stories and spread the word too.
Help us give a warm welcome to the newest members of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce for the month of May.
Visit their business to explore what they have to offer. Click on a business name below to view the full listing in our Member Directory.
Birdie Fortescue The Birdie Fortescue brand is based on a rich heritage of global inspiration interpreted into a range of textiles and interior accessories designed to suit classic contemporary living.
Clapham & Collinge LLP Clapham & Collinge is a local, leading firm of expert solicitors based in Norfolk. With offices in Norwich, North Walsham and Sheringham we provide a full range of legal services for businesses and individuals.
Motiv8 At Motiv8 Exercise and Fitness our philosophy is to give you a core set of disciplines and values to integrate into your lifestyle so that you can enjoy living stronger and living longer.
Parker Planning Services We are specialist Planning Consultants and Multi-Disciplinary Specialists providing a wide range of planning and specialist services required for planning applications and developments.
REAGIT The Revamped East Anglian Group for Industrial Training
Soul Church “We’re passionate about our city and we want to make a real difference to the people of Norwich. One of our aims is to build a warm, welcoming community where anyone can feel right at home and can access the support they need, whatever it may be.”
Tombland Bookshop Our shop is a fine, 15th century building opposite the Cathedral in the centre of Norwich. We are the largest bookshop of its type in East Anglia with a constantly changing stock of secondhand and antiquarian books on most subjects displayed on two floors, whose price ranges from £1 to over £10,000. We also carry a significant stock of specialist and academic books.
The Norfolk Farmhouse The Norfolk Farmhouse is a large detached Georgian Farmhouse which dates back to the 1800’s and was originally part of The Gunton Estate.
The Tree Academy The Tree Academy are dedicated to the learning, growth and development of people. As a team of specialists with broad industry backgrounds we are catalysts for excellence.
Congratulations to the Norfolk based companies that have been revealed in the Co-operative of the Year Awards 2019 shortlist; Norwich Mustard, AF Group and Norwich City Council.
Now it is over to the members of the public to decide the Co-operative of the Year Awards winners across each of the six categories.
Norwich Mustard is shortlisted for Breakthrough Co-operative of the Year. This award is for co‑ops with a turnover of up to £1 million who are breaking new ground and already achieving great things.
The AF Group has been shortisted for Leading Co-operative of the Year. The AF Group is one of the largest agricultural co-operatives in the UK, with a turnover of over £270 million and a growing 3,500 membership.
Norwich City Council has been shortlisted for the Co-operative Council of the Year. Sponsored by the Co-operative Councils’ Innnovation Network (CCIN) this award recognises best practice as demonstrated by co-operative local authorities, celebrating great work delivered at a local level.
The window for voting is open NOW. The winners will be crowned on Friday 21 June at the Co-op Congress in Manchester.
The Virgin Money Norwich Lounge is delighted to open its doors for the day to offer you somewhere different to work. Thursday 6 June is National Coworking Day – a day designed to encourage like-minded entrepreneurs and SMEs to get together.
We’ll also give you a 6 day pass to come back another time so you can experience our Lounges again.
Coworking is proven to facilitate connection, collaboration, and innovation. National Coworking Day is a collaborative doors open day of coworking spaces across the UK, allowing companies and individuals to experience this for free across the country.
You can find out more and book your space in our Norwich Lounge by popping in or calling us on 01603-610538 – we look forward to seeing you then!
Norwich: National Coworking Day 2019 6 June @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Free
The North Norfolk Skills & Careers Festival is an interactive exhibition for 13-18 year olds in North Norfolk aimed at inspiring young people for their future careers and increasing awareness of their options. It is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of organisations based in North Norfolk and the diverse careers available.
Last year’s event was a huge success with over 50 different organisations exhibiting and over 600 young people attending. This year’s festival will again include interactive STEM events.
Previously known as the North East Norfolk Futures event, the Festival builds upon the success of the Norfolk Skills and Careers Festival and promises to be bigger and better than ever in its fifth year.
We are delighted to have partnered with Norfolk Enterprise Festival to offer Chamber Members a 20% discount on tickets!
Taking place on Saturday 13th July, 11am – 10pm at Hoveton Hall, The Norfolk Enterprise Festival’s (NEF) mission is to create an exciting, fresh way to nurture the best enterprise in, and of, Norfolk by bringing together the business community to build a stronger, more connected enterprise ecosystem.
This grassroots festival is for local businesses, students, investors and entrepreneurs (and their families, including dogs!!!) to showcase Norfolk as a powerhouse of entrepreneurial activity through a fun engaging, family-friendly interactive programme. The programme is made up of interactive workshops, debates, panel sessions, networking, one-on-one business surgeries, creative activities and so much more, with local food and drink stalls to keep you going throughout the event. The festival now has over 50 speakers confirmed, including a live podcast from Rebecca Lewis Smith and Emily Groves, Louis Blake from Erpingham House and global broadcaster Neil Standby. Speaking on the event this year, NEF Co-Founder, George Freeman MP said “This year’s Festival will bring 1000 innovators to showcase how Norfolk is pioneering in Green Innovation: in energy, food and the digital economy. We’re also growing the “Norfolk Angels” Den: offering the best start-up £10,000 worth of business support! It’s an inspiring fun packed day for all the family – don’t miss it.” The theme for 2019’s event will look to address sustainability by showcasing Norfolk’s stunning leadership in the growth field of ‘green growth and the green economy’. You can book your tickets today and don’t forget to use the code ‘norfolkchamber’ for 20% off all tickets! Book your ticketsNorfolk Enterprise Festival Saturday 13 July 2019 11am – 10pm Hoveton Hall Gardens, Norwich, NR12 8RJ
We don’t know about you but we at the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce are certainly big fans of the chocolate that Gnaw creates, so were absolutely delighted to have Matt Legon, Managing Director, with us for the morning.
Matt gave a very relaxed and engaging presentation (used in the loosest sense of the word) to eighty delegates at our Norwich Business Breakfast last Thursday. He and his wife started the business in Norwich in 2011 after realising there was a very real gap in the market for lovingly crafted chocolate with a fun side! The room certainly enjoyed hearing all about the ups and downs, one of the ups being winning the British Chambers of Commerce Small Business of the Year in 2018. Matt attributes much of their success to having a great product and facing the fear that many small business shy away from… exporting.
An anticipated 80% of Gnaw’s turnover for this year will come from export markets, which really highlighted to the room that doing the scary and sometimes more difficult thing is absolutely worth it. Plus, it means that Matt gets to travel around, something he loves to do! It was genuinely lovely to hear how Matt speaks about his team and the fact that he appreciates the company would be a very different place without them.
We certainly left feeling as though we were ready to tackle the world and take those scary steps others are too afraid to take. We’re sure you’ll agree that Gnaw has struck the right balance of keeping its Gnaw-folk identity while not being afraid to take on big markets, something to really be proud of.
Our featured charity for the morning was Nansa, an absolutely fantastic local charity that focuses on providing “there for life” support to people with a range of disabilities across Norfolk. The charity has been going for over 60 years and their new Chief Executive, Tom Garrod, really welcomes all types of support so if you’d like to know more definitely get in touch at [email protected].
Much has changed since the Great Eastern Mainline Campaign business case was published in 2014: the new franchise is well underway with the imminent arrival of our new trains providing additional capacity; Greater Anglia is developing a new timetable; Local Authorities have updated their local plans; and Local Enterprise Partnerships have published revised economic growth strategies. There has also been changes in the way rail investment is allocated by Government.
To determine how this delivers against the ambitions of the Taskforce, New Anglia LEP are undertaking a refresh of the evidence base to identify what the investment priorities are for the Great Eastern Mainline and when these need to be delivered to fully realise the full potential of our region.
This free to attend rail conference provides an ideal opportunity to bring you up to speed with this work and how you can help support their renewed case for investment.
With key speakers, including MPs, businesses and the franchise operator Greater Anglia – this really is an opportunity to help shape our future direction and ensure that our campaign continues to achieve the outcomes that passengers and our economy need and deserve.
Thank you for your continued support and encouragement as we work together to continue the transformation of our railway.
More UK exporters are reporting a decrease in orders in the opening quarter of the year, with cashflow and confidence dipping too according to the latest Quarterly International Trade Outlook from the British Chambers of Commerce, in partnership with DHL.
The report based on the responses of over 3,400 exporters, including those from Norfolk shows that one in five manufacturers (23%) and service firms (20%) saw their export order books decline in the first three months of the year – the highest for both since Q2 2017 when records began.
Two-thirds of exporting manufacturers said exchange rates were of greater concern to them than in the previous three months, reflecting sterling volatility ahead of the original Brexit deadline. Exporters continue to report considerable price pressures, which for manufacturers is mainly driven by the cost of raw materials.
According to the findings, exporters are reporting muted confidence in turnover in the coming year. Nearly a quarter of exporters reported a decrease in cashflow, a key indicator of the financial health of a business – also at its highest level since Q2 2017.
The BCC/DHL Trade Confidence Index, which measures the volume of trade documents issued by Accredited Chambers of Commerce for goods shipments outside the EU stood at 124.04, representing a fall of 1% on the quarter and 2.3% lower than the same quarter in 2018.
The results of the report paint a picture of tough trading conditions, and while the prospect of immediate changes to conditions due to Brexit have been postponed, fundamental questions about the future business environment remain unanswered. Clarity is also needed about the terms of trade exporters will face in many key markets around the world after the UK leaves the EU.
Nova Fairbank, Head of Policy for Norfolk Chambers of Commerce said:
“It’s been a trying time for many Norfolk exporters with uncertainty in the run up to the Brexit deadlines and continued trade tensions combining to flatten orders and confidence.
“The future relationship with Europe remains unresolved, but so too do the future terms of trade with many other important trading partners. Until the status of free trade agreements with third countries are clarified, Norfolk firms don’t know how their operations in all corners of the world will be affected when the UK leaves the EU in any transition period and beyond.
“Norfolk businesses are resilient, but they urgently need Parliament to overcome the current impasse and end the uncertainty. Leaving firms in limbo and allowing the political dramas to play out again at the last minute in October will only serve to diminish sales and confidence further.”
Shannon Diett, VP of Marketing at DHL Express, said:
“This quarter’s report shows a small decline in the Trade Confidence Index of 1.02% on the previous quarter and 2.03% on Q1 2018, alongside a decline in export orders, cash flow and a fall in confidence regarding future exports. This paints a fairly bleak picture when the results are taken in isolation, however we’re all aware that uncertainty surrounding the Brexit negotiations was at its peak in Q1 2019.
“These results highlight how critical it is for businesses trading internationally to have information and clarity in advance of the 31 October deadline.
“Every day we witness the drive and creativity of UK businesses who prevail whatever the circumstances, and more than this, seize every opportunity for growth and global expansion. Exporting internationally can be challenging, but the rewards are clear, with those businesses exporting to a high number of countries outperforming the market. The UK has so many strong and inspirational companies that are succeeding and we must ensure that their growth is supported.”
Key findings from the report:
23% of exporting manufacturers and 20% of exporting service firms saw a decrease in exports orders in the first three months of the year, up from 18% and 16% respectively in the previous quarter
Nearly a quarter of exporters reported a decrease in cashflow, 24% in manufacturing and 23% in services say it had decreased in the previous three months
Confidence in turnover also dipped, with 22% of exporting manufacturers expecting it to worsen in the coming year (up from 14% in the previous quarter) and 18% in services (up from 13%)
Two-thirds of exporting manufacturers (66%) and nearly a half (47%) of exporting service firms are more concerned about exchange rates than in the previous quarter
Half (49%) of exporting manufacturers expect to increase prices, unchanged from the previous quarter, and 42% of service firms (up from 39%). The cost of raw materials remains the primary cause of cost pressure (79%) for manufacturing firms
The percentage of exporters attempting to recruit fell in both sectors, from 68% to 63% in manufacturing and from 57% to 51% in services. The percentage reporting recruitment difficulties remained very high: 79% in manufacturing and 72% in services
The BCC/DHL Trade Confidence Index, a measure of the volume of trade documentation issued nationally, fell by 1.02% on the quarter and 2.03% compared to Q1 2018.
The annual Tech Nation Report has been the UK’s state of the nation on tech since 2015. Each year the report provides a comprehensive look into the evolution of the UK’s tech ecosystem, exploring the drivers that underpin and power economic growth within the sector.
Norwich and the East of England have contributed to the report since it’s beginning, helping to provide a report to Government ministers, policy makers and international business leaders.
The Tech Nation Report 2019 delivered some good news for the East of England and Tech East. For the first time since 2016, the East of England is grouped together. You will recall that when the Tech East manifesto was published in 2016 one of the 3 corporate goals was to be recognised as a top 5 UK Tech Cluster by 2020. Based on the stats from each regional page (on the assumption that these are accurate) we’ve beaten that target a year early!
Speaking on the 2019 report, UK Prime Minister, Rt Hon Theresa May MP, commented: “The UK is a global tech powerhouse. I am immensely proud of our country’s ambitious tech scaleups. These companies are delivering significant economic value to the nation through the investment they raise, the jobs they create and the innovative products and services they deliver.”
Key Stats from the 2019 report:
4th – The UK is fourth in the world for scaleup investment after US, China and India
2.5x – Scaleup tech investment 2.5x higher than expected based on the relative size of the UK economy
£6.3bn – Total 2018 venture capital investment in UK tech topped £6bn, more than any other European country
5% – The UK remains hotbed for tech talent, employing 5% of all high-growth tech workers globally, placing the UK ahead of Japan, France and India
35% – To date, 35% of Europe and Israel’s tech unicorns ($1bn valued businesses) have been created in the UK
1st – The UK leads the rest of the world in fintech – investment in high-growth fintech firms achieves £4.5bn between 2015 and 2018