Chamber News

By Chris Sargisson, Chief Executive, Norfolk Chambers of Commerce and our member – Tiger Eye!

How appropriate. In last month’s EDP Chambers column, we put a call out to the business community asking for their input to turn ‘my’ column into ‘your’ column.  We wanted to hear about the amazing things that businesses are doing and to hear their ideas on thought leadership.  One of the first companies to respond was Tiger Eye.  The column was published in the EDP today (Wednesday 03 April).  So here we are in the first of our new columns (the last with my name under the headline) and the subject that’s come into focus is……change.

Dave Wilson, Managing Director of Chambers member, Tiger Eye, was among the first to respond to my previous column in which I launched the opportunity for members to express themselves, and share opinions.

As a software solutions provider Tiger Eye is constantly facing the challenge of how to provide something new; in other words to deliver the necessary change.

One of the biggest challenges in that, says Dave, is ‘teaching our peers that for tech to advance, grow and produce change, it needs to work for people. It needs to enhance the lives of those who use it – not work against them’.

Putting people first, and getting them to work together is, in Dave’s opinion, as vital in the digital age as it’s ever been. It’s all about those two key groups of people. The staff and the customers.

Dave Wilson has always admired Anita Roddick. ‘She went into business to generate income, yes, but her goal, of giving customers exactly what they wanted was admirable. And she insisted on delivering quality products. She cared about customers’.

Someone else who has inspired Dave is his own father who always advised that you should ‘treat others the way you would expect to be treated yourself’. It’s a timeless sentiment and directly applicable to business.

Dave Wilson sees his people as the beating heart of his business and describes them as being the ‘wow factor’. That’s something that only comes with putting people first.

Which squares the circle with Dave’s initial point. We have to embrace change and make it happen. When it comes to technology those  changes have to be implemented in a way that improves things for people.

There’s no need to spell out the ‘changes’ going on at the moment. We’re all familiar with them. We may not know yet what the end result will look like but if there is one thing we are sure of it’s the uncertainty that’s been generated by such significant change. New tech solutions will be needed to enable businesses to survive and perform better.

Crucially, that tech needs to be delivered in a way that’s people friendly. It needs to be designed to help and enhance the lives of the workforce. Otherwise, the change is not worth making.

It’s a fascinating point and it chimes well with the changes that we as Chambers are making. Among those changes is of course making this column perform as the voice of Chambers members. Dave Wilson has given us a spirited start. Let’s hear from more of you now, because yours are the informed and relevant voices of commerce. And they must be heard.

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Commenting on the Prime Minister’s announcement she will seek to extend the Brexit deadline, Dr Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: 

 “The clock is still ticking, and avoiding a messy and disorderly exit from the EU is still the top priority for our business communities. The government must take firm action, now,  to ensure that this is not allowed to happen by default. 

 “Yet businesses need to see outcomes, not just more process. On-going uncertainty is having a real and negative impact on business confidence and investment all across the UK. Our own quarterly survey of businesses, the biggest independent survey in the UK, is concrete evidence of this – with the worst figures across the board in nearly a decade.

 “The Prime Minister may have issued a revised road map, but business communities still have little sense of the destination. It’s like being asked to follow a sat-nav to an unknown location – with the nagging worry that the directions may yet lead to a cliff.”

The British Chambers of Commerce’s quarterly economic survey – the largest private sector survey of business sentiment and leading indicator of UK GDP growth – found that key indicators of UK economic health weakened considerably in the first quarter of 2019. 

• The balance of UK services firms reporting a rise in export sales at its lowest level in a decade
• The balance of UK firms reporting improved cashflow turned negative for the first time since 2012 – in Norfolk since 2017
• Investment intentions in both Norfolk’s manufacturing and services sectors at lowest level since 2016

Against a backdrop of a slowing global economy, escalating Brexit uncertainty, and rises in business costs as the UK enters a new tax year, the latest results from the survey of over 7,000 businesses, including those in Norfolk – all collectively employing around one million people – reflect a deterioration in many gauges of the UK’s economic strength. 

In the services sector, the percentage balance of UK firms reporting an increase in export sales stood at zero, its weakest level since 2009 and the orders balance turned negative (more firms reporting that orders have decreased than those reporting an increase) for the first time in eight years. In Norfolk, the service sector balances remained weak, but with a small increase to take them out of negative territory (Export sales rose from -5 to +4 and orders from -9 to +7.   The balance of firms reporting improved domestic sales and orders also weakened significantly in the quarter.  However taking East of England as a whole, the service sector balances for both home and export sales and orders fell drastically – all into negative balances – much greater than the national balances.

Among Norfolk manufacturers, the results remained mixed.  The percentage of firms reporting an increase in domestic sales and orders rose but the results remained weaker than the previous two years of results.  Export sales fell, but orders, rose slightly but overall remained weak.  The East of England manufacturers saw both home and export orders and sales all fall considerably – to much lower levels than the national totals.

The balance of Norfolk firms reporting improved cashflow – a key indicator of business health – and which has been declining over recent years, has now gone into negative territory with the exception of Norfolk’s manufacturers, who reported a slight increase from +21 to +26. 

The lack of clarity over the UK’s future relationship with the EU is continuing to weigh on investment intentions in both the manufacturing and services sectors. The balance of Norfolk firms who looked to invest in either plant and machinery or training dropped in both sectors to their lowest level since 2016. Business confidence in profitability and turnover also deteriorated sharply in the quarter.

Norfolk Chambers has been calling for an end to the relentless uncertainty, which as the latest results from the long-standing business survey highlight, has damaged the confidence and investment plans of business communities. Westminster must ensure that a messy and disorderly exit is avoided and provide firms with certainty on future conditions to prevent further declines. To kickstart strong growth in the economy, government must return its attention and energy to removing barriers to growth in the domestic environment.

Ill-timed increases in business costs – including compliance with Making Tax Digital, higher business rates for some firms, increased employer pension contribution requirements, and more – are also raising costs pressures for companies across the UK at a time when government should be looking to reduce rather than increase burdens.

Commenting on the Norfolk results, Nova Fairbank, Head of Policy at Norfolk Chambers of Commerce said:

“The findings should serve as a clear warning that the ongoing impasse at Westminster is contributing to a sharp slowdown in the real economy across Norfolk. Business is hitting the brakes – hard.

“These are some of the weakest figures we’ve seen in nearly a decade, and that’s no coincidence. The prospect of a messy and disorderly exit from the EU is weighing heavily on our local economy, and must still be avoided. The unwanted prospect of a disorderly ‘no deal’ exit, and the serious damage and dislocation it would bring, is still just days away unless Parliament acts to avoid it.

“At the same time that firms are having to enact costly contingency plans, the cost of doing business here in the UK continues to rise. This week sees a new tax year with a number of changes adding to the upfront cost of doing business in the UK, including the introduction of Making Tax Digital and changes to auto-enrolment, leaving many firms facing more bureaucracy and new expenses. It beggars belief that ministers are piling on more and more costly obligations at a time that businesses are already having to cope with Brexit and uncertainty.

“For too long Brexit tunnel-vision has distracted government from fixing the fundamentals to support growth here in the UK. We need to see an increased focus on creating the conditions for business success here at home – including concerted efforts to plug growing labour shortages, delivering an immigration policy that works for business and speeding up physical and digital infrastructure projects.”

Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“Our latest survey suggests that UK growth nearly ground to a halt in the first quarter of 2019, with increasing anxiety over Brexit and weakening global economic conditions driving a significant deterioration in almost all the key indicators in the quarter.

“The services sector suffered the more substantial loss of momentum in the first quarter with both domestic and international activity slowing sharply in the quarter. The manufacturing sector continues to struggle amid tougher global and domestic trading conditions and rising cost pressures. The marked decline in the export indicators in both sectors suggests that net trade is likely to have been a drag on UK GDP growth in Q1. The deterioration in cash flow is concerning as it can leave firms more vulnerable to external shocks, including disruptions to supply chains.

“The forward-looking indicators are disappointingly downbeat with weakening orders, confidence and investment intentions pointing to precious little growth over the coming quarters, unless substantial action is taken.”

Key findings in the Q1 2019 survey:

Norfolk Manufacturing sector:

• The balance of firms reporting increased domestic sales rose from 0 to +26, while those reporting improved domestic orders also rose from +0 to +41
• The balance of firms reporting improved export sales fell from +43 to +31, and the balance of firms reporting improved export orders rose very slightly from +43 to +46
• The balance of firms reporting improved cashflow remained weak, but rose from +21 to +26
• The percentage of firms attempting to recruit fell from 74% to 57%, the weakest since Q4 2012. Of those, 92% reported recruitment difficulties, close to its record high
• The balance of firms increasing investment in plant/machinery rose in the quarter from +16 to +18, while investment in training fell from +42 and +23
• The balance of firms confident that turnover and profitability will increase in the next 12 months was mixed – falling from +32 to +30 for turnover and rising from +11 to +23 for profitability

Norfolk Services sector:

• The balance of firms reporting increased domestic sales fell from +21 to +9, the weakest since Q3 2016. Those reporting improved domestic orders fell from +15 to -2
• The balance of firms reporting improved export sales, whilst still weak, reported an increase from -5 to +4 and export orders rose from -9 to +7
• The balance of firms reporting improved cashflow dropped in negative territory – falling from +8 to -10
• The percentage of firms looking to recruit fell to 53%. Of those, 79% had recruitment difficulties – a little higher than the previous quarter
• The balance of firms looking to increase investment in plant and machinery fell from +9 to +6 (weakest since Q4 2016), and from +20 to +16 in training
• The balance of firms confident that turnover will improve over the next year remained static, whilst those who thought profitability would improve dropped from +24 to +14

Last night we hosted our first Wine Tasting evening with HarperWells – and what a great evening it was! 

As an almost sold out event, it gave the perfect opportunity to meet with our new members, catch up with existing ones and make new businesses connections.

The evening started with an extra dry prosecco from Italy on arrival, to the cleanse the pallet. Brian Sullivan from HarperWells gave a brief description of the wines that we were tasting; Two Whites, an Albarino from Spain (2017 Ramon Bilbao) and a French 2017 Domaine De La Guicharde. Then on the three reds, chosen by the HarperWell’s professionals, 2017 Malbec from Argetina, a 2017 Negromamaro/Primitivo from Italy,and lastly 2011 Ramon Bilbao, a Rioja from Spain! 

Whilst the group were networking, the amazing HarperWell’s staff we’re coming by pouring firstly the white wines and then followed the reds! This allowed the room to network freely, and of course, help ourselves to the beautifully presented ‘cheeses, breads, olives and oils’. 

All the wines complimented the delicious cheeses perfectly and we want to extended our gratitude to Brian and Samuel, the amazing wine experts of HarperWells, for putting together such a wonderful evening!

Our next evening event is a free to attend event with Coleman Opticians, there will be wine and cocktails, and a behind the scenes of optometry; for more information click here

Talking Tech is Norfolk Chambers’ flagship technology conference, held annually in September at The Space, Norwich. This September it will return on Wednesday 18th, 9am – 2pm with a mixture of keynote speakers and panel discussions designed to inspire and enlighten a business audience of 180+. Rewind to 2018 where we opened an application process for the first time for those wishing to speak at the event. The application process allowed experts among the tech community to come forward and highlight topics ‘trending’ in the sector. Half of the Talking Tech speaker line up in 2018 came from the applications, and with such a high success rate we’ve opened it again for 2019’s conference.  This year’s event theme is all about busting myths. We want to look at the rumours and myths surrounding technology in the workplace and highlight the truth, be it positive or negative. If ‘Every Business Is Becoming a Technology Business’ what myths and barriers hinder that transition?  You can apply to speak on our website, this will then be submitted for review. Once applications close in early May all applicants will be contacted the outcome of their application. Talks need to be inspiring and informative, and must not be a sales pitch for you or your business. Apply now to be in with the chance of joining us on the big stage with an audience of over 180 local businesses! Apply here.   Talking Tech 2019 is sponsored by Breakwater IT. Sponsorship and exhibition opportunities are available.

After much speculation we are pleased to finally reveal the new home for our flagship event, The B2B Exhibition, will be…… Norfolk Showground! Taking place annually for 20 years now, B2B will be moving to a new home on Thursday 17 October 2019 after years of sold out exhibition floor at Norwich City Football Club.  With a new venue comes plenty of new opportunities for businesses across Norfolk and beyond. “The move to Norfolk Showground is so important for B2B to continue to grow and make its mark not only on Norfolk, but across the borders. The show has been a sell out for 4 years now and we don’t want to turn anyone away from taking part in this showcase of brilliant Norfolk businesses. Norfolk Showground not only offers us a fantastic space, but opportunities to push the boundaries of what the show can offer.” – Sam Brown, Conference & Events Manager With Norfolk Showground situated just off the A47, there is great access meaning the exhibition opens up to businesses across the region. We want to see more businesses from areas outside of Norwich exhibiting to help us make this a showcase of the region’s best.  For the first time we will be introducing a limited number of shell-scheme stands. These stands will allow the businesses who book them to create their own booths and really make the space their own.  As well as all this we’ve also introduced new sponsorship packages to maximise visibility at the show, and we’ve been working with Naked Element to build bespoke booking software, allowing businesses to book their stands with total ease.  General stand sales will begin on Monday 1 April.  The B2B Exhibition 2019 will take place at Norfolk Showground on Thursday 17th October 2019, 10am – 4pm. The B2B Exhibition is sponsored by MIGSOLV. For sponsorship opportunities, please click here.

It was a fantastic to start to last week, with our CEO Chris heading over to the International Aviation Academy at Norwich airport. Where he visited Adrian Leatherland from The Aviation Skills Partnership. Adrian, Head of Academies and Hubs was officially welcomed to the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce on Monday afternoon and wow, we couldn’t have asked for a more impressive backdrop for our photo gallery! We are thrilled to have the ASP on board, sharing their vision of support and connectivity. As an independent organisation they are dedicated to making the aviation industry accessible to all via their comprehensive Pathways and Programmes covering the six areas of Aviation: 1.       Engineering & Maintenance 2.       Professional Pilot 3.       Air traffic control 4.       Airport operations 5.       Operations and crewing 6.       Cabin Crew If working in aviation seems a far-away dream, Adrian and his colleagues work tirelessly to guide you through training programmes, degree courses – whatever it takes whether it’s advice, resources, connections, and support you need – no matter where you come from or where you want to go, they’ll  find the pathway that’s right for you. We look forward to supporting the team at the ASP and working with them in 2019.

A recent trade mission from Norfolk and Suffolk visited the South West and toured Hinkley Point C in Somerset.  It rapidly became apparent, based on that visit, the scale of the potential of the opportunities for local businesses from the construction of a similar project at Sizewell C, just over the border in Suffolk.

The Hinkley Point C site was huge.  They were just reaching the end of the earthworks stage and they had already turned a valley into a hill, with the backfilled earth; had nearly 3,000 workers on site; and 13 tower cranes.  Together with a whole traffic lighted transport system, including 122 park and ride buses servicing the site each day.  Nearly 50% of the workforce were local to the region and it is anticipated that over the lifetime of the project, the average of local workforce would be about 35%.

Throughout the overall project, they expect to move 5.6 million cubic metres of earth; award £1.5 billion of contracts to South West companies; lay 4,000km of electrical cabling; and have 52 tower cranes on site.  Overall, the completed nuclear power station will generate 7% of the UK’s electricity.

It is clear that the project at Sizewell C will have huge opportunities for local businesses from groundworks, to catering, electrical and mechanical engineering through to senior scientists.  But as a region we must start now to ensure we are ready to take advantage of the opportunity.

So what steps can you take now?

Register your interest in the Sizewell C supply chain

Want to know more – hear from the organisations that went on the trade mission

This month, Philippa Bindley, Head of Customer Experience at Norfolk Chamber of Commerce met with Fiona Brown, CEO of OpenContact to find out their exciting plans for the year ahead.

Norwich-based outsource contact centre business OpenContact formed in 2000 and have been members of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce from day one. They boast an impressive client list of both national and local brands including; The View from The Shard, Go Ape, & The Cotswold Company to name just a few.

This year they are embarking on an exciting new chapter after an eventful, and at times challenging, 2018.

A fresh start to 2019 for OpenContact follows a year which saw them move from their previous premises on Rountree Way to Norfolk Tower on Surrey Street in a bid to attract and secure the best talent for the future. In addition, the new premises has allowed the business to design an attractive working environment with a future-proof technical infrastructure. 

CEO Fiona Temple said “Being located in the city centre will give us access to a greater talent pool so we can develop our service offering to clients and respond to the evolving needs of consumers.  As self-service and AI gain a larger share of the customer service space, when customers do need to interact with humans the issues tend to be more complex, and as an outsourcer we need to react to this by employing the best skills to deliver a great customer experience.”

2018 also brought tragedy to OpenContact when their founder and former Chairman Ron Pollin sadly passed away after a short battle with cancer.  Ron, who was also Fiona Temple’s father, was a prominent businessman in Norwich for over 25 years, having previously been a partner in advertising firm Barlett Jones Pollin before founding OpenContact in 2000.

Fiona says “Last year was challenging and eventful and I am incredibly proud of the team for building some strong foundations upon which we can achieve our ambitious growth plans and continue my Dad’s legacy of delivering excellent service for our clients and their customers.”

As part of moving on and making a fresh start OpenContact has recently completed a full rebrand including a new logo and imaging as well as a full redesign of the company’s website in line with their values and purpose of “making people smile”. 

The rebrand and new website was designed by former EDP Small business of the year winners, Naked Marketing who are based in Hingham, Norfolk.

On the rebrand Fiona said “Contact Centres don’t normally make people smile but we set ourselves apart from the rest of the industry by ensuring every interaction we have with our client’s customers is positive and reassuring, creating a great customer experience which builds brand loyalty and sales.”

OpenContact provides outsourced customer contact solutions for call handling, email, web chat and social media across a number of industry sectors including travel, leisure, retail and financial services, and this was a key part of the rebranding brief. OpenContact hold being chameleonic as one of their core values which means that they can adapt to the various different environments of clients’ industries and deliver solutions that meet their needs. Their branding uses the colours of the chameleon to reflect their flexibility and adaptability.

To find out more information about OpenContact visit their website: https://www.opencontact.co.uk

If you’ve ever been to Barnham Broom Hotel you’ll know how beautiful it is, especially in the glorious sunshine. We were lucky enough to hold the very first event in their newly refurbished Barford Suite on Wednesday 20th March and it did not disappoint. We had over 80 delegates in attendance for our first South Norfolk Breakfast of the year.

The morning was very kindly sponsored by Norfolk County Council who were also presenting on improving Norfolk’s infrastructure. Our speakers were David Allfrey, Infrastructure Delivery Manager, and Chris Fernandez, Norwich Western Link Project Manager, from Norfolk County Council.

David gave an excellent overview of the importance of investing in Norfolk’s transport infrastructure (something that is very close to many of our delegates’ hearts) and an update on the Council’s priority projects. He also touched on the Transforming Cities Fund, its goals, and where the funding is coming from; as well as the improvements being made to the A47.

Chris then took over the mantle and concentrated specifically on the Norwich Western Link which will see the A47 linked to the western end of the Broadland Northway (formally the NDR). He highlighted the issues currently faced by those using the transport links around Norwich and the benefits to business including: improving access to employment areas, cutting travel times and fuel costs for haulage and distribution, and alleviating congestion among others. Chris then went on to outline the route options that the council is considering for the project and the impact each option would have.

It was a very informative morning and there were a number of questions from delegates including around what the council is doing about public transport links and how this will work with the improvements being made. To keep updated about the Norwich Western Link please go to www.norfolk.gov.uk/nwl.

We were very pleased to have the National Centre for Writing as our featured charity and they were running a competition for a delegate and a group from their company to win a guided tour of the historic Dragon Hall where they’re based.

Our next networking breakfast in South Norfolk is on Thursday June 13th, find out more here.

Reacting to the latest Brexit developments, Dr Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:

“Are people and businesses tired and frustrated after three years of constant Brexit drama? Of course. ‪But is being fed up a valid reason for Westminster to put people’s livelihoods and our communities on the block in a messy and disorderly exit on March 29th? Absolutely not.

“The question on the minds of everyone in business in the UK is: now what? Our future is no clearer today than it was weeks, even months ago. And that is unacceptable.”

Could you be a Future50 2019 business? The search is on for the brightest sparks on East Anglia’s business scene.

The Future50 campaign has seen its former members turn from start-ups to multi-million pound businesses, and its partners are on the hunt for the next big thing. Applications are now open for businesses to apply to the Future50 2019 cohort.

The Future50 project, which identifies and supports 50 businesses from across Norfolk and Suffolk, has launched its 2019 campaign.

Over the coming weeks, businesses of all sizes and types will be reviewed by a panel of judges until the final cut is revealed.

From there, they will be offered access to exclusive events that will provide unique access to business innovators and champions, as well as development of a peer group that provides support, learning and trading opportunities.

On top of this, Future50 firms will receive multimedia exposure via Archant media channels, as well as regular updates on topical business issues and key local developments.

They will also be given access to business support through the partners and their networks to develop strategy, business plans and support implementation, access to finance and financial performance, as well as vital signposting to local and national funding opportunities to assist investment plans.

The project is sponsored by six of the region’s biggest business advocates: Barclays, the University of East Anglia, the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, solicitors Birketts, accountants Lovewell Blake and media organisation Archant.

To apply to be one of the Future50 2019 businesses visit: https://www.edp24.co.uk/business/future50