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Business leaders head from a series of expert speakers at Norfolk County Council’s ‘Brexit: Challenges and Opportunities’ event which was held at the Aviation Academy in Norwich today. 

Expert speakers included: John Khan from Birketts, who outlined the impact of Brexit on VAT; Dr Avidan Kent, who gave an overview of commercial and trade law; Leszek Wysocki, for DIT, who provided an outline of the export opportunities and Mike Spicer, the Director of Research & Economics from the British Chambers of Commerce, who outlined the key aspects of the Chamber network’s Business Brexit Checklist.

Whilst the Government is still negotiation with the European Union, there is little in the way of detail available for businesses to work with.  However the Chamber’s Business Brexit Checklist can help businesses consider the changes that Brexit may bring and will help with business planning at both operational and Board levels.

We have a big mission over the next few years of ‘Connecting, supporting and giving voice to every Norfolk business’. We also want to double the number of members in the next five years and be relevant in all regions and towns across Norfolk. 

Norfolk Chamber of Commerce needs to transform its culture and behaviour from siloed and administrative towards invigorated, multi skilled and totally customer centric by creating a Customer Experience team. 

We are currently recruiting for the following roles. 

1. Customer Experience Team Member 
2. Customer Experience Team Member
3. Customer Experience Team Member with Events 

We are looking for candidates to actively engage either by phone, email or at events with a wide range of business customers to understand and support their needs and then be motivated, inspired and driven to always exceed the customer’s expectations.

Members of the team will bridge and connect our customer across all our business disciplines (finance, international, policy and membership) and work within and environment of complete, transparency and customer care. 

Norfolk Chamber is a not for profit business membership organisation with over 900 members. We provide networking opportunities, share knowledge, offer business services, signpost to business opportunities and inspire innovative thinking to enable companies to do better business.

To find out more information and to apply visit: https://www.norfolkchamber.co.uk/vacancies

A firm is facing a fine of £10,000 after it failed to inform HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that it had changed its name – despite the fact that all it had done was change from a partnership to a limited company.

The unnamed firm had, according to the Forum of Private Business (FPB), an exemplary VAT-paying record and had always submitted its tax returns on time.

What is more, the change of name did not affect its VAT number and HMRC did not lose out on any tax payments. The firm simply failed to tell the VAT authorities that it now had “ltd” after its name.

This meant it fell foul of VAT notification liabilities contained in the Finance Act 1985, and later the VAT Act 1994, and landed the company with a £30,000 fine – since reduced following interventions by accountants and the FPB.

The Forum’s Tax Adviser Andrew Needham said: “It is important that all small businesses are aware they could face steep fines unless HMRC is kept fully updated.”

However, he went on, this heavy-handed approach is the very opposite of the support that is desperately needed at this difficult time and HMRC risks further alienating firms hit by its disproportionate, targeted business records checks regime and widely-reported poor levels of service.

Commenting on the MPC minutes published today by the Bank of England, David Kern, Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“The decision to hold interest rates at 0.5% and to maintain QE at £375bn was taken unanimously, which was unsurprising. Existing QE is still being implemented, so it is understandable that the MPC wants to wait before another increase. However, the minutes reveal that some members think further stimulus will be needed, and the financial markets are expecting a QE increase around November time.

“Recent measures by the ECB, the US Fed and the Bank of Japan will probably reinforce pressures for an increase. But we still think the MPC should be cautious and refrain from adding to QE unless the UK financial system faces new threats due to developments in the eurozone. It is important that additional QE is not used to limit falls in inflation over the next year, as a temporary fall below the 2% target would support demand.

“Although QE was helpful in the early stages of the 2008/09 financial crisis, its benefits have diminished in recent years, mainly because the scheme has focused exclusively on purchasing gilts. A recovery in business lending will only be achieved if the MPC and the government relies on tools other than conventional QE. The Funding for Lending scheme could be effective, but the MPC could help by purchasing assets other than gilts, including securitised business loans. To ensure credit is reaching new and growing companies, the government should be moving towards the early creation of a state backed business bank.”

The International Trade Summit will give delegates practical advice, invaluable resources and the contacts needed to grow their business and begin the next step of their export journey.

Whatever stage of the export journey you are at, the BCC’s International Trade Summit is the event that will help you take your business to the next level.

There will be a choice of informative workshops, lively panel discussions with businesses with export experience from a range of sectors, stimulating speeches from policy makers, successful exporters and household names. And, of course, plenty of time for networking.

The themes for 2018 are: • Dealing with the practicalities of Brexit • The changing face of International Trade • Trading the world – be inspired!

This year’s International Trade Summit will take place at etc venues, Bishopsgate in London on 18th October.

This year we have received 20 complimentary tickets to the event for exporters or businesses looking to export. When booking your place, if you are a member of the Norfolk Chamber please use the code NOR18 to receive your complimentary ticket. These will be delivered on a first come first served basis. Once all 20 complimentary tickets have been claimed, the code will stop working. This offer expires on Monday 10th September 2018.

To find out more information about the International Trade Summit and to get your tickets, please visit https://www.bccexport.co.uk/

– Public sector net borrowing was £14.4bn in August 2012, equal to the net borrowing in August 2011

Commenting on the public sector finance figures for August 2012, David Kern, Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“The deficit in August was slightly smaller than the markets expected. But taking the entire period from April to August 2012 and removing the effect of one-off transactions, total borrowing so far this financial year was almost £13bn higher than in the same period in 2011. Unless present trends are reversed in the next few months, we now expect total borrowing in 2012/13 as a whole to exceed the total predicted by the OBR at the time of the Budget by more than £20bn. This situation is worrying, and is largely due to the continued stagnation in economic activity.

“To maintain credibility, the government should persevere with a realistic plan to reduce the deficit, but if persistently weak growth causes borrowing to overshoot, the UK’s credit rating may be endangered. Given these difficult circumstances, it is important to continue with spending cuts in areas such as welfare, pensions and the size of the civil service. These cuts should be supplemented with policies to boost growth such as more infrastructure spending, a reduction in NICs and support for business lending. Such measures will stimulate the productive potential of the economy and help businesses to create jobs.

“As long as the Chancellor can persuade the financial markets that he is determined to tackle the deficit, he should be able to preserve confidence and avoid threatening the UK’s credit rating.”

We are pleased to announce that Norfolk Chamber of Commerce will be hosting its very own stand at this year’s Royal Norfolk Show on Weds 27 & Thurs 28 June 2018. 

Held at the Norfolk Showground, the event is one of the largest in the county calendar and celebrates not just agriculture, but the wider business community. 

We are delighted to be taking 9m x 9m marquee to have a big presence at this year’s show.

Come and visit the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce marquee on Stand 74 to learn about why Norfolk is a great place to do business; as well as how you can get involved in growing and developing our county.

The Norfolk show is a great place to do business. We have a dedicated business lounge on our stand where you can meet with other businesses and build relationships. Or come and talk to our team to see how we can help you and your business. We can support anything from networking to exporting abroad. Our stand is not just for businesses, bring your family with fun activities and learning.

In addition, we’ve put together a programme of activities for you to enjoy below: 

9.30 AM – Business Breakfast  Members are invited to join us for a business breakfast in our marquee on both days at 9.30 am with plenty of coffee, bacon baps and pastries to get your morning started the right way. 

1 PM – Network Hour  Make use of our business lounge and treat yourself a well-deserved break with coffee and biscuits.  3 PM – Gin O’Clock (Wednesday only)  Don’t fancy getting up early, come along to Gin O’Clock from 3-5pm on Wednesday and enjoy informal networking and cocktails made by St Giles Gin. 

We look forward to meeting with as many businesses and members over the two days. For more information about our stand at the show contact Philippa Bindley, Events Manager on 01603 729703 or email philippa.bindley@norfolkchamber.co.uk