Christmas may have passed but Barnham Broom are bringing it back this March. Everyone loves a Christmas party, full of glitz, glamour and festive spirit, but many missed the opportunity to celebrate in December due to covid. That’s why, on Friday 18th March, Barnham Broom will be hosting their ‘It’s not Christmas, Christmas party’, with plenty of fizz, delicious dishes and music from their resident DJ. It’s the perfect opportunity to get dressed up and make new memories. So, for those that did miss out last year on the turkey and the tinsel, want to get together again to socialise or are just Christmas fanatics, join Barnham Broom for a party night not to remember! Make the experience extra special and combine their Christmas party with an overnight stay, relax in one of their rooms, unwind with a Spa treatment, enjoy a game of golf and make use of their leisure facilities. To book call 01603 759393 or email events@barnham-broom.co.uk You can find more information here: www.barnham-broom.co.uk/whats-on/ Barnham Broom is a resort near Norwich, Norfolk. Overlooking 300 acres of beautiful countryside and the River Yare Valley, the venue features a luxury four-star hotel, spa, leisure centre, two golf courses, award-winning Brasserie restaurant, Sports Bar and conference room. It is a popular choice for weddings and events. Visit www.barnham-broom.co.uk to find out more
From September 2022, Langley School welcomes a brand new Head of Prep to lead the co-educational independent school at its stunning Taverham Park site. After 14 successful years of Headship, Mike Crossley retires from Langley Prep but his successor is no stranger to the school. New Head of Prep Jason Hyatt was formerly Deputy Head for three years, before he took up a role at Gresham’s in north Norfolk in 2018. With decades of experience in education, Jason is also an ISI (Independent Schools Inspectorate) Reporting Inspector and a Satips (Support and Training in Prep Schools) Council Member. Jason comments, “I am absolutely delighted to be joining the Langley community as the Head of Langley Prep School. It is great to be returning to a school that I know so well from my time previously as Deputy Head.” Langley is famed for celebrating intellectual curiosity, confidence, kindness and integrity, and Jason is keen to see these values in action, particularly given that Langley Prep School sits within a 100acre site of ancient woodland and parkland, home to a fantastic Outdoor Learning Centre, all just a stone’s throw from Norwich. “I am passionate about pupils achieving their best through the many opportunities available to them while having kindness at the heart of everything that they do.” Jason continues, “The School is extremely lucky to be located in such stunning grounds, giving children the freedom to grow. I believe that education is constantly moving forwards, reflecting the ever-changing needs of the world around us, and it is our job to help prepare our young people for this.”
Fosters Solicitors and Norwich City Football Club are delighted to confirm the renewal of their partnership in a new multi-year deal, taking the relationship through to the 2024/25 season. Having first partnered with the Canaries back in 2011 to become the club’s official legal partner, Fosters also supports the Norwich City Community Hero initiative and the Norwich City Fans Social Club. Throughout our decade of involvement with the club, we have helped provide legal support to many Norwich City supporters and its wider community, currently offering a 15% discount on our range of services to season ticket holders and members.* Sam Jeffery, Norwich City commercial director, said: “Our partnership with Fosters is one of the most long-standing of our partner portfolio, and with us now entering an 11th season working with this brilliant local firm, we’d like to place our sincerest thanks to them for their continued support. “As well as supporters, colleagues and partners able to access their legal expertise, the relationship is also firmly embedded in the club’s community, with their wider support for our Community Hero initiative and through the Norwich City Fans Social Club, the Community Sports Foundation. We are proud to be able to extend this key partnership and look forward to working with Fosters as a primary partner for another three seasons.” Andrea Spooner, Fosters’ practice director, added: “The building of relationships forms part of our core values at Fosters, and this partnership embodies this for us. We take enormous pride in having worked together with the commercial team and wider club for over a decade. “Many of our colleagues and clients are Norwich City supporters, but more than that, through the community work and reach of the club and its fans we’ve been able to highlight and support the wonderful work of key charities, people and good causes in our local community.” She added: “This week we have been delighted to launch a fresh new look for Fosters Solicitors, which includes a brand-new logo and website. This will mean a change across our digital, print and physical branding, and we’re thrilled to highlight this new look across our signage and digital assets at Carrow Road at today’s match and those moving forward.”
TaxAssist Accountants Franchisee Mike Melling joins The TaxAssist Direct Group Board of Directors. Mike Melling becomes the first TaxAssist Accountants franchisee to hold an executive role on the board of directors. He has been appointed as Group Development Director at The TaxAssist Direct Group, a role he will undertake while continuing to operate his highly successful multi-site franchise in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. “It is an honour to have been asked to join the Board of Directors,” said Mike. “I was impressed with the comprehensive TaxAssist Accountants franchise package when I first came across the franchise in 2012 and, having significantly exceeded my business and personal goals I set out as a franchisee, I am now looking forward to contributing to the next, exciting stage of the Group’s global development and growth plans. “Within my franchise I have built a terrific team of colleagues, who seamlessly run my practices, which means I am now in the position where I have the time to take up a position on the Board, and help TaxAssist build on its market leading position in the UK to support small businesses around the world, including the launch of our new financial services business.” Mike’s key responsibilities will be to support the growth of the global businesses, help with the development of the UK based subsidiaries and to develop further support for UK based franchisees using the knowledge and experience he has built up in the ten years he has been a franchisee. Mike joined TaxAssist Accountants in 2012, after purchasing a franchise resale covering Harpenden and St Albans – the first £1m+ resale for the network. Pleased with the results he was generating, he bought a second franchise resale covering the High Wycombe and Beaconsfield area in 2015. He and his team of 25 staff now serve nearly 2,000 small businesses, directors and individual clients from six shops and offices, with the combined businesses being one of the largest TaxAssist Accountants practices in the UK. As well as his UK interests, Mike is a Director and Investor in both TaxAssist Direct USA Inc and TaxAssist Financial Services. Daren Moore, Group Managing Director, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Mike to the Board. As a highly successful franchisee who has lived and breathed the brand for the last ten years, he will be invaluable to both the Board and his fellow franchisees, who will be able to benefit from his knowledge and understanding of running a practice. Mike also brings with him extensive international business experience which will be very beneficial as the brand expands globally.”
Family friendly rights “An Employment Bill was announced in 2019 and is expected to be passed in 2022. This includes the introduction of statutory neonatal leave and pay for parents of babies requiring neonatal care, and the extension of the redundancy protection period for employees on maternity leave to up to six months after they return to work. The government has also confirmed the introduction of carer’s leave as a new statutory right. This will entitle employees with caring responsibilities to take up to one week of unpaid leave per year from day one.” Third party harassment “Changes to harassment laws are expected in 2022, including an extension to the time period employees have for raising tribunal claims and enhanced protection against harassment from third parties, such as clients, customers and members of the public. Training for employees will need to be updated on this point, as will organisational policies.” Read more here: https://bit.ly/3GO2pa7 Do you need advice on these issues? Get in touch: sarah@ignitepeoplesolutions.co.uk
MAD-HR has won the Feefo Gold Trusted Service award for 2022 for the second year running and it is fair to say that we’re feeling a little giddy as a result! This follows on from us being recognised as a finalist in the Suffolk Business Awards in the Customer Excellence category. Since 2014, Feefo has recognised the businesses who deliver exceptional experiences, using feedback from real customers. The Trusted Service Awards are unique as they are based purely on feedback from real customers. This means they are a true reflection of commitment to outstanding customer service. Feefo have given Gold Trusted Service awards to businesses who have collected at least 50 reviews between January 1st 2020 and December 31st 2021, with a Feefo service rating of between 4.5 and 4.9. Liz Owers, Head of Client Services commented: “We’re thrilled to receive this award from Feefo. It means a lot because it’s based on feedback from our clients and, ultimately, keeping them happy is why we come to work each day. The award also recognises just how hard our team have worked in really difficult circumstances. We’re fully committed to the highest quality of service, so it’s vital for us to listen, understand and respond to all our customers.” Congratulating MAD-HR, Tony Wheble, CEO at Feefo, said: “The Trusted Service Awards recognise companies who above and beyond to provide the very best customer experience. “I’m so impressed by how our customers have overcome the challenges of the past two years. I can’t wait to see what they achieve in 2022.” If you would like to learn more about how we support our clients and more importantly how we can support you and your business, please get in touch. About Feefo Feefo is a leading global customer reviews and insights platform on a mission to empower its clients to fully understand how their customers experience their product or service. The Feefo suite of software, combined with its technical solutions expertise, enables its clients to gain a deeper understanding of customer sentiment, behaviour and intent, empowering them with insights to make better business decisions and improve their return on investment. With 96% of customers relying on reviews to purchase, Feefo also creates trust between consumers and businesses by adopting a unique approach to only collect verified reviews from real people.
Leading regional accountancy firm, Larking Gowen, has appointed two new Partners working across its offices in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. Giles Kerkham, who has been with the firm since 2000, becomes a Partner within the Audit and Advisory Team leading the Not for Profit and Education practice, while Dominic Carter has been appointed Partner for the firm’s Tax Advisory team. Giles commented, “This is a diverse and exciting sector with a wide range of clients, from care homes and hospices to theatres, cinemas and even zoos. Being promoted to Partner is something I’m extremely proud of. The firm has a strong commitment to this area, and I’m looking forward to leading and developing the team further,” he said. While Giles’ principal focus has been the Not for Profit sector for several years, the team remains a key part of the wider audit team, also working closely with others across the firm. “It’s essential to be able to draw on the knowledge and experience of colleagues with different expertise so that we can provide complete and rounded advice to our clients,” he said. “The way that we collaborate and work together to do this is what sets us apart and differentiates the service we provide to clients. We have excellent and supportive teams and I’d like to continue to develop the first-class service we offer to our clients. “Our ambition is to be the firm that charities think of first, for expertise, service, experience and delivery.” Dominic Carter joined the firm’s Ipswich office as a Tax Director in 2019, supporting the tax advisory offering across the business. He has more than 20 years’ experience as a Chartered Accountant in national and regional firms. “My role is mainly with larger owner managed businesses, where we have seen a very high demand for tax services, both from a company and shareholder perspective,” he said. “We have been looking at property tax aspects, re-organisations, share schemes and equity rewards. Clients are thinking about how they want to position themselves for the future, and the ability of our team to support them has driven growth for us. “The response to this demand from Larking Gowen has been absolutely fantastic. The growth reflects how we operate as a firm. There is a mindset across all parts of the business and at all levels, to look for opportunities to help our clients and look at their needs holistically.” He said that since lockdown, clients had become more proactive about changing the structure of their companies and planning for the future of their businesses. “COVID has made people think strategically about the future. They’ve had time to contemplate and challenge the way things are done, not just as business owners, but also as individuals. By working together across the firm, we’ve been able to cater for these changes,” he said. Larking Gowen Managing Partner Julie Grimmer said, “I’m delighted to see Giles and Dominic in their new roles as Partners. They have both already made a huge contribution to the firm, and I look forward to seeing their teams going from strength to strength.”
Barclays Scale Up UK is an innovative programme which aims to enhance the performance and competitiveness of high-potential early-stage businesses with growth appetite as well as growth potential that are deemed to be engines of growth in the UK. The programme is designed to support the companies by helping them formulate, articulate and implement a growth plan for their business through defining and articulating the business value proposition, designing a sustainable business model, enhancing operational and leadership capabilities and strengthening financial literacy. The ethos behind the programme Many founding teams reach a plateau and struggle to grow their business further. They think that they lack funds and resources. But is growth just increase of sales or hiring more people? Often founders fail to tackle difficult questions, focusing mostly on the business and fail to bring their leadership team together and develop a growth plan. Our approach is one of a deep and personal engagement with each founding team and their company (diagnostic meeting, interview, questionnaires, initial assessment, coaching through the programme) that results with a tailored growth plan for each company. We aim to understand and help the early stage business solve the “unique” company-specific challenges being faced by participants. The programme provides access to the latest management thinking, facilitate the sharing of insights about commonly experienced challenges and a range of possible solutions. Find out more here
We are delighted to introduce a fresh new look to Fosters Solicitors across our digital, print and physical branding. Our new logo forms part of this exciting change, supported by a brand-new website and the use of fresh imagery and fonts across all of our communications. Clients and visitors will also see new signage when visiting our Norwich city-centre, Wymondham and Lowestoft branches – as well as across inventory through our key partners, including Norwich City Football Club. With Fosters a key part of its community for over 260 years, it has been important through this process to appreciate the firm’s tradition but understand its continued development and requirement for the brand in a digital age. Commenting on the news, Fosters’ Chief Executive Chris Brown, said: “We are excited to be able to finally share our refreshed brand and new website, which is a culmination of months of engagement and consultation with our colleagues and clients to create our fresh approach. “We feel this is the right time to make these changes, with the firm seeking to build on the growth we’ve experienced in recent years, especially digitally, and we believe this new brand identity will help us unlock further opportunities.” He added: “We have balanced a new strong primary colour and fonts to highlight simplicity, warmth and accessibility, but with a hint to our Norfolk and Suffolk heritage through a supportive colour pallet. “We also want to visualise our core values of transparency, unity and collaboration and the building of relationships, and through the introduction of the message ‘You + Us’, we want to make all our interactions with our clients, partners and community, feel friendly, approachable and easy to navigate.”
During 2021, East Norfolk offered their first ever Football and Basketball Camps to give local children the opportunity to use high quality facilities whilst also increasing their physical activity. The Holiday Activity Fund, which was coordinated by Active Norfolk and supported by Great Yarmouth Borough and Norfolk County Councils helped the College to offer camps in the summer and at Christmas. On the back of the success of the camps, the College decided to provide its own subsidised camps in the October Half Term and is offering them again in February Half Term for Norfolk from 14-18 February 2022 and for Suffolk from 21-25 February 2022 Over 1600 students attend East Norfolk aged 16-19 so why would East Norfolk wish to open doors to younger children? East Norfolk has always been a Community Sixth Form College that seeks to continually adapt and meet the needs of our local community by giving children the opportunity to be inspired by the new 3G Football Pitch that has been constructed during 2021 and our existing high quality double Sports Hall. East Norfolk even a decade ago, was a very different organisation. Long gone are the temporary buildings and the waterlogged football pitch and even the outdoor quad areas have been replaced with new IT classrooms and presentation spaces. This means there is a world of opportunity for sports and other activities for locals. This year we will be increasing our work with and for our local community and want to expand our offer in the evenings and weekends. If you would like to book a place for your child at one of the camps please do get in touch via our website www.eastnorfolk.ac.uk or by contacting admissions@eastnorfolk.ac.uk
Fosters Solicitors is delighted to introduce a fresh new look across its digital, print and physical branding. A new logo forms part of this exciting change for the East Anglian firm, which will be supported by a brand-new website (www.fosters-solicitors.co.uk) and the use of fresh imagery and fonts across all of its communications. Clients and visitors will also see new signage when visiting the firm’s Norwich city-centre, Wymondham and Lowestoft branches – as well as across inventory through its key partners, including Norwich City Football Club. With Fosters a key part of its community for over 260years, it has been important through this process to appreciate the firm’s tradition but understand its continued development and requirement for the brand in a digital age. Commenting on the news, Fosters’ Chief Executive Chris Brown, said: “We are excited to be able to finally share our refreshed brand and new website, which is a culmination of months of engagement and consultation with our colleagues and clients to create our fresh approach. “We feel this is the right time to make these changes, with the firm seeking to build on the growth we’ve experienced in recent years, especially digitally, and we believe this new brand identity will help us unlock further opportunities.” He added: “We have balanced a new strong primary colour and fonts to highlight simplicity, warmth and accessibility, but with a hint to our Norfolk and Suffolk heritage through a supportive colour pallet. “We also want to visualise our core values of transparency, unity and collaboration and the building of relationships, and through the introduction of the message ‘You + Us’, we want to make all our interactions with our clients, partners and community, feel friendly, approachable and easy to navigate.”