The Highways Agency (HA) is developing Route-Based Strategies for the strategic road network as the basis for the infrastructure investment plans heralded by the Government after the last Budget in Investing in Britain’s Future.
One of the routes of particular importance to businesses in Norfolk is the ‘East of England’ route, which covers the A47, A11, A12 and A120.
In connection with that route the Department for Transport is currently conducting a feasibility study into the A12/A47 corridor from Lowestoft to Peterborough with a view to establishing the economic and employment benefits to prioritise further investment. To provide evidence for the feasibility study, Norfolk and Suffolk Chambers of Commerce have been asked to survey their members about their use of the route.
If you are a regular business user of the A12/A47 between Norwich and Lowestoft or beyond, we would therefore very much value your responses to a few questions by Wednesday 26 March 2014.
The road use survey will only take a few minutes of your time and can be completed here.
Work place pensions law has changed affecting all employers, from the largest firms to those with just one employee.
Insight Financial Associates Limited and Howes Percival LLP have joined forces to co-host a free seminar providing an overview of the pension reforms and the new responsibilities facing local businesses.
Our experts will provide a practical insight on how to comply with the new auto-enrolment obligations, as well as providing top tips on avoiding the pitfalls and how to formulate an action plan. Key topics will include:
What do the auto enrolment changes mean for businesses?
Which workers will this affect?
What type of pension scheme has to be offered?
Do employment contracts have to be re-written?
How should the responsibilities be managed?
What happens if businesses ignore it?
What support is available?
Delegates will also have an opportunity to participate in a group question and answer session with our expert panel and to share their views and personal experiences.
Date: Thursday, 23 January 2014 Venue: Norwich City College Skills Academy Address: St Andrews House, St Andrews Street, Norwich, NR2 4TP Time: 7.45 am – 10.00 am RSVP: by 17 January 2014
As a follow up to the Norfolk Chamber’s ‘Audience with George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’ event on the 7 November, we submitted a number of questions from our members to the Chancellor. Responses to those questions are now starting to be received from the relevant Ministers within Westminster.
Jay Mehta is a solicitor at Howes Percival. The Norwich-based company have been Chamber members for over 20 years.
Jay’s question to the Chancellor was:
“The Community Infrastructure Levy (now implemented and in force by Norwich City Council and Broadland District Council) operates as a non-negotiable tax on new development. This is because developers have lost the opportunity to negotiate the levels of contributions payable for new infrastructure and are unable to recover all or part of such contributions if not used within a certain time.
Consequently, is there not a risk that CIL would dissuade developers from developing sites? If so, what measures are being proposed to prevent this from happening and ensuring proposed development remains viable?
The judicial review of planning permissions is a constant source of delay and expense for developers. In practice, such challenges cause significant delays in the building of homes and other developments.
I am pleased to hear that a new dedicated “planning chamber” has been recently proposed to speed up the process, although guidance indicates that this new chamber shall only hear claims concerning “major development.”
Find on the attached document the written response from the Department for Communities and Local Government.
UEA’s Prof Thomas Otte is a world-leading international historian, with a particular focus on the history of Europe. He was an advisor to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2006 – 2010 and has published a highly-acclaimed book on the events leading up to the First World War. Prof Richard Whitman is Director of the Global Europe Centre. He is currently an ESRC Senior Fellow on its UK in a Changing Europe initiative and leading a project on the interrelationship of UK and EU foreign policy: costs and benefits.
Free to attend and open to all. No need to book. The discussion is followed by a free, informal drinks reception, giving the audience a chance to meet the speakers.
The University of East Anglia are partnering with leading agricultural accounting firm Lovewell Blake to bring you Brexit, Bees and the Brown Stuff, an evening of presentations by UEA academics, focussed around agriculture in the UK.
Join us for the opportunity to hear from our experts about some of the major challenges currently facing the industry. After the talks there will be the opportunity to ask questions and network with others in the field, while enjoying some refreshments.
Speakers:
business@uea.ac.uk, including any dietary or access requirements. Further information will be sent to confirmed delegates ahead of the event.
Who could resist an invite to spend an evening networking with an intriguing medieval merchant with a penchant for extensions and risk taking?
Tuesday evening was spent in one of Norwich’s most beautiful heritage buildings, the medieval Dragon Hall on King Street. Dragon hall is home to the National Centre for Writing, who take care of the city’s UNESCO City of Literature status.
We were very proud to support The National Centre for Writing as they opened their doors and welcomed Norfolk Chamber of Commerce members to join them for one of their heritage tours and fizz in the Foyle Gallery, the stunning contemporary glass addition to Dragon Hall.
Meg Rumbelow Hemsley, Development Manager and Peggy Hughes, Programme Director talked about the NCW role and the exciting creative work they support and inspire in the community.
By creating a programme that engages writers, literary translators and readers, both in person and online the National Centre for Writing are supporting new voices and stories. With a full programme of workshops and mentoring. If you are interested in attending any of the events you can find out more here.
Following the fizz, we split into three groups and followed the incredibly knowledgeable Heritage volunteers, Mary Bradford, Richard Matthew and Malcolm Ireson around the stunning Grade 1 listed building.
From stories of the 15th Century entrepreneur Robert Toppes to visiting the 14th Century Undercroft it was a witty and colourful journey back in time.
If you want to start writing, or improve your skills you can find inspiring and creative tips on NCW blog page.
The Heritage tours are free to attend and are run on the first and third Monday of each month at 2pm. You can find out more about the next upcoming tour in February here.
Join NatWest and Norfolk Chamber of Commerce for a “power-hour” of Networking to celebrate Women in Business during Global Entrepreneurship Week.
No long presentations, just time to introduce your business and share best practices with a room of likeminded people.
This event is free to attend for all Women who are involved or who have an interest in business and you do not have to be a customer of NatWest to attend.
We are pleased to annouce Kelly Saddleton who is going to share her views on the challenges that women face in business
Kelly Saddleton is best known for being a spokesperson for women’s and junior golf. Understanding the power of relationships, connection, and engaging with the world openly Kelly has spent the last two years traveling the country sharing her story of overcoming the barriers facing women in the sports industry whilst working with golf clubs to modernise their marketing stratergies and drive in new business. More recently Kelly has found her way back to Norfolk as the new Business Development Manager of The Nest, driven by a passion to help people achieve their potential, an ethos shared by The Community Sports Foundation.
Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) https://genglobal.org/gew is the world’s largest celebration of innovators and job creators, who launch start-ups that bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare.
During one week every November, GEW inspires people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them take the next step in their entrepreneurial journey. These activities, from large-scale competitions and events to intimate networking gatherings, connect participants to potential collaborates, mentors and even investors- introducing them to new possibilities and exciting opportunities.
Norfolk Chamber’s Representation Council recently held its inaugural meeting. The Representation Council consists of members of the Chamber Board, the chairs of the Area Councils and Special Interest Groups, together with senior representatives of the Chamber’s Gold Patrons. They will meet on a quarterly basis.
Their aim is to set the policy direction for the Chamber and there are three key policy priorities for the Representation Council to consider:
Promoting a positive message for Norfolk
Unlocking the potential of young people
Improving Norfolk’s infrastructure
Discussions centred around how to work collaboratively with Norfolk business organisations, local authorities and MPs as well as other counties, such as Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. In addition the group also received an update from Iain Dunnett, the Stakeholder Manager for New Anglia LEP on their Strategic Economic Plan.
The chair of the Representation Council is the Chamber President, Ian Hacon, who said: “The aim of the Chamber’s Representation Council is to drive the policy aspects of the business agenda for Norfolk and to ensure that the Chamber has a positive influence at a local, regional and national level.”
Photo: Left to Right Back Row: Andrew Barnes, Caroline Williams, John Morse, Bob Crawley and Tracey Howard Left to Right Front Row: Ian Hacon, Jonathan Denby, David Whitehead, Jonathan Cage, Geoff Tucker, Heather Garrod and Bobby Burrage
Norfolk Chamber of Commerce is a member of the steering group for Norwich for Jobs and is very excited about what has been achieved in relation to Norwich’s young people over the past 12 months. One year on, Norwich for Jobs wants to celebrate the success together with the local business community at an event to be held at the Forum on 21 February from 8.30am – 10.30am.
As a business community we can still do more to help our young people and part of the celebration on the 21st will be to help businesses to understand better how to do this, as well as help celebrate what has been achieved so far.
Norfolk Chamber’s Apprenticeship Brokerage Scheme is also there to help businesses through the minefield of employing an apprentice, so if you are at the stage of looking at the possibilities, Chris Perry would be happy to discuss it with you: chris.perry@norfolkchamber.co.uk or call 01603 729 707.
Join us for engaging discussion on ways to grow your business through apprenticeships.
Discover the apprenticeship scene within your region. Hear employers discuss their experiences and offer advice on how to get the best from apprenticeships. With guest speakers and networking over breakfast.
Parking available at St Andrews Car Park.
What’s happening: 07.30 – 08.00 Breakfast and networking 08.00 – 08.15 Introduction 08.15 – 08.30 The Apprenticeship Scene (Norfolk County Council) 08.30 – 08.45 Sharon Davies (UEA) 08.45 – 09.00 A real-life scenario of apprenticeships in action 09.00 – 09.15 Panel Q&A Session 09.15 – 09.30 Networking Book your place at ccn.ac.uk/apprenticeship-breakfast
Help us give a warm welcome to the newest members of Norfolk Chambers of Commerce for the month of January 2020.
Visit their business to explore what they have to offer. Click on a business name below to view the full listing in our Member Directory.
The One Question When it comes to feedback systems, many business owners are left asking ‘which is right for my business?’ The One Question was designed and built in response to this need, to get to the heart of the one thing that matters.
Mustard HR Mustard HR specialises in Employee Relations – essentially the collective and individual relationships within a workplace. Lucy has many years’ experience working in various HR roles and alongside her day job siting in on Employment Tribunals as part of the adjudicating panel.
Bartrums Road Services From their location in the heart of East Anglia, Bartrums provide road haulage and warehousing services to a wide range of industries in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex.
Minuteman Press Minuteman Press have been trading from their Norwich city centre location since 1998, offering litho & digital printing, including variable data and large format printing, along with a range of finishing options, such as folding & creasing.
Norfolk Snowsports Club Norfolk Snowsports Club is a Members Club; they are ran by their members, for their members. With over 80 qualified ski and snowboard instructors and a range of activities for all abilities, Norfolk Snowsports Club has something for everyone.
Knight Accountancy Lewis Knight, Director of Knight Accountancy, is a fully licensed AAT qualified accountant as well as Xero advisor certified. Lewis provides accountancy and tax services to sole traders, partnerships and limited companies.
OFT Global OFT Global Limited is a registered international freight-forwarding company based in the United Kingdom. They are also a licensed customs agent in Nigeria and an authorized indirect air carrier/NVOCC (Non Vessel Owning Common Carrier) agent in the United Kingdom.
Horton Training Horton Training aims to provide first aid training courses for all. Whether you need training for your job role, or you just want to learn a new skill, they will have a course for you.
ISTQ Training ISTQ are a leading provider of training qualifications and CPD for the Corporate, Licensed Retail and Security Sectors. Training delivered by ISTQ is recognised on an International basis for the quality of their delivery, competitive pricing and their resources.
State Bank of India UK In the UK, SBI has been active since 1921, and has grown to become the largest Indian bank in the UK. Whilst SBI’s operations in the UK began in wholesale banking, it has now expanded to include a subsidiarised, ring-fenced retail offering as well.