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The Board of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce is seeking to recruit new Directors.

Norfolk Chamber, in addition to providing services for its membership, also has a key influencing role for the wider business community.  To ensure our Board of Directors remains representative of the Norfolk business community as a whole, we need to recruit at least 3 new Board Directors

Commenting on the type of candidates being sought, Chris Sargisson, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber said:

“We have a diverse and innovative business community in Norfolk and it is imperative that the make-up of our Board reflects the huge amount of talent that can be found within the Chamber membership.  We are particularly interested in recruiting from the following sectors: Tourism, Logistics, Construction, Manufacturing and Health & Social Care. Although we would not exclude other sectors from being considered.”

The deadline for applications to be received is Friday 18 August 2017 and interviews will be held on Wednesday 14 September 2017.  Successful candidates will be notified of interview by the end of August.  For more information on the role and to apply please click here.

Virgin Media are expanding their Ultrafast digital network in Great Yarmouth. They are aiming to connect approximately 5,400 properties both residential and business from Fullers Hill, down to the sea front and South Denes.  This will bring broadband speeds of up to 350Mbps for small/medium businesses and up to 300Mbps for residential customers along with their digital TV service.

Attending a recent meeting with Virgin Media, Neil Orford, President of Great Yarmouth Chamber Council said:

“The Great Yarmouth Chamber business community will welcome the opportunity to access superfast broadband, as this will help local businesses compete morecompetitvely at a global level.”

Virgin Media plan to start the works early July 2017 and complete in April 2018. Careful planning has been discussed with Norfolk County Council and Great Yarmouth Borough Council to ensure they do not disrupt the busy summer season and the majority of the work will be completed during the quieter Autumn and Winter months.

Across all districts of Norfolk levels of unemployment fell.  Overall, the claimant count for Norfolk stood at 8,475, which was a drop of 195 claimants from the previous month. 

Broadland recorded the largest fall in claimant numbers with a drop of 5.9%.  However King’s Lynn and West Norfolk only saw a small decrease of 0.6%.  From a Great Yarmouth perspective, it continued a worrying trend from the previous month with a lack of a strong downward trend in claimant numbers.  Their claimant count stands at 3,000.

Ordinarily it is expected that the Great Yarmouth claimant count falls drastically in the summer months, given the local job market’s seasonal pattern.  Some on this anomaly can probably be assigned to the shift to full implementation of the Universal Credit, however a continuing trend would be a greater concern.

Commenting on the UK labour market statistics for June, released this week by the Office for National Statistics, Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“With employment continuing to rise and unemployment falling, the UK jobs market remains on a firm footing.

“However, the strong headline figures mask some significant concerns. The gap between pay and price growth is now significant, and if inflation continues to rise as we expect, this could push UK growth materially lower by slowing household spending – a driver of UK economic growth. Employment levels may also moderate over the near term as the escalating burden of upfront business taxes and costs, and political uncertainty, dampen firms’ hiring intentions.

“The high number of vacancies is further evidence of the growing skills shortage. While employment levels are high by historic standards, businesses report that they are increasingly struggling to find staff with the right skills, which is constraining investment and productivity.

“The new government must make it a priority to tackle the UK’s chronic skills shortage, including easing the burden of upfront business costs to help firms recruit and train staff, and deliver a future immigration regime based on the needs of the UK economy.”

Commenting on the General Election result, Jonathan Cage, President of Norfolk Chamber said:

“After two long years of elections, referenda and wider uncertainty, many Norfolk businesses were doing their best to ignore the noise of politics – up until today. 

“The electorate’s split decision generates further uncertainty for business communities, who are already grappling with currency fluctuations, rising costs, and the potential impacts of Brexit. 

“The formation of a workable administration that can give voters and businesses confidence around economic management must be the immediate priority.

“Whilst Norfolk companies have for many months done their best to screen out political noise in order to focus on their own operations, this result will prove much harder for UK businesses to ignore. The swift formation of a functioning government is essential to business confidence and our wider economic prospects. 

“Businesses are adept at forming alliances and coalitions when important interests are at stake. We should expect the same of our politicians.” 

On the timetable for Brexit negotiations, which are scheduled to begin in less than a fortnight, Mr Cage said:

“No business would walk into a negotiation without clear objectives, an agreed starting position, and a strong negotiating team. It is hard to see how Brexit negotiations could begin without answers on these important questions.”

Norfolk Chamber has recently been talking to businesses about their future plans to better understand what factors are holding back their potential business growth.  The Roundtables were free to attend and held in Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn. Businesses will have a final chance to have their say at the last Roundtable which will be held in Norwich on Tuesday 11 July 2017.

So far over 40 businesses, of differing sizes and from a diverse range of sectors have attended the Roundtables to help pull together evidence for the updated New Anglia LEP Economic Strategy.  Among the common themes in both areas were calls for better road and rail links, such as a fully dualled A47, and faster broadband.  They also identified the need for parallel investment to be made in public transport to ensure sustainability of improved infrastructure.

Commenting on the need for improved infrastructure and a strong business input, Norfolk Chamber President, Jonathan Cage said:

“Previous infrastructure campaigns, such as the dualling of the A11 in Norfolk, were won by making clear the benefits to business.  We can do a lot with joined-up marketing – that is in our power – however it is harder for us to say we are going to dual the A47.  That’s where we need businesses to explain the difference it would make to them.”

Also highlighted as key priorities were improved skills and raising the aspirations of young people; the forging of stronger links between schools and employers; and engagement with students of a younger age.

The new Economic Strategy, will lay out the direction for the Norfolk and Suffolk economies through to 2036, highlighting where key strengths can be supported and where improvements are necessary.  The finalised document is due for publication by New Anglia LEP in Autumn 2017.

Another business consideration that came from both Roundtables, was the need for a communication/PR strategy to ‘tell the story’ of Norfolk – to not only say, what a great place to live and work the county is, but to promote our strengths and show what opportunities are available.

The last Norfolk Roundtable will be held in Norwich on 11 July 2017.  Ensure your business voice is heard by booking your free place now at the Norwich Roundtable.