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The countdown is ON! 

In just three weeks, we’ll be at the Mid Suffolk Business Exhibition – and we can’t wait to connect with local businesses, entrepreneurs, and professionals. 

This event is all about networking, collaboration, and business growth, so whether you’re looking for fresh marketing insights or just want to say hello, be sure to stop by our stand! 

Where? Mid Suffolk Business Exhibition

When? 26th March 2025

Grab your tickets now!

As part of National Volunteering Week, a team from Delta-Simons attended a volunteering session with park rangers from Hartsholme Country Park, a local park and nature reserve run by City of Lincoln Council.

Volunteers’ Week took place from 1-12 June this year, and is an annual celebration of the contribution millions of volunteers make across the UK.

Delta-Simons employees helped clear Ragwort, a potentially poisonous plant to cattle and horses, to prevent further spread before it flowered and the seeds distributed. Under the 1959 Weeds Act, the park has an obligation to clear ragwort, which is poisonous to many animals.

In addition, vegetation clearance was carried out near a picnic area, removing fast-growing saplings to encourage larger trees to grow.

Hartsholme Country Park lies about three miles south west of Lincoln city centre and covers more than 200 acres. The Green Flag Award winning park contains Victorian landscaped gardens, woodlands, grasslands and a large reservoir, where visitors can enjoy walks and cycle rides through the lakes and ornamental grounds.

Related articles: Warm weather causes outbreak of Japanese knotweed

We had the chance to speak with Charlie this week and to ask him some questions about his background, aspirations and advice for youngsters starting out in shooting.

Charlie attendsOrmiston Venture Academyand he told us that they are very supportive of his extracurricular activities, allowing him odd-days here and there if his shooting competitions overlap with the school week and are always interested in how he’s done. Although Charlie doesn’t shoot every evening, usually around 2 – 3 times a month he will have a training session withPhilip Thorrold Shooting Academy,he does find the balance of school work and shooting can be quite difficult to manage as he has to ensure his studies are complete during the week so his weekends are free. Whilst heenjoys hanging out with his mates and playing football with them, he doesn’t feel that he’s missing out by spending his weekends at shoots; he just says he simply prefers to be shooting.

He doesn’t have much history in the sport as such, his dad used to go pheasant shooting and took Charlie along with him when he was a young lad. His dad suggested trying clay shooting and this took Charlie on the first steps of his career. Hedoesn’t have a particular hero in the sport but does admire a few of his peers and likes to watch them shoot butwhen it comes to rivalries, Charlie and his fellow participants have a very mature attitude – they know they are in direct competition with each other but remain courteous and speak with each other throughout.

Every week Charlie is beating his personal best and is currently shooting 89/100. He says a top class shotshouldbe able to get all his targets but around the mid-90’s is more the usual and this is what he is aiming towards. As we’ve mentioned before, Charlie was approached by theEngland Shooting Teammanager and has decided to try out at the squad selection shoots this year. Charlie wants to gain experience at these so he can confidently try out for the shoots properly next year – although we think he might surprise himself this year to be honest!

In many sports, diet and exercise can be a key factor and whilst being fit and healthy will be an advantage, this is not so important when it comes to shooting. Charlie does make sure he keepssugarto a minimum before shoots and will only take water around with him during the event to keep himself properly hydrated. When asked what two things he does during training which help with his success his answer was practice, practice and practice – just shoot the target over and over again! He also said that learning to stay focused was important as there are a lot of clays released over a short period of time so you need to keep that concentration and this comes with practice.

A typical shoot day will start early; with the closest ground about 45 minutes away, he needs to be on the road to travel to his eventsveryearly. Once he’s arrived, he books in and gets hisshoot card for the event. He then sorts his equipment and just gets ready to go for it. He mentioned that he tends to talk a lot, obviously not loud enough to affect other shooters, but he finds it distracts him from his nervousness and he won’t spend the time worrying about his own shots.

Charlie can put a lot of pressure on himself, especially on what could be considered an easier target, because he feels that he should be able to and is expected to get the shot than perhaps a more difficult one. If he does mess up a round, he finds it difficult to let go and it will therefore affecting his shooting in later rounds. He has said this is something he needs to work on, to learn to let go of that frustration and move forward.

If you’re looking to take up shooting, Charlie has these words of advice for you:always try your hardest, you’re bound to improve with the more effort you put in – just never give up!

Regional recruitment consultancy firm Pure is looking for an ambitious and driven professional to join its Graduate Training Programme at one of the firm’s four offices in Norwich, Ipswich, Cambridge or Chelmsford.

Pure launched its Graduate Training Programme in 2015 to provide career development opportunities for local graduates and to build the firm’s talent pipeline. Having already supported four graduates to begin their career in the recruitment industry, Pure is now offering another university leaver the opportunity to benefit from the comprehensive training programme.

Gill Buchanan, co-founder and director at Pure, said: “Pure is a fantastic place to start a career in recruitment. We’re committed to supporting our trainees to achieve their goals and to build a long term career with us. The role itself is challenging but offers exciting opportunities and an extensive amount of variety, with no two days being the same. People are at the core of our business and we strive to be a rewarding and positive place to work where our people are happy, supported, rewarded and motivated to go the extra mile for our customers.”

Pure is looking for top calibre graduates who are confident both working in a team and independently. The successful candidate will be degree educated and will already have some employment experience on their CV. They also need to possess excellent interpersonal skills and a natural drive to deliver first class customer service. In return they will receive 12 months of comprehensive training with the Investors in People Gold standard company, a competitive salary and benefits package and the opportunity to progress to the position of recruitment consultant.

Previous graduate trainee Ellie Steinfeldt, now a recruitment consultant specialising in HR roles, said: “Pure is a wonderful company to work for and a wonderful team to be a part of. It’s a very busy, fast paced and exiting job. I get to meet and talk to a huge range of people every day and its really rewarding to help people find jobs and to match employers with suitable candidates. You have to be prepared to work hard and put in the effort, but I promise it is worth it.”

Applications for Pure’s Graduate Training Programme close on 30 July. For more information, visithttps://www.prs.uk.com/about-us/working-with-us/graduate-training-programme-2016or contact Gill Buchanan on 01223 209888 orgill@prs.uk.com.

Thinking of joining a Graduate Training Programme? Not made your mind up yet? Before you do, let Ellie Steinfeldt take you through her experience of the Pure Graduate Training Programme.

1. What did you do before coming to Pure? I studied for my BSc in Psychology at Oxford Brookes University for the three years before I started at Pure. I also did some temporary Administration work through Pure in my summer holidays.

2. How did you find out about the Pure Graduate Training Programme? I received an email from Pure asking if I, or anyone I knew, would be interested in applying for the Graduate Training Programme.

3. Why did you choose a recruitment company to do your Graduate training? And what was your decision based on? I didn’t actually know what I wanted to do after University and then when I heard about the Graduate Training opportunity at Pure I thought it sounded great. I was more drawn to Pure as a company as opposed to the fact the Graduate Programme was in Recruitment, then as I looked into it a bit more I realised a lot of my qualities and what I look for in a job matched a role in Recruitment. It is really important to me to work in a company that has strong values, a great working environment and a lovely team, so I was attracted to Pure after temping through them previously and having met some of the Norwich team.

4. What was the interview and selection process like? What types of activities did you complete? I found the interview process surprising enjoyable. First I had a phone call with Gill Buchanan, Director, to go through a bit about myself and my experience. The next stage was a psychometric test to complete and then there was an Assessment Day where I completed a number of group tasks with five other candidates and had a face-to-face interview with Abby Dillion, Learning and Development Manager, which included going through the results of my Psychometric test.

5. When did you join the Programme and how long did it last? I joined the Programme on Monday 15thJune 2015. It is difficult to say exactly how long it lasted as there hasn’t really been a point where the support and guidance from my Manager and the company in general has stopped; it has been a lot of on-the-job training. From starting, I had 12 weeks of intensive training where I learnt all about the company, how we work and the system we use; at the end of this I presented what I’d learnt so far to Gill and Abby and where I wanted to go with my recruitment desk. I then had another four weeks of less structured training which took me to my 16 Week Review Business Plan where I had to present to Gill and Caroline what I planned to do to develop my desk and myself as a Recruitment Consultant. When I reached 6 months at Pure that was when I officially became a fee earner so I had the full responsibility of a desk. However, as I mentioned above, the training and support has been on-going, for example, last week I had negotiation training with a few other team members here.

6. What role are you undertaking now at Pure? I am now a Recruitment Consultant specialising in HR roles (both temporary and permanent) including In-House Recruitment and Learning and Development/Training positions.

7. When you joined, what did your training consist of? For example, induction, workshop training, workbooks and materials you were given etc. I received an induction into the business and our values, system training, training on all aspects of the role including interviewing, CV screening, client meetings, negotiation and the initiatives we run. I also received a Graduate Training Programme workbook/folder which had summary pages for all of the things I covered and questions for me to answer on various things we covered in the training to check I understood everything (I went through my answers weekly with Abby). I was also given template sheets and step-by-step guides to support me when I was ‘on the job’.

8. What support have you been provided during your first year? I have been provided all of the support and guidance I have needed/wanted. I haven’t once felt I don’t have someone to ask any questions I might have or someone to bounce ideas off. When I first started I had weekly meetings with Abby or Gill and then also Caroline (my Manager) just to make sure I was comfortable and happy with everything and to go through anything I needed more guidance on. As time went on I had meetings slightly less frequently (every couple of weeks or so), just because they weren’t necessary as frequently. Even now I have catch ups with Caroline whenever I need to. We also have team meetings most days to go through where we are all at with everything and to check if any of us need any help on anything and a whole office meeting once a week.

9. What do you like most about working at Pure? I love the whole company ethos and the values that we all work by; I love being part of a company that adds value to the industry we are in and shows forward-thinking and initiative in how we work.I really enjoy my job; it’s busy, fast-paced and exciting, and I get to meet and talk to a huge range of people every day which is great. I also find it hugely rewarding helping candidates in their job search and clients in their search for the right candidate.Another main thing for me is that I love the people I work with; I’ve never once come across someone unhelpful or unfriendly at Pure and I am proud to be part of a company that employs people like that.

10. If you could go back in time and talk to yourself on the day you started at Pure, what two pieces of advice would you give yourself? That I will eventually get the hang of everything so not to worry and I will also remember all of the names of candidates and clients I work with, it just takes time to train your memory!

11. What was the most surprising thing you’ve experienced at Pure? Everyone is genuinely as nice as they first seem, and the company really does work by its values in everything it does.

12. If you weren’t working in recruitment what would you like to do? I think I would like to do Counselling/Therapy for soldiers suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder); I love Psychology and find it so interesting. I would love doing something where I can help and give something back to the people who give so much to our country.

13. What advice would you give to anyone thinking about joining the Pure Graduate Training Programme? I would tell them to absolutely go for it; Pure is a wonderful company to work for and a wonderful team to be part of. It’s a very busy and sometimes stressful job, so you have to be prepared to work-hard and put in the effort, but I promise it’s worth it!

For more information about joining thePure Graduate Training Programme, please contact Gill Buchanan ongill.buchanan@prs.uk.com.

Chantry Place is a finalist in the EDP Business Awards 2024 Large
Business of the Year category!

If you are a business professional with responsibility for people in your organisation then these bite sized qualifications may be just right for you. Blue Sky Professional Development are announcing the dates of their CIPD Foundation Award in Human Resources and Learning and Development Essentials. These short courses are aimed at line managers and HR professionals who want to have the opportunity to study bite size topics and gain knowledge from a range of HR areas such as recruitment and resourcing talent, delivering training, organisational change.

Beth Russell, Director and Tutor at Blue Sky says ‘ We know that a lot of HR functions are, in reality, carried out by line managers so this allows these people to gain knowledge as well as a qualification in this area. Alternatively, some first line HR staff may want to get their foot on the first rung of a career in HR and want to gain a recognised CIPD qualification to start them off.’

Who are CIPD? The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is an awarding body for HR and L&D qualifications. Over 13,000 students join their programmes each year to enhance their knowledge on the latest theory, case studies and insights into best practice HR.

Why Blue Sky Professional Development? Blue Sky’s team has vast experience in HR and L&D, and over 20 years experience of delivering CIPD programmes with Supported Distance Learning as a speciality. All workshops are delivered by professional, approachable tutors in the Norwich area. Blue Sky also offer individual tutorials should you need them.

How are the courses delivered? The CIPD Level 3 Award in Human Resources and Learning and Development Essentials consist of just one or two units from a suite of topics. For each unit, the learners receive a distance learning pack and attend one or two monthly workshops in Norwich, finalising in a marked written assignment. Add more units together and you could receive a CIPD Certificate or Diploma in HR/L&D Practice.

Course Start Dates Recruitment and Resourcing Talent August 2014 Delivering Learning and Development Activities September 2014 Undertaking a Learning Needs Analysis November 2014 Coaching Skills February 2015 Mentoring Skills March 2015Coming soon …… Supporting Change within Organisations Reward Management Employment Relations

If you want any more information about Blue Sky and these qualifications please see www.blueskypd.co.uk, email beth.russell@blueskypd.co.uk or call Beth or Kate on 01603 821177.

Atkinson Moss proudly hosted a charity quiz night at the
stunning Royal Norwich Golf Course in support of Alzheimer’s Society. The
event brought together twenty teams from local businesses, who battled it out
across eight competitive rounds to claim the title of the brainiest team. After
a close contest, Sign’s Express (Quizzy Rascals) emerged victorious, taking
home the crown on the night.

Guests enjoyed not only the quiz but also a lively game of
“Heads or Tails” and a raffle table brimming with prizes, generously donated by
local companies:

– Jarrolds Hamper donated by Jarrolds

– Jarrolds Benji Afternoon Tea for 2 donated by Comm-Tech
Voice & Data

– Hotel Chocolat Box donated by Lucas & Wyllys

– Fen Farm Dairy £50 Voucher donated by Fen Farm Dairy

– Blakely Vouchers donated by Blakely Clothing Co.

– Gin donated by Zagwear

– Board Games donated by Zatu Games

– Ellough Raceway Voucher donated by Ellough Park Raceway
Beccles

– Jarrolds Goodie Bag donated by Leading

– Cosy Club Voucher donated by The Cosy Club

– Pensthorpe Tickets donated by Pensthorpe

– David Lloyd Family Day Pass donated by David Lloyds Club

– Pasta donated by Pasta Foods

– Bowling House Tickets donated by Bowling House

– Hippodrome Voucher donated by Hippodrome Circus

– Holkham Hall Voucher donated by Holkham

– Enchanted Journey of Light Tickets donated by Thursford

– Jarrolds Hamper donated by Leathes Prior Solicitors

– Roarr Tickets donated by ROARR

– Quasar Vouchers donated by Quasar Norwich

– Royal Norwich Afternoon Tea donated by Royal Norwich

and auction prizes donated by

– Wex Photo Video

– FAIRFAX & FAVOR

– Premier Education UK

Director Graham Moss expressed his gratitude:

“We’re so thankful for the incredible support from our team
and the local business community. It was inspiring to see so many people come
together to raise money for such a worthy cause.”

and Angie Atkinson (Director) added:

“The support from our clients was so humbling, thank
you to all who participated, from generous donations to on the night
contributions. I believe most people have been affected by Alzheimer’s at some
point in their lives, I know I have, my father passed 3 years ago (27th
October) to this sad illness and my best friend lost her mum only this year to
the same disease. We are beyond proud to support such a great charity to help
those impacted”

While things have settled back to normal at Atkinson
Moss HQ, the team and attendees are still reflecting on an enjoyable evening
and looking forward to seeing the event photos shared on the company’s website
later next week.

Look out for the photos on the Aktinson Moss website.

NorDevCon 2016 was yet another resounding success for Norfolk Developers. With an impressive array of speakers and workshops we had more attendees than any previous year. This year, for the first time, we had students and teachers attending from some of the local schools and academies as well as the usual range of techies and business people. It was great to see them mingling and discussing the various sessions they’d attended.

This year my 12 year old grandson, Nathan, also came along for the first time. I asked him to write about his experience and this is what he came up with:

“The conference was very good. We met Michael Feathers when having breakfast at the hotel and he was very nice and then we walked to the conference with him.

The first activity I did was the android course by Paul Lammertsma. It was very well done and easy to follow. The tutorial he made explained everything really well and when there was something that was not working or was hard to set up he helped with it and knew how to sort any issues. By the end of the 6 hour course I had learnt how to make simple android applications. After this was the pre-conference dinner where I met a nice guy called Giorgio who was talking to me through dinner.

Then the next day there was a keynote by Michael Feathers which was interesting but confusing. Then there was an OpenShift 3.1 workshop by Ed Seymour and Keith Lynch who work at Redhat. This was complicated but fun and did what it was meant to do; explained how to use OpenShift 3.1.

After this was the session ‘Fake it Until You Make it’ by Dom Davis. It was funny, interesting and easy to follow. After that was another talk by Michael Feathers called Collection Pipeline Design Techniques. I understood a lot more of this than his first talk and found it very interesting and it taught me a lot of things.

Following a tea break was a talk by Darren Cook called WebGL is Serious Fun! It was funny and made sense and was interesting to listen to. It helped people to get started with WebGL and was not hard to follow.

After this was a talk by James Taylor about making passwords safer. I learnt about a usb device you can plug into your computer for 2 factor authentication which made it impossible to get into any account you own without it, so it makes hackers jobs harder. He also talked about 2 step authentication and it was all very interesting. Then there was a sponsor’s presentation by Elizabeth Scholefield who talked about mobile phones and how they were socially acceptable and it ended with an interesting video of a man rapping about how we replace phones with human interaction.

After this presentation was a closing keynote by Jon Jagger who talked about pair programming. It explained a lot of things I did not already know and was very easy to follow.

The next day there was a talk about smart wear by Paul Lammertsma and it taught you how to make a watch face for smart wear and explained the basics of making a smart wear application. It was a good tutorial and easy to understand.”

I think this demonstrates well that when there is genuine interest there are no age barriers!

Caroline Hargreaves

Charlie has completed his work experience with TVC today and has written a blog about his week which you can read here. Along with the post are a couple of drawings he produced and some photographs taken during his week with us:

I chose to do my work experience at The Validation Centre (TVC) because I knew they do things to do with engineering which I would like to get into when I’m older. I saw it as a good place to get some experience about work and what goes on which will help me for when it comes to getting a job.

On the first day of my work experience, in the morning and up to dinner, I was helping out in the stores department with Morgan. He told me what goes on; how goods are brought in and sent out and also how to book things in and out. In the afternoon I then went into an office where Michelle told me what she does. I was taken to the photography room where she has a set up and she takes photos for the TVC website and also social media. I saw how she crops the photos using a specific editing program. I was shown by John what he does and how to design different types of equipment, or anything really, on a computer. You can do this with 3D objects as well. If you need to, you can look inside to see if everything is lined up correctly. I was then shown by Jim what he does with IT for the equipment and he was working on a piece of equipment which shows you how deep a weld is.

On the second day, to start the day off, I went into the reception and was shown what you have to do in there. You must answer the phone and put people through to the specific person they would like to talk to. You put things on the system which are being shipped out. Later in the day I helped work in the accounts area. I was placing all the files into number order and putting different invoices onto the system. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon with Louise putting jobs onto the system and invoices. All different things!

Day three has been my favourite day at TVC. I would like to be an engineer and I spent the day in manufacturing which is where they make equipment or assemble things. I spent the whole day working and I really enjoyed it. I was assembling Mini Arc Loggers (MAL III) cases so they could be ready to send out. This involved screwing the piece of equipment to the case and also screwing other pieces to the whole unit. After I had finished doing these, I started to modify small printers, these print out the results for the amps and voltage. This meant taking the plastic bottom off and taking the screws out. Through the screw holes I had to drill through to make a clear hole then by placing the metal bottom onto the printer, I had to line up the holes and put the screw through and tighten it on.

On day four I had another really good day which I very much enjoyed. I was down in the calibration department and was shown by Chris how to calibrate a MAL III and also a new piece of equipment, the MAL III (2-Channel), even Chris hadn’t worked on it before. Later in the day I calibrated the MAL III (2-Channel) so the reading for volts and amps where correct and it could be ready to send out when needed.

On my last day working at The Validation Centre (TVC) I was shown how to design a piece of equipment or any object by John. I then had a go myself and I really enjoyed it. I looked around in the office to see if there was anything else to design. I saw a pair of scissors and thought why not. I made all the different parts of the scissors so I could put them all together in the end, but as one of the sides had a slight curve in it and the other piece were straight, it meant we couldn’t put all the pieces together to finish it all off. I still had a great time learning how to do it.

Later on in the day I had a good time doing photography with Michelle. The photos that were took will be going onto the TVC website and on social media. I learnt how to properly edit photos so they look neat and tidy.

I’ve really enjoyed my week at TVC and it has helped me realised what the work day involves and what goes on. It has helped me towards a career in engineering.

Pure has been presented with a global award in recognition of its outstanding track record of using its company intranet system to enhance its internal communications.

The regional recruitment firm was crowned the ‘Radically Better Organisation of the Year’ at the annual Jostle Awards. The awards are open to organisations across 159 countries which use Jostle’s People Engagement intranet as a platform to share communications with employees across the business.

The Radically Better Organisation of the Year category is seen as the overall ‘best in show’ award and is presented to organisations which have demonstrated a consistent track record of achieving employee engagement through effective internal communications. Pure received the award for organisations of 200 employees and under and the City of Vaughan in Canada received the award for organisations with more than 200 members of staff.

As Pure is located in four counties across the region, with offices in Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich and Norwich, the Jostle intranet forms an integral function in enhancing employee communication. The judges commented that Pure had demonstrated how the effective use of an internal intranet can be core to an effective employee engagement strategy, especially during periods of organisational growth.

Gill Buchanan, Director at Pure, said: “Jostle has been central to underpinning and supporting our continued focus on making Pure a great place to work, with a motivated and high-achieving team. It’s important for us to have a clear way of communicating internally and we have found Jostle to be a great way of doing this. Every member of staff contributed to this award as they all use the intranet to share news and announcements, host instant group discussions and to access all of our company information.”

Pure has previously won the Jostle Award for ‘Vibrant Culture’ and has also been shortlisted in the category for ‘Highest/Most Consistent Engagement’.

Bev Attfield, Director of Tactical Marketing at Jostle, added: “Reading through the nominations this year was incredibly inspiring. We received essays, photos, and videos from so many different companies in vastly different industries. I was amazed at how these organisations were all able to leverage their Jostle intranet to improve connectivity, culture, and communication in diverse but equally valuable ways.”

For more information about the awards and to watch Pure’s acceptance speech visit the Jostlewebsite.

Newly-elected Police and Crime Commissioner, Lorne Green, is asking Norfolk residentsto share their views and help shape his Police and Crime Plan for 2016-2020.

Lorne’s public consultation, which closes on 12 August, is currently running online in the form of a short survey, andhe will be spending the coming weeksmeeting with people, groups and organisations across the county to gather their views on crime and policing.

Based on the feedback received to his consultation, the PCC will then develop his Police and Crime Plan,to be published in the Autumn, which will outline what hewill work to achieve over his four-year term, as well as setting out the objectives for policing, the resources that will be made available to the Chief Constable and how performance will be measured.

Launching the consultation, Lorne said: “My Police and Crime Plan will set out how we, as a county, tackle crime and disorder between now and 2020.

“In setting that plan, I must meet requirements set by the Home Secretary, such as ensuring our police have the capacity and capability to respond to threats like cybercrime, terrorism and child sexual abuse.

“I must also take into account what victims of crime, our police, partners and other agencies identify as the key issues affecting Norfolk.

“The final piece of the jigsaw, and the part that will enable me to ensure the needs of Norfolk people are considered, is the community perspective on crime and policing.

“During my campaign to become your PCC, I spoke with many people living and working in different parts of our county, and began the process of finding out about the issues of most concern to them.

“To build on what I heard, and get a fuller picture of what matters to our communities, I am asking people to share with me their views on crime and policing. Your views are crucial to ensuring the approach we take over the next four years is the right one for our county.”

To take the survey, please visit www.norfolk-pcc.gov.uk/TellLorne

You can alsoemail, telephone or write to the PCC to give your views.

Dedicated email address: TellLorne@norfolk.pnn.police.uk

Phone: 01953 424455

Postal address: Building 8, Falconers Chase, Wymondham, NR18 0WW