On Friday 15th of January I attended the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce‘s careers focus group at the invitation of Caroline Williams. The focus group was looking at the careers service in schools and what could be done to get schools and businesses working together more effectively. Joining us to hear and collate our views were two members of the British Chamber of Commerce. The remainder of the focus group was made up from members of the Norfolk Chamber, leaders of local businesses, schools and colleges. There were 17 of us in total.
Before I arrived I wasn’t really sure who was going to be there or what to expect. However, it turned out be a great opportunity to catch up with a couple of people I hadn’t seen for a long time and to make some great new connections. The real eye-opener was what I learned about the school careers system in Norfolk, what many of the forward thinking schools are achieving and how businesses like mine can help to make a difference.
I also had the opportunity to talk to some of the further education establishments in Norwich and to try and help influence which new skills they offer to their students. There is a major shortage of software engineers in Norwich and Norfolk and one of the ways we need to address this is to produce more homegrown talent with the right skills for local software companies.
The event was chaired and well structured; the allocated two hours just flew by. The conversations were engaging and informative as well as there being a lot of laughter from a group of people clearly committed to making a positive difference to the young people in the education system in Norfolk.
Businesses across Norfolk are being urged to sign up to the world’s only annual day of employee volunteering – Give & Gain Day.
Run by the charity Business in the Community the day encourages businesses to give staff paid time to volunteer to help local good causes. Over 30,000 people are expected to take part in activity, which takes place on Friday 20th May. Give & Gain Day gives local community organisations, social enterprises and schools across Norfolk the benefit of volunteered resources, skills and knowledge from business.
On Give & Gain Day 2015, businesses donated time worth £2.37 million, which highlights the growing appetite amongst business to help their local communities prosper.
The benefits to business of employee volunteering are demonstrated by a recent survey from NCVO and CIPD, which found that 81% of those who took part in volunteering reported increased community awareness, 65% had increased communication skills, and 59% reported an increase in confidence. 65% of respondents would be more likely to work for an employer that encourages and promotes volunteering, yet 39% said their employer did not support volunteering.
Stephen Howard, Chief Executive of Business in the Community, said: “Volunteering is a powerful tool which builds dialogue and relationship between groups of people and organisations who might otherwise not have the opportunity to engage in a community. It also offers genuine mutual benefit – the experience builds skills and motivates employees, while helping to make a positive contribution that meets community needs.
“Give & Gain Day is all about celebrating what can be achieved in communities through the power of volunteers – but it’s more than just a day and we urge businesses that take part to use it as a springboard into deeper long term engagement in communities across Norfolk all year round”
Tina Varns, Manager, Sustainability and Ethical Sourcing at Waitrose, sponsor of Give & Gain Day, said: “Volunteering is such an important part of what we do – each of our shops supports its staff to volunteer for local good causes. Waitrose donates thousands of paid hours a year for Partners to give their time and skills to support local good causes. This will really come alive on Give & Gain Day. “
Ms Varns added: “Over 60 of our branches were involved in Give & Gain Day last year. Our branches all reported it was such a rewarding event, they hosted community conversations, networking events that brought local businesses together with community organisations to discuss local challenges. We’re really looking forward to the 20th May. Volunteering is a key way in which businesses such as ours can help make a real and visible difference to the communities in which we operate.”
Companies can get involved with Give & Gain Day on the 20th May 2016 by visiting www.bitc.org.uk/giveandgainday #Giveandgain
Norfolk Community Foundation were delighted to be selected as the Norwich Business Women’s Network (NBWN) ‘Charity of the Year’ in 2015. The long running networking group established the ‘NBWN Community Fund’ which raised a staggering £7,800 which was awarded in the form of grants to four different community projects and as a contribution to Norfolk Community Foundation to support their administration and development costs. The Foundation and the charities supported received the cheque at the network’s Christmas lunch.
City Response
The City Response Centre operates in the Norwich nightime economy and offers first aid, support and referral services to anyone finding themselves vulnerable or at risk for whatever reason. Volunteers, trained in first aid support those who are most at risk from hypothermia in the night time economy. These include rough sleepers, homeless people, those in need of medical assistance, and any vulnerable adult deemed at risk such as lone females whether through alcohol/substance misuse, assault or domestic abuse. Their involvement can help to avoid a serious situation developing involving ambulance attendance. Services provided include the provision of hot drinks for the homeless/rough sleepers plus emergency clothing in severe weather. Also in co operation with the Norfolk Police Rape investigation team the centre provides a “Safe haven” where lone females at risk can be referred and a safe solution to their problems can be found. In the past 9 months over 1,800 hot drinks were provided to vulnerable people.
The grant will contribute towards the modest cost of operating this service including electricity and water costs which enable City Response to help those in need of assistance.
Norfolk Homemakers Furniture Project
Norfolk Homemakers collects donated furniture and furnishings and sells them on to people who are vulnerable or on a low income at low cost. They also recycle items thus reducing the demand for landfill. The charity also has a small workshop which provides training and support for those recovering from mental ill health, enabling them to gain confidence, new skills, make friends, provide meaningful activity, and for some enable them to go back in to employment. The charity has around 15 volunteers currently.
The grant will contribute towards the running costs of the organisation including equipment, transport to deliver to vulnerable and low income families and general costs. The project, through its workshops helps to improve life skills, education, employability and enterprise and a number of people have already started on the path to employability as a result of the project.
Time Norfolk
TimeNorfolk (previously Pregnancy Choices Norfolk) provides free, confidential support to women and their partners who have experienced a pregnancy loss through miscarriage, termination or still birth. Support is also provided for parents who decide to continue with their pregnancy. Pregnancy Loss Support counselling is offered free to clients to help deal with the pain and loss associated with miscarriage, termination or stillbirth which can lead to depression, anxiety, anger and emotional numbness and relationship difficulties.
The grant will be used to deliver 48 pregnancy loss recovery sessions in Norwich supporting four families through one to one support to help them cope better with their loss.
New Routes Integration
New Routes seeks to develop the capacity and skills of disadvantaged minority ethnic individuals and communities to support the fulfilment of potential and enable active involvement in society and to contribute towards social and racial cohesion; thereby integrating into the wider community. They provide activities such as a Women’s International Friendship Group, English classes with child-play volunteers, dance classes, craft and conversation, mentoring and befriending, homework support club for BME 11+ and music clubs for ‘hard to reach’ young people. These activities primarily support recently settled, ethnic minority individuals, families and communities in Norwich. Many have limited or no English language skills, compounded by a lack of understanding of the systems and procedures adopted in the UK. New Routes has identified that there are very skilled women that have arrived in Norwich, who in their own countries had responsible roles, but once given refugee status here, are not able to find jobs or have to take low paid roles, such as cleaning.
The grant will be used to cover the cost of a project co-ordinator and mentors to deliver a project that engages with local employers who wish to make a meaningful contribution to the integration of 6 recently settled, refugee women in Norwich. Aviva is supporting the project by hosting an employment event in 2016 and will invite other businesses. This will help to promote the project start to build the relationships needed for success.
To find out more about how businesses can get involved with the Foundation whether as part of their corporate responsibility programme or thorough selecting a ‘Charity of The Year’, visit the Corporate Giving section of the Foundation’s website.
Freebridge Community Housing has made the ‘Sunday Times 100 Best Not-For-Profit Organisations to Work For’ list for the third year in a row.
The West Norfolk based housing and community organisation, which featured on the list in 2014, and 2015 has once again appeared in 2016. Freebridge has also retained its One Star accreditation meaning the organisation is ‘very good’ at employee engagement’
Through the Best Companies process, Freebridge employees were able to share their thoughts on the organisation through a confidential survey. In addition, Freebridge also completed an extensive questionnaire which provided an overview of its working practices and culture.
The process assesses companies on themes such as Leadership, My Team, Wellbeing, Personal Growth, Giving Something Back and My Manager.
Freebridge will find out exactly where it is placed on the ‘Sunday Times 100 Best Not-For-Profit Organisations to Work For’ list in February 2016.
Tony Hall, Chief Executive said: “It’s a fantastic achievement that we continue to be an organisation featuring on the Best Not-For-Profit Organisations to Work For list.
“This is our third year in a row and it’s very much down to our employees, who make Freebridge such a great place to work. Our employees are constantly demonstrating that they live the values we hold dear as an organisation. In turn this means that our customers receive the best service that they can and people enjoy working here.”
“We are very proud that we can represent west Norfolk in this way, and the accolade goes a long way to our vision of Supporting A Better West Norfolk.”
Freebridge will now use the feedback from the Best Companies process to improve employee satisfaction and continue to make Freebridge a place where people want to work.
We are extremely proud of Luke Brown, Matthew Campion & Shahrukh Zaffar for representing KLM UK Engineering at an Apprenticeship celebration reception yesterday, which was held at No.10 Downing Street. During the reception the guys had the chance to chat with The Rt Hon Sajid Javid – Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
In a recent l the UK High Court allowed Philip Morris to inherit from his wife’s estate, despite his involvement in her assisted death. This judgment has sparked important discussions around the legalities of compassionate end-of-life decisions and the future of inheritance law in the UK. At Hatch Brenner, we are following these developments closely to guide clients in navigating estate planning amid evolving legal standards.
Case Overview and High Court Decision
Myra Morris, who was terminally ill with a degenerative neurological condition, chose assisted dying in Switzerland in late 2023. Her husband Philip accompanied her, honoring her wishes but ultimately facing the risk of forfeiting his inheritance under UK law. Traditionally, UK laws prevent individuals involved in a person’s death from inheriting their estate. However, the court ruled in Philip’s favor, acknowledging the compassionate nature of his actions and the family’s unanimous support for his inheritance rights. This judgment opens up new considerations for cases where individuals accompany loved ones abroad for and may signal a more nuanced application of the law.
Implications for the Forfeiture Rule and UK Law
The ruling marks an exception to the forfeiture rule, a legal doctrine designed to prevent individuals implicated in another’s death from benefitting financially. In this case, the court weighed Philip Morris’s compassionate motives, his wife’s explicit wishes, and the support from other beneficiaries, thus granting him his inheritance. The ruling arrives as Parliament is set to debate the Assisted Dying Bill, a proposal that would grant terminally ill adults in England and Wales the right to pursue assisted dying under strict regulations.
Impact on and Assisted Dying Legislation
For families and legal practitioners, this case underscores the importance of thorough documentation in estate planning, especially when addressing end-of-life choices. The ruling invites greater sensitivity in drafting wills and administering estates in cases involving assisted death, highlighting the need for professional guidance in understanding how a client’s specific circumstances might intersect with inheritance law.
Hatch Brenner is Here to Help
At Hatch Brenner, we understand that navigating inheritance law—especially in sensitive cases involving assisted death—can be challenging. provides expert support for complex estate planning, ensuring that your final wishes are honored. If you have questions or would like to discuss your estate, please contact us to schedule a confidential consultation.
We’re pleased to announce that we are exhibitingat not one, but TWO events this year!
We will be attending both MACH 2016 andEuropean Offshore Energy 2016. Both will be heldin the same week in April at the NEC inBirmingham.
We will be displaying our weld data loggingequipment, gas flow, subsea MPI…and some brandnew equipment, to find out what, you’ll have tocome and see us!
With your support we can make wishes come true so that children, young people and families can access life-changing creative experiences.
Norwich Theatre receives no regular revenue funding from any public sources. As a registered charity, we rely on the support of our audiences, community of supporters and charitable foundations, along with our commercial activities such as our café, bars and restaurant, to help us deliver our charitable mission.
Our Christmas Appeal provides a great opportunity to use the season of goodwill to raise money to support and grow our charitable activities in the coming year. For five years now our loyal supporters have shared in this tradition, raising nearly £100,000 to help make a difference for those who need it most.
Norwich Theatre’s Christmas Appeal is raising money to make wishes come true so that children, young people and families can access life-changing creative experiences.
This Christmas we are asking for your help to make sure no children, young people or families miss out.
Every donation will help us provide accessible creative activities and remove barriers for families to get creative together, who otherwise might not have the chance.
Why have we chosen this?
Families in Norfolk are facing more challenges than ever before, with thousands struggling to get by. One-third of Norfolk’s children are living in poverty. That’s nine in every classroom. They are feeling more lonely and isolated, with one quarter saying they are “unable to cope with life.”
Creative experiences shape our lives in so many ways. From the stories we read to the shows we see to the music we hear, creativity influences how we make sense of the world, connect with others, and navigate our path through life.
We know creative experiences are fundamental to a great childhood, helping to improve confidence, resilience and self-esteem, and providing children and young people with new skills and abilities. But it’s more than that. They provide a home for families to build community, find support and connect with each other.
What will the money be used for?
The money raised will ensure all children, young people, and their families can access workshops, sessions, and world-class theatre shows.
We will do this by:
• Delivering creative workshops and holiday programmes where children, young people, their parents and carers can explore their creativity through music, drama and dance.
• Offering ‘pay what you can’ activities and reduced price or free tickets for families to make sure cost is not an obstacle to taking part and families are able to experience the magic of theatre together.
• Working with charity partners to reach the children, young people and families who face the most barriers to accessing creative experiences.
How can people support the Appeal?
• Bucket collections / contactless donations: • All performances at the Playhouse from Tue 3 Dec (A Christmas Carol) to Sun 19 Jan (Karl Minns) • All performances of Aladdin at Theatre Royal o Contactless donation points will be available for collections at Theatre Royal and Playhouse where people can tap a card to donate £3. • Collection boxes will be located across Theatre Royal, Playhouse and Stage Two • Online donations can be made at norwichtheatre.org/christmas-appeal • Christmas Appeal Raffle for £5 at Box Office or online at norwichtheatre.org/Christmas-appeal-raffle or at the Box Office. Prizes include: £150 Norwich Theatre voucher, three course meal for two in Prelude, Gold Friend membership for one year, Aladdin merchandise bundle. • Donations across our commercial activities: • £1 donated for every mince pie purchased in Café Royal • 50p donated for every mulled cider purchased in Playhouse • £2 donated for every group dining in Prelude o £1 donation off selected merchandise item. • Businesses can become Christmas Appeal Partners
Building on a successful start in Norfolk, social enterprise Swarm Apprenticeships Ltd have partnered with the RSA to strengthen their quest in Norwichto liberate and support young and talented business heroes through enterprising apprenticeships.
Founded by successful entrepreneur and bestselling business author, Robert Ashton, Swarm aims to develop young business apprentices across Norfolk, Suffolk and soon Essex. They support them to become commercially aware, enterprising and effective to their employers to deliver the greatest return on investment for businesses. Swarm offers a unique enterprise qualification and strives to grow enterprising attitudes in young people.
The RSA backs Swarm as part of their Catalyst initiative which supports RSA Fellows to get their innovative ideas and projects growing into new areas.
On April 14th2016, Swarm strengthens theirquest with an introduction event for local enterprising business owners who want to give a real opportunity for a young person to make an impact in their business and become an Enterprise Hero. The event will be heldat The Garagefrom 4.30pm. Local employers are encouraged to attend to hear from Swarm’s Founder, partner representatives about why the quest is important to the local area, and current business and apprentice champions. Sister events will also run in Colchester (Mercury Theatre, March 3rd) andIpswich (UCS, March 8th).
Swarm’s Managing Director, Chris Perry, comments,”This event is an opportunity to find out more about our unique apprenticeship training that focuses on developing both an apprentice’s commercial skills and enterprising attitude. We are looking for enterprising and innovative employers who want to give someone a real opportunity to shine and make their mark in their business.At the eventyou’ll get to find out how, over the last year, Swarm apprentices have already achieved significant impact and return for their employers and become commercially savvy young business professionals who will be the leaders oftomorrow’s economy.”
Find out more about the eventand how to book here.
Meet some current Swarm business members and Enterprise Heroes…
“I chose Swarm apprentice Harry to do my digital marketing because he understands it! On top of that Harry is enthusiastic about it, spotting opportunities in the digital world all the time and he’s a really great communicator. We’ve given him the empowerment to do all of our product photography for our digital marketing, which is incredibly important to us.” Simon Middleton, Owner and Founder, The Shackleton Company.
“What I felt was different about the Swarm apprenticeship compared to other apprenticeship providers is the focus to coach and develop a more business-like mindset, which I felt would be ideal for someone like me. Life as a Swarm apprentice could not be better. The workshops are both fun and, most importantly, useful and informative, and everyone involved in the running of the apprenticeship is very supportive and clearly wants to help and watch you succeed.” George Balding, apprentice, DSP Supplies.
“Why Swarm? I feel passionately that our education system doesn’t suit everyone. Many young people are pushed down the university route when it isn’t right for them. I feel lucky to have the chance to help a young entrepreneur navigate his first years in business and to have his fresh perspective in my company. I’m glad that Swarm matched us up and remain active in helping us along this journey. It’s going to be exciting to see where it leads us all.” Lorna Burroughes, Owner and Founder, Thrive Networking.
“My Swarm apprenticeship has made the business that I work in more efficient because it’s helped me develop more skills. The opportunities that I’ve been given here are amazing and I feel really grateful for it. It’s different to a normal business apprenticeship because it’s more inventive and you get a lot more involved. Swarm are just so with it and new, and they’re always there.” Berri Lake, apprentice, Ormiston Victory Academy.
Pure (Pure Resourcing Solutions) has hit the massive milestone of a grand total of £100k raised for over 20 different charities.
The grand total has been achieved through sustained fundraising efforts by team members at all four of the recruitment agency’s offices in Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich and Norwich since 2002.
The fundraising activity has ranged from daring challenges including the gruelling 24-hour National Three Peaks Challenge and a sponsored sky dive, alongside local events such as Cambridge’s annual Chariots of Fire relay race, the Ipswich Colour Dash and the Colchester half marathon, as well as national events including Movember and Comic Relief. Each office also hosts its own annual charity quiz night and further charitable donations have been collected at the various seminars and events which Pure holds for the local business community.
Over 24 different charities have now benefited from a share of the £100k raised by Pure in the last 13 years. This includes substantial donations to local charities including Pure’s overall chosen charity of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, which has benefitted from over £62,000. Significant donations have also been made to The J’s Hospice in Chelmsford, Arthur Rank Hospice Charity in Cambridgeshire, The Matthew Project in Norwich and the St Nicholas Hospice in Bury St Edmunds. National charitable organisations including Children in Need, Cancer Research and Action for Children have also benefited.
Gill Buchanan, Director at Pure, said: “As a socially responsible business we’ve always actively supported local charities and we are all extremely proud of having reached such a significant milestone in our fundraising activity.
“Here at Pure we believe that charity fundraising challenges are not only an important part of a company’s corporate social responsibility. They can also have a far wider impact on reinforcing a sense of teamwork and camaraderie, a culture which many businesses strive to achieve. We support our employees in any charity challenges they wish to undertake themselves, giving them additional time off to enable them to complete their chosen goal and kick-starting their fundraising with a £250 donation.”
Alongside financial donations, team members at Pure have also donated significant amounts of time to local charities over the last thirteen years. This has included volunteering their skills at decorating and gardening to help transform the East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice in Quidenham, decorating at Woodgreen Animal Shelter and the Chelmsford CHESS homeless shelter. They have also sent gifts and essential goods to be delivered to a school in Gambia.
Pure’s continued commitment to fundraising has helped the organisation to be recognised at various awards including, most recently, being selected as finalists in the Corporate Social Responsibility category at last year’s East Anglian Daily Times Business Awards.
I often find myself describing the structure of tech companies in Norfolk to people. In terms of size we have Aviva at the top, a lower layer of large SMEs such as Validus, Proxama, Virgin Wines and EPoS Now in the middle and then countless micro businesses and smaller SMEs at the bottom. I’ve been aware of Brandbank for a while, but they’ve always been a bit of an enigma to me. It turns out it’s not just me and this is something they’re keen to do something about. It also turns out that with a two hundred strong workforce in Norwich alone, they deserve to be mentioned in the middle layer.
To help raise their profile locally, Brandbank are engaging in a number of local activities with the tech and business communities in Norwich. Their CIO Jeremy Glenn has spoken at the Norfolk Network, the company is a partner sponsor of NorDevCon and on Thursday Jeremy spoke about Brandbank to SyncNorwich at Whitespace. Why do Brandbank want to raise their profile locally? They need more software developers. They need quite a few of them and they need them quickly to help sustain the company’s growth.
The core business of Brandbank is to help retailers get their products online. They’re one of only a few companies who do this and they do it for a lot of large supermarkets as well as thousands of other clients. Following their inception in the late 90s, Brandbank have seen incredible growth in revenue, with very modest profits and only broke even in 2007. Since then they have seen steady growth in profits. In late 2014 they were bought by Nielsen.
Jeremy told us all about his background, how he came to join Brandbank and then how he became a director. He described many of the different things Brandbank has tried over the years, what had worked and what hadn’t and what they learned from it. Jeremy also described the horrific process of preparing to be acquired, the false starts and intensive due diligence.
Although clearly a shrewd businessman, Jeremy clearly doesn’t take himself too seriously. It was interesting to finally find out what Brandbank do and the delivery was entertaining. It will be equally interesting to see how Norwich’s previously best kept secret grows over the coming years.
Staff are putting interesting work and good management ahead of salary when it comes to job satisfaction, says the acclaimed Cooper Lomaz annual salary survey 2016 for Norfolk.
Now in its 11th year, the in-depth report by independent recruitment consultants Cooper Lomaz, which has offices in Norwich, compares salaries and analyses trends in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and Essex in the key sectors of:
Accountancy and Finance
Engineering
Food Manufacturing
Information Technology
Sales and Marketing
and Supply Chain
It reports that salaries and job opportunities are continuing to rise as the economy recovers.
It says salaries are only placed third when it comes to employee job satisfaction, sitting behind an interesting job and good management.
And skills shortages in some sectors mean employees are benefiting from a bidding war of salary offers as their existing bosses try to retain their services.
Average salaries in the county were £30,992, compared to £31,193 in Suffolk, £33,951 in Essex, £34,453 in Northamptonshire, £37,754 in Cambridgeshire and £41,908 in Hertfordshire.
Norfolk Trends include:
Record numbers of salary counter-offers as Accountancy and Finance employers seek to retain staff seeking new jobs
A slump in the oil and gas industry seeing staff looking to use their skills in other sectors
Food Manufacturing staff being recruited from Europe and major shortage of engineering candidates in the sector
A shortage of qualified candidates in IT. Companies with the slickest recruitment systems will pick up the best staff in competitive times
Sales candidates with proven track record outweigh those with qualifications or degrees
Supply Chain employers value candidates with quality training including apprentices
Cooper Lomaz Operations Director Mark Fletcher said the growth over the last year, and anticipated again in 2016, is a reassuring sign of confidence in the market as the economy continues its recovery.
More than half the surveyed businesses (55%) are planning to expand staffing this year as the economy is projected to grow by 2%.
Wages are increasing slightly at around 4%, with 58% of those surveyed enjoying a salary increase.
Companies are being encouraged to up their game with improved benefits, holidays, training and career opportunities to attract and retain staff.
The report is compiled from information provided by more than 2,000 professionals in specialist sectors, along with data from interviews with more than 15,000 candidates. The survey, which is most comprehensive to date, is a key tool in helping client companies and HR professionals gauge market trends, pay and benefits.
Cooper Lomaz Recruitment, which was started by two Norfolk businesswomen in 1990 and now has a turnover of around £15m, is itself looking to expand by 10% and hire another eight people for its offices at Norwich and Bury St Edmunds.
The survey will be circulated to Cooper Lomaz clients with highlights on the company website www.cooperlomaz.co.uk