Member News

The Maids Head Hotel in Tombland, Norwich, is staging a special dinner party 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.

The evening will feature a three course dinner in the historic Oak Room, with medieval music from Hexachordia, readings from Paston Letters and contemporary poetry inspired by the Paston story. John Paston will also cut a special birthday cake.

Guests arrive at 7.30pm, with dinner served at 8pm and will be greeted by John Paston, performed by Rob Knee of the Paston Footprints Project and Paston Heritage Society, who will be master of ceremonies for the evening. Other costumed members of the Paston Heritage Society will be on hand to do the readings.

The letter, which mentions the Maids Head, will be read in full in middle English. Guests will hear John Paston advise: “if he tery at Norwyche ther whyls, it were best to sette hys horse at the Maydes Hedde.”

Tickets for this celebration of the Maids Head Hotel’s heritage and the Paston Footprints project cost £35, t. 01603 272007, events@maidsheadhotel.co.uk .

Christine Malcolm, General Manager, the Maids Head Hotel said: “We are proud of our heritage and are very pleased to be working with the Paston Footprints project to bring this special period in our history to life.”

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. 

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. 

The contemporary poetry, which will be read at the Maids Head’s birthday,features in In the Footprints of the Pastons, a Paston Footprints book, which takes readers on a walk round Paston Norwich. The book is on sale at Jarrold Norwich.

Norwich, the county town of Norfolk, was until the Industrial Ages the second largest city in the UK, after London. While it can no longer claim second city status, it remains home to over 200,000 residents and has been declared one of the UK’s ‘Fast Growth Cities’. 

As one of the top 10 fastest-growing places in the UK, Norwich’s historic city centre is witnessing considerable development. A stand out project within this regeneration is Orbit Homes’ £70m development, St Anne’s Quarter.

Featuring 437 high quality apartments and houses, built in five phases of construction, the project’s developers required a durable waste water management system that would be cost-effective to install while also ensuring reliable performance for years to come. To meet the brief, drainage sub-contractors Flood & French worked with Wavin to develop a solution employing its HDPE range.

Expert solutions for multi-occupancy projects For the first phase of the project, involving 190 apartments, a drainage solution was required for a car parking area which would be able to withstand heavy vehicle traffic and unpredictable weather. With residents living in close-proximity over multiple floors, it was also crucial that the system could withstand frequent use without risk of failure. In addition, Flood & French needed to adhere to strict budgets and timescales, working quickly and efficiently to install the system.

While a cast iron system had originally been specified for the car park, Flood & French identified that Wavin’s HDPE range would offer a number of additional cost and performance benefits and enlisted the support of leading plumber’s merchant, Graham. A complete soil, waste and vent system of pipes and fittings, manufactured from high-density polyethylene, Wavin HDPE is a light-weight system which offers extraordinary chemical resistance in combination with a high flexibility level and great impact resistance.

Colin French, Director at Flood & French, explains: “One of the first challenges we faced was creating a drainage system that would be suitable for use in a busy car parking area. With the heavy traffic and vibrations this area would be impacted by, the project needed a strong, durable and flexible solution.

“We worked with Wavin to develop a technical submission proposing the use of its HDPE system. The range offers several benefits that made it particularly suitable for the car park area. For example, it’s ideal for assemblies subjected to vibration, as its elasticity gives the pipes a high impact strength. Temperature was also a key consideration in the partially exposed undercroft. In the cold winter months, we knew that HDPE would be able to withstand temperatures as low as -40°C and freezing of internal water.”

When it came to ensuring efficient and effective installation, the Wavin HDPE range also met the brief more effectively than cast iron. Colin French continues: “From an installation point of view, the project involved time and space limitations which meant we required a robust system that could be installed quickly. Wavin HDPE offered a range of benefits over the alternatives – from ease of transporting around site to flexibility in how we jointed the system.”

A key advantage of Wavin HDPE is that it can be welded (both by butt welding and with electrofusion joints), thereby providing a perfectly sealed system. The connection seals are quick-fit coupling and the expansion joint seals remain resistant to waste water. As the seals are produced from an elastomer, it guarantees sealing and durability even in extreme conditions. The light-weight nature of the system also means it can be more easily transported to and handled around site than cast iron alternatives.

The technical and design support offered by Wavin also ensured the effectiveness of the overall project. Wavin worked with the contractor to develop AutoCAD designs and a full Bill of Materials for all eight blocks of the project, to enable highly accurate product ordering and the minimisation of wastage.

Colin French continues: “The technical design support from Wavin has meant we’ve been able to be ultra-efficient with time, budget and space, while also providing a solution that will be robust for many years. As work progresses on the project, we’re continuing to work very closely with Wavin, which is helping us to deliver on time and within budget.”

Steve Skeldon, Product Manager for Above Ground Drainage, Wavin UK, said: “When working on developments that are restricted with regards to time, cost and sometimes space, the margins for any issues, delays or misunderstandings become very tight, but the end-user is always front of mind. Our HDPE range will providing long-lasting results that ensure residents benefit from durable and effective waste water solutions for years to come.”

For more information on choosing the best solutions for waste water management, visit: www.wavin.com/en-gb/Catalogue/Waste-water

If you have any questions please contact Neil King:

Neil King Technical Sales Manager – Above Ground

T: +44 1249 766600 M: +44 7966 333 628 E: neil.king@wavin.com  

M+A Partners is pleased to launch its fourth annual Owner Managed Business (OMB) Survey. The aim of our annual OMB survey is to canvass the opinion and sentiment of leaders and directors from owner managed businesses across our region.  This survey will take no longer than 8 minutes to complete, and all responses will be treated confidentially.  Following the close of the survey at 23.59 (GMT) on 21 December 2018, one respondent will be selected at random to receive a Jarrolds Traditional Christmas Hamper.   Click to take the OMB survey

The whole team at Tudor Lodge Consultants is thrilled to announce that we are working with North London based business Vapox, a boutique vape shop in London. Working across their digital presence, website design and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy, Vapox have a strong desire to move into the ‘vape’ market across London and the Home Counties.

Helping thousands of people quit smoking, kicking their nicotine habit, the Vape and e-cigarette industry has taken off in the UK over recent years, with Vapox a player in the market in North London and beyond.

What We are Doing

With the Vapox website being based on a custom-designed content management system (CMS), the challenges with the website vary from what may be expected with other websites. The initial challenges include needing to apply development and design knowledge to their custom-built website, whilst maintaining the cleanest and most effective SEO practise to propel the site up Google and other search engines.

We are therefore working on the following aspects of the Vapox website:

Website Speed – As an e-commerce website, users spend a great portion of their time browsing and reading up on specific products, making a purchase towards the end of their journey. Being able to browse the site unimpeded and with minimal effort is crucial to both leads as well as the SEO of the site, with Google favouring quicker, more responsive websites. We have worked to optimise the code of the website, reduce unnecessarily large file sizes and make the site much more mobile friendly, all of which are positively contributing to its overall speed and performance.

Meta Data – One of the fundamental and primary factors a website needs when it comes to SEO is its meta data, which includes each page’s meta title and meta description. Vapox previously had no meta data associated with any of its pages. We have therefore provided bespoke meta data to each and every page to ensure they and the site as a whole are crawled and therefore ranked properly and highly by search engines.

Brand Recognition and PR – In recent times, something that Google in particular have been very keen on is the building of a brand and the brand recognition a site receives. Hence, we have been working with numerous publications and online magazines within their industry to provide the Vapox brand and website with PR and publicity to increase its reach and presence online.

Online Targeting – With Vapox targeting a specific market, it has remained important throughout our work to target the right audiences and so we continue to conduct thorough, industry-specific keyword research to identify and then target the best areas for Vapox’s business.

Gnaw chocolate supports East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices as their Charity of the Year.

As part of their National Chocolate Week celebrations, Norfolk chocolate manufacturer, Gnaw has donated lots of yummy chocolate to EACH’s three hospices in Quidenham, Milton and at The Treehouse in Ipswich. 

Gnaw have chosen EACH as their Charity of the Year 2018-2019 and the chocolate donation seemed an obvious choice during Chocolate Week which runs from 15th – 21st October. 

“We take our role in our local community seriously and we like to get involved wherever possible. We receive many charitable requests a day, it became hard to keep up. We decided that if we focused our charitable giving to just one organisation, that we could do more for that charity”, explains Matt Legon, Gnaw’s Founder. “We have lots of exciting ideas of how we can support EACH and the families it supports in turn across the year”.

EACH provide vital care for children and young people with life-threatening conditions, and support for their families, across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex.

EACH has outgrown their Quidenham hospice, in Norfolk and is now building the nook, a new facility which will transform children’s palliative care for the county. To make this vision a reality, EACH need to raise £10 million.

Sophie Mayes from EACH commented, “We’re delighted to be working closely with Gnaw this year; they’ve already given their support to a local team of climbers who completed the six highest peaks in the UK in just 20 hours (quite an achievement!) and this chocolate donation will be sure to raise smiles”.

Businesses in West Norfolk are being urged to Be a Reason to Love West Norfolk and sign up to the Love West Norfolk campaign.

A new Love West Norfolk commitment and toolkit have been launched which will allow organisations to join the campaign and celebrate everything that West Norfolk has to offer.

As well as signing up to the Love West Norfolk commitment, those joining the campaign will also be able to use the logo and display a ‘We’re a Reason to Love West Norfolk’ sticker and image.

And organisations will be supported to promote their activities through Love West Norfolk social media and communications activities.

Tony Hall, Chief Executive of Freebridge Community Housing and Chair of the West Norfolk Strategy Group said: “It is the people of West Norfolk who have made Love West Norfolk so successful and so we want to give organisations the opportunity to officially join the campaign.

“This is open to all types of organisations – shops, companies, schools, charities, and voluntary groups, for example – who, like us, love West Norfolk. Join in the campaign and help us to promote everything this fantastic area has to offer.”

Amongst those putting their signature to the commitment to West Norfolk is the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk.  The Council is a partner in the campaign and has been instrumental in getting Love West Norfolk off the ground. Ray Harding, Chief Executive said: “We’re a reason to Love West Norfolk as our staff work tirelessly to keep the area looking attractive, looking after public parks and beaches, providing events to encourage tourism and visits to the town, building homes for our citizens, regenerating areas and helping to create jobs for people.”

 And Norfolk County Council, a partner in the Love West Norfolk, has also got behind the campaign with Nick Tupper, Assistant Director for Highways pictured with the campaign logo.  

Anyone wishing to Be a Reason to Love West Norfolk can get in touch via Twitter: @LoveWestNorfolk, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoveWestNorfolk/ Instagram: love_west_norfolk or the campaign website www.lovewestnorfolk.co.uk  Or they can email michelle@engaging-people.co.uk for further information and the commitment and toolkit.

Excited to announce that I have qualified for a PickYourself UK Small Business Entrepreneur of the year award.

Pick Yourself supports small business entrepreneurs in the UK by providing a platform to share Self Starter Stories.

Each published story qualifies for the PickYourself UK Small Business Entrepreneur of the year award, voted for by the public.

You can read my entry here: https://bit.ly/2A6BNBr

We have been named as a finalist at the British Small Business Awards for ‘British Small Business of the Year’. This is an amazing achievement and one that all of the Swans are extremely proud of.

Emily Groves (MD & Founder): “At Indigo Swan we carefully balance ruthless efficiency, energy market knowhow and enthusiastic price negotiations with a colourful personality, focussed on celebrating individuality and recognising the importance of connecting a human level with each other, our clients, the energy suppliers and the wider business community.  I’m incredibly proud of every one of my colleagues and the great work they do every single day.” James Groves (Head of Talent & Organisational Development): “We are all extremely proud to be recognised as one of Britain’s Best Small Businesses and we are excited to attend the awards on the 31st October. Every single Swan is proud to work here and their commitment, drive, enthusiasm and incredible will to find a better way, is what allows us to be recognised as one of the best.”

Fingers and feathers crossed for Wednesday 31st October.

To find out how we can help take your companies energy headache away and get £500 worth of free products as a Chamber Member visit our website: https://indigoswan.co.uk/ or call 01603 724893

Norfolk-based UK charity, the Hawk and Owl Trust, welcomed a team of Help for Heroes (H4H) members on Monday 22 October to its Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve outside Fakenham, Norfolk. A group from the UK Armed Forces and Military Veterans Charity and their families visited to find out more about volunteering opportunities for its local members in the area, and Sculthorpe Moor offers the perfect place!

The Help for Heroes group enjoyed a guided tour around the reserve and meeting the existing volunteers to discover just what they and their members could get involved in. Physical and mental rehabilitation for injured Service personnel is a key aim for Help for Heroes, empowering members to look beyond their illnesses and injuries and helping them to reach their potential, regain their purpose and have a positive impact on society. Hawk and Owl Trust at Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve will be able to offer increasing numbers of volunteering opportunities to Help for Heroes members as the reserve expands following the on-going land purchase appeal.

Volunteers are at the heart of Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve, and they help out with a huge range of activities, from administration to practical habitat management. Some roles are more physical than others, but all offer a wonderful sense of doing a good job for wildlife, conservation and the local community. The Sculthorpe volunteers have an amazing camaraderie and many say their roles offer a life-line as well as friendship and a sense of purpose. The reserve simply wouldn’t exist without them. Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve is one of the most accessible reserves in the country, all routes on the reserve are board-walked, and all hides are accessible by wheelchair – even the tree top hide! The entire infrastructure, including all the reserve buildings, the hides and the boardwalks have all been built by a team of volunteers. The Help for Heroes group enjoyed a beautiful sunny day, and lots of wildlife on a leisurely wander around the reserve, seeing Red Kites, dragonflies, frogs and fungi, all amongst beautiful autumn colours and sun filtering through the trees. The group of 25 consisted of Band of Brothers (Service personnel) and Band of Sisters (their families). As the reserve expands, following its Sculthorpe Fen Land Purchase Appeal which is still on-going, even more volunteers will be needed to 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. A key part of the £1.7m Hawk and Owl Trust Sculthorpe Fen Land Purchase Appeal presently underway to purchase additional land to extend the reserve is to be working with local community groups. Offer opportunities in volunteering, gardening for health, exercise and making new friendships is a part of this goal – all in the glorious surroundings of this lovely nature reserve. Help for Heroes knows that those who serve together, recover better together – supporting each other, enjoying a sense of fellowship once more. Hawk and Owl Trust is proud that there is such a close fit between the reserve and the aims of H4H.

Neil Chadwick, Volunteer Coordinator at Sculthorpe Moor, said “Having a group of local volunteers from Help for Heroes will be amazing for the reserve, and the timing couldn’t be better as we prepare for all the additional work that will be needed following a successful appeal. I think the reserve will work its magic on the volunteers as well, and they will benefit hugely, not just from the ‘work’ but also from the friendships and sense of a job well done that volunteering here guarantees.”

One Help for Heroes member, said “This is a fantastic place, although I didn’t previously know it was here. I will definitely be returning, and I have taken the volunteering information away with me. Getting involved with volunteering here is something I am seriously considering!”

Contact information

Su Gough (Communication and PR Officer) Office: 01328 850598 (8am to 4pm) Mobile: 07769 270994 (anytime) Email: su.gough@hawkandowl.org

Lindsay Hutton (Help for Heroes, Band of Brothers and Band of Sisters Co-ordinator) Office: 01206 814887 Mobile: 07854 379038 Email: Lindsay.Hutton@helpforheroes.org.uk

Norwich-based business Alpha Inclusion unveiled its new ‘Block Bus’ to the public for the first time today at the Norwich Science Festival. The bus doubles up as a mobile classroom and events space for the ‘Lego-therapy’ and ‘Building blocks for communications’ approaches it uses to help children with special education needs and businesses overcome communications challenges. Thanks to the support of one of New Anglia Growth Hub’s business advisers, owner Amy Eleftheriades was able to successfully apply for a grant of just over £5,000 from the Small Grant Scheme to help fund the purchase and equipping of the bus.

Alpha Inclusion was originally set up by Amy to provide educational services for children and young people dealing with autism and social communication difficulties in mainstream school environments and at home. Budget restrictions in the education sector mean there’s often insufficient funding and space to offer activities for children with these specific needs so Amy had the brainwave to create both the space and resource by purchasing a commercial vehicle and converting it into a mobile classroom.

Following a conversation with friends, Amy realised that the activities she used with the children could easily transfer to the world of business, specifically team-building events and communications training, so set about building her business proposition to be appeal to the corporate sector. Wanting to make the most of the opportunity to work with private companies, Amy was at first unsure about where to start so called New Anglia Growth Hub.

“I had built up some capital in the business and wanted to reinvest it in something that would give us the biggest payback. We soon worked out that the ‘Block Bus’, would be the best use of this capital. But buying a commercial vehicle and paying for a conversion comes with a hefty price tag and that is where the Growth Hub really helped me out with the grant funding”, she explained.

“Getting the Block Bus is a business-changing event”, continued Amy, “We now have the capacity to run sessions for children in schools where perhaps there hadn’t previously been the space or resource and can visit companies equipped to be able to deliver highly professional activities. All the equipment we use is in the bus so wherever we go we can operate to our full capability.”

Business adviser, Robert Turnbull, helped Amy to assess what the business needed and supported her throughout the grant application process.

Robert said, “Whilst Amy’s business had nearly enough capital to buy and convert the bus, it would mean that she wouldn’t be able to resource it immediately with the necessary equipment. The 20% part funding from the Small Grant Scheme was perfect. It meant that Amy could buy the necessary equipment to fully stock the bus immediately so that that it could start earning from day 1.”

Amy commented, “It was great to have Robert’s support at this stage of our development. He was quickly able to establish the issues we were facing and offer very practical solutions which weren’t just about funding. He has helped to facilitate some very valuable contacts for us and given us the confidence to approach the commercial sector.”

An important aspect of the Amy’s business model is that the commercial work she does with private businesses subsidises the work she does in the education sector, enabling her to do more than she would otherwise be able to do.

Anyone running a business who needs help to realise their growth plans should contact the New Anglia Growth Hub on 0300 333 6356 or email growthhub@newanglia.co.uk.

New Anglia Growth Hub funding helps Gnaw Chocolate buy new wrapping machine to exploit smaller-sized bar export opportunity

Norwich-based chocolate manufacturer, Gnaw, is looking to significantly grow its business by launching a new range of healthier option mini bars, in response to the growing trend for impulse-driven chocolate purchases.

The new bars have been hugely successful internationally, especially for Gnaw’s French distributor. To be able to deliver the volume of new bars ordered by Carrefour and the Casino Group, it is going to have to invest in a new flow-wrapping machine.

Because of the nature of the new business opportunity, including significant expansion of the French export business, speed was of the essence, which is where New Anglia Growth Hub stepped in. It has helped to facilitate a 20% part-funding of the new machine, from the Small Grant Scheme. That has enabled Gnaw to go ahead and order the new wrapping machine in good time to meet the increased demand.

The new equipment will be dedicated to the smaller-sized 35g bars allowing its other wrapping machine to continue to run uninterrupted for its larger 100g bars. Gnaw has produced three new flavoured  35g bars – milk chocolate with cranberries, raisins, Norfolk granola, and seeds; milk chocolate with peanuts, Norfolk granola and seeds; and dark chocolate with orange, Norfolk granola and seeds.

Matt Legon, Founder and Director, Gnaw Chocolate, commented, “I have been able to scale-up my production line quickly, and it has freed up my resource to focus on developing our international strategy and negotiating with our international customers rather than having to source finance. Undoubtedly, this has enabled us to act nimbly and take advantage of this valuable opportunity to enter a new sector of the market. Speedy new product development is a critical success factor in our industry and the Growth Hub’s support has certainly enabled us to proceed quickly with our plans.”

Gnaw is the brainchild of Matt and his wife, Teri Legon. After graduating from the University of East Anglia in Norwich in 2005, Matt pursued a career in investment banking in London. He returned to Norwich in 2010 to set up Gnaw, driven by a combination of his love for chocolate and his identification of a gap in the market. Matt believed chocolate manufacturing had become too serious and that people had lost touch with the sheer enjoyment associated with eating chocolate. He saw a market for an innovative, thought-provoking and fun range of quirky chocolate bars where even the packaging would put a smile on customers’ faces!

Nigel Best, New Anglia Growth Hub Manager, said, “Gnaw is a great success story for Norfolk. Its specific challenge was how to manage super-fast growth effectively so that the business didn’t overstretch itself. Matt also knew he had to act quickly to make sure Gnaw didn’t miss out on the great opportunity that presented itself.

“It was very clear from the outset that grant funding would help Matt to fast-track the production and distribution of the new mini bar range, so we suggested that Gnaw apply for 20% part funding from the Small Grant Scheme. For a successful application, a business needs to present a detailed business case to demonstrate how it complies with the criteria. We supported Matt in his submission, helping him to understand the requirements and to be the main interface with the scheme. I am delighted that we have been able to help one of Norfolk’s star companies to grow and prosper. It’s exactly the type of situation that the Growth Hub was set up to support.”

Matt has grown the workforce to 33, as his operation has flourished both in the U.K and overseas.  80% of Gnaw’s turnover is from international trade with the manufacturer now exporting to 20 countries including France, the US, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Japan and China. Turnover in 2017 was £1.3m but, on the back of the new range of bars, it has ambitions to grow that to £4.7m in 2018.

If you are starting up a business and need some help, please contact the New Anglia Growth Hub on 0300 333 6356 or email growthhub@newanglia.co.uk.

Spire Solicitors LLP is pleased to announce they have been shortlisted for two national awards to celebrate their achievements after another successful year. The awards are a part of LawNet and follow on from the firm being crowned Law Firm of the Year in 2017/2018.

Sharron Tennant, Head of Residential Property has been shortlisted for Outstanding Individual Contribution. She has significantly restructured the Residential arm of Spire Solicitors LLP, providing above industry levels of outstanding advice & legal expertise for her area of practice.

The firms Marketing Department has also been shortlisted for Best BD/Marketing for achievements in their field over the last year, including brand awareness and campaigns, following significant team growth in August 2017.

LawNet is innovative and passionate about seeing firms succeed and has developed a wide range of services and initiatives to help members stay ahead of their competition, reduce costs, improve efficiencies and profitability. The ceremony and crowning of the winners will take place on November 23rd, 2018 at the Jurys Inn Hinckley Island.

James Knight, CEO, commented: “It is fantastic to see the hard work and dedication carried out by our teams recognised in national awards. All individuals acknowledged this year have been instrumental in the positive climb we at Spire Solicitors LLP have seen in the level of service we hold closely to our business model”.