One of the costliest pursuits a business can undertake is the search for more customers. From entrepreneurial beginnings through to established businesses, many are naturally drawn to these “exciting” exercises. What if, we could increase our revenues without the need to dramatically increase conversion costs or overheads? What is more, we can do it without taking on unnecessary risk.
In this one-hour presentation, which includes a question and answer session, we look through simple tools that will help any business leverage their current opportunities and de-risk future endeavours.
This webinar will cover:
Finding potential sales in the data
De-risking product development
Effective market expansion
About the presenter
James Adams is the lead consultant at Norfolk based boutique management consultancy firm Akcela. James started his career on the early in career programme at Fortune 200 US company, holds an MBA from the UEA alongside a post graduate diploma in professional consulting. James’ career has seen him work alongside companies such as McDonalds, Starbucks, Vauxhall, Tesco, Electrovert and Foster Refrigerator managing consultancy projects in throughout Europe, China and USA.
About Akcela
At Akcela, they believe in working with businesses who are committed to growing and developing to achieve their full potential. Their team of trained management consultants are focused on supporting, guiding, and bringing expertise that enables this growth. Through engaging Akcela, their clients have achieved increased productivity, staff motivation, revenue and ultimately profits.
AFI KLM E&M subsidiary is delighted to announce the signing of airframe maintenance contract extension with West Atlantic UK Limited.
Paris, Amstelveen, Norwich, 4th November 2019 – KLM UK Engineering are pleased to announce a further extension to its airframe heavy maintenance contract with West Atlantic UK Limited on their Boeing 737 Freighter fleet.
Peter van der Horst, Managing Director commented: “We are delighted that West Atlantic UK Ltd have decided to continue to extend their heavy maintenance contract with KLM UK Engineering, we have been supporting West Atlantic UK Ltd for a number of years and look forward to continuing to work together in the future.”
Nigel Hiorns, Managing Director West Atlantic UK Ltd said: “Having been a customer of KLM UK Engineering’s for a number of years now, we are very pleased to announce the continuation of this working relationship and look forward to our fleet continuing its maintenance programme at the KLM UK Engineering facilities.”
About West Atlantic UK Ltd
West Atlantic UK Ltd is part of the West Atlantic/Swiftair group which is one of the largest European cargo operators with customers throughout EU. The UK airline operates a fleet of 23 Boeing 737-300 & 400 and -800 freighter aircraft and was the launch customer for the 737-800BCF (Boeing Converted Freighter).
Chamber Co.nnects are fortnightly network meetings for its members to network and chat with other businesses in a digital space.
We believe networking is key during difficult times to help with mental health, continuation of business and access to help and advice from peers. Each network meeting will have a guest speaker and will be focusing on a current topic.
Enjoy from the comfort of your own home with no early starts or commute and make sure to make a coffee and bring a smile to this online video meeting.
Who’s it for?
Business owners, managers, entrepreneurs, start-ups, young businesses and anyone who wants to connect and engage with other businesses in the Norfolk area.
Topic
Debt Recovery for your Business
In this session, we will be rethinking assumptions of Credit Management and debt recovery.
Credit Management is not primarily focused just on chasing payments; it’s about building effective and positive credit relationships with your clients and customers.
Now more than ever, businesses are having to problem solve, previously unforeseen issues and getting paid on time is paramount.
It’s incredibly important to know what businesses you are dealing with, are they to be financially trusted?
By creating a bespoke service, you will have improved cash flow, reduced costs and increase your profit.
Ronda Jacksonhas over 20 years’ experience in Credit Control, successful debt recovery, enforcement of judgements via attachments of earnings, high court sheriffs and charging orders.
She has a vast range of experience within the Haulage Industry, Building Trade, Agriculture and Supermarket Industry.
Jacksons CRS Limited can make sure you get paid on time to leave you time to run your business.
Agenda
09:30 – Welcome from Chamber. Go through format and any updates. Introduce topic and speaker (5 mins) 09:35 – Guest speaker (15 mins) 09:50 – Q&A for speaker (10 mins) 10:00 – Discussion topics and networking (1 hour) 11:00 – Close
When you register for your place, you will be sent a calendar invitation as confirmation of your place. The invite will include a unique link from Zoom for you to join the video call.
Please note that moving forward this series won’t be a recurring meeting in Zoom so you will need to book on each individual session.
Above: One of Greater Anglia’s new trains at Lowestoft Credit: Greater Anglia
Attracting passengers back to East Anglia’s rural rail branch lines was the focus at Greater Anglia’s annual community rail conference held last week.
Community Rail Partnerships, station adopters, local authorities and other organisations from across East Anglia came together with Greater Anglia representatives at the annual Community Rail Conference to discuss how to ensure a bright future for the region’s local rail branch lines.
Nationally, rail passenger numbers are back up to 80-85% of pre-pandemic levels so the focus was on how to continue to attract passengers to use their local rail lines, building on the transformational benefits brought by Greater Anglia’s new trains.
Discussions focused on how to help community rail lines recover beyond the pandemic; how to maximise the positive impact of the new trains; how community rail partnerships can help strengthen further their links with local communities, involving schools, colleges and local authorities to help bring about positive changes locally, and how to improve diversity and inclusion.
The conference was attended by East Anglia’s six Community Rail Partnerships (CRPs), Station Adoption community volunteers, local authorities, Transport Focus, the Community Rail Network (which represents CRPs and promotes community rail at a national level) and the Department for Transport.
Jonathan Denby, Greater Anglia’s Head of Corporate Affairs, said, “Community rail initiatives help to bring railways closer to the communities they serve, encouraging more people to take the train and supporting local communities by making it easier for residents to travel for work, learning, shopping or leisure and for visitors or tourists to get around with benefits for the local economy.
“Most community rail lines saw significant growth in passenger numbers in recent years before the pandemic and our new, high quality, longer trains provide a fantastic opportunity to encourage more people to take the train.
“We’ll continue to build on our strong track record of partnership working, which has seen community rail lines become more and more popular with customers, whilst train services and stations have become more integrated with local communities’ needs, with more frequent services, all year round, in place on most routes.”
He added: “A huge thanks to all involved for making the conference such a positive, effective event with clear goals and a shared desire to ensure our local lines continue to thrive and maximise the impact of the exciting transformation delivered by the introduction of our new trains.”
To date in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire, partnership working has helped to boost tourism and local economies and improve health and well-being through the production of local area guides, guided walks, special event trains, volunteering initiatives, community art projects, wildlife initiatives, partnership initiatives to deliver service improvements and station upgrades and wider community involvement schemes.
Organisations have adopted Remote Working and many look to continue the process in the future. But do the information frameworks available fully meet the needs of the business for effective management and also data security in the future.
Here are some proposed solutions that address these issues and support compliance to ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO14001 (Environmental, ISO27001 (Data Security) and ISO45001 (Health & Safety) standards.
How information regarding the effective operation of the business may be securely stored and accessed for a remote working employee group, including data to assist in the decision making and management of the operation, be it team, group or whole organisation.
What are the options and some of the alternatives that may be adopted, including the RAMS (Remote Access Management System) developed as a cost effective solution to wide ranging company needs.
Data security is important at all times and becomes more of a focus when the vulnerabilities of remote working are added into the mix.
To take away;
Paperless working. How far could we or should we go?
Full legal and regulatory compliance. How do I tell?
A guide to data security requirements
About the presenter
Laurence Brooks is a chartered physicist and a member of the Institutes of Quality Assurance and Business Advisers. He spent nearly 20 years in the electronics sector focusing on quality, business development and general management, to European Operations responsibility level.
This experience and knowledge has been applied to supporting the management system needs of UK organisations, particularly the manufacturing sector in the Eastern Region.
About Performance Plus Partnership
PerformancePlus has a 100% success record in helping companies in the East Anglia region gain the International Standards certifications they want. Their philosophy has always been to make the systems work for you rather than trying to make you change to suit some arbitrary system or process. Their subtle, yet supportive, approach has gained them an ever-increasing circle of friends amongst their clients (and some amazingly good testimonials).
Their clients have found them to be a genuinely cost-effective solution to their management system development, support and registration needs.
Norfolk Chamber is urging Norfolk and Suffolk’s successful women from every sector to show their support for women in business by celebrating their achievements at one of the country’s longest running awards ceremonies.
Now in their 33rd year, the annual Women of the Year Awards highlight and celebrate women’s successes in business and society, promoting role models and inspiring women to reach their potential.
Now, with nominations for the Businesswoman of the Year still open, the event’s supporters are urging Britain’s leading female executives and entrepreneurs to encourage others by putting themselves forward or nominating colleagues whose achievements deserve greater notice.
Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber said: “As we work to inspire our young people it is more important than ever that our women leaders and their achievements are more visible.
“If you are a business leader, who happens to be a woman with a story to tell or work with somebody that answers that description, we urge you to step forward and be seen. All it requires is an email.”
Apprentice star Karren Brady, a former winner, also lent her voice to the call: “The Woman of the Year awards are an important opportunity to celebrate the many examples of women who are wonderful business role-models. It is critical that women in senior positions who are creating and leading businesses are recognised – not only for their own efforts and achievements but also to inspire future generations.
“The only way more women are going to be in the boardrooms of the future are if there are a wide range of role-models now who lead by example. Awards like Woman of the Year provide a perfect showcase and as a former winner myself, I can testify personally the positive experience it provides. I would urge women to put themselves forward and enter this year’s awards.”
The event has earned the support of a wide range of business organisations including the Engineering Employers Federation and the Royal Aeronautical Society, and participation can have a hugely positive impact on both the nominees’ business profiles and their bottom line.
“On a very practical level, there’s no doubt that even being nominated for an award can contribute directly to your bottom line. It boosts your business profile as a whole and lends credibility, attracting new opportunities within a wider market,” says 2011 Businesswoman of the Year winner Julie White, Managing Director of D-Drill.
“I was initially reluctant to put myself forward, but winning has had a huge impact and since then I’ve received a lot of media attention, appearing on a range of shows from the Daily Politics to Question Time. It’s taken me to places I thought I’d never see, and has given me a platform to both raise the profile of my industry and discuss the issues affecting it.”
Closing date for nominations is September 11, 2015.
The 2015 winner will be announced exclusively at the Women of the Year Luncheon and Awards ceremony on Friday, October 9 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole near the NEC. The Women of the Year Luncheon and Awards attracts several hundred high-profile guests which have in the past included Lord Digby Jones, Dragon’s Den panelist Hilary Devey, and guest speaker Britain’s double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes MBE.
There will be plenty of time to network at the 33rd successive year of the eagerly-anticipated awards when funds will once again be raised for two official charities and there will also be an opportunity to shop in a select number of boutique stores. All finalists will be invited to attend the Luncheon and Awards as the guests of the Awards Chair.
Tomorrow’s People is dedicated to helping disadvantaged adults and young people find and retain employment, with a focus on improving the long-term work prospects of those who face the greatest barriers to work. The charity’s vision is to break the cycle of unemployment and dependency in deprived communities throughout the UK, transforming lives by ‘re-skilling’ the long-term unemployed.
Revitalise
Revitalise is a national charity providing essential services for the disabled, visually impaired and their carers. The charity runs three centres nationwide, offering short-breaks with 24-hour care and personal support in relaxed surroundings.
Chamber Co.nnects are fortnightly network meetings for its members to network and chat with other businesses in a digital space.
We believe networking is key during difficult times to help with mental health, continuation of business and access to help and advice from peers. Each network meeting will have a guest speaker and will be focusing on a current topic.
Enjoy from the comfort of your own home with no early starts or commute and make sure to make a coffee and bring a smile to this online video meeting.
Who’s it for?
Business owners, managers, entrepreneurs, start-ups, young businesses and anyone who wants to connect and engage with other businesses in the Norfolk area.
Topic
Back to the Future
With the shops already full of Christmas decorations, you might be wondering what happened to 2020. With the resurgence of COVID cases coupled with our final exit from the EU, it’s hard to think about how 2021 will not be another year to remember. As talk turns from firefighting to recovery, some businesses wish no doubt wish they could turn the clock back more than an hour on the 25th. So this session looks at what new opportunities could exist in the future and how 2020 has changed our lives forever.
Guest Speaker
Paul Gardner, Great Yarmouth Borough Council
Paul joined GYBC in June this year having spent the last 12 years working with start-up and growing businesses in Norfolk and Suffolk. During this period he has spent some time helping people start new businesses, working close to the Government’s Start-Up Loan and providing support to the regions fastest-growing businesses through the Future50 programme.
Perhaps best known for its seaside resorts of Caister, Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, Great Yarmouth’s maritime heritage dates back to the 10th century. Today, tourism and the sea continue to provide an important feature of the Boroughs economy. Home to nearly 100,000 people and often called the gateway to the Broads, the UK’s first offshore wind farm was built here too.
Agenda
09:30 – Welcome from Chamber. Go through format and any updates. Introduce topic and speaker (5 mins) 09:35 – Guest speaker (15 mins) 09:50 – Q&A for speaker (10 mins) 10:00 – Discussion topics and networking (1 hour) 11:00 – Close
When you register for your place, you will be sent a calendar invitation as confirmation of your place. The invite will include a unique link from Zoom for you to join the video call.
Please note that moving forward this series won’t be a recurring meeting in Zoom so you will need to book on each individual session.
Andrew Wright, CEO of UK Colombia Trade, will visit the United Kingdom along with the President of Colombia’s National Hydrocarbons Agency and the President of the Colombian Oil Association the week of 7-11th September 2015 to build bilateral ties and strengthen the supply chain relationship with Colombian companies to develop the budding offshore industry.
British companies have historically played a significant role in the development of Colombia’s oil and gas industry and in the light of recent offshore finds, there exists another opportunity for the UK to support Colombia in the development of a new, dynamic offshore market to complement falling onshore reserves. In the 1980s, BP developed the prolific Coveñas field and today Shell holds a large acreage of offshore blocks. UK Colombia Trade aims to promote and assist not only Operators, but also the entrance of British service and supply chain firms into the Colombian hydrocarbons market, particularly in the area of offshore and subsea services including seismic, environmental studies, HSEQ, subsea, FEED and workover.
Looking towards the future, the Colombian Caribbean represents an opportunity to create new jobs, technical training and to establish a hub for oil & gas services providing knowledge and expertise to other emerging countries in the region.
Andrew Wright, CEO of UK Colombia Trade comments: “The Orca-1 discovery opened our minds about the realistic size of opportunity for specialist UK firms in Offshore exploration and services, but with the latest Kronos find it is now clear that Colombia could host the next Latin America Offshore boom and should be on the radar of British companies already looking at Brazil and Mexico. Colombia is currently ranked by the World Bank as Number 1 in terms of Ease of Doing Business in Latin America, so we encourage British companies to take advantage of this exciting development.”
The Colombian delegation will attend a Colombia Export Showcase event at the Energy Industry Council premises on Monday 7th, followed by an active commercial and technical agenda at Offshore Europe 2015 in Aberdeen from 8th-11th September. This visit follows a delegation of British companies that already visited Colombia as part of an Energy Industry Council trade delegation to build commercial ties with Colombia and UK Colombia Trade will be hosting a further visit of UK firms to Colombia in October 2015, led by the trade body NOF Energy.
Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber said: “Our links with the Chamber Global Network gives real competitive advantage to business who want to start or increase their businesses overseas. If Columbia is of interest to you please do contact Julie Austin julie.austin@norfolkchamber.co.uk our Norfolk Chamber International Trade Manager”
Chamber Co.nnects are fortnightly network meetings for its members to network and chat with other businesses in a digital space.
We believe networking is key during difficult times to help with mental health, continuation of business and access to help and advice from peers. Each network meeting will have a guest speaker and will be focusing on a current topic.
Enjoy from the comfort of your own home with no early starts or commute and make sure to make a coffee and bring a smile to this online video meeting.
Who’s it for?
Business owners, managers, entrepreneurs, start-ups, young businesses and anyone who wants to connect and engage with other businesses in the Norfolk area.
Topic
Working from home – how the new ‘normal’ has created new cyber security risks
With all the changes businesses have had to make this year, from moving staff to remote working to stepping up safety at work procedures, it is easy to overlook one of our biggest risks, Cybercrime.
Unfortunately, cybercriminals will always look to capitalise on any event. COVID-19 has been no exception.
We want to talk to you about the security culture of your business, specifically, phishing campaigns and the dreaded password reset.
Guest Speaker
David Buist, Green Duck
David Buist is Business Development Director at Green Duck. With a background in business operations, David has invested over 25-years in helping businesses to make positive changes by implementing new IT, Cyber Security and software technologies, understanding metric management, improving processes, driving change and creating outstanding results.
Green Duck is an IT support company with its headquarters in Bury St Edmunds and offers business solutions to customers nationally. It was founded in 2002 by Mathew Green and Graham Duckworth and is now a company of over 50 employees over three technology divisions. Green Duck prides itself on providing exceptional customer service and an innovative approach to IT. In addition to IT services, Green Duck has also incorporated Source code studio and Labsec into the Green Duck Family, meaning that they can offer a full suite of technology solutions to their customers from IT support to cybersecurity and web development.
Agenda
09:30 – Welcome from Chamber. Go through format and any updates. Introduce topic and speaker (5 mins) 09:35 – Guest speaker (15 mins) 09:50 – Q&A for speaker (10 mins) 10:00 – Discussion topics and networking (1 hour) 11:00 – Close
When you register for your place, you will be sent a calendar invitation as confirmation of your place. The invite will include a unique link from Zoom for you to join the video call.
Please note that moving forward this series won’t be a recurring meeting in Zoom so you will need to book on each individual session.
Construction work on the £19m Postwick junction, at the eastern end of the A47 Southern bypass, started in May last year. Earlier this summer, the road was shut while beams for the new bridge over the A47 were hoisted into place.
A council spokeswoman said: “The new Postwick junction is expected to be open to traffic in November. However, it won’t be open in its entirety until the beginning of December as final works to the existing bridge need to take place.”
The council says the junction will release land for 1,600 homes and unlock some £80m of private investment, potentially paving the way for 5,000 jobs. But protestors criticised it as an over-engineered gateway to the controversial Norwich Northern Distributor Road.
Drivers will face some disruption as last night saw the start of overnight closures on the A47. They are full closures both east and west to ensure safety and traffic is having to use the slip roads.
And the A1042 Yarmouth Road will need to shut next month, so surfacing of the junction, white lining and installation of loops for the new traffic signals can be carried out.
Weekend closures will take place from 8pm on Saturday, September 19 until 6am on Monday, September 21 and between the same times on Saturday, September 26 until Monday, September 28.
There will also be a series of weekday overnight closures, from 8pm to 6am from Monday, September 21 until Friday, September 25 and between the same times from Monday, September 28 until Friday, October 2.
The council says the closures have been planned for the weekend and overnight in an attempt to minimise disruption to the travelling public and to the Postwick Park and Ride site.
Norwich based energy consultants, Indigo Swan, raise an impressive £5,000 for an inspirational Norfolk charity in their annual ‘Big Indigo Charity Quiz’. It brings the total figure raised by Indigo Swan for the charity up to an incredible £17,000!
More than 165 guests attended the evening in aid of Norfolk and Waveney Mind, a charity who offer advice and support to those affected by mental health problems, which took place at EPIC Studios on Wednesday 6th November.
James Groves, Managing Director at Indigo Swan commented: “To see what started as a quiz by candlelight in a restaurant in Norwich with 30 people 5 years ago, grow to the amazing event we had last week is amazing! The support we see from the local business community grows every year and the impact it has on Norfolk & Waveney Mind is so rewarding to see.“
Indigo Swan, who recently won the regional ‘Workplace Wellbeing’ British Chambers of Commerce Business Award, also used the occasion to celebrate the company’s 10th birthday. Each of the rounds tied into Indigo Swan in someway with topics including birds, the last 10 years and a general knowledge round with a twist.
Alexandra Haswell, Fundraising and Campaigns Manager at Norfolk and Waveney Mind said: “We are so grateful to the hard work that Indigo Swan put in to such a fantastic quiz this year and for their support over the last five years. The money they have raised is vital to helping us continue supporting people in the Norfolk and Waveney area and raising awareness to continue to reduce the stigma associated with mental ill health.”
The clock is ticking, and with only 21 days until CHIEF switches off for import declarations, you’ll want to be confident that your company is ready for these changes to avoid potential delays with your movements. Join us as we discuss the latest guidance, and cover topics such as, how to access the Customs Declaration Service, the new data elements your customs agent may ask for, setting up payments on CDS, and how to ensure a seamless transition.
Whether you file your own customs declarations or use an intermediary, this webinar will support you though the process.
Following on from the presentation, our trade experts will be answering your questions.
Chair:
Liam Smyth, Head of Trade Facilitation at British Chambers of Commerce & Managing Director at ChamberCustoms
Presenting:
Mitch Perks, Operations Manager at ChamberCustoms
Emmanuel Gianquitto, Head of Operations & CDS Consultant at ChamberCustoms