Member News

Results-focused agency Full Mix Marketing is marking globe-trotting marketer Sally Baines’ first year as Marketing Executive within their growing team.

Sally joined the Norwich-based marketing agency in June 2018 following a career break to raise her young family. She returned to her native Norfolk with 13 years’ international marketing experience working for big name brands including Bell in Canada, NBC in Australia and Reed in London.

“It’s been a fantastic first year” states Sally. “I’ve been fortunate to find a job where my experience really counts. I was looking for a role that was challenging and varied, working with a lovely bunch of people. It’s great to be in an environment where everyone is so focused on doing a great job.”

Former marketing communications graduate Sally has cemented her position within the agency’s team as a skilled marketer and effective coordinator. As well as delivering social media, direct marketing and website development, her role has grown to include account management and helping prioritise work for her fellow marketers, digital experts, copywriters and designers.

“Sally has been a pivotal addition to our team” says Sarah West, Managing Director. “With her experience comes great organisation skills and a real talent for understanding what clients need. She’s a great communicator and helps everyone stay on top as our client list continues to grow.”

Sally has become an account manager for a number of new clients, acting as their primary point of contact. As well as coordinating efforts, she contributes to key marketing delivery and identifies fresh opportunities for the businesses she works with.

“Everyone in the team is so keen to help both clients and Full Mix Marketing grow. It makes for an exciting environment!” states Sally. “There is genuine buzz when a client tells us about a particular success from marketing we’ve delivered. I really enjoy the variety of clients we work with.”

Sally’s performance within the seven-strong team has led to the announcement of her promotion to Senior Marketing Executive.

“Sally is fantastic at keeping on top of our growing workload” continues Sarah. “As a business owner, it never easy to entrust others with your clients but Sally absolutely shares our passion, purpose and professionalism. She really understands the businesses we work with and helps everyone feel organised and able to do a great job.”

Full Mix Marketing is a results-focused agency, providing all the strategic, digital and creative marketing businesses need to grow. Whether delivering an individual element or entire marketing strategy, they’ve quickly gained a reputation for being trusted by businesses to deliver the results they need.

More details on Full Mix Marketing can be found at www.fullmixmarketing.co.uk

The TaxAssist Training Academy helps to keep franchisees and their staff one step ahead of the competition. A series of recent masterclasses which saw some of the leading franchisees sharing best practice proved a real hit for the network

TaxAssist Accountants provides regular training, update days and has expanded this year its masterclasses to its network of franchisees which are proving to be very popular.

James Mattam, Group Business Development Manager, said: “We’ve always enjoyed the Masterclass sessions each year with our franchise network which sees a panel of six leading franchisees share their real-world experiences surrounding all manner of areas of running and growing their accountancy practices. 

“One of the recent masterclasses centred around ensuring our network provides the best service to clients at the right pricing point, creating value for each accounting practice. The feedback we received from the day was overwhelmingly positive.”

Walthamstow-based franchisee Nadeem Iqbal said: “It was a privilege to be a part of the ‘expert’ panel for fellow TaxAssist Accountants. What collective wisdom across the participants! I have many takeaways from the session. A big ‘thank you’ to Directors Daren Moore, Sarah Robertson and James Mattam for arranging this series of masterclasses.”

Umer Farooq, Luton-based franchisee, commented: “It was great listening to the different views of successful franchisees. I have taken note of a number of improvement points to implement in my practice.”

While Oxford-based David Lushington said: “The TaxAssist masterclasses are a brilliant way to find out about best practice within the network and are also a great opportunity for networking with other franchisees. They are just one of the many benefits of being a part of a successful franchised network.”

The TaxAssist Training Academy provides a comprehensive range of ongoing technical and business training courses on a regional basis on subjects as diverse as practice management, social media, multi-site strategy, data security and succession planning.

To find out more about the benefits of being a part of the TaxAssist Accountants network, please call Nikki Haythorne on 0800 0188297.  

As it reaches a landmark 25 years in business, Norwich-based brand and creative communications agency The Point has promoted Senior Account Manager Tom Howell as its new Client Services Director. Tom’s appointment to the agency management team is the result of succession planning as Michael Gurney steps away from the role and retires from the business he co-founded in 1994. Tom takes up his new role with immediate effect and represents a key part of the agency’s future development strategy, adding another dimension to the reshaping of its management structure. As head of client services, he will continue to lead his existing clients whilst also being responsible for developing customer relationships across the agency’s entire client roster.

The Point’s creative co-founder Ian McKinnon-Evans said of the move, ‘Tom was handed the challenge of managing Dow AgroSciences last autumn with an eye on the future shape of the agency. Dow was going through a significant brand transition and his management style has instilled enormous confidence in the client during a complex, multi-disciplined re-brand into its new global entity Corteva AgriScience.’ McKinnon-Evans added, ‘Clients expect professionalism, insight and above all need dependability. Tom has proved he can deliver these.’ 

Brand creation and brand development remain a core offering of the creative shop, which since the turn of the year has delivered projects for Back from the Brink, the hugely ambitious UK conservation project; the London Scottish Regimental Trust, GWT Insight and Earlham Institute as well as long standing Norwich-based brand Anglian Home Improvements.

Commenting on his appointment, Tom said ‘I’m delighted with the opportunity and excited about influencing the business and its growth as we head into what we plan to be a dynamic new phase in the agency’s life.’

Staff of Risk & Policy Analysts Ltd (RPA) based in Loddon and London were delighted to be part of the UK Employee Ownership Day (EO Day), run by the Employee Ownership Association (EOA), on Friday 28th June 2019.

RPA are taking part in the campaign to highlight the impact of employee owned businesses on individuals and the community, following their recent transition to being an employee owned business (April 2019).  Employees at RPA want to share their experiences and engage with the broader employee owned business community to learn, develop and maximise the advantages of employee ownership.

To celebrate EO Day, on Tuesday 25th June, RPA came together in our Loddon and London offices, with Independent Trustee Alan Jennison, to share our experiences of employee ownership since our transition in April and to discuss the future, over tea and cake. Panos Zarogiannis, who has worked for RPA for over 20 years and became a Director at transition, led the celebrations with a personal overview of what the transition has meant to him and what he hopes it means for the future.

Local Loddon based cafe Spoon Cake made the bespoke cake for the Loddon team.  In London the team shared their cake with a special guest, office dog Remy!

Formed in 1990 and employing over 30 staff, the UK and European policy consultancy, who are an EDP Future 50 2019 member, is proud to celebrate employee ownership alongside others in the sector, as Matthew Lambert, Managing Director, explains:

“We transitioned to be an employee owned business in April and so it is still relatively new for us as a company.  EO Day gives an opportunity to come together to reflect on how far we have come and how far we would like to go.  The co-owners have already started to discuss how we want to celebrate EO Day 2020!”

Deb Oxley, CEO for the Employee Ownership Association, said:

“Companies such as RPA are great examples of the economic and social benefits that can be achieved in an employee owned environment. This is why we celebrate the impacts of employee ownership on the individual, the business and the communities in which they are based.

The EOA is proud to lead the sector-wide celebrations of employee ownership on EO Day 2019, as part of our activity to raise awareness and support the growth and impact of employee ownership in the UK.”

Abate Pest Management has just recruited its 7th Service Technician to support its continued growth.

Danny Trowsdale, a highly trained pest technician with many years’ experience working with National companies, joins the team. Danny will be working in the Norwich area providing preventative and reactive pest control for businesses and domestic customers. This new recruit takes the number of service technicians to seven in the Eastern region, plus the Operations Manager/Field Surveyor and administrative support.

Earlier this year Abate celebrated 20 years in business and won the Small Company of the Year at the British Pest Management Awards held in London. Following this, they were welcomed into the Future50, which is an exciting business growth programme designed to recognise Norfolk and Suffolk’s most innovative companies

Jon Blake, Managing Director of Abate said “It’s great to be in a position to expand the team. We are extremely busy implementing new contracts and discussing new enquiries. We are also very fortunate in our ability to supply pest control services at required BRC standards to the food production industry. We are now coming into the busy summer months, so we are now in an ideal position to handle any peaks. We have also just started a recruitment campaign in Essex to expand this area and we continue to focus on our franchising operations.”

If you need any support with pest control, give Abate Pest management a call on 0800 980 9767 or visit https://www.abatepestmanagement.co.uk

Norfolk County Council is looking at how we can support businesses in Norfolk to help ensure their workforces have the skills needed to take advantage of the digital revolution.

Please help by filling in this short survey (open until 21 July 2019).

The survey is completely anonymous and will take just five minutes to complete.

The answers will help us understand more about business needs in the county.

A ground-breaking flexible working initiative from Chartered Accountants, MHA Larking Gowen, has this month received national recognition from Working Families – an organisation encouraging flexible and employee-friendly work places across the UK.Named national winners of the Working Families Best Practice Award for Best Flexible Working, the award establishes the East Anglian-based accountancy and business advisory group at the forefront of new thinking on the relationship between employers, employees, and their work.

“We are proud to have won the Working Families Best Practice Award for Best Flexible Working initiative”, says Amanda Ninham, Head of HR at MHA Larking Gowen who, along with her team and a pilot group, developed the programme, “the ability to flex around our people’s daily demands supports our wellbeing commitment, and we’re delighted that our approach is recognised as best practice in the UK.” The company’s flexible working initiative, which included an office redesign to incorporate quiet space, hot desks, and collaborative working space, was developed through consultation with the pilot group, and followed a successful trial. “Over a third of our employees now work flexibly,” continues Amanda Ninham, “employee surveys show greater levels of happiness and engagement. Agile working options include flexitime, compressed, part-time and annualised hours, term-time working, remote working, and alternative office spaces.”                                                                                                        

Amanda Ninham says that the benefits to both our people and the business have been profound. “employee sickness and unplanned absences have dropped, so has the need for costly overtime and time-off-in-lieu, and benefits have been seen in an increase to chargeable time. We encourage teams to meet once a month, use internet and Bluetooth technology to support communication between team members, and have a social fund to develop stronger team bonds. In addition, we continue to get positive feedback from clients, as well as new recruits,” she concludes.

Emma Arthurton, a manager at MHA Larking Gowen, is one of the employees to benefit from the award-winning approach. “I work part-time annualised hours, so instead of worrying about hitting a set number of hours a week I have an annual target and can decide my working pattern. Generally, I work term-time and have school holidays off. It takes careful planning to ensure I can still meet clients’ needs and I make sure it works. This is the most important part of my employment. It’s worth far more to me than money.”

“I congratulate MHA Larking Gowen, and all the winners of this year’s Best Practice Awards,” says Jane van Zyl, Chief Executive of Working Families, “We applaud all the employers recognised for taking creative approaches to embedding flexibility, building supportive cultures, and listening to and learning from their employees.”  

The ink is barely dry, but today Hawk and Owl Trust are celebrating watching the mid-summer sun rising over their new land area.

They have ‘signed on the dotted line’ in the purchase of 150 acres of land surrounding their existing 45 acre Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve near Fakenham in North Norfolk.

The reserve is famous for its wildlife and habitats and with the addition of the new land will offer a home to a vast range of wildlife from plants and fungi, to Otters and birds of prey.

Public support for the appeal to raise the £1.7million needed to buy the land and turn it into a wildlife paradise has been astonishing, with enough raised in just two years to enable the land to be secured and the three-year project to manage the land and develop the infrastructure to be started. The project relied on a major Heritage Lottery Fund award, and a significant amount has also been donated by the Local Enterprise Programme (LEP).

The Hawk and Owl Trust, a national charity dedicated to conserving wild birds of prey and their habitats whose headquarters are at Sculthorpe in North Norfolk, can’t wait to get started on delivering the 3-year project to allow public access to the land and develop the habitats to make the land more suitable for the widest range of wildlife using their proven land management techniques.

Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve is already one of the country’s most accessible reserves and is internationally recognised for its wildlife.

The reserve is located in the beautiful Wensum Valley in Norfolk, and is a marvellous, peaceful place with a huge variety of wildlife in a rich and unusual mosaic of woodland, fen and reedbed habitats. At only 18-hectares (45 acres), the existing reserve is easy to explore and offers everyone a real opportunity to get involved with the natural environment. Small but perfectly formed: a real gem, it is recognised how important being out in the fresh air is to our mental well-being.

The two large areas of land on either side are currently rough grassland and were about to be put on the open market for sale. Hawk and Owl Trust were given two years to raise the money to purchase the land and begin the project and thanks to the generosity of a huge number of visitors and supporters, alongside a large Heritage Lottery Fund application and significant donations from individuals and the Local Enterprise Programme (Norfolk LEP).

The new area of land has a rich history of peat cutting, gravel extraction, gunpowder manufacture, brush making, shooting range, charcoal making and water mills. The Trust’s vision for the area is about so much more than amazing wildlife. The future will see a rich ecosystem co-existing with the local community with access for all, rural history, rural crafts and traditional sustainable management benefiting the landscape, people and wildlife.

The three-year project to deliver the vision for the reserve will begin on August 5th as the diggers roll onto the barren fields to scrape away the first bucket loads of soil in the formation of open water and redirection of the ditches. A new entrance near the visitor centre will be the next task, as boardwalks and other fully accessible pathways will be taking shape around the reserve.

As wildlife struggles more with loss of habitat, man-made obstacles and changing climate, nature reserves are an increasingly important oasis. Likewise, it is now recognised that activity out in the fresh air, and enjoying mature, are crucial to our own health and mental well-being. One of the key goals at Sculthorpe has always been accessibility to all, allowing everyone that chance to experience wild places.

A programme of activities, and the opportunity to get involved and volunteer have always been a key role and the new land will enable the Trust to offer this to even more people.  

Nigel Middleton, Sculthorpe Moor Reserve Manager, said “I have been working towards this since first seeing the land 18 years ago. For much of the time it seemed like a hopeless cause, but now the dream has come true. The Trust will benefit but at the heart of it all, it will be the wildlife and local people in this area that will be the true beneficiaries. I can’t tell you how excited I am for the future of the reserve!”

Adrian Blumfield, Chief Operations Director, H&OT said “It has taken a lot of effort to reach this stage, and the project to bring this land to the point of being an amazing place for wildlife and people has only just begun. A lot of people and businesses have been a part of this vision, so far, and I thank them all. This is a fantastic landmark in this process. The future is bright!”

Contact information – available for interviews.

Nigel Middleton (Sculthorpe Moor Reserve Manager and Conservation Officer, Eastern Region) Office: 01328 856020 (8am to 4pm) Mobile: 07771 415859 Email: nigel.middleton@hawkandowltrust.org.uk

Adrian Blumfield (Chief Operations Director) Office: 01328 850598 (8am to 4pm) Email: admin@hawkandowltrust.org.uk

Employee satisfaction and employee engagement are sometimes used interchangeably. While both are imperative to an organisation’s people strategy, it is employee engagement that drives business performance.

Pure, professional recruitment specialists and founders of Best Employers Eastern Region, explains why it is important to understand the difference before making any strategic decisions about evolving workplace culture. 

What is the difference?

Employee satisfaction is the extent to which employees feel content and happy with their jobs and their workplace. Using Herzberg’s Motivation Theory, often referenced in business and HR articles, satisfaction is met by achieving hygiene factors which fulfil basic needs such as pay, job security, a safe work environment, a manageable workload and work-life balance. Whereas employee engagement is the extent to which people are personally involved in the success of an organisation. Engaged employees will go the extra mile because they feel a strong emotional connection to the organisation. They want their company to succeed because they identify with its mission, purpose, or values on a personal level. Believe it or not, an employee can be satisfied with their job, but disengaged (think about the person who often arrives late, does just enough to get by, chats a lot throughout the day and leaves bang on 5pm). Additional motivation factors are needed to take an employee from being content and satisfied to fully engaged, such as more challenging work, recognition and responsibility.

Why does it matter?

Employee satisfaction levels strongly influence an organisation’s staff retention levels. People who do not feel content, or believe that their needs are being met, are more likely to think about looking for another job. But just being satisfied doesn’t result in the high performance or engagement needed to drive business growth. People who are content to get the job done are less likely to challenge the status quo. However, engaged employees, who feel emotionally invested in the success of the business, are more committed to helping their company achieve its goals. They make the direct choice to go above and beyond, apply the maximum effort, look to add value and suggest new ideas, all of which improve productivity and innovation.

Engagement enablers

Engage for Success, the voluntary movement promoting employee engagement as a better way to work, has carried out a lot of research into the specific motivation factors which take employees beyond job satisfaction to being engaged. It describes employee engagement as: 

“A workplace approach resulting in the right conditions for all members of an organisation to give their best each day, committed to their organisation’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organisational success, with an enhanced sense of their own well-being.”

To help employers create this workplace approach, it has identified four common features of highly engaged and high performing organisations. These Four Enablers are:

• Strategic narrative
• Engaging managers
• Employee voice
• Integrity

Together these enablers encompass a set of key engagement factors including; visible and empowering leadership, a real understanding of an organisation’s vision, a coaching culture in which managers are equipped to stretch their teams, strong communication channels which keep employees informed and able to contribute ideas, and a genuine, authentic approach to living by the organisation’s values.

How does Best Employers Eastern Region help businesses with employee engagement?

To be able to create a culture of engagement, it is important to understand where you are currently at. Our Best Employers Eastern Region employee survey has been expertly developed in conjunction with eras ltd to ask the right questions which will capture accurate feedback needed to monitor employee engagement. As well as looking at employee satisfaction, it provides detailed findings on the key factors which impact on engagement and performance, including how staff perceive their organisation’s current culture, their understanding of the company’s vision and values, and how supported, empowered and engaged they feel by leadership and management teams. Each organisation receives a tailored report summarising the culture, values and leadership style and an action plan to help inform strategic planning and deliver long term results.  Find out more about Best Employers Eastern Region 2020 here >>

Maids Head Hotel Sous Chef, Elliott Winson, is a finalist in the Norfolk Food and Drink Awards Chef of the Year 2019 competition. Eight chefs will compete in the live cook off, at City College Norwich, on the morning of Tuesday, July 9. This will be followed by a technical skills challenge in the afternoon.

To enter the competition chefs had to submit a main course, with a budget of no more than £4.50 a portion, featuring local, sustainable and seasonal Norfolk produce. Elliott’s main course features Gressingham Duck: confit duck leg with potato rosti, smoked carrot purée, heritage carrots, pickled elderflower and duck jus split with elderflower oil. Chefs will be required to cook four portions of their main course during the live cook off and will have 2½ hours to complete the task.

Elliott said: “This is the second time that I have entered the Chef of the Year competition. I am really pleased to have made it to the final and will do my best to bring home the winner’s accolade for the Maids Head brigade.”

Christine Malcolm, General Manager the Maids Head Hotel said: “Congratulations to Elliott for reaching the final of Norfolk Chef of the Year. Everyone at the hotel wishes him good luck for the cook off on July 9.”

Elliott Winson (28) has worked at the Maids Head for 5½ years. He joined the kitchen team as Chef de Partie, having worked at Norwich Mercure and Dunston Hall, before progressing to Junior Sous Chef, with responsibility for running the patisserie section. Elliott was promoted to Sous Chef eight months ago.

He follows Head Chef, Marcin ‘Magic’ Pomierny, as a finalist in Norfolk Chef of the Year. Magic won the Chef of the Year title in 2016 and has been a semi-finalist in the National Chef of the Year competition, run by the Craft Guild of Chefs, for the last two years. 

Allergens are now back in the news and customers are becoming immensely interested, particularly allergen sufferers. To a customer this could be a matter of life or death. We also know that you are only as good as your staff and their service. Can you ask yourself…”do I or my staff understand and are aware of the 14 Allergens and follow a robust procedure to ensure your customers safety?”. This includes anyone that handles the food, from the chef to the front of house. Let us help you, inform and educate your staff. BUY TWO GET THE THIRD FREE! (offer only relates to this course and date) We have a course in Spalding on the 26th June at an offer of £50 per person (buy two and get the third free!), to help build knowledge and to ask any questions that you may have to our expert tutor. Level 2 Food Allergen Awareness and Control in Catering Award covers: • Food allergens and food commonly causing intolerance’s. • Characteristics and effects of allergens. • The importance of effectively communicating information regarding allergenic ingredients to customers. • How Staff can minimise the risk of cross-contamination from allergenic ingredients. To book now www.ehtc.co.uk/level2foodallergen, spaces are limited and come on a first come, first served basis. However we do offer courses throughout the year. Please contact the team if you are looking for further dates. If you have any questions, need advice or want to speak to our of our experts, please don’t hesitate to get in touch on 0800 689 3512 or email ehtc@breckland-sholland.gov.uk

Independent, East-Anglian accountancy firm Aston Shaw has announced the purchase of King’s Lynn firm, Burrells. Burrells was first established in 1992 and since then it has gone on to build an enviable reputation in the area.

The acquisition of Burrells is the next step in Aston Shaw’s ambitious growth strategy, claiming it will enable them to grow their King’s Lynn team and be better resourced overall as a firm, ultimately improving the level of service provided to clients.

Burrells has built its considerable reputation primarily through its specialist tax advisory services. The acquisition means that Aston Shaw will incorporate this expertise into their own service offering, giving the firm a further edge over its competitors.

Dominic Shaw, Director of Aston Shaw said: “As a firm, we have only recently started to branch out into West Norfolk, having acquired the equally well-reputed King’s Lynn firm, Kirby & Haslam back in April 2018. Since then, our broad range of services and straight-talking approach to tax and accountancy has proven popular with the local business community.”

“For us to continue to deliver a consistent level of excellence, we need to ensure that we have the capacity and resources to do so; we’re confident the purchase of Burrells will allow us to continue to cater to the needs of West Norfolk businesses.”

Burrells Director, Stephen Burrell, will be joining Aston Shaw as a result of the acquisition. Stephen has been working as a Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA) for more than 50 years.

Aston Shaw Director, Mark Noakes, said: “Stephen brings with him a wealth of experience that will no doubt benefit many of our clients both in King’s Lynn and our other office locations. I look forward to welcoming Stephen and his team to the firm.”

All staff from Burrells will move to Aston Shaw’s newly renovated office on King Street.

https://www.astonshaw.co.uk/