Chamber News

One of the biggest surveys of business intentions since the EU referendum has found that nearly two-thirds of firms still aren’t preparing for Brexit – and in the event of a ‘no deal’ outcome many would cut investment and recruitment plans.

With just six months to go before the UK leaves the EU, the British Chambers of Commerce is calling for UK ministers to redouble their efforts to reach an agreement with the EU – and ensure a transition period that could help firms prepare for change and prevent a slump in both investment and recruitment. The leading business group presses the need for clarity and precision so that firms can plan for the future with a degree of confidence.

• A fifth of businesses surveyed (21%) will cut investment if there is ‘no deal’, 20% will move part or all of their business to the EU and 18% will cut recruitment – but in the event of a status quo transition these numbers fall dramatically
• 62% of firms still haven’t completed a Brexit risk assessment

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), in partnership with independent business funder, Bibby Financial Services (BFS), has conducted one of the biggest surveys of business opinion, since the referendum, amassing the views of over 2,500 firms from across the UK and including those in Norfolk.

‘No deal’ will have real business consequences

Larger firms and those who are internationally active are the most exposed to the ramifications of ‘no deal’. 28% of firms with over 50 employees and 24% of those who export or import internationally say they would cut investment plans.

The fact that one in five businesses (20%) say in a ‘no deal’ scenario they would move part or all of their business to the EU27 is an important wake-up call – both on the need to agree an orderly exit from the EU and on the need for the UK government to enhance incentives for investment.

Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber said:

“Norfolk businesses are clear that reaching a deal with the EU, which addresses the future terms of trade and provides certainty, must be the government’s number one priority. “The evidence is clear – failure to reach a political agreement would have real-world consequences, with significant decreases in both investment and recruitment. Larger firms and those active in international trade would suffer the most from a disorderly and sudden exit from the EU, but there will be impacts across the board.”

Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce said:

“Most concerning of all, a significant number of businesses are considering moving part or all of their operations to the EU in the event of ‘no deal’. Government must act urgently and decisively to get a comprehensive deal done. They also need to use the levers they have, such as the upcoming Autumn Statement, to ensure they provide the right conditions for growth at home.”

Edward Winterton, UK CEO of Bibby Financial Services, added:

“After more than two years of uncertainty, SMEs need answers over the future of the UK’s relationship with the EU. Specifically, they want clarity around the Customs Union, access to the Single Market and further detail on the practicalities of implementing this historic change. The consequences of a ‘no deal’ outcome could be disastrous for the 5.7m SMEs in the UK – particularly for those buying and selling goods within the EU.”   

Businesses are unprepared for Brexit

The survey also highlights a concerning lack of Brexit preparation. According to the findings, 62% of UK firms have not done a risk assessment of the impact of Brexit to their business. The figures reflect a huge disparity between the preparations of the largest companies and their smaller counterparts. 69% of micro firms (those with 1-9 employees) have not completed an assessment, compared to 24% of firms with over 250 employees.

With six months to go until the UK leaves the EU, the BCC has found that many SMEs are either awaiting more clarity before they act, or are suffering from ‘Brexit fatigue’ and have switched off from the process because they don’t believe they will be affected. The BCC has created a checklist to help firms consider the changes Brexit may bring to their own firm, customers and suppliers, and to help them plan ahead. Accredited Chambers of Commerce stand ready to support them through the process.

Nova Fairbank added: “Too many businesses across Norfolk are still not ready for Brexit. Many smaller firms don’t have the capacity to scenario plan, don’t think they’ll be affected, or have simply switched off from the process altogether.

“With six months to go until the UK’s planned departure, Norfolk firms still don’t have answers from government to the most basic questions about future trading conditions. The BCC continues to track progress on the key business issues and their risk register shows sufficient progress has been made on only a handful of issues. With so much still unclear, a transition period is vital to allow all firms the time to acknowledge and prepare for change.”

Edward Winterton, UK CEO of Bibby Financial Services, said: “The businesses we work with tell us that they simply don’t have enough information to enable them to prepare for any of the potential outcomes of Brexit. This could negatively impact sales performance and output in the final quarter of the year, which is typically a peak trading period for many businesses throughout the country.”

Greater Norwich is one of 10 city areas that have made the shortlist for the Department of Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund, which would give Greater Norwich a huge boost for  public transport infrastructure.

The shortlist was announced by the Prime Minister, Theresa May.  She said:

“Our great cities and their suburbs are home to millions of people and world-beating businesses.  “We want to help them succeed, so as part of our modern Industrial Strategy we will fund £840 million of upgrades for better, safer, faster transport links.

“These improvements to vital infrastructure will help spread growth beyond London and empower local businesses to create more, better-paying jobs – opening up more opportunities to help people get on in life and be rewarded for their hard work.”

The announcement means that Transport for Norwich (TfN) is in line for a share of an £840m pot of money specifically for promoting intra-city connectivity – aiming to make it easier for people to access jobs, training and retail.

At the heart of the bid, which was put together in partnership between Norfolk, Norwich, Broadland District and South Norfolk councils, is a new high-quality, integrated public transport network for the area.

It highlights three strategic routes to support the Norwich Research Park, Broadland Business Park and the airport industrial estate, each with a focus on where they meet the city centre.

Smart ticketing, cleaner vehicles, real-time information and faster journey times are all features outlined in the vision for Greater Norwich.

Welcoming the news, Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber said:

“The shortlisting of Norwich for the Transforming Cities Fund shows that the government is taking our city’s economic potential seriously.  Further funding will deliver greater transport integration and help businesses driver greater economic growth and jobs for Norfolk.”

Councillor Martin Wilby, Chair of Norfolk County Council’s Environment, Development and Transport Committee, says:

“Greater Norwich is ready for significant investment in public transport so it’s fantastic news that we’ve been shortlisted. Funding through Transforming Cities would help us deliver the integrated network we need to support growth in homes, jobs and the local economy over the coming years.

“We can now look forward to working with the DfT and in collaboration with Transport for Norwich partners to transform how we travel in and around the city.”

The next stage of the process involves the DfT working closely with the TfN team to develop a detailed package of projects to take forward.

Final decisions on the amount of funding will be made once all successful applicants’ proposals have been assessed.

To download a copy of the Greater Norwich bid document, please visit www.norfolk.gov.uk/transformingcities.

Commenting on the latest tranche of technical notices to advise businesses in the event of a no-deal Brexit, Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber, said:

“While some Norfolk businesses will be reassured by some of the details in these notices, such as around IP protection and geographical indications, the admission that loss of market access is a possibility for others will be deeply unsettling to those affected. There will be major concerns in industries like aviation and road haulage that operate routinely across borders at European scale, that their markets will be fragmented by new licensing or regulatory frameworks.

“If the EU and the UK fail to reach a withdrawal agreement, businesses will urgently need comprehensive answers to the many outstanding questions on business continuity. The government must take every possible step to minimise the disruption and bureaucracy that could face firms in the future.”

For those of us in business in Norfolk – we know how successful the local business community is and we are very much aware of our future potential.  What we are not so good at, is shouting about those successes across the UK and around the world.  The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) Regional Business Awards presented a great opportunity for businesses across the Eastern Region to celebrate their success and show how good they were.  And we are delighted to announce that out of the eight categories, Norfolk businesses have been crowned regional winners in six of them.

Commenting on the success of Norfolk, Chris Sargisson, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:

“Norfolk Chamber strongly believes that our region has some of the finest businesses in the UK and we should be all be promoting them and our region to showcase Norfolk’s true business and economic potential.

“The Chamber Business Awards are a brilliant opportunity for our members to do exactly that and on a national stage.  Norfolk businesses were competing against 5 other counties and we are very proud to have six regional winners.

“We are looking forward to supporting our Norfolk regional winners at the national finals in November and hopefully seeing them win the national titles as well!”

The Eastern Region comprises of Norfolk, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex,  Hertfordshire and Suffolk and the winning award categories for Norfolk were:

• Best Use of Technology Award – Lintott Control Systems
• Export Business of the Year – Gnaw Chocolate
• Employer of the Year – Liftshare
• High Growth Business of the Year – Pruce Newman Pipework Ltd
• Small Business of the Year – Gnaw Chocolate
• Workplace Wellbeing Award – Larking Gowen LLP

The regional winners will now be invited to the BCC Gala Awards Dinner held on 29th November 2018, in London to compete against the other UK regions for the national crown. 

To view a full list of regional winners click here. 

This event certainly highlighted that the East of England is leading in the Tech revolution. With over twenty of the top industry thought leaders and revolutionaries in Norfolk joining us to share their knowledge and expertise. They gave us clear directions for now and the future, of how to expand our use of technology to support, develop, maintain and grow all our businesses in this accelerating environment. It was a really positive and energising day which helped to brush away to gloomy and negative myths about technology. There was a great buzz at the event with over 180 people attending from all different sectors, wanting to learn more about the current thinking and debates too. So many topics about the world of ‘tech’ were discussed, shared and highlighted. The event helped to break down the barriers to understanding about the new and current technologies, their uses, and how we can apply new technologies to develop our businesses to support, grow and upskill our workforce.   Chris Sargisson our Chief Executive, got the event off to a great start with the introduction of ‘A paper free event.’ This year is the first year the Chamber worked on creating a ‘paperless event’ with the support from Thyngs. All the event information is stored on a re-useble card for each delegate, then you swipe or use your phone camera and the key event information pops up on your phone – Brilliant! The first speaker of the morning was Mark Donaldson, CEO from Casade.bi. Mark’s talk was focused on ‘how to improve your business decisions’. He gave a number of really useful insights into how SME’s can and should embrace technology, as well as ensuring your workforce is supported with educated about technology and the key business goals. His four key tips 1. Customers 2. Products 3. Cash and 4. Pricing, were very useful to supporting and growing all sectors and SME’s.  Following on from this was the first panel discussion, on the topic of ‘Virtual and Augmented Reality,’ with Peter Brady, CEO of Orbital Media, Dr Sabar Sami, University of East Anglia, Ryan Baxter from Viewing and Matthew Martin, Immersive VR. This panel discussion provided a fascinating insight into how VR is being currently used to support in the healthcare industry with particular focus on its aid in dementia research and training surgeons. Our audience sent in their questions throughout the discussion using an online platform called Slido. This brought up other topics such as education, training, marketing, ethics and whether the panel believed VR was ‘all the hype’ or if it would never be fully adopted like the 3D TV. It was a unanimous agreement that VR and AR were here to stay, and grow.  After a great discussion, it was time to move the focus towards technology in marketing. Our second keynote speaker of the morning was Rebecca Lewis Smith, Co-founder and Managing Director of Fountain. Rebecca told the audience that “90% of the data that is currently in existence has been collected in the last two years”. She followed this by encouraging businesses to automate as much of their marketing as possible whilst making sure that the technology used is tied together. Ending her presentation Rebecca emphasised the need to keep measuring, improving and reviewing your marketing strategies, given the rapid changes to marketing tools.  Up next was Mark Cook. Mark is the Digital Marketing Director of Candour and his keynote presentation focused on search engines and the future of digital marketing. Looking back, Mark highlighted how Google is changing from a search engine to an answer engine. Using keywords from websites to create knowledge panels means that users don’t have to go to your website anymore to get the answer they’re looking for. Mark encouraged businesses to label their data for search engines using Schema; a collaborative community designed to structure data on the internet.  After a knowledge filled morning, our speakers and audience then took a break from the conference. This enabled them to not only process what they’d learnt so far, but to meet some of Norfolk’s brightest tech companies in our specialist exhibition. Our exhibitors this year were:

• Breakwater IT
• Barclays Eagle Labs
• Rebecca Osborne
• Zing Insights
• Spicule
• Empresa Limited
• CSSCloud
• Bigfork
• Computer Service Centre
• 101 Smart Ltd
• Aston Shaw
• Data Crush
• Red Shed Media
• Charterhouse Voice & Data

  Once all of our delegates were refreshed the main conference resumed. Host Chris Sargisson welcomed them back into the auditorium by making sure they were all awake with a quick tech themed quiz. The second panel discussion was then introduced bringing together Paul Grenyer CEO of Naked Element Ltd, James Gulliver Managing Director of Netmatters, Claire Riseborough founder of Step into Tech and Nicky Lawlor co-founder of Cyberfen to discuss and debate the tech skills gap and gender imbalance. The panel addressed the need to bridge the gap between education to higher education and work by creating a community to support young people with the right connections and support. The panel discussion then moved onto the gender imbalance in the industry, something both Nicky and Claire feel very strongly about. Nicky said “the root of the problem is the image of the industry. Women hear cyber security and imagine hoodies hunched over a laptop and armoured vehicles. Women can do the job, but it’s bringing in women.” From this, Claire added “you just have to go into a toy shop to see the problem. The mechanical, engineering todays are in the blue boy’s aisle, and the girls is full of domestic games and dolls in the pink aisle.”  Continuing the theme of educating young people, our next speaker was Katherine Wood, CEO and co-founder of Phonics Hero. Katherine’s talk concentrated on how she took her offline company, online. Giving an insight into how Phonics Hero starts, Katherine urged businesses to “find your hacks”, try “freemium model” and to engage with your offline customers as much as online. Starting up users would pay a fee to use Phonics Hero, but when Katherine decided to make it free and market this online, it went viral seeing trail users grow from 50 to 3,500 in just 3 months. With this growth Katherine has been able to spend more time volunteering in schools being close to those who use Phonics Hero.  Welcomed on stage next was Callum Coombes, CEO of Safepoint speaking on the future of the workplace. Asking the audience whether they felt the future was Dystopian or Utopian, many had a negative dystopian view; something Callum was on a mission to change. Agreeing that while many jobs were at risk from technological innovations, Callum highlighted the need for more skilled workers, showing that whilst admin jobs may reduce by 20%, the need for healthcare staff would rise by 30%. He gave the audience some useful tips to make their current working lives more efficient, using tools such as QuickBooks, Google Docs and even Safepoint. These simple, time saving solutions allow businesses to give back to their employees through wellbeing.  Our final panel made their way to the stage ready to answer the audience’s questions on disrupting industries. Joining the panel was John Fagan, CTO of Axon Vibe, Arthur Soames, Business Development Manager of Hummingbird Technologies, Simon Coward, Managing Director of Hethel Innovation and Michelle Monck, Director Client Marketing Services at Xerox. The panel had great focus on the uses of AI in disrupting their industries including agri-tech, customer service, marketing, transport, engineering and many more.  Closing the event, Chris welcomes Fiona Lettice, Pro-Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation at the University of East Anglia (UEA). Fiona’s talk ended the conference on a positive note, encouraging them to embrace how technology allows firms to do more with less. Agreeing that in the past many jobs have been affected by new technologies, but overall job creation has been greater than job loss. “I am a keen advocate of responsible research and innovation – I believe that we need to ensure that we develop these technologies including multidisciplinary and diverse perspectives to consider the future of work, privacy, ethics and society and ensure that science and technology works for society.”   The main conference came to a close with a feeling of positivity for the future of technology in the room. Throughout the event, we had live graphic recording artist Rebecca Osborne drawing the talks The close gave attendees to view to final drawings, which are available in our side gallery.  Attendees got to enjoy our exhibition over lunch, then had a choice of two workshops to finish the day: Preparing for Industry 4.0 with Stuart Easton, Transparent Choice or The Future of Your Digital Brand: Get Your Customer to make the Emotional Choice with Michael Stiff & Aaron Fickling, ALL is FLUX. Thank you to all who attending Talking Tech 2018. Norfolk Chamber were pleased to host over 180 businesses at the event, as well as our expert speakers, fantastic exhibitors and our sponsors. With thanks to Breakwater IT, Barclays Eagle Labs and Rebecca Osborne for sponsoring the event, and to Zing Insights who were our research partners, collected feedback to help us improve the event year on year.

Commenting on the ‘root and branch’ review of the railway network launched by government today, Jonathan Cage, President of Norfolk Chamber and Chair of their Transport & Infrastructure Group, said:

“After years of disruption and uncertainty, this review comes not before time. Given the role that the railways play in the daily lives of employees and businesses across Norfolk and many parts of the UK, the review must deliver tangible, visible improvements to the system for both businesses and commuters.

“The Norfolk business community is clear that the private sector has played, and must continue to play, a key role in running and improving the UK’s rail network. Yet the partnership between the private and public sector on the railways needs to change to alleviate the inexcusable delays and disruption faced by commuters and businesses under the current franchise system.

“Our region has been lucky enough to secure significant funding for rolling stock as part of the new franchise.  However it is imperative that this level of funding is more than matched by central government with respect to the upgrade of the network itself.  It is also essential that Network Rail is funded and managed correctly, if we are ever going to experience a quality rail service we can be proud of in this region.

“Travel delays increase business costs, jeopardise business opportunities and make Norfolk firms appear less accessible and therefore less competitive.  This review must tackle all the aspects of rail travel currently worrying businesses, including service reliability, pricing, ticket flexibility, innovation, investment, freight and value for money.

“The review should also look at what more needs to be done to increase connectivity on trains – so that commuters and businesses alike can make productive use of journey time.

“We need to develop a rail system where all parts of the network are working together and communicating better to improve confidence for users and investors. For Norfolk to be a thriving and modern economy, we must start with getting the basics right.”

Commenting on the inflation statistics for August 2018, published today by the Office for National Statistics, Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“Inflation surprisingly rose for the second successive month in August, largely wiping out the recent recovery in real wage growth and emphasising the continued squeeze on consumers.

“The strong growth in producer prices indicates that inflationary pressures further down the supply chain remain significant and could lift inflation higher in the coming months. However, the upward pressure on prices remains transitory, and inflation should resume its ease back towards target once the impact of the recent increase in oil prices drops out of the calculation.

“The possibility of a disorderly Brexit is the key risk to the UK’s outlook for inflation as it could result in a substantial decline in sterling, which could significantly increase inflation and exacerbate the financial squeeze on consumers and businesses.

“With UK economic conditions subdued, and little evidence that higher inflation is translating into materially stronger pay growth, the MPC has sufficient scope to opt for a prolonged period of monetary stability. Against a backdrop of significant political and economic uncertainty, more needs to be done to boost UK growth and productivity, including kick starting business investment, through tackling the high upfront cost of doing business in the UK.”

In anticipation of the release of new tenders in the waste management sector issued by the Egyptian Government, the Chamber is looking for UK-based solution and technology providers in the following fields:

• Medical Waste Processing and Management • Municipal Waste Processing and Management

Egypt’s densely populated cities present a significant challenge for municipalities. As Egypt’s pushes ahead with the construction of major new cities, there will be considerable opportunities to participate in waste management projects that support Egypt’s sustainable development strategy.

Infraone is a prominent member of the Chamber, and is looking for UK technology partners in this field with an interest in the Egyptian market 

Infraone Profile (www.infraone.org)

InfraOne is a development management and financial advisory services firm, focused on infrastructure sectors in the Middle East and Africa. It has establishments in Egypt and UAE. We aim to play a vital role in supporting governments to enhance their economy through executing and fundraising for infrastructure projects that focus on sectors of Transportation and Logistics; Energy; Water Resource Management; Industrial Development; and Real Estate Development. We provide Technology, Development Management services and Financial Advisory services to governments, in partnership with corporate firms, technology providers, financial institutions and global investors who specialize in infrastructure sectors in Egypt, the Middle East and Africa. In addition, we provide corporate finance and investment advisory services to corporate clients, with focus on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) domain

For further information, please contact Karin Van Wesep ([email protected]) at the Egyptian British Chamber of Commerce. 

On Thursday 13th September we held our Great Yarmouth Business Breakfast at the Royal Assembly Rooms on the seafront. 50 delegates joined us for the morning which included a full English breakfast and the networking ice-breaker “reframing letdowns” in which delegates talked about a situation that initially seemed to be negative but ended up being a positive.

Norfolk County Council sponsored the event, with David Allfrey, Infrastructure Delivery Manager, presenting on the Great Yarmouth Third River Crossing. This is a project that will see a dual carriageway lifting bridge link the A47 at Harfrey’s roundabout with South Denes. The crossing will benefit the local area by: supporting the area as a centre for offshore and renewable energy, supporting the regeneration of Great Yarmouth, and improving journey times and access to the peninsular by reducing congestion and heavy traffic. While the project is ongoing protecting the environment and minimising the impact on the local community is a priority. The final form of the bridge has not been decided yet but the positioning of the bridge and the highway over it is fixed, which means that we know for definite there will be a dual carriageway linking the two areas. The project has been ongoing since 2003 and began with an initial assessment on where the bridge should be built. The consultation period for the project is currently running and finishes October 5th, David encourages everyone in the business community to have their say here.

Once the consultation period is over the next stage is to submit the Development Consent Order and begin construction no later than 2020 once the order has been approved. David highlighted the importance of keeping as much of the work for the construction of the bridge local, and stressed that he would like to see it create a number of local jobs.

We also had 4 stands from: Select Appointments to celebrate the launch of their 16th office opening, adding Lowestoft to the network of the successful brand that has been in the recruitment industry for over 35 years; MIGSOLV promoting the fact they house organisations’ servers and IT within their data centre; East Coast College showcasing their Community College services, and the final stand was held by Governors for Schools who were our feature charity.

You can find more information about the sponsor and all the stand holders below: Norfolk County Council Third River Crossing Select Appointments MIGSOLV East Coast College Governors for Schools

Commenting on the labour market figures for September 2018, published today by the ONS, Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“The continued drop in unemployment and strong employment levels are further evidence that the UK jobs market remains a bright spot, with firms continuing to hire despite significant economic uncertainty. 

“However, the robust headline data masks several areas of concern. While there was a welcome increase in earnings growth, the gap between pay and price growth remains insufficient to convert into an appreciable pick-up in consumer spending. Sustaining meaningful real wage growth is likely to remain challenging amid subdued productivity and the escalating burden of upfront costs on businesses.

“The number of job vacancies in the UK remains at an alarmingly high level, further evidence of persistent skills shortages. While the number of people in work stands close to historic highs, firms continue to report that attempting to recruit staff with the right skills is an increasingly uphill struggle, which is stifling their ability to grow and boost productivity.

“It is vital that more is done to support those businesses looking to recruit and train staff, including delivering an open and flexible immigration system to help firms attract and retain the people they need to compete on the global stage.”

You can hear direct from Suren Thiru at the Chamber Economic Breakfast on 02 October 2018 – book your place now.

Get your Certificates of Origin right by avoiding some of the most common errors.

      1.  Poor goods description

Don’t use descriptions that are too vague or general, eg spare parts or brand names Do describe your goods in sufficient detail to clearly indicate the nature of the goods. Ask yourself – would a member of the public be able to identify what my goods are from the description?

      2.  Understanding Origin

Ensure you select the correct box on the back of the Certificate of Origin. Don’t confuse ‘wholly obtained’ and ‘manufactured’ UK goods Wholly obtained goods – is defined as UK raw materials or items produced from UK raw materials ie vegetables, minerals, animals born and raised in the UK or products derived from them etc. Manufactured goods – are goods which confer United Kingdom origin because they have gone through a manufacturing process. The simplest test to apply is to check to see if the tariff used for the products being exported is different to the one for the materials used in the manufacturing process. Imported goods – imported goods must be supported by proof of origin ie copy of the Certificate of Origin from the country of supply or the manufacturer’s invoice.

      3.  Failure to declare marks and numbers

This refers to the actual wording or labels stencilled to the outside of the packages being shipped. If you usually just show your customers address then you must state ‘fully addressed’ in the marks and numbers box. For containerised goods the container number can be shown. For goods shipped without marks ‘unmarked’ should be shown. The marks and numbers should also appear on your invoice or packing list under the heading ‘shipping marks’.

      4.  Failure to declare packaging details

This relates to the number of cartons, crates, boxes, pallets, bales, rolls etc. that compromise the consignment. For goods shipped in bulk or unpacked, ‘unpacked’ or ‘loose’ or ‘in bulk’ should be shown.

      5.  Incorrect designation of country of origin • For UK origin goods, show ‘European Community – United Kingdom’ • For shipments compromised of UK origin goods and goods originating in other EU countries, add the names of the other EU countries after United Kingdom. • For goods manufactured in the EU and non-EU countries, list the EU countries first before adding ‘and’ or ‘&’ followed by the non-EU countries. E.g. ‘European Community – United Kingdom, France, Germany & China, United States of America’

      6.  No country mentioned in box 1 United Kingdom (in full) should always appear at the end of the UK exporters address.

      7.  Weights and measures Do declare all weights and measures using the metric system Don’t use the imperial system of weights and measures. Always double check your weights and make sure they can be found on your invoice or packing list. 

Following a hugely successful launch of Breckland for Jobs in April, which attracted dozens of employers, who pledged their support for our young people, great strides have been made towards the two year goal of halving youth unemployment in Breckland.

So far only a small portion of that support has been utilised via employers attending group sessions; providing mock interviews; and work experience.  For the next steps DWP want the opportunity to make use of even more of that support by bringing their customers and local employers together, in one place at one time. 

So you are invited to attend Young Persons Market Place which will be held on Friday 12 October 2018 from 9.00am to 1.00pm at Charles Burrell Centre, Staniforth Road, Thetford, IP24 3LH. 

The event is being organised by DWP in collaboration with Norfolk County Council – Education and Training Department and Breckland Council and will attract 16 to 24 year olds.  This would be a perfect opportunity for you to find out more about how Breckland for Jobs works and also to showcase any apprenticeship positions you may have available or indeed any Christmas vacancies.

If you are interested in this event or would like any further information please RSVP to: Nikki David at [email protected] by Friday 21st September.