After 5 years of winning the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence we have been welcomed into the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame. We would like to thank all of our hotel guests who have left us their feedback. We greatly value all of our guests and enjoy reading their reviews after visiting the hotel.
Park Farm Hotel believe in complete transparency when it comes to guest feedback, and for this reason we choose to actively encourage the collection of guest reviews from our guests, and then publish these reviews online on our website for all to see. Feedback is read by all of the management team and action is taken according to the comments given.
We are thrilled to announce the launch of Call Wiser’s new website. Working closely with them on design, the site offers a very easy way to navigate for various insurance products include bike insurance, van insurance, home insurance and car insurance quotes. Features of the site include:
Design
The site is very simple and easy to navigate. For us this was key because competitor analysis showed too much going on and it was distracting to the user.
We have kept with the traditional two colours for websites and a white background and black writing. The pastel colours of aqua and torquoise creating a calming feel which we wanted for people shopping for car insurance, especially if it was urgent.
Mobile Friendly and Responsive
The site is completely friendly for mobile users and is responsive for all devices such as desktops and tablets. This means that the size of the browser adjusts to makes it easy for users to shop around for insurance no matter where they are. On April 21st 2015, Google made an algorithm update that will favour websites on the search rankings if they have a mobile friendly site. So overall, the responsive site is what’s best for the customer.
SEO friendly site
The site has been built in a very SEO friendly way, minimsing the unnecessary code where possible. In addition, there is a nice blend of relevant content, images and videos to create a healthy user experience, also known as semantic SEO.
The site has been linked to authoritative domains including car sites, the AA, wikipedia, Govt and awards that the company have won. We also add a very informative About Us page thereby creating trust signals to Google that this is a strong company with a real company background and history.
We are very excited for Call Wiser and their new site and look forward to delivering strong SEO results moving forward!
We are thrilled to be working with new restaurantPecking Order to help them well, get up the Pecking Order!
Pecking Order (https://www.peckingorder.co.uk/)offers delicious rotisserie chicken, burgers and cocktails. The restaurants combines a decor and flavour of shoreditch is the suburban neighbourhood of Stanmore, North London.
When we met Pecking Order, they were generating a lot of interest on social media and a lot of word of mouth marketing but they were not appearing on the first page of Google for their brand name or related searches. This means that for all those people looking to make an enquiry, they were struggling to find the company’s website and contact number. But we changed all that …
What we did for Pecking Order
Forunately when it comes toSearch Engine Optmisation we’re no spring chicken. Wehave taken two weeks to give Pecking Order some real presence on Google. As a local business, we had to pay special attention to Google’s Pigeon update – the local business algorithm.
First, we added the Pecking Order websiteto local directories such as 192.com, 118.com, Hotfrog and Yell.com. This proved to Google that they were a real company with a consistent address and telephone number.
Next, we added some more trust signals to their site. We added a link out to their TripAdvisor page to show that they were a place of business with active reviews – and remarkably they have accumulated a number of reviews in a short space of time.
We also added alt-text to the images on their current website so that Google could read the page easier and we added social media buttons so users could actively share the page to people they knew.
With these small amendments, the rankings quickly boosted to the first page for keywords such as Pecking Order, Pecking Order Stanmore and Pecking Order London and this is visible in the graph on the right.
We also set up a PPC campaign in the meantime so that the restaurant can still capture customers for various keywords until all their rankings on number 1.
We are excited about continuing to work with Pecking Order on SEO, PPC and Social Media.
Kier Construction Eastern has won five Norfolk Association of Architects Craftsmanship Awards. The five projects in and around Norwich were presented with the awards on the 9th July 2015.Kier’s Kevin James, Chris Lowe, John Claydon, Dennis Cotton, Andrew Richman and Mark Wright, along with guests from the UEA, LSI and Ingleton Wood Architects attended the event at the Barnham Broom Hotel.
Earlham Hall – Class C – Restorations, Alterations and Additions – Full Award
Earlham Hall is an important Norfolk house. It dates from c1580 and is now owned by the University of East Anglia, used as their School of Law. The building was not so much restored as painstakingly rebuilt – brick by brick and timber by timber.
Crome Court – Class B – New Non-Residential – Full Award
The £10.1m 232-bedroom, 5 to 7 storey Crome Court, is hailed as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the UEA’s east campus, and met all their aspirations for their new student residence block. It is constructed from Cross Laminated Timber with modular bathroom pods.
Norfolk UTC – Class C – Restoration, Alterations and Additions – Full Award
Kier remodelled the 5400m2 former factory to create a 600 pupil University Technical College. One half of the building holds computer suites, classrooms and laboratories, independent study spaces, a dining area and an employer’s lounge. The other half is devoted to technical learning – electrical and electronic, materials and engineering sciences.
City College Norwich – Class C – Restoration, Alterations and Additions – Full Award
The project involved constructing a Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD) unit, which also houses a classroom and printroom. This is to provide a facility for disabled students to enable them to learn and thrive in a mainstream educational environment.
Julian Study Centre – Class B – New Non-Residential – Full Award
This sustainable four storey building with a glazed frontage and vibrant pink render is thought to be the first time a cross-laminated timber structure has been used with termodeck.
The Norfolk business community is continuing to support East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) nook appeal to build a new purspose built children’s hospice in the heart of Norfolk with Sprowston Manor Marriott Hotel and Country Club being the latest company to sign up for the nook business network.
This new corporate scheme asks companies small, medium and large throughout Norfolk to commit to raising either £10,000, £15,000 or £25,000 over the duration of the appeal in return for a number of benefits and support that the charity will provide.
Following the nook appeal launch event at the Norfolk Showground in November, staff at Sprowston Manor unanimously voted to select the charity and in particular the appeal, by committing to fundraise to achieve a target of at least £10,000.
The team at Sprowston Manor have come up with a number of fantastic fundraising ideas and to kick things off have recently held “The Great Gatsby Charity Ball” which has raised a fantastic amount of at least £6,500.
Andrew Dickson, General Manager, Marriott Sprowston Manor Hotel & Country Club, Norwich said: “We are delighted to be supporting the (EACH) nook appeal in 2015. We will be hosting a number of fantastic events and our Hotel team have established a fundraising calendar for initiatives throughout 2015 to support this inspirational project.”
Gary Cook, the nook appeal corporate fundraiser, said: “We’re delighted Sprowston Manor Marriott Hotel and Country Club have decided to support our nook appeal and the hotel’s 100+ staff are committed to raising a significant amount of money to help make our vision of a new children’s hospice in heart of Norfolk a reality.
“To achieve our aims we need the backing and support of the whole of the Norfolk Community – individuals, community groups, schools and of course businesses, so this support from Marriott is fantastic and we look forward to working with them.”
Anyone who is interested in finding out more about the appeal or the nook business network should contact the Norfolk Fundraising Team on 01603 666767 or funding@each.org.uk and for more information about Sprowston Manor Marriott Hotel and Country Club visit www.marriott.co.uk
Airvolution Energy, the developer proposing to build two turbines off Sporle Road near Swaffham, known as ‘Washpit Drove’, is calling on Norfolk-based companies to register their interest in supplying goods and services to help build the project if approval is granted.
The developer states there are many businesses which already provide a range of goods and services to construction projects like this, ranging from civil engineering to fuel providers, plant hire and plant operators to site investigation.
There are a number of additional benefits associated with this proposal, including the provision of enough clean, renewable energy to supply 3,100 homes each year and a Community Benefit Fund of £23,500 per year for local causes over its 25 year life-span.
Breckland District Council is likely to determine the planning application in summer of 2015.
Tom Walker, Development Manager at Airvolution Energy said, “It is a main focus of our company to bring investment to the areas in which we operate. As such, the business community here in Norfolk deserves to reap the benefits from our investment in this project.
“After attending the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce ‘Meet the Buyer’ event back in March, we are now calling on local businesses that may not have had the opportunity to attend that event, to contact us directly with their expression of interest to supply to our project. If we receive planning permission for our two turbines, their details will be included with documents to those invited to pitch for the overall construction contract.”
Local businesses who would be interested in registering as local suppliers are encouraged to download a supplier interest form from the project website or contact Tom Walker (Development Manager) directly by phone: 020 3030 5073 or by e-mail: tomwalker@airvolutionenergy.com.
We are extremely pleased to announce that we have renewed our sponsorship of the Norfolk Food and Drink awards 2015. The event, which promotes the fantastic work put in by our local food and drink manufacturers and retailers, will be held on Monday, 14th September at the Norfolk Showground.
As specialists in the hospitality, agricultural and manufacturing industries, we have many clients operating within the food and drink sectors, ranging from: pubs, restaurants, café’s, bars, farm shops and breweries. We felt that sponsorship of the awards was a fantastic way for us to show our support for both our clients and all those who are involved locally in the industry.
The nominations for the awards are now open and those wishing to enter have until Friday 3rd July to submit your entries. You can read more about the awards and the eligibility criteria here:https://www.norfolkfada.co.uk/
Aston Shaw’s Payroll Manager, Scott Drewery has been shortlisted for a prestigious Practice Excellence Award, in the category of Unqualified/Trainee of the year 2015.
Scott has been working towards his level 4 AAT qualification which he hopes to complete by the end of this year, after passing both level 2 and 3 first time. He has been with Aston Shaw for over 5 years and in that time has excelled – progressing from a new trainee to managing the payroll department, heading up the conversion to RTI and the current shift in the payroll process with regards to the new legislation around auto-enrolment.
Mark Russell, Client Manager of the Great Yarmouth Aston Shaw office nominated Scott for the award, commenting: “Scott is an essential member of our Payroll Department. He manages 2 younger trainees and has gained significant experience on the job alongside his formal AAT training. I have put forward Scott for this award, because he is a natural communicator, enthusiastic, has gone above and beyond to show aptitude for his role and we have been able to rely on him throughout our busiest periods”.
Scott Drewery, Payroll Managersaid: “As I grow and develop in terms of my experience and qualifications, I would like to further my payroll knowledge by specialising in the industry, so I can add more value and be able to run the Payroll department efficiently, proactively and profitably. I would like to advocate the study of specialist qualifications, such as payroll to my fellow trainees – as many prefer to take the generalist route and study to become a chartered certified accountant. My short-term aim is to grow and develop the Aston Shaw Payroll team – recruiting another team member to allow us to handle a greater volume of work – enabling me to bring in new clients and upsell extra services to existing ones.”
We thought you’d like to know that over the last few weeks we have picked up a few awards for arranging, negotiating and managing energy contracts for our clients.
Late last month we went to the National 2015 Energy Live Consultancy Awards (or TELCAs) in London. They are like the Oscars for energy consultants. The awards are judged anonymously by two independent panels, made up of energy professionals from the likes of Starbucks, Sainsbury’s & Tesco’s.
We are over the moon to have won…
– Most Trusted Consultancy – 2015 – Small Consultancy of the Year – 2015
Pictured above are the wonderful Sophie, James and Tina collecting an award from Andy Taylor, Npower (left) and the Editor of Energy Live News Sumit Bose (right). Just to put that in perspective there are about 500 energy consultants in the UK, 41 of them were in the final, 12 awards up for grabs and we picked up two, lovely stuff.
Also, Emily Groves (our founder & MD) entered the Institute of Directors Awards and won Young Director of the Year for the East of England. We hope that winning these awards go some way to demonstrate how good we are at what we do and if you are thinking about ways to cut costs or which consultant to use we hope you will consider us.
Simons Landscaping Ltd are the latest company to sign up for the nook business network scheme to raise funds to enable East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) to build the nook, a new purpose-built children’s hospice in the heart of Norfolk.
The nook business network scheme asks for companies small, medium and large throughout Norfolk to commit to raising either £10,000, £15,000 or £25,000 over the term of the appeal. The firm is a perfect fit for EACH as it was established over 30 years ago and provides its landscaping services in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge; the same areas that EACH covers.
As well as raising significant funds for the charity, the company will also look to promote the appeal to its suppliers, customers and clients encouraging them to offer their support to this appeal.
Simon Cruickshank, Director, Simons Landscaping Ltd, said: “We’re a family run business who are the leading landscape gardeners in Norwich, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire and we’re pleased to support the nook appeal. As parents ourselves, we can imagine how other families must feel when they need to rely on hospice care for their children. In going through such heart-breaking situations EACH gives families the best in worst possible situations, and we hope our support goes some way to helping those families.”
Gary Cook, the nook appeal corporate fundraiser, said: “It’s fantastic the team at Simons Landscaping want to help us achieve our financial target to enable us to make our vision of a new hospice for local life-threatened children and their families a reality.
“Simons Landscaping work is very much in the same community that EACH serves and it’s this community whether it is individuals, schools, community groups or in this case the business sector that will, by working together, help provide the funds for this much needed hospice.”
Anyone who is interested in finding out more about the appeal or the nook business network, should contact the Norfolk Fundraising Team on 01953 666767 or funding@each.org.uk or for more information on Simons Landscaping please visit www.simonslandscaping.co.uk
Accountancy Age has recently published its Financial Power List 2015 with CEO of The TaxAssist Direct Group Ltd. Karl Sandall making it to number 50 in the movers and shakers of the finance world.
Karl finds himself in illustrious company with George Osborne taking the number 1 slot with other notable entrants following on, including heavyweights in the business, finance and entertainment world such as Margaret Hodge Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Hollywood actor Ben Affleck and Lin Homer, Chief Executive, HM Revenue & Customs.
Accountancy Age is one of the leading resources for finance, business and accountancy news, features, advice and resources for accountants and other UK finance professionals.
Karl is listed alongside his Executive Management colleagues Sarah Robertson and Phil Sullivan and TaxAssist franchisees, who make up the UK’s largest network of small business specialist accountants. In 2014 a ground breaking Franchisee Assisted Management Buyout (FAMBO) took place with a tranche of franchisees breaking new ground in their ownership of the company. Franchisees currently own a 32% stake in the business, with the Directors of the company including Karl owning 53% and 15% by long-standing external business partners.
Karl comments “2014 was an exciting and trailblazing year for TaxAssist and proved how happy and satisfied our franchisees are in being part the success of our business. 2015 will be the year to cement our growing prominence in the accounting world. We will strive to continue to deliver excellent levels of support, training and leads to our network of franchisees and continue to build our brand name through our high street shop presence and highly successful and innovative social media campaigns. Whilst not taking our focus off the UK, we also have plans to expand the franchise in a controlled manner into selected markets in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and shortly the USA.”
Aston Shaw, the fastest growing accountancy firm in East Anglia, has appointed two new directors to the firm’s board, in order to create a long-term structure that addresses the company’s ongoing expansion. The current directors of the firm, Mark Noakes and Dominic Shaw, are keen to promote senior positions from within and long-serving Client Managers Lee Stratton, 28 and Adam Hook, 34 will take a Directorship role within the business as of August 2015. The ethos at Aston Shaw has always been to accelerate the growth and experience of younger employees, going against the accepted industry trend and this is now being reflected from the top down.
Lee Stratton and Adam Hook joined Aston Shaw in 2005 and 2006 respectively and both qualified as Chartered Certified accountants in 2011. They both manage their own varied portfolio of clients, with Lee specialising in the construction industry and Adam the agricultural sector. Both directors will retain their current portfolio and will continue to have day to day interaction with their clients, alongside their new responsibilities.
Lee Stratton, Director, commented: “I’m extremely proud to be a director of the company. After 10 years and knowing Aston Shaw inside out, I felt ready to take on the new role and help Mark Noakes and Dominic Shaw drive the business forward onto bigger and better things. Adam and I are looking forward to continuing our work with our current client portfolios, and we are both excited to be a part of the key decision making process in the company”.
Adam Hook, Director, added: “Lee and I have been part of Aston Shaw for a very long time and we both feel the time is right to make the step up. The company has grown significantly in the last few years and the structure being put in place will mean we can help grow it even further, which is something I can’t wait to drive forward”.
Aston Shaw has gone from strength to strength since their merger with Morgan Woods in 2014, and their recent takeover of Roger Hopkins in 2015. Since 2014 the company’s staff numbers have grown by 50% and the number of clients has also grown by upwards of 15%.