With affiliate marketing, you can earn commission for every referral or sale made through your website – and it is the main source of income for most price comparison sites, casino portals, fashion bloggers and Instagram influencers.

But driving traffic to your site or brand and generating sales is not always as easy as it is sounds, especially in 2019 when more and more people are trying to do it. Tudor Lodge gives its top tips to make your affiliate marketing campaign work.

Build up a following

If you consider that only a small percentage of people will convert into sales (probably less than 10%), you realistically need to be driving thousands of visitors to your site to make any real impact.

Some of the most common ways to drive traffic are through organic search (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC), social media and email marketing lists. See other digital marketing trends here.

Building up a real following can give you longevity, making your website or company into a brand where you have customer loyalty, recommendations and repeat business. For instance, if you are building up to 5k, 10k or 50k followers, you are just working towards showing your affiliate products to more people and making more sales.

Most successful sites use an authoritative figure as the face of their brand, and this can be backed up by expertise (Mumsnet, MoneySavingExpert, Tipster) or through a memorable personality (Compare The Market, Go Compare). Anything that you can do to promote trust and memorability can add that little extra to get people engaging with your site and making purchases too.

Think commercially

Companies that have affiliate marketing programmes are looking for traffic and customers, and that is why they are willing to offer commission for any sales. The rates and commission that they offer is very negotiable.

You should always ask for an incentive to get started such as a sign up bonus or increased commission e.g 15% instead of 10%.

Where possible, ask for exclusive offers that only your website can give such as a discount, free toy or nectar points (depending on the product).

You need to be commercial, if the product is not selling despite driving traffic, you may have to cut and move on.

Equally, if the commercial rates are not competitive, you need to be ruthless and feature their competitors or other products instead.

Scale

There are several ways to scale your affiliate website if it is starting to work. Whether you are price comparison website, beauty blogger or fitness influencer. One of the best ways is to get help from other people and help you produce content or videos. Finding good reliable people can be tricky, but you can ask for recommendations on social media or use platforms such as Upwork or Fiverr.

But if you are blogging and can put out 20 articles out per day, compared to just 1, this is only going to increase your following and chances of making sales. And don’t forget, push push push through social media!

With instances of cybercrime, cyberbullying, and other negative aspects of online life constantly on the rise, many parents around the world are becoming increasingly concerned about the online safety of not only themselves but of their children too. Therefore, it’s hard to deny the reasons why parents should care about cybersecurity. After all, not taking the proper precautions can potentially cause a lot of problems within the family in one way or another. For that reason, it is important for parents to read up on essential information to prevent their loved ones from getting exposed to the plethora of online dangers out there. So, without any further ado, here are our top ten tips for parenting in the digital age.

Top Ten Tips for Parents in the Digital Age

Use Internet Monitoring Software

This might seem somewhat extreme, but if you monitor exactly what you children are doing online and how long they are spending on the internet, you will be able to ensure that they don’t view inappropriate material or spend too long online.

Limit Internet Usage

Relating to the last point, it’s always worthwhile limiting the amount of time your children spend online. It might be difficult for them at first, but they will soon realise that spending too much time online means they are missing out on many other things in life.

Wait to Give a Smartphone

Nowadays, children get their first phone far earlier than they used to. But, it’s worth delaying giving them one as long as possible so that they don’t become addicted to using a smartphone from an early age.

Get Ahead of the Game

Getting ahead of the game really is worth it when it comes to keeping your young ones safe online. After all, the earlier your children are made aware of online dangers, they will be able to identify any warning signs more easily in future.

Ban Smartphones

Smartphones have the potential to wreak havoc on personal relationships. This is because they can often cause people to lose touch with the world as they are constantly looking at a screen. By banning smartphones at social events and at the dinner table, you’ll be able to enjoy more quality time together without distractions getting in the way.

Ban Screens in the Bedroom

Young children and teenagers in the modern day are often addicted to using digital devices, and this can have a negative impact on their sleeping pattern. By removing distractions such as games consoles and smartphones in the bedroom, your young ones will be far more likely to get higher quality sleep and wake up feeling far more refreshed.

Keep Up to Date with Trends

You should always try your absolute best to keep up to date with all the latest trends in the digital age. After all, there are an ever-increasing amount of online dangers hitting the headlines. So, it always pays to do your research to ensure that your children are protected against the latest threats.

Use Safe Passwords

Using the same password for many different sites could potentially lead to multiple accounts being hacked by cybercriminals. A password manager makes the task of creating and storing passwords an absolute breeze, and there will only be one master password to remember! So, it’s well worth using one in the digital age.

Educate on Online Dangers

Making your children aware of online dangers should be high up on your priority list as a parent. After all, it means that you’ll be able to make them fully aware of such things as cyberbullying and sexting which are increasingly becoming an issue in the modern world. You should always encourage your children to report anything potentially harmful as soon as possible – before it’s too late.

Use a VPN

Last but not least, we have the VPN – it’s the perfect way to achieve safe and anonymous browsing online, as using one allows you to hide your IP address and helps to prevent your personal information getting into the wrong hands. So, it’s pretty much a no brainer to use one nowadays.

Final Thoughts

In an age where online safety and security has taken centre stage, you’ll need to do everything in your power to ensure that both you and your young ones can use the web safely and appropriately.

But, it’s not just cybersecurity that you should be concerned about, it’s also the fact that your children could end up accessing inappropriate material if you don’t take the necessary precautions, or perhaps have their personal relationships suffer as a result of internet addition.

Either way, if you follow the tips outlined in this article, you can be rest assured that both you and your children will be in a much better position in your quest to achieve optimal online security and safety in the digital age. 

Ever since the beginning of the downturn in 2008, worker output per hour has stagnated while GDP, employment and total hours worked have continued to rise. This is what is known as the ‘Productivity Puzzle’, a phenomenon that baffles economists everywhere. The Office for National Statistics states that: “If the pre-2007 trend had continued, productivity would now [as of 2015] be 16% higher than it actually is.” Instead, however, productivity rates have more or less flatlined ever since 2010, with no indication of change anytime soon.  As the UK’s ‘Productivity Puzzle’ remains unsolved, it is of utmost importance that employers and business owners pay special attention to the environment in which their workers function to ensure that they can support them in their day-to-day and get the most out of their hours worked. In a stalling economic climate, any increase in worker productivity is powerful, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant.

How to Increase Worker Productivity

Though there are many ways to create a more productive workspace that facilitates and encourages efficiency and effectiveness, most of them can be narrowed down into two broad concepts: Workplace Culture, which includes things like ethos, administration and hierarchy style, worker-boss relationship and employee autonomy, and Workplace Design which includes floor plan, desk setup and computer accessories. By utilizing and making the most out of both physical and philosophical initiatives, any business owner can instigate growth in productivity.

Workplace Culture

One of the most pervasive elements of the workplace is that of its culture. Workers can easily pick up on tension and friction between employee and employer, as well as the general feelings of unease or discontent that may be present in the office. Stress is known to be a productivity killer so creating a sense of security and cooperation in the workplace is vital. Here are some of the growing trends in workplace management that may change the way the UK looks at it’s workers and their productivity.

Remote Working and Worker Autonomy

What was a complete impossibility 10 years ago is rapidly becoming the norm. Remote Working (which is when workers are allowed to work their full-time job outside of the workplace, either from or elsewhere) has even been recognized by Forbes as a serious consideration for businesses moving into the future. By allowing workers to take some or even a majority of their hours at home enables them to choose how they approach their work and make the most of their hours spent. In addition to this, remote workers tend to show more engagement and involvement when they come back to the workplace.

Non-Violent Communication

The way that workers interact with each other may also have a significant effect on overall worker morale and output. By changing the nature of these interactions and using less aggressive forms of communication, the workplace culture can shift dramatically from adversarial to collaborative, allowing for work to be done with much less resistance.

Office Setup

Of course, changing the workplace culture won’t have too noticeable of an effect if the workers simply don’t have the equipment needed in order to be efficient. This is where office setup is hugely important.

Equipment

As most office work is done digitally, repetitive stress injuries such as carpal tunnel are on the rise, as well as severe back pains from sitting for extended periods of time. In order to preserve the health and productivity of your workers, items like ergonomic chairs and wrist-supporting mouse pads are a necessity.

Desk Arrangements

Allowing workers to choose how they sit (or stand) at their desks also has many positives, which range from increased focus and productivity to better long term health. Standing desk arrangements have grown in popularity, and should also be a serious consideration for any workplace setup.

Many conference venues don’t offer accommodation services. This can be a huge let down, especially when foreign delegates come to attend events in Essex. Such visitors will require a place to rest after the gathering. Therefore, you must look for a venue that accommodates your guests even after the event has ended.

The following are the benefits of hiring a conference facility that host lodging services:

Saves Time

After a long day of participating in the conference activities, your guests will be exhausted and will need the nearest place to rest. If they are accommodated in a hotel that is far from the conference venue in Essex, it would be a big hassle for them to move when they are tired.

Moreover, delegates will be able to save their valuable time when moving from their accommodation rooms to the conference event. This will make sure that the guests reach the event venue on time and get enough time to rest.

Provides Backup

When looking for venue hire in Essex, most delegates prefer a venue that they can attend with their children. As a parent, it is only natural that they want to keep their children protected and keep a watch over them always. So, having room reservations in the same facility will help them feel at ease. Also, they will be able to attend to their young ones when the conference proceedings are on a break.

Medical emergencies can happen to anyone at any time. In such a situation, conference venues with accommodation services are ideal for members who might have medical conditions and require periodic rest during the event. If they are hosted on the same establishment, it would be convenient for them as well as prevent the situation from getting worse.

A delegate will also be able to access a change of clothes in case of a mishap that may ruin their initial outfit. Therefore, hiring a venue that offers hotel services in the same conference facility will be an essential backup for your guests.

Convenient During the Night

Some events take longer and may end during the night. Providing your guests with lodging services will save them the trouble of having to travel late in the night for accommodation. Sometimes, the conference might be set to proceed at night. In this case, it would be easier for the attendees to make it in time if they are in the same vicinity.

Safety

Essex is known for being an important educational hub. Many people visit the city for educational empowerment and inspiration. Hence, if the conference is targeted for young adults who need to be monitored, it is safer having them in the same facility to keep track of their whereabouts. That’s because, in most accommodation sites, everyone is required to sign out before they leave.

In other cases, most people feel insecure and vulnerable when they are in foreign or unfamiliar surrounding. Hence, delegates would feel unsafe when commuting to accommodation facilities that are far from the conference site.

Cost-Effective

If you are in-charge of catering for your guests’ accommodation needs, you can book for their accommodation in the same facility where the conference is held. It would be a much cheaper option. It is highly probable that the management will offer better deals for room bookings. They can even provide inclusive service packages such as 24-hour room service and free access to the hotel’s lobby bar and restaurant when you accommodate your guests in their facility.

You should hire conference facilities with hotel accommodation for your guests. This will help save on costs and time and ensures the safety of your guests. If you wish to hire a conference facility that can host your guests adequately, get in touch with Venuefinder. They have an extensive catalogue of conference sites that will suit your needs.

We are delighted to be working with Hatton Garden Diamond, a company which has been providing quality jewellery services on the famous Hatton Garden high street since 1982. 

In the very competitive online jewellery industry, we were delighted to help Hatton Garden with their SEO, helping them get to the top of Google for a variety of key terms relating to jewellery and rings in the Hatton Garden area.

Whilst the site transacts online, it also encourages visitors to come into the shop, see their collection and hopefully make a purchase on the day.

We Started With A New Website

To allow the site to display products and sell jewellery online, we upgraded the site to wordpress and added a product and checkout facility. At the same time, we could fully optimise the site for SEO including things like:

• Having one

  heading per page

• Information above the fold
• Fully optimised for mobile
• Dedicated landing pages
• Built with site speed in mind, including hosting

Optimised For Keywords

We sat down with the client and prioritised their list of keywords and what they would like to focus, with the main keyword of ‘hatton garden jewellers’ and an emphasis on engagement rings. We ensured that the site was also fully optmised for the other products on offer including diamond pendants, bracelets and halo rings.

We made sure that site included this keywords and was optimised via:

• Meta-titles
• Meta-descriptions
• Image alt-text
• Internal links between pages
• Dedicated landing pages

Links, Links and More Links

To strengthen the domain, we had to reach out and acquire new links for the Hatton Garden website. This included local sites around London, those relating to lifestyle, fashion and jewellery and of course news sites where possible. We have so far secured coverage on Time and Leisure, TechRound and The Jerusalem Post.

Future Plans

Our role now is to scale the SEO efforts. After seeing some initial spikes in SEO rankings using our tools, we have to keep pushing higher up page 1 to generate strong enquiries.

This includes seeing the results and making adjustments to meta-titles and content to get the best rankings possible. Above all, we need to up our link building efforts and get placements in as many news and high authority sites as possible.

Norwich-based charity St Martins gives homeless people housing, support and development to enable them to fulfil their potential. Phillip Rowe, who co-ordinates the charity’s learning and development centre believes local businesses have a role to play in equipping homeless people with the skills they need to achieve an independent life.

Homelessness is a growing problem, both nationally and here in Norfolk. Although the government have committed to end homelessness, there are still many underlying issues that need addressing before that can become a reality.

St Martins was established in 1972 to specifically deal with rough sleeping in Norwich, initially as a night shelter. Over the past 47 years it has evolved into an organisation serving those who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, in all sorts of creative ways.  But, St Martins’ motto being: ‘More than a home for the homeless’, that’s not where our provision ends. This is where Under 1 Roof comes in.

Under 1 Roof is St Martins’ Learning and Development Centre. The aim of the centre is to facilitate positive change, through improved wellbeing and personal development. Our members (we do not refer to them as ‘service users’) come from a wide variety of circumstances. Some have substance misuse histories, others suffer from mental health problems. Some are rough sleepers, others are at risk of homelessness (such as those in prison or temporary housing).

Over the last year we have seen 433 people take part in over 5000 sessions here, including practical activities such as I.T. skills, Job Club and our pre-tenancy qualification, and more soft skill ones like art, creative writing and various fitness classes. We also offer support, advice and help with anything that we can. All this serves to build confidence, social skills and a sense of ‘future’. In addition to this, we have created six volunteer roles, for people to learn skills and gain experience. Many of our volunteers go on to work for St Martins too.

As a former homeless service user who is now working full-time as the Centre Co-ordinator at Under 1 Roof, I can personally attest to the effectiveness of what St Martins, and this centre, can achieve.

We are already building links with local organisations and businesses with a view to providing opportunities for our members. But we want to do more. Much more. And that’s where we hope the good members of the Norfolk Chamber will come in.

Over to You!

Homelessness is hard, it can knock you back and take years of your life. But it can also take years to recover. There is a stigma attached to homelessness, and it can mean long-term unemployment, a falling behind in necessary skills and often a lack of access to new practices and technology. These are all potential barriers to entering the job market, and create an ever-widening gap between the person and opportunity. In many cases this can lead to lower self-esteem, lack of motivation and hope.

We want to do something bold to address this. We want to partner with the Norfolk Chamber and its members to provide opportunities for these people. Maybe you have a work experience position, an internship or training/apprenticeship scheme. Perhaps you can come in and talk to our members, offer workshops or advice clinics. Or maybe you can direct us to opportunities or potential partners we aren’t aware of. Whatever, we would love to hear from you. People love to talk about problems. We prefer to talk about solutions. Let’s start a conversation!

Contact phil.rowe@stmartinshousing.org.uk Tel: 01603 699150  

While all successful businesses are constantly moving forward, taking advantage of the latest technologies to promote growth, staff training is an area that has largely remained static, relying on decades old methods and equipment. The arrival of inexpensive but effective VR headsets, like the Oculus Rift, is changing all of that, with more and more companies turning to VR as a business training tool. Virtual Reality has become a disruptive technology in a number of sectors, from the training of surgeons to the entertainment industry. On this site, CasinoSmash credits VR with being “the next big thing in gambling”, while on this one, PC gaming calls it “the future of video games.”

In this article, we will be looking at the impact of VR on the business and staff training sectors and defining what it is that makes VR so effective as a training tool.

Training at Scale

Walmart has become a leader in the rollout of VR staff training, installing tethered VR devices in  220 Walmart Academies around the United States in 2017. These devices are used to simulate a variety of different business situations, allowing new staff members to get some experience of working in a busy retail environment before they start their in-store probationary period.

With the huge steps forward that VR tech has taken in recent years, the need for tethered devices has lessened and Walmart is now in the process of rolling out its VR training program to roughly 4,600 stores across the US – using more than 17,000 Oculus Go standalone headsets to train more than one million staff members.

UPS are using a similar method to bulk-train prospective delivery drivers. The delivery company makes use of the HTC Vive VR headset to train its drivers in the required nomenclature to use with their supervisors when out on the road, and to administer vehicles awareness tests that help drivers learn to spot potential hazards. Laura Collings, UPS’s global training manager, described their VR training program as having “unlimited possibilities.”

Training in Detail

While VR training offers significant benefits in training staff in bulk, it also offers a different set of benefits at the other end of the scale.

The traditional set up for simulators to train prospective pilots, adapted from that used by the US military, can run to millions of dollars in capital costs. The ability to replace costly simulators with cost-effective VR setups has the potential to save airlines a significant amount in their training budget. Ideal in an industry that is increasingly moving toward the budget end of the market.

The mining industry is also investing heavily in VR training. Mines make use of VR headsets to train miners without exposing them to the hazardous conditions that exist inside any working mine. Reducing the amount of potentially dangerous training on the job needed before mine staff are up to speed.

In professions where a mistake could end in a fatality, VR is being used to train staff in ways that just haven’t been possible before.

Canada’s Queens University and SimforHealth have recently opened an 8,000 square foot VR training facility for medical staff, using VR headsets provided by HTC. This new facility will allow medical and surgical staff to train on virtual “patients” in an environment that previously might have seen them making beginner mistake on real patients.

In a similar trial, the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles (CHLA) is making use of consumer-grade Oculus Rift and Touch technology to allow trainee surgeons to practice intensely delicate operations on children. The system is so advanced that is can be used to scan in the faces of regular surgical nurses and assistants, so that the trainees get used to seeing them in the operations theater environment.

In New Jersey, trainee police officers are being trained with VR headsets on how to react to a number of different possible law enforcement circumstances, from the more mundane traffic stops to how to deal with an active shooter.

A New Training Paradigm

As VR has matured as a technology, it has begun to make an impact on sectors outside of the video game and entertainment industries. More and more Fortune 500 companies are taking advantage of VR’s strengths, low-cost, portability and the ability to train in hazardous environments, to increase the effectiveness of their staff training while cutting the cost.  

Take a look around the internet and you’ll find endless sites and blogs advising you on how to make your own website more Google-friendly. There’s no denying that search engine optimisation is very important if you want your site to be found by your potential customers when they do a web search, however, SEO is only half the battle. It is very easy to get so caught up in making your site attractive to the search engines, that you forget who the site is actually for in the first place – your customers. It is no use getting hundreds and thousands of visitors to your website via search engines, if they are not interested and engaged by the content they find when they get there.

Look for the Bounce Rate

Visitor numbers are just one statistic you should be looking at when you are analysing the performance of your website. To be sure that your site is achieving everything you want it to, you should also be looking at how long those visitors stay on the site and how many pages they choose to visit. If you have a high hit rate but also a high bounce rate, then clearly something is not right with your site layout, its copy and its approach. So how can you put these things right and what changes can you make to not only keep the interest of all those customers you have worked so hard to attract, but also make them act how you want them to? This refers to buying your product, subscribing to your blog, or booking your services.

Make Things Clear

One of the biggest turn-offs for a web page is a lack of clarity. If your site data tells you that people are bouncing away fast, then you are obviously not making the right first impression and you are not being clear. People have a very short attention span and they don’t like to have to work hard to find out what you are saying or selling. Visitors need to be able to get the information they require quickly and easily, within the first few seconds, without digging around and without wading through huge blocks of text. If you have a lot to say, you can always make this optional, with short intro paragraphs that finish with the option to read more, but it is vital to keep the initial information short and to the point.

Speak Their Language

Once you have got your visitors to stop long enough to read what you have to say, then you have to make sure you’re speaking their language. Don’t write for the search engines, packing your prose with keywords until it loses all meaning. And don’t try to impress people with technical babble or clever wordplay. Talk to them as people, just like you would if you met them at a party or a networking event. Even if your site is a business to business site and you are communicating at the highest levels, you are still just one person talking to another and your customers will appreciate you speaking to them in this approachable way.

Talk About Benefits Not Features

This is one of the golden rules of copywriting, but it is also one you should consider breaking in the right circumstances. In most cases, people are much more interested in the benefits of your product or service than the features. Features are about you; benefits are about them. However much you love your business, you have to remember that people don’t care about you, they are really only interested in what’s in it for them. For example, if you are promoting a free slots site like Oddschecker, people want to know what they can win, rather than what fancy features you have to get those wins. Similarly, if you offer next day delivery, such as Amazon Prime, then you should talk about the fact that your customers can have their item tomorrow, rather than waffling on about the logistics of how it will get to them.

That said, if you are selling a specialist product range to a knowledgeable audience, then they will be looking for certain features and already be aware of the benefits they bring. For example, if you are selling a top of the range camera, your potential buyers don’t want to wade through lots of fluff about the benefits, they simply want to check that the camera has the features that they are looking for and is the right price for them. In this case, stating the features, perhaps in bullet point form for easy reference, is the way to go.

Talk About Them Not You

In a similar way, your website should always talk about your customers, not about your company. Far too many websites have sentence after sentence that starts with the word ‘we’. We are this, we do that, we offer the other. Visitors will be far more engaged if you talk about them. You can get, you’ll find, you can trust us to… Your website should be the answer to their search question, not a trumpet blowing exercise for your company, so put yourself in their shoes and think about what you would want to hear from a company like yours.

Make it Easy to Act

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you need to make sure that your customers know what you want them to do and that it is crystal clear how to do it. If you don’t have a clear call to action, then you can’t expect your visitors to act. Tell them what you want them to do and make it easy for them to do that, and they will do it. You can have the most amazing shop-window site that showcases your products or services, but if you don’t tell people to buy and give them a clear pathway to do so, or you don’t tell them to contact you and give them a number, email link or contact form, then your response rates will be poor.

Find the Balance

At the end of the day, you need to find a balance between attracting and engaging your visitors. Spend too much time on one or the other and you’ll either get lots of visitors who don’t stay, or very few visitors at all. Investing in expert help can make all the difference, with SEO experts and professional copywriters working together to deliver, and keep, the audience you’re aiming for.

Reasons for using a Chartered Town Planning & Multi-disciplinary Consultancy:

So – what benefits can a dedicated town planning consultancy add to your forthcoming development, design or building project? 

Afterall – we don’t design buildings like an architect, nor are we engineers adding value to a project.  Surely Town Planning Consultants just add another layer of expense?

Here’s where the services of a Town Planning and Multi-disciplinary consultancy like Parker Planning Services can really add value to a project – however large or small:

• Our planning applications carefully consider and cite recent planning law updates and policy guidelines.  We use ground-breaking Case Studies to push the margins and create the best possible chances to secure sometimes innovative and novel projects.  We challenge local councils and planning officers to push the boundaries to accept innovative planning applications and developments.  These often integrate highly sustainable options to create and enhance vibrant communities and places. 

• At Parker Planning Services – we have extremely high success rates in securing planning applications.  This is due to applying our knowledge of applicable policies and referencing recent case law updates, to create justified and innovative planning application solutions.

• We’re also extremely successful at the Appeals Stage in overturning projects that were originally declined – to successfully secure a positive outcome for our clients.  When considering the merits of an Appeal Case we’ll review and assess the original application – prior to carrying out our initial free assessment.  We’ll then present our honest feedback on the likelihood of a successful Appeal application or make suggestions on how the scheme could perhaps be amended to present an application that’s more likely to be validated. 

• Our one-stop multi-disciplinary service enables us to manage the planning process in-house from start to finish – because we provide a range of specialist services and expert consultants in-house.  These include ecology, heritage, topography, archaeological, flood risk and drainage, and highways and transport services.  This helps keep the various aspects of your planning application together under one roof – so that we can project management the application process and add further gravitas to your application.  We’re rare in delivering such a comprehensive range of specialist services in-house.  This enables us to secure a smooth turnaround on reports – for example ecologists are regularly fully booked during key seasonal times – and we can ensure that assessments and reports are in hand, to project manage the whole application process on our client’s behalf.

• Many of Parker Planning Services previously worked for a range of local authorities as Planning Officers themselves – both in Norfolk and further afield for planning departments across East Anglia. So – they are best placed to understand how a local authority deals with applications and bring expertise and local knowledge and insight – to ensure we create the best application to aim to ensure the best outcome for our clients.  Positive outcomes that we know changes lives and communities for the better.  

• Likewise our portfolio covers a wide range of sectors – these include agricultural and rural projects – large and small, wide-ranging urban and housing development, heritage and environmental projects, and the education, leisure and tourism sectors.  Our Consultants offer a wealth of commercial and private sector knowledge to clients. 

• As a company we work with a wide range of professionals which include architectural firms, developers, consultants and associated businesses – to provide clients with a continuous service.  For example; we work with a range of trusted architects and firms to deliver associated plans in preparation for the planning submission.

• So, if you’re considering submitting a planning application, do give us a call early-on, to chat through your plans and concerns.  We offer a short free initial desktop research prior to sending you our thoughts and associated costs for managing the planning process on your behalf. If it’s a small-scale proposal you may not need us. However, if any problematic issues arise, it could prove worthwhile to use a planning consultancy early on in the process, to help address and resolve them, which could save time and money in the long-term. 

• Planning decisions have an element of subjectivity and each case is assessed individually, so we can’t guarantee a successful outcome but where we consider that there is a justified case to present, we’ll work hard and carefully consider your project to aim to achieve a successful outcome on your behalf.

We look forward to hearing from you.  contact@parkerplanningservices.co.uk

01603 516319  www.parkerplanningservices.co.uk

We are delighted to announce the addition of two brand new, fully liveried blood bikes to our existing fleet, donated very generously to us by Great Yarmouth and Waveney HeartCare.

Last year, we attended one of the local HeartCare charity meetings to give a presentation to members about the vital transport service we provide to the NHS. Feeling inspired following the talk, the committee – who had been looking for a cause to commit a legacy donation to – decided to donate two new blood bikes to us and we were more than happy to accept!

The cost of the two bikes, which came fully liveried to go straight into service, was around £24,000. Aptly named to incorporate the word ‘heart’, and chosen by HeartCare’s members, our new BMW F800 GT is called ‘Heartie’, and the second bike, A Yamaha FJR1300, is called ‘Braveheart’.

Mary Stamp, Chairman and Social Secretary at Great Yarmouth and Waveney HeartCare, said: “We were very inspired by Norfolk Blood Bikes’ presentation, particularly as we hadn’t even heard of Blood Bikes until then. As a committee we felt that the charity was a very worthy cause and convened during our tea break to decide what we could give them as a donation. The decision was made there and then to see if they would like a new blood bike – needless to say, the answer was a resounding yes please!”

HeartCare are a charity established to support people and the families of those who have suffered from heart conditions. They meet on the second Tuesday of every month at The Hotel Victoria in Lowestoft at 7.30pm.

Bill Farrow, who volunteers with Norfolk Blood Bikes as both a rider, part of the corporate team and speaker, said on receiving the new blood bikes: “The new additions to our fleet are truly invaluable as the demand for our life-saving service is only growing. It’s wonderful that local charities can work together, and we are so humbled by the generosity of the committee at HeartCare’s Great Yarmouth and Waveney group. Its feels like the Norfolk Blood Bikes family just got a little bigger!”

We would like to thank Great Yarmouth and Waveney HeartCare for their generous donation, enabling us to continue delivering lifesaving medical items to hospitals in and around Norfolk.

If you would like to organise a presentation with our amazing volunteers please get in touch via our contact page.

To donate or help towards fundraising for this amazing cause, click here.