On Thursday 7th April, over 70 Norfolk Chamber members joined us for a Business Breakfast at the Cliff Hotel in Gorleston. The venue provided us with a great setting in the newly refurbished Music Room. The room was full of buzz as the delegates networked over coffee and breakfast.
Caroline Williams, Chief Executive at the Norfolk Chamber kicked off the proceedings by welcoming delegates and thanking the event sponsors, New Anglia Growth Hub.
The first presentation of the morning came from Glen Moore, New Anglia Growth Hub, who explained what support the Growth Hub can provide for businesses. Glen focused his talk on the oil and gas industry as he explained the price of oil has substantially declined over the past year, and the role of the oil and gas sector.
Following Glen’s presentation, Events Coordinator Bryony introduced the networking activity: Table Networking Bingo! So, in true chamber style, delegates were able to network with a twist! The bingo cards were full of interesting activities, such as ‘I own a motorbike’ and ‘I can speak another language’, delegates were then asked to tick off any squares that were true to their table! When the results were in we had a tie between two tables with a score of 19 out of 25!
Once the room had settled down, our main speaker Fred Rogers of Subsea Protection Systems joined us to explain how his company has diversified to avoid the crash in oil prices. He began by giving a brief history of his company and how they have grown to international status. Fred then told delegates how SPS had avoided a previous crisis in 2008 by diversifying into Windfarm Protection, which helped them recognise that price of oil could not be sustained indefinitely and therefore, they needed to adapt further. The presentation finished off by an overview of the various industries they have now grown into, including, coastal and flood protection, offshore tidal turbines, and the farming industry. This subject was of particular interest to many of the members in the room as was shown by the attentive Q+A session.
The event was closed by an update from the Norfolk Chamber’s events team, and thanks were given to our members, the event sponsors: New Anglia Growth Hub, our featured Charity: Independence Matters and to the venue.
Delegates were then able to get in some final networking to make those all important contacts.
