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The United Kingdom will leave the European Union on the 31 October 2019 and your business will need to take action to get ready.

Join a free Brexit Business Readiness Event in your area to meet government advisers and to find out what actions your business needs to take to prepare.

The events will combine a keynote address, interactive support, advice stands and in-depth sessions led by subject matter experts. They will provide you with specific business-focused advice and help.

Events will be taking place across the UK and new locations will be added to this website as they’re confirmed.

https://registration.livegroup.co.uk/brexitbusinessreadinessevents/

Commenting on Saturday’s Parliamentary debate, Dr Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“While the parliamentary drama continues, in the real world businesses wait anxiously for a clear outcome.

“In the coming days the onus is on the government to answer the many questions businesses are posing on the Prime Minister’s deal – and its potential impact on trade, investment, communities and jobs. 

“At such a critical moment in the process, the government must give business an iron-clad guarantee that it will not seek to take the UK out of the EU without a deal on 31st October. Getting a Brexit deal is far more important than simply getting it done.

“Allowing the UK to slide toward a Halloween no-deal – whether by design or disarray – would be an act of economic and political negligence. As frustrating as it would be to many in business, a short extension to unlock a comprehensive solution and a smooth transition is still infinitely preferable to an overnight economic shock.”

The B2B Exhibition made its debut at Norfolk Showground on Thursday 17th October, opening its doors to the business community 21 years after it first began.  The move to Norfolk Showground saw the event grow significantly with more attendees joining us for a day for face-to-face networking and problem solving. Overall, the event had an increased sense of community with all exhibitors together in one hall, as well as a fun and buzzing atmosphere from start to finish. Doors opened at 10am and all 99 of our exhibitors were ready to go, including event sponsors Desira Group who welcomed businesses to the exhibition with an outdoor display of their vehicles. As visitors began registering and queues built up to get inside, Norfolk Chambers CEO Chris Sargisson began judging the best stand award with guest judge and Norfolk Chambers President, Fiona Ryder. Our judges went around the exhibition spending time with all of our exhibitors, taking part in interactive activities and meeting top Norfolk businesses.  Although our judges encountered everything from puzzles, sweet treats and even puppies on stands, GGS were crowned winners of the best stand award 2019 with their fun and interactive photo booth – that they built and designed themselves! Our judges agreed that this not only allowed you to have a fun at the event, but it made visitors to the stand re-engage with GGS Norwich by having to visit their Facebook page to view the photos. The stand also showcased the work GGS do, with an exciting exhibition display, photography and the graphic design work. Photos from the photo booth can be found here. Chris Ball, Creative Director/Photographer at GGS said: “We always look forward to the Chamber of Commerce B2B exhibition as it is the only one we do on a regular basis, and, in fact, I think we have been at every one since it started. We love it that we can connect, face to face, with so many of our clients; many of whom we normally only deal with on the telephone, and that we have the opportunity to meet plenty of new people, too. The new venue was excellent. There was a real buzz about the place on the day and the increased ceiling height and roof space gave us the opportunity to be a little more creative with our stand this year. It’s always a challenge to come up with something a bit different and which will engage with and attract visitors. Previously it’s been cakes or a competition, or even a game; but this year’s Photo Booth was a real hit. Feedback was fabulous, and by only making the photos we took available next day on our Facebook page we managed to extend visitors’ engagement with us over a number of days after the event. And we were absolutely delighted that it won us ‘Best Stand’, too! Result!!” Throughout the exhibition we had 20 minute workshops taking place from Matt Sykes from Salescadence, Aimee Konieczny & Hayley Leech from Indigo Swan, Neil Foley of Business Growth Club, Kathy Ennis of Little Piggy and Eleanor Bougie-Smith of SocialB. Their expert workshops provided attendees with key takeaways covering customer service on social media to business boosting tips.  We were also delighted to have Ian Hacon of Energise.me leading on some speed networking sessions in the centre of the exhibition. This provided attendees with the chance to meet various businesses in quick, 1 minute chats before moving on to the next person. Ian gave our speed networkers some useful advice before they started each session, including the tip to tell the person something interesting they’ll remember, don’t just pitch. For 2019 we took a big leap from previous B2B exhibitions, with a new venue, new opportunities and much more happening both behind the scenes and on display. The B2B Exhibition will return to Norfolk Showground on Thursday 15th October 2020.  A big thank you goes to our sponsors and partners at this year’s event: Archant – Media Partners Desira Group – Outdoor Sponsors Birketts LLP – Bronze Sponsors Zing Insights – Feedback Partners

Norfolk County Council have released their latest economic report for July – September 2019 – Quarter 2. The report highlighted:

• Employment levels in Norfolk has increased and is at its highest levels since 2017
• Average weekly earnings in Norfolk have risen by 9% but are still lower than the national average
• A vertical farming company is considering moving into Norfolk – there is potential for 4 farms each employing up to 35 people
• Norwich Western Link preferred route announced.  The route will connect the Northern Broadway to the A47
• European Skills Funding call is currently open until 2 December.  It is aimed at enhancing equal access to lifelong learning and improving labour market relevance of education and training systems

For full details of the latest economic intelligence report click here.

For businesses wanting to understand what they need to do to prepare for  Brexit, you can now watch this free HM Government online Brexit Business Readiness Event to watch presentations from government advisers and to find out what actions your business needs to take to prepare for Brexit. 

Understand what Brexit means for business, find out why personal data matters, plan for imports, exports and international trade after Brexit, and learn more about how to prepare your services business, or what to do if you operate in food and drink, farming, fisheries, waste, or chemical sectors.  

You can view the presentation online by clicking this link – Online Brexit Business Readiness Event. 

Norwich City Council has now released its Economic Barometer for the final quarter of 2013. Findings show that the period November 2013 to January 2014 highlighted some very promising signs for the New Year and beyond. The end of 2013 saw a surge in consumer spending, which was to be expected over the Christmas period, with John Lewis reporting a 10% upsurge in online sales.

December saw a fall of £2.1 billion in UK government borrowing. It now stands at £12.1 billion. With the signing of the Greater Norwich City Deal, by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, it is hoped that the city Deal will create 13,000 jobs and 3,000 homes in the area and sustain 6,000 construction jobs. Overall unemployment figures continue to fall for this region.

With the increased popularity of the summer flights schedule, Norwich International Airport achieved a year on year increase in passenger numbers of 11% and Loganair have announced that they will commence new services from Norwich to Edinburgh from the end of March 2014.

The £7.8 million expansion of Hethell Engineering Centre will be up and running from the start of March 2014 and is set to create 240 new jobs and will double the size of the current site by adding 16 new offices and workshop spaces.

The full Norwich Economic Barometer can be viewed here.

The British Chambers of Commerce, together with the accredited Chamber Network, including Norfolk Chambers, run Britain’s largest and most influential independent business survey – the Quarterly Economic Survey (QES).  The next fieldwork period for the QES will start on Monday 04 November and will be open for 3 weeks. 

But why should your organisation take part?  Nova Fairbank, Norfolk Chambers’ Head of Policy outlines why she wants more input from Norfolk businesses:

“The QES is Britain’s largest, and longest-running, private business survey and it’s a leading economic indicator – often picking up big changes in the economy long before other surveys or official statistics.  With the continued uncertainty of Brexit and the UK economy effectively treading water, it is more important than ever that as many businesses as possible take part.

“By completing the QES you are helping to identify how strong our local economy is and how well it is performing against the national averages and some international measures. Norfolk has many dynamic and innovative businesses, we need to have a strong voice and ensure our region gets both the credit and the investment that it deserves.”

Below are just a few more reasons why your organisation should take part in this important economic survey:

1. It’s provided consistent data since 1989, and regularly receives over 7,500 business responses. Compare that to the average business survey, which garners only a few hundred responses.

2. Norfolk responses represent over 34% of the responses from the East of England.  (East of England includes: Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire).

3. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee uses the QES as one of its key benchmarks when setting interest rates.

4. HM Treasury and the independent Office for Budget Responsibility use the QES to put together their forecasts for the UK’s economic performance.

5. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) use the QES when comparing the UK to competitors worldwide.

The more Norfolk businesses that take part – the louder the voice of the Norfolk business community will be.  So what can your business do to contribute to the QES?  During the fieldwork period, the survey can be completed electronically.  There are several ways to access this online survey either:

• Use the link within the Chamber Policy news article or;
• Use the link that the Chamber can send direct to you

To be added to the Norfolk Chambers’ QES email list, please contact Nova Fairbank or Jack Edwards.  Emails: nova.fairbank@norfolkchamber.co.uk and jack.edwards@norfolkchamber.co.uk.

The online survey takes less than 3 minutes and your input is vital to help ensure that Norfolk business has a strong collective ‘voice’.