Banham Zoo is delighted to share some heart-warming festive news with the announcement of two newly hatched African black-footed penguin chicks, a joyful milestone for this endangered species.
Earlier this summer, in June, Banham Zoo proudly welcomed a group of African black-footed penguins from Hertfordshire Zoo, adding to our already established colony of African black-footed penguins as part of the international breeding programme dedicated to safeguarding the future of the species. We are thrilled to report that the penguins have settled in exceptionally well and are already playing a valuable role in conservation efforts.
Maneno and Jozini have successfully hatched chicks: Pumpkin, born on 31st October, and Spice, who followed shortly after on 3rd November. Keepers report that both chicks, along with their attentive parents, are doing extremely well.
With African Black-footed penguin populations continuing to decline and fewer than 10,000 breeding pairs remaining worldwide, every successful hatching represents a vital step forward. Alongside its breeding efforts, Banham Zoo is proud to support the vital conservation work of SANCCOB (the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds), whose teams work tirelessly in South Africa to rescue, rehabilitate and release African penguins affected by oil spills, climate change and food shortages.
Sophie Imhof, Team Leader of the Bird team at Banham Zoo said,
‘We couldn’t be happier to welcome Pumpkin and Spice, especially at such a magical time of year. Seeing Maneno and Jozini settle in so quickly and successfully raise two healthy chicks has been wonderful for the whole team. With African black-footed penguins under so much pressure in the wild, every new chick really does matter and these two are a lovely reminder of why conservation work like this is so important.’
To celebrate the arrival of Pumpkin and Spice, Banham Zoo has launched new penguin adoption packs, offering supporters a meaningful way to help protect this endangered species. Adopters will be able to follow the penguins’ story as they grow, while directly supporting conservation efforts both at the zoo and in the wild, making it a truly special gift this Christmas.
Just to note – As a precautionary measure due to current bird flu restrictions, visitors are not able to enter the penguin habitat at this time. However, there are several designated viewing areas around the habitat, offering guests the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the penguins and observe the family from a safe distance.
James Reed, Chairman of the Reed Global group of companies, will officially open a REED Megasite in Norwich on Tuesday 19th April. The aim of the office will be to continue to serve the business community across a number of fast growth sectors in the East of England.
Employing more than 30 people, the site will deliver specialist recruitment services to businesses across a number of disciplines. These include Accountancy, HR, Finance, Marketing and Creative, Business Support, Hospitality and Leisure for both temporary and permanent workers.
Melanie Marjoram, business director at REED Norwich, says: “Opening an office of this size is a real measure of the growth the city has experienced in recent years. Norwich has an exciting and varied jobs market which is why it needs a recruitment centre that can offer a variety of bespoke options for all recruitment needs.”
In addition to catering for jobs in a number of sectors, the REED Megasite in Norwich will offer enhanced facilities for both candidates and clients. These will include a number of workshops, including skill set and role play workshops, testing suites and interview rooms. There are a growing number of REED Megasites in the UK and across the globe in specially selected areas where jobs and industries require a wide range of specialist skills to suitably provide for the market.
Melanie Marjoram continued: “The facilities for both individuals and businesses at the site are high quality. With a range of training options to improve and expand skills, the opportunities to develop with REED are vast. The skills gained will help candidates and REED work together to set a successful career path, and businesses to flourish. With the new Megasite bringing so much to the local community, it will be great to have our chairman James Reed to open it on April 19th, and launch all the good work we want to do.”
The new REED Megasite is located at Seebohm House, 2-4 Queen Street, Norwich, NR2 4SQ. The Launch will commence from 15:00 to 18:00. Please join us in our celebrations with refreshments and Canapes on offer.
To attend, or for more information, please call Michelle Topley, Office Manager at REED Norwich, on 01603 616190 or email michelle.topley@reedglobal.com
Age UK Norwich and the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) have released a powerful new video aimed at healthcare professionals to raise awareness about the growing issue of frailty and falls in Norfolk.
Jen Little, Practice Recruitment Specialist at the Cambridge office of Pure Resourcing Solutions (Pure), has completed a 75km trek across the Sahara desert to raise money for the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity (ARHC) and has described it as ‘the most amazing and phenomenal experience’.
Having spent six months undergoing some intensive preparation training, Jen was one of eight members of Team ARHC who took on the epic walk through temperature conditions ranging from a scorching 40 degrees in the day to just 0 degrees when camping at night. The other team members included the charity’s CEO Lynn Morgan, staff at the hospice and other local business people including Steve Mitcham, CEO of Cambridge Business Society.
The group hiked across the desert for several days from 17th March with just their guide, and the camels who were carrying the minimal luggage they were allowed, for company. Having made it safely back in one piece, aching legs and the odd blister aside, Jen has already said she would return to the Sahara in a heartbeat.
“However much I thought I knew what it would be like, it was even more beautiful than I could have imagined”, said Jen. “It was an amazing and phenomenal experience as well as being hard work and scary all at the same time. Essentially we just walked, ate and slept but we really bonded as a team throughout and got to see some spectacular sights. We were up before 6am each morning and watched the most beautiful sunrises and the sunsets were equally as stunning. We were in bed by about 8.30pm most nights but we did also have time to marvel at the stars. Because there is no light pollution in the desert you really can see every star in the night sky.”
The team had to battle through a sand storm towards the end of the trip which meant they actually completed the journey slightly quicker than they had anticipated.
Jen, who has been an ambassador for ARHC for the last eight years, added: “When the sand storm came in it really reduced our visibility and dropped the temperature. We were advised to either all bunker down in one tent until it passed or to keep on walking through it to escape the storm quicker. We choose to keep on walking which meant we reached our finish goal earlier than we expected. But it was like being completely sand blasted and the only bits of ourselves we really dared have exposed were our hands. When we reached the end we all felt an overwhelming sense of achievement. We’d taken on a challenge and really risen to it and conquered it as a team.”
The sponsorship money for Team ARHC is still coming in, but with all eight team members having already averaged around £2,000 each, the overall amount looks set to be a significant amount for the charity. ARHC is the only adult hospice in Cambridgeshire and provides specialist palliative care and support to adult patients and their family, friends and carers. The money raised will be used to support the creation of a new 24-bed facility at the hospice which is set to be an exemplar in hospice design and will offer patients a more spacious, attractive and therapeutic environment.
Paint Out is a juried “En Plein Air” competition based in Norwichand MOA Marketing help with the advertising and social media aspects of this yearly event. A new spin off event was hosted in Wells next the sea on the picturesc Norf Norfolk close this year. This included a public “Sunrise Event” where the artists were joined by members of the public and invited to paint the amazing colours of the early morning sun. The event culminates in an auction of one piece of the artists work from the event.
Level Two and Three Art and Design students at the College of West Anglia (CWA) were given a unique insight into the world of professional tattooing as respected tattoo artist, Alice Nicholls visited the college to speak about her career, industry trends and the creative opportunities within the field.
Alice, known for her distinctive style and growing presence within the tattoo community, delivered an engaging session that explored the realities of working as a tattoo artists. The session covered subjects from building a portfolio and developing a personal brand to navigating client relationships, industry regulations and the increasing influence of social media in shaping modern tattoo culture.
Students gained first hand understanding of the creative and technical skills required in tattooing as well as the dedication, professionalism and safe practice standards expected in the industry. The session also highlighted the importance of storytelling through body art and how media skills such as photography, videography, and content creation can support artists in promoting their work.
The workshop formed part of CWA’s continued commitment to giving students meaningful encounters with industry professionals, expanding their understanding of creative career paths and helping them explore areas they may not have previously considered.
Alice Nicholls said “Visiting colleges gives young artists a real glimpse into the world of tattooing, offering honest guidance, practical skills, and the confidence to turn their creativity into a career.”
Lydia Dennis, Work Placement Coordinator for Creative Arts, said “We have many aspiring tattoo artists on our art and design courses, and it’s not always easy to provide them with opportunities due to age and safety restrictions. Alice’s workshops are perfect for bridging this gap by providing an introduction into the industry, apprenticeship and portfolio tips, and allowing our students to experience designing and tattooing first-hand in a safe environment. Alice is an inspiration and we can’t wait to work with her again!”
Students responded enthusiastically to the visit, asking questions about apprenticeships, design processes and what it takes to establish yourself in a competitive creative field.
Celebrating 10 Years of Freebridge Community Housing
Freebridge Community Housing celebrate their 10th birthday on 4 April.
It’s now ten years since 6,700 homes transferred to Freebridge from the Borough Council after 77 per cent of voting tenants elected for the move, and a great deal has happened since.
Tony Hall, Chief Executive of Freebridge said: “The transfer of homes to Freebridge in April 2006 was a enormously significant event for tenants. At that time fewer than 30% of tenants’ homes met the Government’s Decent Homes standard. Now almost 100% have been improved above this level, with just a few remaining to be completed within our bigger regeneration projects.
“Through working with our tenants, our employees and our partners, we have improved the quality of homes that our tenants live in and supported the communities where our tenants live.
“Reaching this 10 year point gives us the chance to look back at what we have achieve, whilst continuing to plan for the future. The world we find ourselves in is very different to the world that existed when Freebridge first started out, which means that we will need to be increasingly prudent with any plans we have to make sure that we continue to be a responsible landlord that develops homes and creates opportunities for people in the area.
“I would like to thank our tenants for their involvement and interest over the last ten years, our employees for all of their hard work, and our partners who have worked closely with us in supporting a better West Norfolk.”
In Freebridge’s first ten years we’ve:
been open for business for over 2500 days.
started over 7000 new tenancies.
spent over £45 million in the local area up to 5 miles from
our Juniper House office in King’s Lynn.
employed over 400 members of staff.
given community groups over £46,000 in grants from our Community Fund.
visited over 4000 homes whilst out and about in west Norfolk.
presented over 50 awards at our Community Awards nights.
installed 5324 kitchens, 4436 bathrooms, put new windows in 5418 homes, new doors in 6161 homes, new heating systems in 5273 homes and had re-wired homes 4354.
Be Wiser Business Insurance offers insurance policies for businesses and individuals of all industries and sizes. This means that a tradesman can purchase insurance to cover his tools, his handywork and protect himself from any potential damages caused to clients and their property.
For a large enterprise, cover is available to protect the public, the property andemployees. So in the event of an accident or damages, the insurance will pay for any compensation, personal injuries, medical bills and loss of income.
For a professional like a dentist, doctor or lawyer, they can purchase professional indemnity insurance so that any if advice or procedures have adverse effects and the customer takes legal action, they will be insured for any damages and compensation.
Be Wiser is an insurance broker working with over 30 leading providers so individuals or companies will be able to make an enquiry online or phone up and after providing details of their business, they will have access to a leadingbusiness insurance quotetailored to their business.
What work we have done
We started by making the website as user-friendly and conversion driven as possible. This includes making the site fully responsive so it is easy to view on desktop, mobile and tablet. Customers have access to information about each insurance product and are always one to three clicks away from making an enquiry.
To practice SEO effectively, we started with a list of thousands of relevant keywords which we sat down and discussed with the client. We then focused our content efforts to target these keywords and included them in the URLs, headings, titles and content body, working on an even distribution of content and not spamming Google with our favourite keywords. To create a natural user experience, we have included several images and videos explaining the product. To build the site’s link profile, we have looked to generate PR on business forums, magazines, news sites and other relevant publications.
We are thrilled about continuing to work on content, videos and acquiring links for the Be Wiser Business site.We are currently on page 1 for ‘property owners liability’ and various terms relating to ‘public liability insurance’ and look forward to gaining good search results in the future.
We’ve recently had the pleasure of working with the team at Chrysalis on their first TV commercial. The long-term radio and online advertiserswanted to take the next step and promote their nationwide courses through the fabulous medium of TV, and of course JMS were pleased to be their guide.
We presented a number of options for consideration and the client chose a creative idea that explored the journey someone takes when embarking on a big change in their life, such as a new career. Filmed across 2 days and 4 locations; beach, home, office and 2 studio sets, the creative team demonstrated these thought processes by following a central character as she sets out to change her life with the help of Chrysalis.
Capitalising on the advertising already being used, we incorporated some visual ‘nods’ to the butterfly icon that is part of the company logo – small reminders of the branding that appear throughout the commercial connecting directly with our central character.
The commercial broadcasts nationwide from April 2016.
The Best Employers Eastern Region survey is now open for employersto gain essential insight into employee opinion and to be in with a chance of being crowned one of the region’s best employers.
Employers are being encouraged to register as soon as possible to get the most out of the biannual employee survey which is provided free of charge to businesses in East Anglia as part of the Best Employers Eastern Region initiative. This ongoing initiative was founded in 2012 by professional recruitment specialists Pure Resourcing Solutions (Pure) and people development and psychometrics experts eras ltd. It aims to help strengthen the region’s economy by supporting local businesses to attract and develop talented employees and to showcase the many exceptional employers in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge and Essex.
The confidential employee survey, which would normally cost in the region of £2,000, is available to local organisations of all sizes and sectors. It captures the data employers need to monitor how engaged their employees are and comes with a tailored report summarising the findings and an action plan for further development. By registering now, employers will have plenty of time to make the survey completely bespoke to their organisation, working with the experts at eras ltd to incorporate any existing surveys or specific questions they would like to ask.
All participating organisations will automatically be entered into a series of awards which will be presented later this year to celebrate the region’s Best Employers. They will also be invited to join the growing network of Best Employers across the region, attending regular employee engagement seminars to share best practice.
Lynn Walters, director at Pure, said: “The Best Employers initiative gives organisations access to free tools and expert guidance which can actively evolve their workplace culture and increase employee engagement. The business benefits of doing this are significant. Evidence shows that highly engaged employees generate 43% more revenue than the average worker.
“The additional opportunity to win a Best Employer award could also help to improve the bottom line. These fantastic accolades don’t just demonstrate how well companies treat their staff, they are also an excellent endorsement for customers and help to distinguish organisations from their competitors. Being seen as a Best Employer will also inevitably help to attract future talent to the organisation, and research shows that the ability to recruit good people is one of the key elements to achieving business growth.”
The Best Employers survey is easy for employees to complete online. Because it is hosted by an independent party, employees are more likely to trust the confidentiality, providing honest answers which give an authentic reflection of the working environment.
Margaret Burnside, Director of People Development at eras Ltd, added: “To be seen as a Best Employer, business leaders need to seek regular employee feedback so that they have the information they need to create a company culture which remains attractive to an evolving workforce. Employee engagement levels are dependent on a wide range of elements. It’s not necessarily about having the best employee benefits or providing the highest salary. It encompasses everything from the overall work environment and great leadership, through to inspiring vision and progression opportunities. Many employers struggle to know where to begin when it comes to understanding how engaged their employees are and what, if anything, they need to do to improve things. That’s why we are working with Pure to provide the expertise needed to help businesses in our region.”
Previous participants, which have gone on to win Best Employer awards, include Benefit Cosmetics in Chelmsford, crowned the region’s Best Overall Large Employer 2014, and Bidwells in Cambridgeshire, Rehabworks in Suffolk and Tobar in Norfolk.
M+A Partners Lily Pomfret yesterday becameone of only 20 Intuit QuickBooks UK Advanced Pro users in the UKby passingwith a score of 94% to come out top of all those that sat the exam.
If you are new to Cloud Accounting or would like to brush up on your skills, let us know if you would like to be at one of our next Quickbooks training sessions hosted by Lily.