Chamber News

On Wednesday 27 February we booked out the top floor of Bill’s Norwich for a sold out networking breakfast. With over 85 businesses joining us in the newly refurbished restaurant, and different menu options to awaken the taste buds.  The morning started with coffee of course, followed by some networking time between attendees. On arrival, we gave each delegate a sticker with a name on. This name then paired up with another in the room, for example if you had salt, you would have to find pepper. The activity got delegates mixed around and meeting businesses they may not have met before.  It was then time to sit down for breakfast, with Full English, vegetarian, vegan and the healthy option of avocado on toast dishes flowing out of the kitchen. Conversations carried on over breakfast filling Bill’s with a great atmosphere.  When everyone was full we welcomed our guest speaker James Groves of Indigo Swan. James joined us to give his top five tips to embed a positive culture in your workplace. James’ top tips were: 1. Remember that culture is not just felt internally, but externally as well 2. Live your values – it’s not just words 3. Walk the walk, don’t just talk the talk 4. Show you care about your people personally 5. Enjoy what you do! After answering some questions from the audience with fellow swans Tom, Alex and Aimee, James left the audience with a final question – ‘when is the best time to plant a tree?’. The answer; 20 years ago. Given that none of us have a time machine handy, James emphasised how you can’t go back, but you can start now.  Our next Norwich event is our Wine Tasting at HarperWells! Make sure you join us to socialise among the business community over wine tasting and cheese boards. Click here for more details.

Commenting ahead of today’s Cabinet meeting and the Prime Minister’s statement to the House of Commons on the Brexit negotiations, Dr Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“At this pivotal moment, the government must take decisive steps to avoid the damage that a messy and disorderly exit would cause to business and the economy in just a month’s time. 

“It is time to be honest. Government and its agencies are not prepared for a ‘no deal’ exit on 29th March. Neither are many businesses. 

“The overriding priority must be to assure businesses, employees, investors and communities that an unwanted ‘no deal’ scenario will not be allowed to happen by default on March 29th.”

Commenting on the Prime Minister’s statement to the House of Commons on the next steps in the Brexit process, Nova Fairbank, Head of Policy for Norfolk Chambers of Commerce said:

“While this is a giant political leap for the Prime Minister, this is only a small step towards the clarity and precision that businesses need to chart their future direction.

“The overriding priority is still to assure businesses and communities that an unwanted ‘no deal’ scenario will not happen by default on March 29th.

“Businesses still need to ensure they are preparing for all possible scenarios and government and its agencies must provide clear, precise and accurate information for all eventualities.”

The Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has now advised that they will no longer be legalising Certificates of Origins and Invoices.

Commenting on this change, Julie Austin, International Trade Manager for Norfolk Chamber said: 

“Many importers still request that the documents from UK should be legalised by the Saudi Arabian Embassy to secure payments and meet contractual terms.  As such, the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce is lobbying the Embassy to try to reverse this decision.  The Embassy have confirmed that they are looking into this matter.

“In the meantime all pending documents are being returned until the issue is resolved, in the meantime the Arab-British Chamber will continue to certify documents only.

“If you have any concerns or would like more information, please contact our international team on 01603 729706 or [email protected].”

Blaze A Trail

How you can get involved and support National Apprenticeship week is fast approaching, it’s great if you and your business can get involved. This year’s theme is “Blaze a Trail.” The aim of the campaign is to shine a spotlight on apprenticeships and the fact they can be a great path for people at any stage of their career.

If you are keen to get involved with this week. Click on this link for more information and a toolkit too.  https://bit.ly/2Te4ZAR

Commenting on the latest update to existing trade agreements if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, Dr Adam Marshall, Director General at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“The lack of progress revealed today is an incredibly disappointing, though not unexpected admission. This is unfortunately yet another example where politicians have overpromised and underdelivered – and it is businesses and consumers both at home and abroad that will pay the price.

“The British Chambers of Commerce has warned government for over two years that the replication of EU trade agreements would not be easy. We have also warned politicians that some trading businesses don’t even know they are benefiting from the provisions of these agreements, and will be surprised to see their costs going up or their products treated differently overseas in the unwanted event of ‘no deal’ on 29 March.

“There are firms now who have shipped their products to important overseas markets like South Korea whose customers may now face higher costs and new administrative burdens and purchases languishing at the dock after 29 March. UK firms and their partners have spent time building strong business relationships and will not appreciate sudden and expensive changes in trading arrangements.

“It’s time for government to work far more closely with business communities to ensure that more existing agreements are rolled over and their benefits to businesses and consumers preserved. The best way to do this in the first instance is to avoid a messy and disorderly exit from the EU on 29 March – which would see the terms of trade for some businesses worsen overnight.”

Second annual event highlights the success stories of the district

The second North Norfolk Business Awards were held on the evening of Thursday 21 February 2019, with two dozen of the district’s businesses winning plaudits for their success.

The awards, organised by North Norfolk District Council and held at Gresham’s School, saw awards presented in eight main categories, as well as a Chairman’s Award, which was presented for the first time this year.

The winners were:

• Agriculture, Horticulture & Countryside, in association with Lovewell Blake: Crop Systems
• Business Growth, in association with FOUR: Crisp Malt
• Environment, in association with Fakenham Racecourse: MarGins Walking and Glamping Holidays
• Innovation, in association with Archant: Chell Instruments
• New Business, in association with Eastlaw: Archangel Distilleries
• Small Business, in association with MENTA: The Norfolk Brewhouse
• Tourism & Hospitality, in association with Thursford: Norfolk Cottages
• Young People & Skills, in association with New Anglia LEP: Holkham Estate
• Chairman’s Award: Oyster Yachts

Presenting the awards evening was Norfolk Chamber’s Chief Executive, Chris Sargisson.  He said:

“I was delighted to be able to join this celebration of the best in business. The quality of entries was fantastic and showed just what a thriving district North Norfolk is.”

Cllr Sarah Butikofer, Leader of North Norfolk District Council, said:

“It was a tremendous night and it was great to see so many businesses from our district doing well.

“The quality of all the shortlisted businesses was inspiring, and demonstrated just how many success stories we have in North Norfolk.”

If you are an SME with a logistics function and feel that your data could be working better for you there are free to access grants available to strengthen your position. 

TALE (Transport and Logistical Efficiencies) targets SMEs with a logistics function – this includes freight transport, warehousing, manufacturing, distribution and a wide range of commercial services – TO MAKE YOUR DATA WORK FOR YOU. TALE can help your company to manage its data systems to improve profit margins and reduce costs. We offer a free 1:1 diagnostic session where one of our Business Support Facilitators would come and visit you and get to know everything about your business (your position in the market, future ambitions etc.) and suggest opportunities for support as well as help you shape a project you may already have in mind to improve how you use your data or your use of technology.

TALE offers: (1) Workshops delivering practical advice on ways to improve your performance, topics include Customer Insights, Cyber Security, Operations, Business Intelligence and Digital Strategy. (2) Grants to contribute towards your individual company’s data project – for example updating software or launching a new product. TALE grants offers up to £60,000 towards an individual company’s data project – for example hiring a consultant, updating/purchasing software and/or employing someone to do a logistics or data-based role associated with the project you are implementing. Grants aim to assist your company’s growth plans and can contribute 40% of total project cost and are non-repayable. For more information please visit www.tale.org.uk

Norwich City Council have released their latest economic barometer. The report highlighted:

Locally

• Castle Mall Shopping Centre are looking to welcome PureGym and a bowling alley in the next few months
• Profit warnings from stock-exchange quoted companies from the East of England rose in the last year
• Norwich is now in the top 10 least affordable cities for housing according to a Lloyds Banking Group Report
• Norwich Market was named the best large outdoor market in the country in the Great British Market Awards 2019

Nationally

• The Bank of England expects growth this year to be the slowest since 2009
• Business growth activity in the tech sector declined towards the end of 2018, with Brexit and global trade frictions being cited
• The British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported sales increases in January for their members – helped by higher spending on food and New Year price cutting.
• Manufacturing had lacklustre output and new orders slowed at the start of 2019

For full details of the latest economic barometer click here.

Norfolk businesses urgently need answers to the many no-deal Brexit scenario questions.  Today, Norfolk Chamber has officially written to all our MPs asking for their support in Westminster to get answers to those questions.

• Brandon Lewis – MP for Great Yarmouth
• Chloe Smith – MP for Norwich North
• Clive Lewis – MP for Norwich South
• Elizabeth Truss – MP for South West Norfolk
• George Freeman – MP for Mid Norfolk 
• Sir Henry Bellingham – MP for North West Norfolk
• Keith Simpson – MP for Broadland
• Norman Lamb – MP for North Norfolk  
• Richard Bacon – MP for South Norfolk  

Each MP will receive a letter with the below text, together with a list of the unanswered questions:

“I write today on behalf of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce and the business communities across Norfolk to highlight the critical questions that remain unanswered for business in the unwelcome event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on March 29.

To be clear, UK businesses do not want a messy and disorderly exit from the EU. However, given that ‘no-deal’ remains a possibility, firms need clear answers on the terms of trade they would face in that scenario.

With less than two months to go, businesses still do not have the information they need to plan effectively for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement and transition period. Many of the most basic questions remain unanswered, and we have set these out in the document attached.

Norfolk Chamber has been working closely with the British Chambers of Commerce and have campaigned strongly for official guidance – and we have, where possible, welcomed the technical notices, partnership packs and other details of ‘no-deal’ planning as a result.

Yet there are still many areas where businesses have no firm guidance at all. This is especially true in the case of international trade, where the bulk of the questions attached outline the many uncertainties faced by business in this scenario.

Questions include, will businesses be able to move skilled staff members between the UK and the EU after 29 March and if so, under what conditions? And will existing trade agreements be rolled over or replaced on a bilateral basis in time to prevent the loss of preferences and customs facilitations?

Many of the unanswered questions reflect fundamental aspects of how companies operate. For instance, the terms of trade agreements can affect pricing decisions, margins and even choice of business location and the geography of supply chains. The absence of clarity and precision has already stifled investment and growth and it is getting worse the closer we get, resulting in unnecessary costs, inability to plan and, increasingly, loss of business as customers look elsewhere.

It is clear that the UK is not prepared for a ‘no deal’ exit from the EU on March 29. Firms are being asked to prepare for all scenarios but simply aren’t being given the tools to do so.

On behalf of Norfolk Chamber and the business community, we ask that you raise this with the Government as a matter of urgency and consider the steps that you can take to avoid ‘no deal’ on 29th March.”

Commenting on the labour market figures for February 2019, published today by the ONS, Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“The fall in unemployment and strong employment levels are further evidence that the UK jobs market remains resilient, with firms continuing to recruit despite an increasingly challenging economic backdrop.

“With earnings growth holding steady, the gap between pay and price growth remains significant, providing some welcome respite to financially stretched households. However, the uplift to consumer spending from the recent improvement in real pay growth is likely to be limited by weak consumer confidence and high household debt levels.

“The increase in the number of vacancies to a new record high confirms that labour and skills shortages are set to remain a significant a drag on business activity for some time to come, impeding UK growth and productivity. 

“It is therefore vital that with less than 40 days to go until the UK is scheduled to exit the EU, businesses urgently get the clarity they need on the key unanswered questions in a ‘no deal’ scenario, including the information they to need to plan for their own workforce needs such as how firms can move skilled staff between the UK and EU in the unwelcome event of a messy and disorderly Brexit on March 29.”

Commenting on the productivity statistics, Suren added:

“The decline in productivity in the final quarter of 2018 was disappointing and reflected the marked slowdown of GDP growth in the quarter. 

“Sluggish productivity is a key concern for the UK economy as it continues to limit the UK’s growth potential and reflects the continued failure to tackle longstanding issues in our economy, from weak business investment, the growing skills gap to chronic underinvestment in our physical and digital infrastructure. Regardless of what happens with Brexit, addressing these vital issues would help drive the productivity gains needed to lift the UK’s long-term growth prospects.”

Now is your chance to have your say on the draft Economic strategy 2019 – 2024 for Norwich City Council. 

The aim of the 2019-2024 economic strategy is to provide the framework and ambition that will direct the actions the City Council and its partners will take to achieve increased economic productivity and a prosperous, resilient and inclusive economy.

The draft strategy has been informed by the 2018 Norwich Economic Assessment and also takes into account the recent work undertaken by the 2040 Vision partnership to develop a new vision for Norwich.

Having read the draft strategy you can have your say on it by completing the online survey by Thursday 21 March 2019.

Your feedback will help shape the economic strategy and develop annual action plans.  Norwich City Council are planning to publish a final document during April 2019.

Have your say now.