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Norfolk’s largest business exhibition, ‘Opportunities 2013’ on 14 March at Norwich City Football Club, is a must-attend for businesses looking to exhibit their products and services because there will be a guaranteed footfall of people attending throughout the day.

You can take a stand in one of six themed business zones designed to help visitors to grow their business and find the areas which are of most interest. They are Enterprise, Advice & Finance, Hospitality & Leisure, Technology, Promotion & Marketing and HR & Training.

Caroline Williams, CEO of Norfolk Chamber, which is holding the event, said: “Suppliers wanting to enhance their business are advised to take a stand at the event because there is so much going on throughout the day, which means there will be a huge footfall of potential customers. For suppliers, this will be a vital captive audience to promote themselves and be part of the region’s biggest business show.”

Highlights of the event include a Meet the Buyer event called Open4business, where suppliers will have the opportunity to pitch to key private and public sector buyers at pre-booked, 10-minute, one-to-one meetings. This year there are more buyers than ever before, with more than 36 signed up for the event. They include a wide range of councils and colleges, Kinnerton, Adnams, Perenco, Norwich City Football Club and many others.

Visitors will also be attending a series of three, 40-minute interactive and informative workshops designed to help boost business skills and give a real competitive edge. Topics are: ‘Networking so easy anyone can do it’, delivered by Mark Rhodes, of Rhodes2success; ‘Broadband: it’s more than just speed’, by Mike Joes of Modello (sponsored by BT Business); and ‘How to get results for email marketing’, by David Tillyer, of 101 Smart Ltd.

Also likely to bring in a great deal of visitors is the event’s Networking United event, which brings together a range of Norfolk networking groups under one roof, with the aim of making those vital connections. This presents an ideal opportunity to bring along some business cards and make contacts.

To book your stand, or to find out more about ‘Opportunities 2013’, go here

Read the latest information from the British Chambers of Commerce Energy Group in the attached document. This update will highlight the latest call to action to maximise North Sea Oil and Gas; a review of the business energy market; more proposed fracking sites for Lancashire; as well as the latest Carbon Capture and storage project to get funding.

At a recent meeting of the Great Yarmouth Chamber Council, the members had the opportunity to hear from Jonathan Newman, the Town Centre Manager. Jonathan provided an update of what was being done in the town centre to try to encourage more shoppers and more retailers to Great Yarmouth. The cost of parking was discussed and it was noted that there are currently 1,200 free parking spaces in Great Yarmouth as long as you are prepared to walk for a few minutes to get to the main attractions.

The threat to the town centre from the retail parks on the outskirts of Great Yarmouth was also debated. Many of the national retailers require a large retail footprint and the buildings in the centre of Great Yarmouth cannot physically accommodate this. It was agreed that Great Yarmouth town centre needed to look to provide an alternative and unique offering, which the larger out of town retailers cannot offer, to ensure the continued survival of the town centre.

At a recent West Norfolk Chamber Council meeting, held at the Bank House Hotel, the members welcomed another new member, David Guyatt from Lloyds. The round table update showed the mood was very positive, with all the area council members reporting a buoyant business environment. The Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk identified that progress was being made in bringing forward housing schemes – with 20 units now sold in the housing development on the NORA site and a further housing scheme would shortly be going to Cabinet for approval.

West Norfolk Chamber Council also took an initial look at the key priorities for West Norfolk that should be included in the Chamber’s Business Plan for Norfolk, which is currently being drafted. Some of the schemes/projects identified were: the Construction Industry Innovation Facility at Bircham Newton; the creation of a Centre for Advanced Knowledge Engineering at Downham Market; additional onsite NORA infrastructure to accelerate development of the site; and improvements the A47.

It was noted that many of these projects were being highlighted to the Local Enterprise Partnerships for inclusion in the next round of bid funding.

Heather Garrod, President of West Norfolk Chamber Council said: “It is important to maximise the growth potential of the West Norfolk business community and the Area Council are confident that these types of schemes and projects will deliver economic benefits and jobs to our region.”

Commenting on the speech by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rt Hon George Osborne MP, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:

“The Chancellor made a blistering affirmation about the importance of the UK’s economic progress – brushing aside nimbyism and those who don’t believe growth is essential for Britain’s future. He correctly identified that economic growth is a pre-condition for delivering the public services that we all want, such as pensions, NHS and education. The Chancellor has also committed not to duck big decisions on national infrastructure projects including aviation, rail and roads. Businesses are used to hearing these pledges, but will always judge politicians on whether they actually deliver.

“However there were two pieces missing. We would have liked the Chancellor’s speech to address access to finance, as this is so important to raising business investment and long-term sustainable growth. Also a commitment to export support should be a government priority, as it is vital to re-balancing the economy.”

On the economy and deficit reduction:

“The Chancellor’s ambition for UK growth is in stark contrast to others in the political discourse, some of whom seem to have accepted a ‘new normal’ of low growth.

“Businesses will support the Chancellor’s continued commitment to mend Britain’s public finances. Above all, companies value certainty, consistency and predictability when it comes to economic policy – so it is pleasing to see the measures announced by the Chancellor are in keeping with the goal of getting the deficit down.”

On pensions:

“Putting money into a pension pot is not only important for the financial health of individuals, it’s important for the health of the economy too. Savings underpin investment and we need to do more as a country to boost business investment. This must go hand in hand with measures to boost savings. So we welcome the Chancellor’s announcement to abolish the so called ‘death tax’ to give people an additional incentive to save for their retirement.”

On welfare cuts to fund apprenticeships:

“The Chancellor made the correct link between skills and immigration, as the people of Britain should be able to compete for jobs in an open market. With our open borders, the only way to do this is by ensuring the UK has a highly skilled workforce that businesses want to employ.

“The commitment to raise the level of public investment in apprenticeships will be supported by business. Increasing the number of apprenticeships from two million to three million over the next five years is a challenging but worthy aspiration. As an economy that relies on knowledge and skills, training our young people is as important as the infrastructure of our nation such as our roads, railways and airports.

“We agree with the supporting package of welfare measures that do more to make work pay for young people, and ensure that the funding is available for the additional apprenticeships.”