MENTA has announced its free business start-up training will take place at locations across Norfolk. The series of three, four-hour business skills workshops cover subjects vital when setting up a business; planning, marketing and bookkeeping. The sessions have been well received and over the past three years more than 500 people have completed the training and more than 270 of them have made their dream a reality and set up a business in Norfolk or Suffolk. The start-up Start Right workshops are designed to help people who are thinking of setting up their own business or have taken the plunge during the last 12 months. MENTA’s mission is to help people achieve their dreams of becoming self-employed or running their own successful company. MENTA trainer, John Clarke said, “I meet people from all age groups and backgrounds who come along to gain expert support and business skills training. The sessions are informal and the feedback we receive is fantastic, people get a lot of practical advice which they appreciate.” The start-up training is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and isn’t affected by Brexit. MENTA’s long-term aim is to produce more employment opportunities and prosperity in Norfolk. The workshops are held in Gt Yarmouth, Kings Lynn, Norwich, North Walsham and Dereham. For more details visit the MENTA website www.menta.org.uk and go to the ‘start up’ page or call 01284 760206 for details. Booking is essential.
Commenting on the labour market statistics recently released by the Office for National Statistics, Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber said:
“While the UK unemployment rate remains historically low, the second successive drop in UK employment suggests that labour market conditions are moderating a little. However, the drop in both UK unemployment and employment was at least partly due to the rise in people who are now classed as economically inactive.
“This picture was partially reflected locally, where the overall unemployment count rose slightly from 7,320 claimants to 7,495. This is mainly due to coastal areas such Great Yarmouth and North Norfolk, showing an increase in seasonal workers claiming jobseekers allowance.
“Norwich, Breckland and King’s Lynn& West Norfolk all saw a reduction in claimants, whilst Broadland’s claimant count remained static. Great Yarmouth saw the largest rise from 2,585 claimants to 2,785.
“The latest data also confirms that the overall labour market continues to face a number of key challenges. While it picked up slightly, pay growth continues to lag behind price growth, which is stifling consumer spending, a key driver of UK economic growth.
“Significantly, the rise in the number of vacancies is a further indication of the persisting skills shortage faced by business, which undermines the UK’s growth prospects.
“With UK economic conditions likely to become more sluggish over the near term, it is vital that more is done to support firms looking to recruit and grow their business, including tackling the high up-front taxes and costs of doing business in the UK.”
On May 10th, Lambda Films packed up their camera gear and jetted off to the Caribbean Island of St Vincent. The objective? To scale and film La Soufrière, an active Volcano nestled within an Island community.
The purpose of this epic adventure, which was commissioned by the University of East Anglia, was to produce informational video content about the Volcano, island life and how it is disrupted by the effects of an eruption.
The videos themselves are destined to be premiered at the London Volcano event, a collaboration between UEA, Oxford University, The Seismic Research Centre at the University of the West Indies and The Natural History Museum London.
The event, which is part of national Universities week, will include a 3-metre replica of La Soufrière which will demonstrate the effects of volcanic activity. The accompanying video content will help educate audiences and bring to life the pressures and dangers of living on St Vincent in the shadow of an active volcano.
Following the event, the video content will be used as part of the STREVA project, an initiative to help strengthen resilience in volcanic areas, specifically in Latin America and the Caribbean. They will return and be broadcast around St Vincent to help educate the community on our findings.
Lambda Films is a video production company in Norwich. We produce online video content and video marketing services, so please get in touch for more information.
One year on in her role as Franchise Development Manager for TaxAssist Accountants, Sam Skyring discusses how her experience in practice, and her knowledge of the network has helped franchisees in the day to day running of their practices.
Before taking on this role, Sam spent three years at TaxAssist gaining an in-depth knowledge of the network, delivering training, technical assistance and undertaking due diligence visits alongside her colleagues at the TaxAssist Support Centre in Norwich.
“This allowed me to build up a real understanding of areas that franchisees need to focus on to enable them to grow and develop their businesses effectively,” adds Sam, who is ACCA qualified and for whom leaving the comfort of her 9-5 desk job has been an enriching experience. “I love the challenge of going to work in a different office every day, whether it is Cardiff or Cambridge, Belfast or Edinburgh. Each franchisee is unique, each has strengths and weaknesses and it’s a great feeling when you can see you’ve made a real difference to someone and their business. “I focus on looking at the big picture for the franchisee. How are they and their staff spending their time? What systems are in place? What is the franchisee charging? When running a business, the focus must be on maximising efficiency and profitability. “I know that the biggest area for franchisees to work on is the actual operating of the franchise. There is a real tendency for franchisees to work in the business rather than on the business.
“At the end of my visit I would hope that my approach enables franchisees to take more of a bird’s eye view of their practice. At TaxAssist, we provide excellent training for our network, but it’s only when a franchisee is up and running, that they get to experience practical issues with staffing and technology – which is where I can help.” This is reflected in the praise from franchisees, with David Nayar, who operates from Bolton and Preston, saying: “Sam provides fantastic support for our franchise and her expertise has been invaluable in getting our office working efficiently and effectively. I cannot thank her enough for the help and support she provides.” Over in the east, fellow franchisee Simon Hunt, who operates from King’s Lynn, concurs: “Sam has been incredibly supportive and helpful to me and my business. She has supported to me throughout my journey with TaxAssist and I know that if I encounter any challenges, I have someone who I can speak to.”
If you are interested in finding out more about joining TaxAssist, please contact Nikki Haythorne by e-mailing franchiseenquiries@taxassist.co.uk or by phoning 0800 0188297.
Due to great feedback and requests we are putting together a small group coaching event. A four-part series that cover each area of our Performance Acceleration program in an accelerated format.
The series is a first come first served basis and the group will complete the series together. due to the nature of our work, we ensure to protect the individuals in each group.
*YOU MUST REGISTER YOUR INTERESTS FIRST*
Our Leadership Coaching sessions will draw upon Chris’ 15+ years of experience working with the ‘best of the best’ in business, sport, military and performing arts. It will ensure that your present and future self will have enhanced knowledge and tools to a gain a competitive edge through:
Greater physical and mental energy.
Focus and motivation to ensure day-in and day-out commitment.
Enhanced resilience to stress and setbacks.
The ability to perform consistently under pressure.
A greater capacity to perform at your best daily.
—Starts when the first group has 7 participants—
Performance Acceleration – “Introducing the Series +
Design Thinking” – Session 1
1 hour session where Chris Wilson will go through the Performance Acceleration
model and will kick-start by introducing the frameworks around design thinking
and the physiology of focus. The session will close with an ‘ask me anything’
roundtable and actions to take away.
Performance Acceleration – “Your relationship with
Stress + Early Warning Signs” – Session 2
1 hour session where Chris Wilson will go through the physiology and stress
response with insights into the brain and body interactions. Including Early
Warning Signs that you are physically and mentally being negatively
stressed. The session will close with an ‘ask me anything’ roundtable and
actions to take away.
Performance Acceleration – “Building out your
performance plan: 3+1s” – Session 3
1 hour session where Chris Wilson will go through how building out your
performance plan can create a cadence of sustainable high performance.
Includes Macro, Meso and Micro cycles for optimisation. The session will close
with an ‘ask me anything’ roundtable and actions to take away.
Performance Acceleration – “Coaching self then
others to increase performance” – Session 4
1 hour session where Chris Wilson will go through how using coaching
conversations can change your perspective on stress and your capacity.
Including the ‘big picture’ behind the impact of stress. The session will close
with an ‘ask me anything’ roundtable and actions to take away.
An innovative million-pound project designed to unlock the talents of graduates and Norfolk’s thriving small-medium enterprises will start this summer following a successful bid to the Office for Students (Ofs).
The Gateways to Growth – Unlocking Talent in Norfolk project will receive £300,000 of funding from the Office for Students and attract additional support from partners making the total project worth £1,000,000.
UEA led the successful bid to the Ofs Challenge Competition. It will run for 3 years and aims to boost engagement between graduates and Norfolk’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through internships and enhanced skills training linked to Norfolk’s Enterprise hubs.
Key Facts:
£1,000,000 project, including £300,000 Ofs grant
1,600+ Norfolk SME businesses and 750 graduates supported over three years
Focus on working with six Enterprise hubs linking SMEs with graduate interns
UEA Vice Chancellor Professor David Richardson said: “Bringing talented graduates and Norfolk’s innovative SME businesses together is vital for our region. UEA has a significant role to play in support Norfolk’s thriving local industries and this project will deliver real benefits both to our graduates and to small and medium enterprises in our county.
“UEA is proud to be leading this project which will help to stimulate and support local industry and entrepreneurs and graduates.”
The tailor-made project will address some of the problems faced by Norwich and Norfolk’s economy and UEA’s graduates, many of whom want to remain in Norfolk after completing their studies but struggle to secure graduate level employment.
Julie Schofield, Joint Head of UEA Careers Service, said: “Our graduates love to stay in the city and county and yet there is a perception that there are too few graduate jobs for them. Our local economy is 90%+ SME and from our research we know that graduates do not always think that employment in an SME is a viable career option and SMEs do not always appreciate what a graduate can do for their business.”
Chris Starkie, Chief Executive of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “We have more than 60,000 businesses in Norfolk and Suffolk so there is a huge opportunity for graduates to find excellent roles on their doorstep and have a fulfilling career. There is also substantial investment in tech and energy taking place therefore these sectors will experience immense growth. Now more than ever this is the place where ideas become reality and you will want to be part of it.”
The winning bid has been developed by University of East Anglia (UEA), with support from New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP); Chamber of Commerce, Norfolk County Council, Norwich City Council, South Norfolk Council, UEA SU, Hethel Innovation Centre, Kings Lynn Innovation Centre, Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor and the St Georges Works.
Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students said: “There is an outdated assumption that the typical student experience involves moving far away from home to study and work. This is not true for a large number of students and graduates, and we know that, whether by choice or circumstance, many stay in their home towns.”
“Graduates should not have to move to London to get good jobs. It is essential that those who stay in their home towns and cities can enter high-skilled work and are not locked out of the graduate labour market.”
“This funding will help universities and colleges find ways to remove barriers to local graduate employment, broaden the choice for those local graduates, and help ensure that students are getting the right skills to enter rewarding work. It’s good news for graduates, universities and local employers in search of highly-skilled, work-ready graduates.”
We have Arts Council support but we have to unlock it!
We are thrilled the Arts Council has awarded £14,950 as a National Lottery Project Grant. This provides the major part of funding for a pilot project in a close working partnership with Norfolk Library Information Services and artists. A funder we approached for the critical matched funding to release the ACE funds of 10% of the estimated total project budget of £25,000, has advised us sadly they cannot support us after all. So we are approaching you as leaders in the business community asking for your help in the form of a corporate social donation, perhaps £500, £1,500 or even the full 10%, £2,500.
Creative learning in the community: pilot projects with libraries
The project will develop NPT Creative Learning services and deliver immediate benefits to families and children visiting libraries in Norwich, Aylsham and Brundall. We shall use our skills and experience to explore how puppetry and creative play can have a positive impact on the work of Norfolk Library Information Service.
Your co-funding help will help ensure we can
Develop and run programmes with 3 children’s libraries of different sizes (main, town and village scale libraries in terms of users and building spaces) and different settings (city, market town, rural)
Present in each of the partner libraries a programme of professional development for library staff, a touring puppet show and one or more puppet making and performing workshops, all with a focus on how these can assist the development of literacy skills (reading and writing)
Evaluate these programmes against agreed indicators, including the delivery of public benefit to users, report the results and propose future development
Benefits for your firm
Demonstrate active corporate commitment to wider activities in our cultural and social landscape
Share in the publicity about the project in the communities where the events will be run
Recognition of support in our evaluation reports as well as updates and summaries on social media
Recognition of your support on our website
Please get in touch with us if you would like to offer or discuss support! Perhaps there are other opportunities for us to work together. We have been a regular venue for book, music, and charity launches as well as corporate events. So if you haven’t visited us before or in depth, perhaps you would like to visit for a short tour and a chat over coffee? You can contact us by email or phone: Ian Woods will have the fullest picture on ianwoods@puppettheatre.co.uk, 01603 615564 or you can contact me nichopkins@puppettheatre.co.uk. Thank you Nic Hopkins, Chair of Board of Trustee
As it marks its sixth birthday, leading maintenance company RFT can celebrate carrying out a massive 60,000 responsive repairs each year.
The facilities, repairs and maintenance specialist, part of the Flagship Group, was set up in 2013 to take a new approach to looking after the Group’s homes.
Over the last six years, the company has done just that. It has grown significantly to offer responsive and planned repairs, grounds maintenance and cleaning, ensuring a joined-up service for the customers of its 28,000 properties.
This is complemented by the gas maintenance service provided by Gasway, which Flagship Group acquired in 2017.
With an area of operation the size of Wales, RFT has some 232 vans on the road and each year it brings 1,200 empty homes back into use. It also renews in excess of 1,500 bathrooms and kitchens.
In the last year alone, RFT fitted more than 900 kitchens and 600 bathrooms.
Warren Gannaway, Operations Director with RFT Services said: “When RFT was set-up, the overriding goal was to provide a great service to the Flagship customers by bringing all these areas of expertise in-house. It was a huge challenge and opportunity to set up a new company completely from scratch and the RFT staff should be proud of what they have achieved in that time.”
The partnership with Victory Housing in January 2019 brought an additional 5,000 homes in North Norfolk into RFT’s remit. And, RFT – which offers a 24/7 service – now also works with other housing associations, local associations and businesses.
RFT’s growth has been supported by technology and the development of an in-house developed IT operating system which supports the team’s work across such a large geographical area. Further improvements are planned as RFT looks to the future. Warren said:
“We are focused on continuous improvement and making our service even better for our customers. Innovation is at the heart of how we work and we have plans for further enhancements, such as electric vehicles.
“RFT has made a huge difference over the last six years and that is down to our great staff, both in the support roles and our customer facing operatives, who are empowered to make the right repair, first time to meet the customer’s needs.”
Free business skills workshops will take place in Gt Yarmouth in July to help people who are thinking of setting up their own business or have taken the plunge during the last 12 months.
MENTA’s mission is to help people achieve their dreams of becoming self-employed or running their own successful company.
The series of three, four-hour workshops cover business planning, marketing and bookkeeping and will be held at the Imperial Hotel, Great Yarmouth.
MENTA trainer, John Clarke said, “I meet people from all age groups and backgrounds who come along to gain expert support and business skills training.
The sessions are informal and the feedback we receive is fantastic, people get a lot of practical advice which they appreciate.” Leanne Castle, MENTA’s marketing manager commented, “The 12 hours of free start-up Start Right training has been completed by more than 500 Norfolk and Suffolk based people. In the last three years at least 270 of them have made their dream a reality and started their enterprise.”
The start-up training is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and isn’t affected by Brexit. MENTA’s long-term aim is to produce more employment opportunities and prosperity in Gt Yarmouth and the surrounding area.
For more details visit the MENTA website www.menta.org.uk and go to the ‘start up’ page or call 01284 760206 for details. Booking is essential.
KLM UK Engineering & WestJet Sign New Contract for Line Maintenance Support
Just a few weeks after signing LOI (Letter Of Intent) with AFI KLM E&M for GEnx engine support, the Canadian airline extends its partnership with the global MRO network in the field of 737 line maintenance.
Paris, Amstelveen, Norwich, 3rd June 2019 – A European leader in the regional jets & narrow body aircraft market and having an internationally acknowledged expertise on the Boeing 737, Embraer 170/190, BAe146/Avro RJ, Fokker 70/100 & Airbus A320 Family, KLM UK Engineering is delighted to confirm this new contract with WestJet.
KLM UK Engineering commenced line maintenance support with WestJet at Glasgow on their Boeing 737 fleet from April 2019.
Alan Lawson, Line Maintenance Manager at KLM UK Engineering commented: “We are delighted that WestJet has chosen KLM UK Engineering to fulfil this contract at Glasgow and we are looking forward to developing this working partnership further during the coming years.“
Jason Munroe, Senior Category Manager in Strategic Procurement at WestJet said: “This is an exciting time for WestJet’s network expansion and we are eager to enter into this new contract for line maintenance support from KLM UK Engineering to cover our Glasgow operations.”
The Captain is hugely honoured to be hosting one of America’s finest award-winning singer songwriters right here at his Kings Lynn HQ on Sunday 7th July. My dear chum, the simply superb Rachel Harrington is back here in Blighty. Much loved by audiences across the British Isles, Rachel is touring the UK before heading into the heart of the American West in late summer and onwards into Europe as the days grow short. A haunting storyteller with a compelling whisky and honey voice, she sings of broken souls, lost dreams, hard living and unexpectedly joyous dying, weaving a melancholy tapestry from the words of her grandfathers, years on the road, nights under restless skies and the mistakes and misfortunes of everyday hearts. Her yearning tales cut to the bone, straight from her rural roots, raw and absolutely true to her own experience, peppered with the humour that wards off despair when life’s ordinary hopes come tumbling down. Born to hard working stock, Danish dairymen and Irish lumberjacks, Rachel Harrington’s family has been in Oregon for six generations and a sense of place runs through her work, no doubt informing the songs for her new album Hush the Wild Horses which she’s almost finished. Huzzah! Growing up in a Pentecostal family, Rachel was raised on Gospel until an old cowboy called Dutch introduced her to the sound of Loretta Lynn, inspiring her own style of American gothic country stirred by careworn fireside soul. BBC’s legendary DJ Whispering Bob Harris proclaimed her first album The Bootlegger’s Daughter one of the best albums of 2007 and I must say I have a copy of everything she’s recorded. But to hear her live in an intimate setting really is quite something. Truly this wandering star of dark Americana is not to be missed. I do hope you can join us; all money raised on the evening will be donated to Make-A-Wish Foundation. Tickets are a veritable bargain at only £12 in advance, £15 on the door. Book here
We were delighted to hear that we’ve been recognised as a standard bearer for animation at the 40th Annual Telly Awards 2019, picking up gold and bronze in the General, Branded, Not-for-profit category.
This is the first time we’ve entered The Telly Awards, an international event honouring excellence in video and television across all screens so we feel humbled to have done so well the first time round.
Last year, the awards attracted more than 12,000 entries, and previous winners include The Guardian, The History Channel, Bloomberg, CBS Interactive, Conde Nast, HBO, HuffPost, Microsoft, NBC, Ogilvy and Mather, Time Warner and The Wall Street Journal.
Strategic Director, Daniel Spencer says: “The team are stunned. This is a really tough award to win, because the standard of entries is incredibly high. And since we were competing against long-established global players and thousands of entries, we were secretly hopeful but not expecting to win, let alone win twice!”
Curveball picked up Gold for their animated explainer for The Salvation Army called “Can you spot the signs of a modern slave”
And Bronze for the animation called “Whole Life Vision” for The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.
Other winners in the same “General, Branded, Not-for-profit” category include the American Red Cross and CNBC Catalyst, the in-house advertising agency of CNBC International.
Creative Director, Oliver Lawer: “It’s incredible. Really. We couldn’t believe it when we found out. And to win it for our not-for-profit work too is something special because it just goes to show what we can achieve when clients put their trust in us.”
Sabrina Dridje, Managing Director of The Telly Awards adds: “Curveball Media is pushing the boundaries for video and television innovation and creativity at at time when the industry is rapidly changing,” said Sabrina Dridje, Managing Director of the Telly Awards. “This award is a tribute to the talent and vision of its creators and a celebration of the diversity of work being made today for all screens.”
This isn’t the first time Curveball has won awards.
Working with PR agency Third City, the animated explainer they created for The Wellcome Trust was awarded first place in the CIPR Excellence Awards 2017 for Best Use of Digital.
While another video, again working with Third City, was awarded a PRCA City and Financial Award for their #ITPsUnfair video made for the Association of British Insurers.