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Has the coronavirus crisis caused you to have to re-think your business set-up and location? If you and colleagues have had to disperse and all work from home, we can provide the perfect base where you can come together for meetings and team building. We’ve developed a new Prime package, to meet these needs. We’re offering 4 days a month meeting space, plus all the other benefits of virtual tenancy for £75 (plus VAT) monthly. It’s a corona virus exclusive package, involving no long-term commitment when working circumstances could change.

The additional good news is that we’re offering a 25% discount on all new virtual tenancies for 2 months. You would benefit from being part of a wider business community for a very reasonable cost and on flexible terms. We currently have over 125 virtual tenants as part of our friendly community. As well as having the benefit of a prestigious business address, our virtual tenants form a key part of our vibrant leading business hub of SMEs, start-ups and sole traders. Post-handling, use of registered address, display of logos on our website and at the building entrance and discounts on additional services are all included as standard. Our range of virtual tenancy packages are all very accessibly priced from £20 (plus VAT) monthly, depending on individuals’ requirements.

The Enterprise Centre is fully open for tenants and their visitors. We have a small number of co-working desks available too, so do get in touch if that might be of interest. Part-time options are also currently available, ideal during these unprecedented times. The full-time monthly charge is £175 + VAT, with just a month’s notice required to end any contract, all terms are flexible.

Get in touch with us to find out more about how we could help your business via theenterprisecentre.reception@uea.ac.uk or 01603 591366.

Virtual Tenancy pricing:

Standard – £20 + VAT per month  Use of business address at The Enterprise Centre  Post handling, free use of communal areas and Wi-Fi  10% discount on hot-desk and meeting room hire  Reputational benefits associated with The Enterprise Centre and UEA and access to the campus

Advanced – £35 + VAT per month All items included in the Standard package plus:  1 day (or 2 half days) free access to a hot-desk per month  Access to business support sessions

Premium – £50 + VAT per month All items included in the Standard package plus:  3 days (or 6 half days) free access to a hot-desk per month  1 days (or 2 half days) free use of a meeting room  Access to business support sessions

Prime (COVID-19 exclusive package) – £75 + VAT per month All items included in the Standard package plus:  4 days (or 8 half days) free use of a meeting room per month  Access to business support sessions

Freebridge Community Housing Host House Swap Event

Freebridge Community Housing will be hosting a coffee morning to promote the benefits of mutual exchange on Friday 18 August at the Hillington Square Community Café from 11am – 2pm.

A mutual exchange is an easy way for two social housing tenants to swap properties and this event is a great opportunity to network and speak to others who are interested in the possibility of a switch.

The event will include free cakes, hot drinks and children’s activities, along with a prize draw where those attending have the chance to win £25 of Love2shop vouchers.

Freebridge Director of Housing, Robert Clarke, said: “We are pleased to have this opportunity to promote the benefits of mutual exchange, for those involved it can mean they can relocate to a home that is more suited to their needs.

“We are happy to facilitate these moves as much as possible, and I would encourage anyone who is interested to come down to speak to our staff and meet other tenants who have an interested in exchanging their home.”

The event is open to anyone living in social housing, not just Freebridge Community Housing tenants. If you would like to attend the event please RSVP to Lettings.Enquiries@freebridge.org.uk or call 03332 404 444.

With Carrow Road set to re-open for Conferences, Meetings and Events from October 1, here is a guide to the event space and facilities we have here at the stadium.

Following a £400,000 investment in 2019, technology capabilities at the ground include video conferencing facilities in the Gunn Club allowing for live streaming and hybrid events, as well as built in HD screens in almost all event spaces.

We are also fortunate to have a wealth of space and flexibility within our 17 meeting rooms and 41 executive boxes here at the stadium, which are situated over the four stands (each with their own entrance), meaning we can offer clients a ‘self-contained’ stand of their own for their event should they so wish, providing a really safe and secure environment for them and their delegates.

In line with government guidelines, up to 30 people are currently permitted to attend business meetings and events together. With a full safety policy in place, Carrow Road is a Visit Britain ‘We’re Good To Go’ accredited venue.

We also have 3D tours available on our website for our main event spaces, so that clients can take a tour of the event spaces from their computers or laptops.

To find out more about how Carrow Road is re-opening safely for CME on October 1, click here.

For our conference, meeting and events information guide, click here.

To find out more about our venue, visit the Delia’s Canary Catering or call us on 01603 218704.

For 30 years, the Norfolk Business Awards have celebrated and rewarded business excellence. Amidst challenging times for many businesses as we enter this milestone year, it seems more important than ever that we recognise the strength of our business community.

We hope that you will put your hard work, resilience and adaptability centre stage by submitting an entry. The awards are currently open for entries, and in our 30th year, as ever we will search for the very best of the best of what our wonderful region has to offer. Despite current challenges the awards are here to celebrate the strength of the Norfolk business community.

Following feedback from the business industry, we are pleased to extend our entry deadline and will accept entries up until midnight on Sunday 20 September – giving more businesses the opportunity and time to submit their entries.

We have no doubt that once again this year we will be able to the tell stories of invention, brave leadership and good, old-fashioned hard graft. But what is already abundantly clear is that 2020 is going to be unique. At the start of the year no-one could have predicted the impact the virus would have on business. But equally no-one would have predicted some of the incredible ways our business community rose to the challenge. Whether it was changing production to make vital PPE for frontline NHS workers or rushing through new technology and training a whole workforce to stay connected from home. Of course we are not yet out of the woods. The challenges of this pandemic will continue for the foreseeable. But these awards are the perfect opportunity to celebrate the ways in which your business has survived and thrived.

This year our headline sponsor is Barclays – a fitting company to have in a year when banks had to come to the rescue of many firms. We would like to pass on great thanks to Barclays and all of our category sponsors over this period. We might be battling through a tough time for businesses but it is right to recognise excellence, and all of our sponsors are certain to support this.

Our entry partner is Reflection PR – if you need support with making the best of your entry visit www.reflectionprawards.co.uk or call 01603 219191.

To view the criteria, and submit your entries into the 2020 awards, please visit our awards website www.norfolkbusinessawards.co.uk – We cannot wait to hear your stories.

If you have any questions or queries, please don’t hesitate to contact the Archant Events Team at all.awards@archant.co.uk.

We reopened on the 18th July and were very much ready to welcome you back safely.

Your Health and Safety is a top priority for us! Therefore we have implemented additional safety measures to ensure to our best capability, that we provide the cleanest and safest environment for everyone while enjoying our escape games.

Teams must be from a maximum of two households/bubbles.

Currently, for enhanced safety for all personnel and to aid the cleaning processes, we require our players to wear a face covering throughout the entire visit and course of the game. In case somebody arrives without a mask, we can supply them from our stock for a small fee of £1 and any profits will be donated to local charity.

To assist NHS Test and Trace we have been asked to keep a temporary record of our visitors for 21 days.

Teams are to gather outside the building, socially distancing from each other, and will be called in 10 mins prior to your game start time. Please ensure you are at the venue at your designated time, as lateness may lead to shorter time in the room, as we require the full cleaning time which takes priority prior to the next game. If arriving early, please wait outside until you are called at your time, again as we will be using full designated time for cleaning. There are individual reception areas for each game, so teams will not need to be in close contact to each other.

As we only have one toilet for staff use, these will be closed for customer use, as we do not have the resource to clean these after every customer use. Please try and use alternative facilities prior to your arrival. For Tombland, there may be public toilets open across the road at the Cathedral. For Rose Lane, you can use the toilets on ground floor of the car park.

Please use the hand sanitizers on entering the building, and before and after the game, which are positioned at each entrance / exit. Gloves are not permitted to bring in the rooms due to cleanliness, we can however provide gloves at the venue if required, but we champion hand cleaning over the use of gloves.

Our staff will be distancing themselves from our guests by at least 1m at all times, as well as wearing face coverings when necessary. They have access to PPE equipment and hand sanitiser around the premises in order to work ensuring the safety of all customers and staff.

Touch points in games rooms, briefing rooms and common areas are sanitised with a medical grade anti-viral cleaner between every group of players. This also includes all props, padlocks, handles, surfaces etc. etc. Any hard to reach surfaces/items are cleaned with an anti-viral aerosol cleaner so that every single surface is sanitised.

All rooms have been slightly adapted to remove most unnecessary items not required in the game, to aid minimum contact. Also, most rooms have spare props which are rotated and replaced each game whilst undergoing cleaning. There are also other items, without giving anything away, are replaced fresh/clean for each game.

Where practical, windows and doors are opened between games along with the use of some air purifiers to aid ventilation.

Should anyone display ANY known Covid symptoms – a persistent cough, high temperature or a loss of taste/smell, then they will not be permitted entry into the building or allowed to play. If anyone displays these symptoms and you need to cancel, please email us and we will action according to our relaxed Ts and Cs as per below. Please notify us beforehand, as a no-show will fall under our normal Ts and Cs.

Our temporary cancellation policy now in force is as follows-

For cancellations with more than 48hrs notice, we can offer you a free reschedule by way of a full value voucher valid for 12 months from issue.

For cancellations, within 48hrs of game time, we can offer a reschedule which incurs a small fee of £15. This will be by way of a voucher valid for 12 months, for your original value less the £15 fee. The fee is charged to cover the staffing costs allocated and incurred to cover your game, as the staffing rota will currently be being prepared 48 hours in advance.

This is much relaxed from our normal Ts and Cs requiring 7 days notice, and higher fees. This is a temporary adjustment to our Ts and Cs for cancellations, and all other Ts and Cs remain as normal. We will review and reinstate our normal Ts and Cs in the future when appropriate to do so.

With all these safety measures in place, we consider our escape rooms to be safe and fun, as long as you follow the guidelines within.

We may review this policy as the situation develops in line with government advice and guidance set out by Public Health England to ensure your safety.

In case you would like to get any further information or details on safety and hygiene please contact info@cryptic-escape.co.uk

It is with great sadness that we have to report the news that Simon Gray, founder of Credo Asset Finance passed away on Sunday afternoon 27th September 2020 after a short battle with cancer.

Simon started Credo Asset Finance as a ‘bedroom broker’ in 2005 after being in the finance industry for the previous 25 years.  He named the company Credo after its Latin name ‘Trust & Belief’ with a vision to help local businesses secure funding as quickly and as efficiently as possible. 

It was not long before he forged many relationships with these businesses and by 2010 with the help of investors, created Credo Capital Finance Ltd.  This is an own book funding facility to offer finance to those that needed more than a simple automated decision to be approved. 

He was a mentor for young people, employing many at Credo and for several years offering 0% interest free business loans and advice to those young people wanting to start a local business.  Credo Asset Finance went from strength to strength under his leadership, growing to 28 staff members and lending in the region of £50 Million a year.  Star Asset Finance acquired Credo in June 2017.

Simon loved spending time with his family, his wife Tracy and three children, Will, Anna & Alex, and loved his holidays.  He sang in local choirs, loved a game of golf, enthusiast for motorsport and enjoyed long walks.

He was an extraordinarily generous man, always wanting to help those in need and astonishingly raised over £100,000 for charity in the last few years.  This included climbing Kilimanjaro in 2016 and most recently the creation of the Canaryball Rally, which involved 20 cars travelling through 8 countries in Europe in 5 days in association with the Community Sports Foundation raising funds for their Build The Nest project in Horsford, Norwich.

He will be truly missed by so many, not least his Credo family.  It is even sadder that Simon will not see his son Will marry Bara who works at Credo which was supposed to take place in June this year. 

Ian Tims MD said “Simon was a legend in Asset Finance.  I will ensure his legacy continues, building the business so that Credo carries on even stronger and brighter for the future.”

All our thoughts are with Tracy and the family at this incredibly difficult time.

Simon Gray 1963 – 2020

A lot has changed since John Mayer joined TaxAssist Accountants in 2000, but he has absolutely no regrets.

John Mayer, who operates his TaxAssist Accountants franchise from Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset, has recently celebrated 20 years at the helm of his flourishing practice. To congratulate him, the Support Centre staff in Norwich sent a hamper to mark the occasion.

John said: “A big thank you for the gift of the Fortnum & Masons hamper celebrating my 20 years as a TaxAssist Accountants franchisee, it is very gratefully received.

“Where has the last 20 years gone! I am so thankful I joined TaxAssist and is a decision I will never regret. It has given myself and my family a good, secure living and has allowed me to meet many great people, both clients and within the franchise.

“It has been challenging at times, sometimes hard work, but over riding all of this, vastly enjoyable, extremely rewarding, and something I am very proud to be associated with.

“I have seen the franchise grow from around £4m fee bank to its current £51m and I like to think I have put a little part into its growth.

“I was going to organise a 20-year celebration party this October, and get my band to play as I did with the 15 year-celebration. Sadly, due to Covid-19 that has to be put on hold until next year, but it should be a party to remember when it does happen!”

Karl Sandall, the TaxAssist Group Chief Executive Director, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with and get to know John over the last 20 years and to help him build the substantial practice which he heads up today. He has always been eager to embrace change and keep up with the times and I congratulate him on his many years of business success. I would also like to thank him for the contribution he has made to the franchise over the years.”

If you are interested in joining TaxAssist Accountants, we are holding monthly Virtual Discovery Days where you can spend a day with the team to find out more about the business opportunity and support on offer. Click here for more information.

Our latest blog takes a look behind the scenes at Layrd Design and gives an insight into the working life of Director Will Mayes.

Read the full blog here.

On 28th September, the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) launched its G-Cloud 12 framework and it is now live for all public sector customers to use.  G-Cloud 12 offers public sector organisations a straightforward and compliant way to purchase cloud based services, such as hosting, software, and support.

G-Cloud 12 works through an online catalogue called the Digital Marketplace. Services now include service definition documents, which provide detailed service information to support evaluating services, empowering customers to make better buying decisions.  CJC Procurement Ltd has two service offerings; Cloud & Digital Transformation Procurement Services; and Software Cost Optimisation services.

The benefits of using G-Cloud 12 include:

• straightforward contract award using a quick and easy 6 step process on the Digital Marketplace
• transparent prices – catalogue shows suppliers, services, prices and supplier terms and conditions 
• access to the latest innovation and technologies
• ability to move away from long term contracts – maximum duration is 24 months, which is then easily refreshed or can be extended by 2 x 12 month periods
• includes clauses to help you address both modern slavery and corporate social value

Including CJC Procurement Ltd, 5,224 suppliers have each been awarded a place on the twelfth iteration of G-Cloud.  Over 38,000 services will be available for customers to access, subject to a process of additional assurance. This is a growth of over 25% from G-Cloud 11. 

Over 91% of the overall suppliers on G-Cloud 12 are small and medium sized enterprises (SME). Of the suppliers new to G-Cloud 12, over 80% are micro and small organisations, demonstrating that G-Cloud continues to offer opportunities to suppliers of all sizes.  CJC Procurement Ltd is one of these micro businesses and proof that such business can be appointed to public sector Framework Agreements.  For more information on the CJC Procurement Ltd listed services, please follow the links below.

Cloud & Digital Transformation Procurement Service

Software Cost Optimisation Service

Print and POS specialist BDH Tullford donated several clear, pull-up partitions to Norfolk-based charity Equal Lives this September, helping to keep their teams safe as they return to the office.

Having diversified during the coronavirus crisis, BDH Tullford initially began producing PPE components, face shields and partition screens to support the NHS. The opportunity to convert pull-up banners into portable partition screens using clear plastic was a natural development. Not only can they be wiped down with antibacterial spray but they can easily be moved around, allowing individuals and organisations flexibility in the workplace. 

Having produced several pull-up screen prototypes, the company saw an opportunity to give back to the local community, donating a batch to a local charity as its employees began returning to the office. 

The chosen charity, Equal Lives, is based in Framingham Pigot in Norfolk. It is dedicated to empowering disabled individuals so they can live independent lives. Its team of employees and volunteers works closely with local people, helping them to understand their rights and access the support they need – all while campaigning for equal opportunities. 

Says Kimberly Myhill, Equal Lives’ Senior Business Development Manager: “Buying PPE and screens diverts vital resources away from the charity’s work. 

“Receiving a donation like this not only allows us to save money but helps us to keep our colleagues and clients safe as we return to the office, allowing us to increased levels of assistance during a particularly stressful time.”

Comments David Hutchins, Director at BDH Tullford: “We’re delighted to provide support to a local charity with these screens. They’re easy to use, simple to set up and incredibly versatile

“Equal Lives provides invaluable services within East Anglia and we’re delighted that we can help them continue to provide those services in a safe and secure manner.”

Internationally acclaimed Spanish installation artist and sculptor, Cristina Iglesias (b. November 1956), presents two major sculptures at the Sainsbury Centre, UEA. This free Sculpture Park exhibition on display from 14 November places Iglesias’ work in dialogue with Norman Foster’s iconic Sainsbury Centre building.

Celosía XI (Hafsa Bint Al-Hayy) (2006) consists of seven terracotta screens that evoke the lattices in Arab architecture. Iglesias co-opts their traditional geometric patterns by incorporating words into the structure of the screens. Passing through the enclosures is akin to reading passages of text. The title refers to the celebrated Andalusian poet Ḥafṣa bint al-Ḥājj ar-Rakūniyya (1135-1191).

The immersive installation Vegetation Room III (2005) is a defined architectural space. The interior walls are casts of organic vegetation. The combination of natural and architectural elements complements the aims of the Sainsbury Centre Sculpture Park: to bring together art, architecture and the natural environment. 

This exhibition reunites the work of Cristina Iglesias and Norman Foster, who have collaborated on a number of projects. Iglesias’ sculpture can be seen in front of the Bloomberg Headquarters, London, which was designed by Norman Foster. She has also created a canopy for the façade of the Norman Foster Foundation in Madrid.

Both works are free to view on the West Lawn as part of the Sculpture Park. A trail map is available here.

In collaboration with Marian Goodman Gallery and Cristina Iglesias Studio.