BCC has announced new speakers for their Global Annual Conference including the Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, Lewis Iwu, CEO and Co-founder of Purpose Union and Katherine Bennett, Current Senior Vice President, Airbus.
This year’s event will be held virtually over two days on 16 and 17 June and is one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the business calendar. In the days leading up to it, and during the event, there will also be the opportunity to network with other delegates through our new virtual platform, allowing you and your guests to browse the delegate list, form connections, start conversations and make contacts.
To book your place on this prestigous event and for more information click here
We’re excited to invite you to a Co.next Workshop hosted in partnership with our headline sponsor, Mills & Reeve. This engaging session, “Managing Stress and Burnout,” will be led by Charlie Pendlebury, Senior Diversity, Inclusion & Wellbeing Advisor.
Charlie brings a wealth of expertise in creating inclusive and supportive work environments, with a focus on building resilience and empowering wellbeing in professional settings. This workshop is a chance to explore practical strategies for recognising and managing stress, preventing burnout, and developing habits that support your mental health.
Join us on Wednesday, November 19th, from 11:45 am – 2:00 pm at the Norfolk Chambers Business Hub, Hardwick House. This session is perfect for young professionals, managers, and anyone looking to strengthen their approach to wellbeing at work.
Charlie has a wealth of diversity, inclusion and wellbeing experience, gathered over 10 years of working in the third, public, and now private sector. The skills and knowledge they developed through direct work with under-represented and marginalised communities, are utilised at Mills & Reeve as they work across the firm to ensure a safe and inclusive environment for everyone.
The regeneration project at Freebridge’s Hillington Square estate in King’s Lynn has won another award in the Eastern Region Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) awards last night in Bury St Edmunds.
The award which was given in the Regeneration category was presented torepresentatives of Freebridge Community Housing, Field + Mawson LLP – the architects currently working on the project, Lovell Partnership – the construction firm who completed work on the first four stages and G C Baxter & Associates – quantity surveyors on the project.
As a winner of the Eastern Region award the regeneration project is now put forward to the National RICS awards that will take place on the 4th October in London.
The RICS judges commended the team behind the project “as two thirds through its overall redevelopment, the benefits to the local residents and surrounding community can be seen already” and stated that the work completed so far “has not only improved the standard of living for its residents, but improved their sense of belonging, safety and community”.
Tony Hall, Freebridge’s Chief Executive, said “We are delighted that the Hillington Square project has won another award, and are particularly pleased that it won in the Regeneration category. It was always our intention from the outset to ensure that the work we needed to do with the estate extended to more than just the refurbishment of the existing buildings and an award like this means that others agree that this approach was the right one and one that is working.”
Work on the Hillington Square project continues with tenders being currently sought for the next stage of construction work, after which plans will be made for the completion of the final phases.
Are you an employer in Engineering or Construction?
Do you have upcoming vacancies or apprenticeship opportunities?
Join us at our Career Fair in the Construction Hub and connect with our talented, work‑ready students who are excited to take their first steps into the industry.
Case Study: Chatsbrook Help Local Fisherman To Live His Dream
Sometimes you can go years with the intention of investing in your dreams, but something like needing a new car, roof or having to pay for a wedding may grab the attention of your purse strings instead. This is what happened to Simon Bywater.
Since 1984, Simon and his brothers have run a successful, independent fishing business. From listening to Simon speak about his experience with his brothers, you are able to get a clear understanding of how tight-knit they are. The most beautiful aspect that he relayed was how much they share. Not only do they share an enormous amount of time together, but they each share facilities, knowledge AND their own catches if one doesn’t have enough to fulfil an order.
This is why it is important to Chatsbrook to continue to support and protect local, family run businesses.
Although Simon has always enjoyed working with his brothers, he yearned for his own boat and to work his own pots. Being a supportive family, Simon’s brother Peter agreed to sell his boat to Simon. After waiting almost a year and having to decline offers in the interim, last week the funds were transferred to Simon so that he could finally purchase his brothers boat!
However, Simon’s journey to finance wasn’t easy.
Back in October last year Simon set out to obtain finance for a boat, a shellfish licence and an outboard. He approached many brokers, but lenders were reluctant to provide finance for the assets he desired. After months of getting nowhere and starting to feel disillusioned, Adrian Brooks of Chatsbrook Vehicle & Asset Finance was finally recommended to him.
” I got referred to Adrian and from the offset I trusted him and felt like I was being taken seriously. He really got to understand the nature of the business which is what helped to secure the finance. I knew that securing finance may prove to be tricky, so I gave him the freedom to secure finance in whatever way he saw fit and that was a commercial loan!”
Instead of paying three lots of interest rates on three separate assets, Adrian knew that a commercial loan would be the best fit for Simon WHILST saving him money!
” I’ve had finance in the past for a couple of vehicles and the process has always been easy. But with Adrian, the service is so much more personal. He kept in touch during every stage, he was very clear about the process which gave me confidence. He stuck to his every word and that is very rare nowadays.”
” I felt like he was dealing with a friend. I hope to remain good friends after this. I’ve even invited him for a trip on my boat!”
Chatsbrook have a reputation for running our business with integrity and morality. With patience and determination we promise to do all that we can for all of our clients. Whether that be providing a simple service, advising businesses on their finances or sourcing a vehicle, supporting our clients and improving their quality of life is what drives us.
If you, yourself, have also felt disillusioned like Simon, break the cycle and begin the rest of your life today. Our incredible team are on hand to help you on 01603 733500 or info@chatsbrook.co.uk
Booking for this event have now closed. Join us in the New Year for an evening of team building and networking among the local business commuinity. Super Bowl Challenge year on year continues to be a success taking up all the lanes at Hollywood Bowl Norwich for our annual bowl off. Whether you want to strengthen the connections in your team, or make new ones, this evening event offers a fun, relaxed environment to get your business name out there and show off your skills on the lanes. Each team will be competing for the Super Bowl Trophy – so brush up your skills and get ready! With each ticket you’ll get:
x1 game of bowling
x1 drinks voucher
a buffet selection
A full team is a maximum of eight per lane, a discount is available when booking a full team. Smaller teams and individual bowlers are also welcome of course! We’ll get you mixed up and making new relationships in mixed teams.
When you are in the office day in day out, you need to find ways to make the space you are working in feel personalised, as well as trying to think of innovative ways to keep morale high and improve motivation.
From custom mugs, themed days and team photos, we offer some clever ways to spruce up your office and keep staff upbeat and positive.
Customise the space: mugs, t-shirts, doormats,…
Why not consider purchasing customised work equipment? This could be even things like mugs, doormats, mouse mats, cardboard cut outs, t-shirts etc, all of which can help the space to feel a little less impersonal for workers, but also create this sense of pride and belonging in the organisation.
Leaderboards for sales
In the communal area of your office space, why not consider having a leaderboard if you work within sales? This can help encourage productivity within the office, as well as also have an impact on your sales too, as people are competitive by nature and will want to be at the top of the leaderboard.
Put team photos on the wall
It should come as no surprise that people like to feel valued within the workspace. With this in mind, why not consider putting up team photos on the wall of the office? It can help people feel like they belong in the workspace, and that they are important to the company too. Having employees’ pets and babies on the wall all goes down well and creates a good talking point too.
Employee of the month
Have you thought about introducing an employee of the month scheme within the workspace? Time and time again, this has proved itself to be a very effective way of boosting staff morale, and can even help to maintain staff retention in a firm.
The benefits of having such a scheme are multiple: not only does it make your staff feel appreciated, it also helps you as a firm: after all, if less people leave the company, that means less time and money that you will need to spend on finding new staff as well as training them.
Including themed days at the office
Sometimes, things can get really intense in the office: there may be a huge project that everyone is working on, or a particularly stressful task on a certain day. One way to make the atmosphere a little more relaxed is having regular themed days in the office, and this can help with team bonding too. Stuck on ideas for a themed day? Why not consider funky jumper days or bake offs, and raise some money for charity too? It is a winning combination.
Chambers Member, John Gostling, Managing Director at Breakwater IT, has some firm views on the all important issue of cyber threats.
The fact is that we all now store vast amounts of data on laptops, computers, tablets and phones. “Which” says John, “is why we have to be aware. It’s lack of awareness of the nature of cyber threats that’s at the root of many security breaches”.
Technology needs to work together effectively as a whole rather than patching up issues as they occur is the way John Gostling sees it. He quotes Matthew Syed, the author of Black Box Thinking, who said “Marginal gains is not about making small changes and hoping they fly. Rather, it is about breaking down a big problem into small parts in order to rigorously establish what works and what doesn’t.”
John Gostling’s point is that awareness of the problem, and the need to address it, is the first building block in the defensive wall we all need to build. So, begin with training. It will help your staff become aware of the threats. It will engage them.
Next, build a wider awareness of the risks that phishing emails and other socially engineered attacks represent.
Successful businesses grow, and as they do so their IT systems grow and develop with them. As a company upscales its cyber security should be enhanced at the same time. Being one step ahead is vital if a business is to continually improve its defence.
Given Norwich City’s promotion to the Premier League it’s tempting to develop that reference to defence into a sporting metaphor. Certainly one of John’s inspirations is Grant Holt.
“His ascent’, says John, “from a number of non-league clubs to being awarded the ‘Player of the Year’ for three consecutive years at Norwich City, helping them achieve back-to-back promotions, is the sporting embodiment of inspiring”.
Consistency, a relentless attitude, serious training and a well thought out strategy (not to mention an excellent defence) are as vital to your cyber security as they are to a football player, or club. So too is the teamwork. Everybody has a role to play.
With so much material potentially vulnerable to unauthorised access it’s vital that a business has a preplanned approach to the security of its systems. A cure is often too late, and falls short of the ‘marginal gains’ test set by Matthew Syed. Prevention is the only sensible option.
And the best prevention? It’s that wall of defence. A wall built from awareness, staff engagement, training, adaptability as the business upscales and constant vigilance.
They are the building blocks – use them. Before it’s too late.
We’d love to hear your views on the issues facing business today. If you want your thoughts expressed in this column let us know.
This short course is aimed at people who want to learn how to use Google Analytics to measure the performance of their website and produce reports. It’s delivered in an easy to understand style and you will be supplied with the course material afterwards for reference.
Aims
Many businesses do not know how their website is performing and the aim of this course is to show you how to use Analytics to track what your visitors do when they visit your website and where they arrive from. You will learn how to generate useful website tracking data and how to set up “goals” that measure the success of your website.
What will you learn?
In the Google Analytics course we cover:
Setting Up Google Analytics
Understanding Google Analytics terminology
Navigating the dashboard
Setting up and tracking goals / conversions
How to set up reports
Who should attend:
Anyone who is involved in managing their company’s website and is for people who have never used Google Analytics before or people who want a refresher course.
About Mark
This course is presented by Mark Ellaway, Director of Bigfork, an agency that helps companies improve their online marketing. Mark has over 25 year’s experience of marketing with 16 years in digital marketing. Mark advises and trains companies in all areas of online marketing including Google Analytics & Adwords.
Following the new Labour government’s first budget on 30th October, Chambers East will be hosting a webinar alongside our colleagues at the British Chambers of Commerce to examine what this budget means for you, your business and the East of England.
Join us for a deep-dive into the most relevant announcements and the implications for you the business community.
On this webinar we will hear from Jonny Haseldine, Policy Manager at the British Chambers of Commerce alongside teams from each of the four Chambers that make up Chambers East.
Who is Chambers East?
Chambers East is the voice of business in the East of England. We are a partnership of four Chambers of Commerce covering Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk working together to put the needs of our business community at the heart of decision making locally, regionally and nationally.
We’ve experienced a lot of change in our 30 years of events and exhibitions, from the introduction of emails to the birth of the internet to the explosion of social media to mention a few. Closer to home what has surprised us is the growth and diversification of the portable and modular display market. What was once a specialised sector of our very own exhibition and display industry, aided with the advent of online availability & marketing, this industry sector has been laid bare for all to exploit. As the name implies, these portable, easy to use, self-assembly display systems came about in the early 1990’s to provide useful DIY solutions to those wishing to promote their services or products and exhibit on a budget. Over the years we’ve seen these products both evolve into some of the most fantastic and innovative products such as Link 2, T3 and Twist, and devolve into the budget bin of banners, pop-ups and displays. Indeed a race to the bottom in terms of both price and quality with sub-standard displays failing at events, now accepted as a commonplace occurrence and fair collateral damage by those who supply such products from the bargain bucket.
So we were left thinking…you wouldn’t feed your pedigree pooch on a diet of fast food or fuel up your Maserati with lemonade, at least we hope you wouldn’t. So why would you fuel your marketing campaign with lacklustre displays not suited to the task and prone to breakage leaving you high and dry at the crucial moment?
We’ve always focused on quality and our client’s exhibition and event success, so we have never stocked the ‘budget bin’ varieties. Our main brand budget products offer a core standard build quality, guarantees and of course our uncompromising quality in graphics which we maintain across our full range. However with the ever quickening race to the bottom, which we really don’t want to be part of, we’ve seen many main brand manufacturers forced to include increasingly cheaper budget products in order to compete. This reduction in price is naturally accompanied with a reduction in quality. Consider the humble roll up budget banner stand cassette, which first came to market in the early 90’s with a retail price tag of £189.00, and that’s without a graphic. Today 25 years on, a budget version complete with its carry bag typically retails at £18.00! Just how good do we expect these to be?
So what to do? Well we say enough is enough, we’ve drawn a line and started our Campaign for Better Portables!
Subsequently we’ve audited our entire product range, with a focus on quality, function and our clients’ needs. So when it comes to your events, your business and your brand, keep an eye out for our Image Display & Graphics ‘Event Approved’ stamp.
These are products we recommend and vouch for when it comes to exhibitions and events, offering robust build, long-term use and our own high-quality graphic finish. Don’t worry if you are still looking for an economical product, we still stock these for shorter term promotional use. Although we do hope that as you invest in your business, your brand and your events, you will also invest in displays that stand up to the task, joining us in our campaign for better portables!
Want to go further than portable displays, why not take a look at our range of custom hire packages to elevate your next event space and step out of the shell scheme?
Contact us for more information on our products, service or just to get some informal advice on your next event marketing project.
Genix provides free, impartial one-to-one advice and support for start-up, emerging and existing businesses as well as those considering self-employment.
Our business advisor, Gary Parker, is available for free, impartial and confidential one-to-one advice sessions. These take place at the offices of Larking Gowen Chartered Accountants in Norwich and last for an hour and a half. Appointment times are as follows – 9.30am to 11am, or 11am to 12.30pm.
Booking through Eventbrite is essential. If you are no longer able to attend the advice session, please cancel onlineso that the session can be offered to another individual.