Our very own John Bradley – Automotive Business Development Manager is the co-organiser of the Lap of Anglia. The event started in 2013 and to date has raised over £133,000 for the life saving charity.
This year, Chatsbrook are proud to announce that not only are we the official car sponsor for Lap of Anglia and providing our Chatsbrook Mini and Defender to support the Lappers and their 435 mile journey around the border of the Air Ambulances territory, but we will also be matching the Lappers by pledging to walk 435 miles in the month of July. The 435 miles will be collectively completed by #TeamChatsbrook in a bid to inspire more donations to the East Anglian Air Ambulance. Check in with us on our JustGiving page and on our social pages @chatsbrook from the 1st- 31st July as we provide updates on the progress of our miles!
East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) is a 365-day-a-year helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) covering Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk & Suffolk. They exist to save lives by delivering highly skilled doctors and critical care paramedics by air to seriously ill or injured people in the region. The EAAA do not receive regular direct government funding and the £13 million needed to raise this year comes directly from charitable donations. They are only kept airborne thanks to supporters. If you can, please donate to this amazing cause and spread awareness of this fundraiser by sharing our posts on social media.
If you’re going to damage a floorboard it is typically going to be the one right in the centre of the room. Don’t worry, we’ve all been there and yes we’ve all spent time trying to find something “suiting” to comfortably sit on top of the now flawed board – or at least strategically placed your little toe on it when guests come to visit!
Help is right at your fingertips as below are 7 simple steps to get your floor back in tip-top condition…
1. Drill a hole in all four corners of the damaged board – paying careful attention to surrounding boards
2. Remove the entire length of the board by cross cutting it; you can do this with a rip saw set to the depth of the flooring installed (refer to sizes from the manufacturer)
3. Make a cut down the edges around 1cm in and remove the centre sections (you should have 4 triangular shapes to remove)
4. Slide & pull out the remaining 4 strips – be careful here to not damage the tongue and groove of the surrounding boards
5. Select a replacement board identical or suiting to the rest of the floor
6. Remove the lip of the groove on the replacement boards header and long edge and then angle the floorboard into place
7. Secure the new board with a D3 adhesive to the surrounding boards locking system, when this is done place a weight over it (not your toe) until the adhesive has set
Voila! You have a beautiful floor.
A professional installer should complete this in 40 minutes but remember to take your time when attempting anything like this yourself. Alternatively you could click back to the damaged floorboard, replace and relay or look into relaying your entire floor.
If relaying the entire floor is the option for you, you’ve come to the right place, let Quick-Step inspire you with their latest ad – watch it here!
For some time, we’ve been hearing about the decline of physical retail, spurred on by the digital age and our growing preference for the online marketplace. In the 10 years between January 2010 and January 2020, for example, the UK lost over 50,000 shops.
Despite that, physical retailers still hold much of the market share. And there remains plenty of opportunity for physical retailers to set themselves up for renewed success. One such opportunity lies in the very thing that’s blamed for their decline – digital technology.
It’s almost impossible for online shopping to replicate the most experiential elements of buying something in-person. For this reason, physical retailers should play to their strengths while also exploring how digital technology can give customers the best of both worlds in-store.
Take Amazon as a case in point. Its Amazon Fresh brand has launched its first till-less grocery store in London, which sees shoppers simply scan their phone on entry and receive a bill automatically on departure – without a need to scan products individually. This ‘effort-free’ mode of shopping, however, relies extensively on technology and connectivity, with hundreds of cameras and sensors working seamlessly.
Other retailers have focused on transforming their fitting rooms through the use of augmented and virtual reality. Imagine being in a fitting room, putting on a jacket you like the look of and being able to change the colour or size in the blink of an eye. That makes life easier for the customers, but it also saves time, allowing more people to make use of the changing room and thus generating more sales.
Technology can also be used to encourage passers-by to step inside through interactive window displays, as Ted Baker has shown to great effect.
Perhaps most importantly, retailers can use digital tech to better understand consumer behaviour. By harnessing data, they can make informed decisions such as what merchandise to prioritise and how to lay out the store to encourage sales or make them more profitable. Stock levels can even be tracked, helping keep unneeded stock to a minimum and saving money on warehouse space.
These are just a few of the opportunities presented by digital technology for the high street. And while the cost of some of these technologies may be prohibitive for now, that will change as the tech becomes more ubiquitous – meaning it won’t just be major retailers who can reap the rewards.
However, data hungry technologies need connectivity they can rely on – without that, any positive customer benefits could easily be undone by a glitchy experience. They need the best possible digital foundation which is why CityFibre is soon to be building a new full fibre network in Norwich.
Designed for the digital age, full fibre networks use 100% fibre optic technology to carry data at light speed all the way from the home to the point of connection – a pristine open highway with no bumps in sight. This gives users consistently faster speeds, near limitless bandwidth and connectivity you can depend on.
Most importantly for retailers, full fibre underpins 5G connectivity, which will be crucial to their ability to adopt cutting-edge technology and encourage shoppers to flock to the high street. Think of it as a high-capacity public wifi, connecting consumers with digital tech in shops, restaurants and on the streets themselves, and creating an experience that just can’t be matched in an online-only world.
So whether it’s friction-free shopping, interactive displays or smart fitting rooms, full fibre and 5G helps to power all of these advances. Now, who’s for some retail therapy?
For more information about CityFibre’s Gigabit City Programme visit www.cityfibre.com
In this podcast Haze Carver (The Zinger) chats with Simon Best, Funding and programmes specialist & Harry Harris, Business Advisor from Great Yarmouth Borough Council to find out more on the success of their incredible £20 million grants programme, securing the town centre regeneration fund and what this means for the future of Great Yarmouth.
From the £13.7m investment Future High Streets fund, bringing to life the vision to transform and revive the town centre as a vibrant economic, cultural and community hub to the processed £20 million worth of Business grant applications during 2020, listen in to hear more about the exciting plans for Great Yarmouth.
LV Shipping was founded in 1921 in Vlaardingen, The Netherlands, by the Lensveld family , under the name J Lensveld & Zonen BV. The company originally used a horse and cart to transport sand and cement in supporting the growing Dutch infrastructure sector at that time. Now in its 4th generation of family ownership, Vlaardingen remains the company’s global HQ.
The company grew rapidly in The Netherlands, developing expertise in the project logistics sector and started trading in the UK in 1986 after securing an energy project in the UK North Sea.
The company has grown massively since that time and now incorporates ten UK offices from Aberdeen to Felixstowe, along with just under 200 UK staff. LV is still very much involved in the energy sector and has provided shipping, transport and general logistics support for many of the UK’s major oil and gas related projects, along with involvement in more recent years with all phases of the UK wind farm and renewable energy sector.
The company’s continued involvement in the energy sector has in turn led to wider global development with LV offices being set up in strategic locations such as Houston (USA) , Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) , Baku (Azerbaijan) , Damman (Saudi Arabia) , and Singapore.
Now in 2021 and with the onset of Brexit the company is set to continue its growth as it provides the full logistics package to UK companies looking to export and import to and from the EU. The company’s purpose-built warehouse and fulfilment centre at Maasvlakte (Rotterdam) is already home to several UK companies who have decided to have a base in the EU for their distribution needs and, combined with LV’s own ferry-trailer and transport services, along with in-house customs clearance and fiscal representation capabilities, the company has positioned itself as a genuine “one-stop-shop” in terms of UK and EU logistics services in the post-Brexit trading environment.
❓ We get asked a lot of questions here at S2 Computers ❓ To make life easier for you, we have put together some PDF guides and videos in our new online Knowledge Centre to cover the most common topics and to offer our expert opinion. All of our videos come with captions so you don’t need to watch them with the sound on, and our guides are easy to read with no complicated tech jargon! In the Knowledge Centre you can also request a FREE copy of two books written by our Director Andy Atthowe. The books Email Hijack and Caught in the crosshairs (explains GDPR like you’ve never heard before, how you are under attack from pirates and the Government) cover two key IT security topics for any business. The Email Hijack book is an essential read for every business owner and manager. It explains complicated cyber security concepts in a way that anyone can understand. Imagine coming back from holiday. And discovering £12,000 had been stolen from your business bank account…No matter what your turnover is, that scenario would be a total nightmare, wouldn’t it? But perhaps you’re confident that it could never happen to your business. Well let me gently challenge that. Because I’ve seen this kind of theft happen to plenty of businesses round here. It’s not a company insider who steals the cash. Nor someone at the bank. And it doesn’t require anyone to steal your bank login credentials. No, this kind of theft can be set up very easily by a hacker – and all they need is to gain access to one person’s email account. In fact, email is the number one security threat to your business. It’s where most cyber breaches start. It also reveals that these days, every business can be hacked. Because hackers don’t go after specific targets anymore. They use automated software to target ALL businesses, ALL the time. The book also shows you how best to defend yourself and your team. There are a huge number of protective measures you could use. But the real trick is finding the right blend that suits your business. One that protects you well, without interrupting how your staff do things (creating frustration among your staff). If there’s another topic you’d like to see us cover in our Knowledge Centre, drop us a line at: sales@s2-computers.co.uk
In todays’ podcast Haze Carver, AKA The Zinger is chatting with John Nortcliffe, Founder and Director of Redhead Architects, an architects firm based in the heart of Norwich.
They talk about the challenges and successes of setting up a business just as Lockdown began, starting his career working in practices in London and Bermuda until the pull of living a family life in Norfolk came calling.
“The plan is to keep it simple, be nice, work hard and listen to our clients to produce the best designs we can.”
Good design made simple
Redhead Architects is a chartered practice, located in the heart of Norwich. We deliver new-build and retrofit projects, ranging from one-off homes, city apartments, hotels, commercial and heritage projects. We use sound design principles to seek the potential for joy in every scheme. (No matter how well-hidden). Over the years, we feel lucky to have shared fantastic experiences working with amazing people on a vast array of residential, commercial, education, conservation and master-planning projects both in the UK and Bermuda for several great practices. …Redhead Architects is the culmination of these experiences.
Having worked for many practices over the years, we wanted to seek out a better, more collaborative way of working and sharing ideas. We use simple sketches, BIM models and Virtual Reality to ensure that everyone has a clear understanding of their project, right the way through from concept to completion. We use these tools to test our ideas and fine-tune our projects throughout the design process and into our production information.
Welcome to the Norfolk Chambers Podcast, in todays’ podcast Haze Carver AKA The Zinger chats to the incredible Nor-folk wonder woman that is Fiona Burrage.
Fiona is the Creative Director and founder of vegan bodycare brand Sop and lifestyle brand Nor–Folk. She is also host to a retreat, the Water Cabin, set within the Broads National Park, and co-founder of co-working space Studio Inn.
Fiona runs an all inclusive football club called Left Field. Fiona has built her companies and passion projects within a framework of a more simplistic and intentional way of living so listen in to find out interested to talk about how you combine this workload and your create and personal mission.
Sop ~ Scents of place is a bodycare and fragrance brand made in Norfolk and inspired by our local landscape and language. All our products are vegan and cruelty-free. Sop wants to put down strong roots to help us grow, which is why our sustainable, nature- nurturing approach is central to our philosophy.
The Chancellor announced an extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“CJRS”) in this week’s Budget to support businesses and employers as the economy reopens.
The CJRS was due to end 30 April 2021 but will now operate for a further five months until 30 September 2021. Furloughed employees will continue to receive 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.
Employers are currently only required to pay for employer National Insurance contributions and pension costs, this will remain the case until 30 June 2021. From July 2021, employer contributions will increase to include 10% of the cost of furlough hours, rising to 20% in August and September 2021 as the economy reopens.
We expect that further guidance and an additional treasury direction will be published on the CJRS extension in due course. An article covering the current CJRS guidance can be read here.
“The extension of the CJRS will be welcome news for businesses, who may still be subject to lockdown restrictions or yet to see demand return to pre pandemic levels. Although employers will have to contribute more to the cost of furloughed hours as the economy gradually reopens in line with the route out of lockdown, those additional costs will not kick in until July 2021, at which point it is hoped that increased economic activity will assist employers shoulder the extra costs burden.”
The information on this site about legal matters is provided as a general guide only. Although we try to ensure that all of the information on this site is accurate and up to date, this cannot be guaranteed. The information on this site should not be relied upon or construed as constituting legal advice and Howes Percival LLP disclaims liability in relation to its use. You should seek appropriate legal advice before taking or refraining from taking any action.
We are pleased to have been awarded the contract to construct two new SRB units for Norfolk County Council. One unit is at Caister Infant School and the other at Mundesley Infant and Junior School.
These projects were tendered through Norfolk County Council’s Major Construction Works Framework, which we were pleased to join at the commencement of the current iteration.
Works started at both sites on Monday 8th March, and we look forward to working with NPS, Norfolk County Council and both Schools to deliver the new buildings for the commencement of the Autumn term.
Welcome to the Norfolk Chambers podcast, in todays’ podcast Haze Carver, AKA The Zinger chats to Alison Sefton, Head of Norwich High School for girls. Alison has an impressive background, serving in the armed forces and a passionate believer for wellbeing and women’s health.
In this episode you’ll hear the passion Alison has for the school’s wellbeing initiative, the Big Sister programme of peer support and on being recognised for the TES Independent School Awards Wellbeing initiative of the year award in 2021. From opening their new EYFS hub in September, to their F24 Greenpower racing team winning the Best Newcomer Award at Hethel test track.
At Norwich High School, we believe passionately in putting girls first. We give a girl the very best opportunities to find her strengths, explore the whole breadth of subject options, and tailor all that we do around her needs as she develops into a young woman. We are a large enough school to provide rich opportunities, but yet small enough that every girl is known and valued. We are ambitious for every girl, whatever her interests, and we give her a wealth of opportunities to discover new avenues.