Member News

A young CNC Milling Programmer from Norwich has just won the Gold Medal at the WorldSkills UK Competitions to be named National Champion 2018, beating seven other finalists from internationally renowned engineering brands.

Jacob Wiggett competed against the UK’s top CNC Programmers in front of over 70,000 visitors at WorldSkills UK LIVE. Taking place from 15-17 November at the NEC Birmingham, WorldSkills UK LIVE is the country’s largest skills, apprenticeships and careers event.

“The competition was a fantastic experience and I have learned a lot.” Jacob said. “I was a bit nervous about working with all those people watching, but I thought I had done okay. Still, hearing my name come up as the winner came as a bit of a shock.”

Jacob finished his apprenticeship with East Coast College and Thurne-Middleby Ltd, a Norwich based engineering company specialising in design and manufacture of high speed food slicing equipment, in June and is now a full-time CNC Milling Programmer at Thurne. He said: “I’m thankful for the support everyone at Thurne has given me. I have some great mentors, and much of my success is down to them.”

Dean Folkard, Production Manager at Thurne-Middleby Ltd, who attended WorldSkills UK Live to support Jacob, was delighted about the result. “Jacob did brilliantly and we are very proud of his achievement. The standards were very high, and it’s great that all of his hard work and dedication has been rewarded.”

As a company with 77 employees, including six apprentices, Thurne-Middleby Ltd offers a great environment for apprentices to thrive in and develop their skills, enabling them to make an important contribution to Thurne’s in-house manufacturing and design capabilities.

The company’s apprentice scheme was also recently recognised by East Coast College with an award as the Apprentice Employer of the Year 2018.

About Thurne

Thurne offers a comprehensive range of slicing systems for fresh and precooked bacon, cooked and cured meats, natural products and cheese applications.

Our proven solutions are based on 50 years’ experience and are highly regarded by food processors around the world, from small family firms to multi-site corporations. 

When you’re a company with millions of customers, clear communication is absolutely essential.

Anglian Water are extremely active when it comes to public relations. After all, they need to account for every penny they collect in water bills and justify every large scale investment that they make.

There is also a need to educate customers – whether it’s encouraging people to reduce the amount of water they waste or explaining how they can prevent environmental hazards such as fatbergs.  

Throughout 2018, the JMS Group has been involved in various projects to convey these key messages.

During the spring we created a series of whiteboard videos to be used as part of Anglian Water’s 5 year business plan. These short films cover various aspects of the business and were intended to be viewed by water regulator Ofwat. The films explored how Anglian Water engage with customers, what water bills actually pay for, the importance of environmental protection, the challenges faced by population growth, the company’s efforts to become carbon neutral and numerous other topics. The animation style required hand drawn illustrations. This resulted in our Motion Graphics Designer Hugh South spending several days in our TV studio beavering away with a marker pen!

During the summer we created an online video showcasing Anglian Water’s Innovation Shop Window in Newmarket. Here they apply fresh thinking to tackle some of the toughest challenges facing the region: population growth, climate change, water quality and scarcity. Our film showcases some of the exciting new technology they have piloted as well as new efficient ways of working. The Innovation Shop Window is building the water company of the future.

Most recently we have been filming an additional video as part of the 5 year business plan. This film makes the case for one of the biggest investment programmes the region has ever seen. The ambitious plan has been shaped by thousands of conversations with customers and communities. Our director Emma Talmadge took her crew on a journey across the East of England to interview some of these customers and hear why they believe this is the right plan for the region.   

It’s always a pleasure creating content for Anglian Water – let’s hope there’s more in the pipeline!

Staff at Larking Gowen, a firm of chartered accountants, have raised almost £2000 for charity, at their Big Night Out 2018.  

The money has been donated to East Anglian Air Ambulance, whose air crews, rapid response vehicles, and paramedics were called out 2,725 times last year.

“We’re delighted to announce we have raised an incredible £1972.60 to support the work of the East Anglian Air Ambulance across the region,” says Amanda Ninham, Larking Gowen’s head of HR.

“Staff at Larking Gowen have once more proven how generous they are,” Amanda continues, “and we thank everyone who donated, as part of the fundraising for Big Night Out 2018. 

 “We are especially grateful to those who donated raffle prizes, which ranged from spa days, theatre tickets, river trips, and even a special insider tour of the EAAA headquarters.”

 “The EAAA provides vital emergency support for our community, the testimonies of people they have helped really brings that home. But it isn’t funded nationally and relies on donations like ours to keep going,” Amanda explains.

 The event was held at Norwich City Football Club on 12 October. 

TOP businesses stepped into the spotlight at the glittering trophy presentation ceremony for the Spirit of Enterprise Awards, the most prestigious annual celebration of business excellence in the Great Yarmouth borough.

Organised by enterpriseGY, Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s business support service, the popular awards aim to recognise and raise the profile of the borough’s top-performing companies, while boosting confidence in the strength of the local economy. 

The ceremony, held in the Town Hall’s grand Assembly Room on Friday, saw API Microelectronics Limited announced in front of 200 guests as Great Yarmouth’s 2018 Business of the Year, having been chosen from the winners of the other categories by overall award sponsor Noritake Itron.

Special crystal trophies were also presented to the winners of the various categories, with finalists spanning a wide diversity of sectors, including energy and manufacturing, tourism and hospitality, retail, recruitment and professional services. Each award was backed by a local organisation, with each sponsor or their representative choosing the winner in their category (see list of sponsors and winners below).

API Microelectronics Limited, which has a design and manufacturing facility at South Denes, won the Great Manufacturing/Engineering Business category and was then selected as overall winner from among the category winners by Noritake Itron.

Matt Howchin, general manager at API Microelectronics Limited, said: “We were really excited to be shortlisted in three categories, so to win the Great Manufacturing/Engineering Business category and then be named 2018 Business of the Year is such a great accolade and the whole team is thrilled to have this badge of honour.

“As one of the longest-standing employers in the borough, the business has seen significant changes in technology, market conditions and globalization. But through continued innovation and investment in people and products, together with manufacturing excellence backed by industry-leading accreditations, we have grown and prospered.

“The business is very much part of the community and these awards are important recognition by that community, as well as a reflection of the hard work and dedication of staff. The trophies will be displayed at our office, acting as a morale boost for everyone and sending a very positive message to our clients.”

Cllr Graham Plant, the council leader, who made a speech at the ceremony, said: “In addition to boosting investor confidence, the Spirit of Enterprise Awards encourages businesses to be aspirational and proud of the role they play in the local business community, which is world class.

“The awards evening is always a brilliant showcase of business excellence. This year, we’ve seen another batch of strong entries, and once again we have been hugely impressed by the many excellent businesses of different sizes and sectors, who are ambassadors for the strength of the local economy.

“I would like to congratulate all the shortlisted finalists, category winners and overall winner, as well as thank the sponsors, including overall award sponsor Noritake Itron.”

Andy Stubbings, of Noritake Itron, said: “Choosing an overall winner was tough, but we selected API Microelectronics Limited based on their submission and background research online. Key factors were their contribution to employment in Great Yarmouth, advanced product development and manufacturing technique, export market penetration, return on capital employed, bottom line profitability and sustainability compared to the other category winners.”

The media partners for this year’s awards were the Great Yarmouth Mercury and The Beach radio station, whose morning show presenter Rob Chandler compered the ceremony. Desmond MacCarthy, of Wiveton Hall, who is best known from TV documentary Normal for Norfolk, was the keynote speaker.

Categories

Sponsors

Winners

Great Manufacturing/Engineering Business

P&S Personnel

API Microelectronics Limited

Great New Business

The Go Trade Project (judged by the Mercury)

Sam Race Venue Decoration

Great Business Growth

Bateman Groundworks

Strictly Theatre

Great Business Idea

Aston Shaw

Bellyboos

Great Customer Service

GYTABIA (judged by The Beach)

Hammond Cars

Great Family Owned Business

Birketts Solicitors

Hammond Cars

Great International Growth

Pasta Foods

P&S Personnel

Great Investment in People

Norse Group

Aston Shaw

Great Community Contribution

Potters Friends Foundation

Home-Start Norfolk

Business of the Year

Noritake Itron

API Microelectronics Limited

We’re deleighted to welcome three new people to our growing team over the past month.

Jamal Hunter brings over four years of technical SEO experience to our team. Working as our new Digital Marketing Executive he will oversee our search engine optimisation campaigns as well as helping to run our growing Pay Per Click accounts.

Shane Gammage has joined us as Digital Marketing Consultant. With over seven years’ experience in Pay Per Click, Social Media and Email marketing, he has already started expanding our client base and providing strategy and campaign advice to clients.

Last but not least, Kris Coidan joins us as a full-stack web developer. Kris is a self-taught enthusiast who loves a challenge and will help us continue to produce high quality websites for our clients.

About Bigfork

We help clients grow their businesses with our expertise in website design, search engine optimisation, pay per click campaigns and social media marketing. We pride ourselves on our passion for high quality work and creating measurable results for our customers.

www.bigfork.co.uk

New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership(LEP) has awarded Norfolk-based national charity the Hawk and Owl Trust £100,000 towards its Sculthorpe Fen Appeal.

The money, approved on Friday, will be used towards developing the new, much enlarged reserve, its facilities and developing the community engagement elements of the project.

Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve is known nationally for its wildlife, sympathetic and effective management techniques and accessibility to all.

The Hawk and Owl Trust, with its national headquarters based at Sculthorpe, is currently in the process of raising £850,00 as part of a £1.7m Sculthorpe Fen Appeal to purchase additional land on either side of the existing reserve and to be able to extend its wildlife management into this area, and make it fully accessible to all.

As the reserve expands more volunteers will be needed to help build the new infrastructure, manage and develop the land in a way that will benefit wildlife and meet and greet an increased number of visitors and an increased workforce will also be required to both manage the reserve, but also to offer more educational, conservation and community engagement activities.

The grant has been awarded through New Anglia LEP’s Growing Places Fund, which provides loan funding to help kick start and support development projects across Suffolk and Norfolk.

It will help cover core costs, funding several new full-time posts as well as six work placements over the next two years.

Our amazing volunteer ‘army’ is also crucial to the running of the reserve and we will be hoping/aiming to attract a further 50 volunteers from the local community to help with the day-to-day running, offering opportunities for exercise and making new friendships all in the glorious surroundings of this lovely nature reserve.

Nigel Middleton, Reserve Warden, said “This grant makes a truly significant contribution to the Sculthorpe Fen Appeal. Our vision for the future of this amazing reserve drives us onwards, and to see the finishing line in sight, with the help of this award is a fantastic thing! We can’t wait to be able to start developing the reserve, for wildlife and for people.”

Doug Field, chair of New Anglia LEP, said “North Norfolk already makes a significant contribution to our Visitor Economy. This project will strengthen that offer, helping create an outstanding facility that will benefit our economy and enrich the lives of people locally.”

We are delighted to announce the finalists for the Innovation and Impact Awards 2019. The response this year was fantastic and all of the entries were very strong, highlighting some of the best and most groundbreaking UEA projects. Therefore, we would like to offer our enthusiastic congratulations to all who applied and to this year’s finalists in particular.

The judging panel has selected three finalists from each of the seven awards categories, who will be invited to the second annual awards ceremony and three-course meal at the Sainsbury Centre on Thursday 31 January.

All of the finalists will receive a trophy and feature in the Innovation and Impact Awards 2019 brochure. The overall winner of each award, which will be announced on the night, will also receive a budget to produce a professional video or other marketing venture, with the support of RIN.

A full list of finalists and their projects, as well as more information on the judging panel, can be found here. 

Abate Pest Management are delighted to announce their continued Alcumus SafeContractor accreditation for achieving excellence in health and safety in the workplace.

Alcumus SafeContractor is a leading third-party accreditation scheme which recognises extremely rigorous standards in health and safety management amongst contractors. It is used by thousands of organisations in the UK including SMEs and FTSE 100 companies.

Jon Blake, Managing Director said “SafeContractor plays a vital role in supporting our clients in meeting their compliance needs. Each year we go through a rigorous audit by Alcumus, which examines our health and safety procedures and our safe practices, and we were very pleased to hear that we met the high standards required to be awarded the accreditation.”

Jon continued, “Organisations cannot take the risk of employing a contractor that is unable to demonstrate a high standard of working, so this scheme helps to reassure our new and existing customers that we understand the importance and value of adopting good risk management strategy.”

Abate Pest Management provides pest management services including bird control projects throughout the Eastern region. Its currently expanding its operations in the UK through franchising. The business is about to commence its 20th year in operation from its base in Morley St Botolph near Wymondham.

Visit Website 

Guests enjoyed a a special dinner party at the Maids Head Hotel in Tombland, Norwich, hosted by ‘John Paston’ on Thursday, November 22, to mark the first mention of the the hotel’s name in a Paston letter dated November 22, 1472.

Rob Knee of the Paston Footprints Project and Paston Heritage Society, who was master of ceremonies for the evening, as John Paston, presented a facsimile of the Paston letter mentioning the Maids Head to the hotel. In the letter John Paston II advised: “if he tery at Norwyche ther whyls, it were best to sette hys horse at the Maydes Hedde.” Rob Knee also cut a special cake marking the hotel’s ‘birthday’.

Christine Malcolm, General Manager, the Maids Head Hotel said: “We are very pleased to be working with the Paston Footprints Project and would like to thank Rob Knee and his colleagues for their kind gift of the facsimile of our ‘birthday’ letter, which we will put on permanent display in the hotel.”

The Maids Head Hotel’s site has a long history; initially the location of the first palace of Bishop Herbert de Losinga in the late 11th century, it became home to an inn called the Murtel Fish or Molde Fish Tavern, whose origins are lost in the mists of time. The first mention of the inn in Norwich records was in 1287, when the landlord, John de Ingham accused Robert the fowler of stealing goods. The Murtel Fish was an important inn, hosting Edward the Black Prince in the mid 14th century, after he had taken part in a jousting competition in Norwich.

The Paston letter of 1472 confirms that the name of the inn had changed to the Maids Head. The core of that 15th century inn stills exists. The hotel’s restaurant is located in the inn’s courtyard, and the Yard Bar and Best Beauty are in rooms which date from the period. Bedrooms above the old courtyard also date from the 15th century. www.maidsheadhotel.co.uk

Paston Footprints is a collaborative project between numerous local partner organisations, including the Paston Heritage Society, the University of East Anglia and the Norfolk Record Office. The Heritage Lottery funded three-year project is highlighting the remarkable story of the Paston family and the times they lived through. www.paston600.co.uk.

Attleborough based renewable heating expert Finn Geotherm, has been shortlisted in two top national award schemes. The company has been chosen as a finalist in both the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Building Performance Awards and National ACR & Heat Pump Awards for two heat pump projects completed in Norfolk.

The CIBSE Building Performance Awards recognise the people, products and projects that demonstrate engineering excellence in the built environment. Finn Geotherm has been shortlisted within Residential Project of the Year category for its installation for Flagship Group housing association. The ground source heat pump system is delivering domestic heating and hot water for 30 flats at Orchard Close in Watton. The first domestic heating scheme for communal use in the East of England, it has cut Flagship customers’ heating bills by two thirds, creating annual savings of hundreds of pounds. In addition, it has enabled Flagship to dramatically reduce its maintenance costs and CO2 emissions.

The ‘Oscars’ of the heat pump industry, the National ACR & Heat Pump Awards celebrate excellence in innovation, projects, installations and environmental successes in the air conditioning and refrigeration and heat pump industries. Finn Geotherm has been selected as a finalist within two categories in these awards – Installer of the Year and Domestic Ground Source Project. The project category is for an installation completed at a period property built in 1700s/1800s in rural South Norfolk. Finn Geotherm’s ground source heat pump installation has enabled the homeowner to replace an expensive and inefficient oil-fired boiler with a heat pump to create a warm home with cheaper energy bills.

Guy Ransom, commercial director at Finn Geotherm, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been shortlisted in these two prestigious awards schemes, which recognise significant energy efficiency and heat pump projects across the country. To have two separate projects chosen, both completed here in Norfolk, is a great achievement and a testament to the forward-thinking approaches of our customers in choosing renewable technology and the hard work and skill of the Finn Geotherm team in delivering the best possible solution for these properties.”

Winners of both the CIBSE Building Performance Awards and National ACR & Heat Pump Awards will be announced in early 2019.

For information on ground and air source heat pumps and Finn Geotherm, visit www.finn-geotherm.co.uk.

Leading regional law firm, Howes Percival has launched a new business survey aimed at determining what’s keeping business owners, directors and CEOs ‘awake at night’ by identifying the primary concerns of businesses around the UK and the external factors that may be likely to have a negative impact on businesses according to region and sector.

The firm invites all business owners, directors, decision makers and their professional advisers to take the survey, which can be accessed here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/T5TV66F

Howes Percival will publish the survey’s findings in early 2019. To receive a copy of the survey and the chance to win an Amazon Echo Dot, participants can enter their details where indicated at the end of the survey.

For more information about the survey, please visit Howes Percival’s website.

Event Details: Free webinar – Thursday 6th December 2018, 12:00-12:30

Link to register https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8186819932895993089 Don’t be caught cold this winter – listen to our free, interactive webinar for expert advice on preparing for the icy blasts to come. Whatever type of business you are involved with, our in-house risk management team will outline the legal responsibilities and obligations around dealing with the worst of winter.

The webinar will offer you advice and guidance on how to better protect your:

• Property

• People

• Profit