Unleash your creativity when Norfolk Paint Parties join us in The Pavilion. These events invite guests of all skill levels to enjoy the relaxing art of painting in a fun, supportive group setting. Led by Nikki Brown, a trained graphic designer and illustrator with decades of experience, each session promises not just an artistic creation but an experience filled with joy and surprises. Whether you’ve never held a brush or are an experienced painter, you’ll find delight in painting a provided image.
Custom apps increase customer connection, reward loyalty and blast your business message home.
Gone are the days when businesses had to have a web presence to survive. They now have to be interactive and packed with ways to engage the expectant customer wanting more for their time and their loyalty.
The time has come to embrace mobile trends and incorporate ways the successful big players are using to entice customers to your door. How’s that? With a custom business app. Apps promote your company whilst providing additional pulling power. That power will always be in the novel and the new.
The app revolution…
When the Beatles sang about joining ‘the revolution’ we were all singing a different song. Bricks and mortar were the shop front. Success was measured in the size and number of business locations and customers walked willingly to browse and to buy. Now they are more likely to browse by foot and then track down the smartest price online.
So anything that makes you and your business unique, any additional ‘old fashioned’ style service you can give that marks you out from the rest is the winner. And the winners in the game are those copying the likes of Apple,Metier and the rest.
Here’s what Metier had to say about the importance of integrating apps into your business:
“You should work to provide value to your audience with the mobile experience. That might be best served by a mobile optimised site, an app, or a combination of both”.
Their recommendation is not to be ignored, unless you choose to ignore the mobile trends and stay out of the game!
New to Norwich, Think Mobile Media makes fantastic apps, QR codes and mobile websites that grow your business. Geraldine is a partner at the firm and for full details on how we could help your business please view our site here
If you are an SMEkeen to save money through energy, water or waste efficiency measures or technologies then the Grants4Growth programme can help. A much wider range of interventions then you perhaps think can potentially be funded including;
• New heating systems • New lighting units • Building fabric improvement • Fenestration upgrades • Fleet and vehicle replacements • New plant and machinery, and much more…
If there is a more efficient alternative to what is currently in use then it is likely that funding can be made available to assist with the capital expenditure.
Equally if you are a Low Carbon and Environmental Products and Services SME company then a small revenue grants fund is available to assist with marketing and promotional activities.
Both ERDF funding streams are subject to eligibility criteria and approval of a Grants Panel. Grants of up to 28% for capital expenditure and up to 30% revenue expenditure are available. Typical grants range from £1,000 to anything up to £20,000 depending on the total cost and whether jobs are secured and created as result.
Specialist Business Brokers are employed by the programme to assist SME’s with checking their eligibility and suitability, and completing the application forms required.
Within the first 8 weeks of the programme businesses have already benefited and many others are in the process of applying for grants. The programme runs until 31st March 2015.
If you are not sure whether your proposed investment qualifies or just want to know what we can fund then please get in touch for an informal chat. If suitable then one of our Busines Brokers can come and see you and talk you through the simple application process.
We all know that parking is a valuable addition to any property. As parking becomes more and more costly, a landlord who can offer parking spaces to his tenant has a distinct advantage in today’s competitive (and tenant driven) market place. But just what is the landlord offering? And from the landlord’s perspective, just what should he be offering?
If a property is described as “with parking” the tenant needs to investigate very carefully what is being proposed. The ideal situation, from the tenant’s perspective, is for the parking spaces to form part of the premises being leased (the “Demised Premises”.) The result is that the tenant will have exclusive use and occupation of the parking spaces and the landlord cannot recover them until such time as he recovers possession of the main premises. So, a good result for the tenant, but it may not be so good for the landlord.
Whenever a landlord is considering offering parking to his tenant there are a number of factors he needs to bear in mind. Is he likely to want to redevelop the land? Does he want the car parking arrangements to be fluid and flexible, enabling him to substitute alternative spaces? Is the parking to be non-exclusive, on a “first come first served” basis?
If the answer to any or all of these is “yes” the landlord will want to ensure that the parking spaces are not part of the Demised Premises, but instead are dealt with in some other way, such as a Licence to Park, which can be revoked at any time, or by reserving the right to vary the area over which the tenant can park.For the tenant, this is less satisfactory, as it leaves the way open for the parking to be withdrawn or varied by the landlord, at any time.
Because of the value placed on parking, it is not surprising that the subject has been much litigated by both landlords and tenants. In order to avoid litigation, it is important that any lease clearly reflects what is in the understanding of both parties. Certainty for the tenant can only come from having the parking spaces specifically described as part of the Demised Premises. As this may not be so attractive to a landlord who wants to retain control and flexibility, ultimately the matter becomes one of negotiation.
Facebook recently announced that they are adopting #hashtags to enable their users to easily find and join threads of conversation.
Hashtags have been used on Twitter for years as a handy way to access threads of conversation. Facebook have announced that they have added #Hashtags to their offering and are starting with a sensible approach of just making #hashtags clickable. They have also said that they will be adding more features in due course such as trending hashtags.
If you use a #hashtag or set of #hashtags on twitter you can now apply this to your marketing on Facebook too, simply add your #hashtags to your status updates.
Facebook are not currently permitting sponsored #hashtags or the ability to target people who use specific #hashtags but we suspect this is likely to change so watch this space!
Take a look at ourfacebook pageto see how we are using #hashtags
If you would like to discuss Social Media and get some expert advice about how you can use it for your business call us on 01603 858250 and speak to one of the team.
Business leaders from across the region attended the first ever Best Employer, Eastern Region (BEER) Festival at Ickworth Park near Bury St Edmunds November 15th 2013. The event was organised by Pure Resourcing Solutions (Pure) specialist recruitment agency and eras ltd providers of psychometric testing and people development solutions.
Chief executives and managing directors were among delegates Norfolk attended the unique event, to find out more about how employee engagement can benefit their business and staff, and to share knowledge with their peers.
Footage of the presentations are now live on the website www.best-employers.co.uk or on YouTube link below…
For more information on the BEER please visit the website or call Lynn Walters on 01223 209888
Commenting on the trade statistics for June, released today by the ONS, Julie Austin, International Trade Manager at Norfolk Chamber said:
“The sharp deterioration in the UK’s net trade position in June was disappointing, and means the trade deficit in the second quarter of this year came in slightly higher than in the previous quarter. In Norfolk, the value of export documents processed through the Chamber was nearly £31 million in Q2 – a slight increase on the document value for Q1, which was just under £30 million.
“These figures together with the recent jump in the current account deficit, signals the continued weakness of the UK’s external position. The widening in the UK trade deficit in June was largely driven by a sharp rise in imports.
“Businesses continue to report that the slump in the value of sterling since the EU referendum remains something of a double-edged sword, as many exporters are also importers, and so face higher input costs due to the weakening currency. While stronger global economic growth may help to boost the UK’s export performance over the second half of the year, it is unlikely to be sufficient to prevent an overall weakening in growth.
“As the Brexit negotiations unfold, safeguarding the favourable terms of trade that UK firms currently enjoy with partners and markets in Europe and beyond must be a key priority. More must also be done to provide greater practical and front-line assistance to UK businesses looking to trade in both current and new markets.”
The Government’s stated target of agreeing a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU within two years is inherently ambitious, according to an influential House of Lords body.
If the UK and EU are unable to agree an FTA within the two years provided for in Article 50, then preferential terms for trade between the UK and the EU would cease, and World Trade Organization (WTO) rules would apply.
In order to avoid that outcome, the Government must try to agree a transitional arrangement with the EU members of the House of Lords External Affairs Sub-Committee.
The peers have urged the Government “to establish at the outset of negotiations a clear strategy for a future transitional agreement, with specific proposals to what form it should take”.
The report Brexit: Trade in Goods focuses in particular on the potential impact that Brexit might have on trade in six sectors: chemicals and pharmaceuticals; capital goods and machinery; food and beverages; oil and petroleum; automotive and aerospace; and defence.
Goods dominate UK trade and the EU is our largest trading partner, Committee Chairman Baroness Verma pointed out.
Trade in goods between the two is worth almost £357 billion each year, she added, and it is therefore imperative that a trade deal with the EU seeks to avoid the imposition of tariffs on trade in both directions.
Baroness Verma also pointed out that non-tariff barriers can pose as significant or even a greater barrier to trade than tariffs – and warned that they would be more difficult to resolve in an FTA.
“The Government will need to make a trade-off between mitigating barriers to trade, and the exercise of regulatory sovereignty,” she concluded.
The Magento team released a critical security patch (SUPEE-5344) to address a remote command execution (RCE) vulnerability back in February. It’s been more than two months since the release and still more than 50% of all the Magento installations have not been patched, leaving them open to attacks.
This means hundreds of thousands of websites are vulnerable right now, worst yet they are e-Commerce websites. This means that they are used to sell goods online, capturing personal identifiable information (PII), including credit card information. The impacts of Magento websites getting compromised can be devastating for every online buyer that uses or has used a website built on the platform.
This is a very serious vulnerability, it allows allows an attacker to run any command they want on the server, allowing them to take full ownership of the vulnerable online shop and it’s associated web server.
Full Disclosure Going Live in a couple of days
This vulnerability was discovered by the Check Point research team and reported to Magento back in January. They gave us an early warning to help spread the word to as many Magento admins as possible. In a few days (likely this Monday or Tuesday – April 21st), they will release full details of the vulnerability on their blog. Once the details are released, it is expected that within hours there will be a working Proof of Concept (PoC) available for the masses. The severity of this issue cannot be understated, we cannot stress the importance of patching immediately.
If you own a Magento site, you must patch it immediately! Go to the download page, search for SUPEE-5344 and follow the instructions.
The recent changes to the Married Couples Allowance for individuals born after 6th April 1935 will allow you to transfer some of your Personal Allowance to your partner. This update has not yet been put into effect and interested parties can register their interest on the Government website who willemail youwhen the changes are fully implemented.
Personal Allowance is the figure that you as an individual are able to earn before being taxed, currently £10,000 and increasing to £10,600 on the 6th April. If your income for the 2015/2016 tax year is less than your Personal Allowance you may be able to reduce your husband, wife or civil partner’s tax by up to £212 (10%).
This is positive news for couples where one of you has zero earnings or £1,060 or more of their Personal Allowance remaining – by utilising the new marriage allowance you can make full use of the initiative and claim back the £212.
Eligibility
In order to claim Marriage Allowance, the following conditions apply:
You are married or in a civil partnership
You have an annual income of less than £10,600 – including pensions, savings and investments
Your spouse or civil partner has an annual income of between £10,601 and £42,385
You are both born after 6th April 1935
The Married Couples Allowance
There is also an allowance for married couples where one or both of you are born before 6th April 1935. This allowance can reduce your tax bill by £314 to £816.50 a year. This can be claimed either through your annual tax return or, if you aren’t required to fill one you can contact HMRC and inform them with details of your marital date and the date of birth of both you and your partner.
To get advice on this update, contact your nearest office and speak to one of our specialist tax advisors.
Some might ask what is the difference between computing in a village, a town or a city? The answer probably comes down to how many community hubs (pubs) there are within a 10 or 15 minute walk. In other words not a lot of difference. Although there is a need to walk through the community, whatever the location,and make those connections worth making and ignoring everything else, unless it is in your face. By making these connections a software developer is able to practice their art.
I have found that a quick dash to the shop to talk to the lady serving and sometimes the odd customer makes for the removal of any mental blocks that might be occurring.
A Software developer (coder / programmer) requires what many others also require. Three meals a day, punctuated with the odd snack (Fruit :), or Eccles cakes – used to be chocolate), a roof over their head, decent tech to work with, and funds to pay for overheads. These days you could throw in a decent internet connection also.
Why is it a challenge? If the days work is not a challenge then you are not making forward progress. If things seem too easy then I get the feeling that something is wrong. It might just be me, everything is a challenge to me (feels like running uphill all the time), it makes life interesting and it keeps the largest muscle in my body happily exercised. Sometimes (well quite often actually) this muscle tells me to go to the pub and have my one pint.
I shall say that there is a beautiful moment in any workday when the challenge disappears and the last peice of the jigsaw puzzle falls into place. This is momentary until the next challenge presents itself.
The fact that the business is situated in South Norfolk has importance for two reasons: 1.it is close to the Suffolk border, 2. It allows for inclusion in the Norfolk Chamber. Being close to Suffolk is good as it is a whole different market place to sell into, and inclusion in the Norfolk Chamber has many benefits, one of which is this forum.
Networking groups are numerous nowadays. It’s vital activity, helping companies to do business with each other.
It’s healthy, but it’s competitive. There will be more businesses than yours trying to sell to that new contact you’ve just made. It’s business.
Sometimes though we need to think about West Norfolk’s businesses within the context of their having common aims. The times when we need to leave the competitive pitches at the door and pitch in together.
I hardly need to remind you that road and rail connections with our region are a consistently hot topic. Everywhere seems to get sorted before us. Some great strides have been made of course. The A11, and the A47, coming into focus at last although we were disappointed that the Dereham to Kings Lynn stretch of the A47 was ignored. More work to do to make our case.
It’s important to note that much of what has been achieved to date, and much of what we’ll need in the future for our infrastructure has, and will, only come about when commerce joins forces to speak up for our needs. Improved mobile and mroadband are very much needed and for superfast broadband to actually mean superfast!
Let’s turn to our rail links. Customers, and consumer groups have their say. But dissatisfaction, informed opinion and the spelling out of what West Norfolk actually needs to deliver growth are better heard when they are amplified through the concerted voice of companies working together.
Infrastructure aside, our future prosperity is in the hands of our young people. The cooperation of our businesses, and their talking to each other, is essential in securing better apprenticeship and training schemes for those who represent tomorrow.
Working together we can achieve great things. As political power shifts over time, and priorities alter, our needs as a region should not move down altered agendas. Maintaining a high profile for West Norfolk and ensuring things get done, are better achieved when our businesses pull together, and speak with one voice. And that’s quite a voice when it comes from the ranks of world class businesses we have here.
So, let’s remember that sometimes, despite its being necessary for growth, competition must be reassessed. Sometimes it’s better for companies not to compete with each other, but to join forces to compete for West Norfolk.