Member News

THE DIAL HOUSE 

We’ve been up to all sorts over the last few weeks. Our bar is open – Adnams are kindly helping us with the finishing drinkable touches this week and Andrew and Dan are working on a small snacks menu to compliment our cocktails – and dreams … The handmade gold Cellar table in our private dining space for 12 is in and looking proud, we’ve soundproofed the chef’s table room so you can watch the chefs squirrelling away – without the language! We’ve launched spa treatments – for residents and this week for locals too as we open our dedicated beauty room.  We’ve also launched a brand new website. Take a peek here … www.thedialhouse.org.uk

This month we’re ready to announce our calendar line up of new demonstration events and also launch the Dial House Christmas Hampers featuring all our local super suppliers. 

The Dial House Christmas Hampers have landed! The Dial House Deluxe hamper will be on sale from October onwards and features treats from our local suppliers in a Dial House wicker hamper – the perfect local gift for loved ones. 

Our Dial House Grand Hamper can be ordered this month until the last week of November and can be collected from us in a carefully packed apple crate on the mornings of 22nd or 23rd December and will feature the same treats as the Deluxe hamper plus key players for the perfect Norfolk Christmas – including a beautiful free-range turkey, local cheese, Norfolk cider, award-winning sausages and a smoked gammon for Boxing day PLUS an optional upgrade of a black winter truffle  – all provided by our favourite suppliers at The Dial House and Farmyard, and including our own Christmas pudding. Keep an eye on our social media for the full list of suppliers. If you love local then you won’t want to miss this.

Order in-house this month via 01603 879900 or email info@thedialhouse.org.uk

Get your diaries out: We’re launching a series of Dial House demo events. . . 

Monday 8th October

Dahlia masterclass with Jo from Constance Rose florist. Half a day including coffee and biscuits and a two-course seasonal lunch. Walk away with a new found expertise and your own beautiful display in a container provided by our retail arm Objects. 10 am – 14.30. £90 a ticket.

Wednesday 17th October

Christmas pudding workshop with Exec Chef Andrew Jones. Half a day including coffee and biscuits and a two-course seasonal lunch. Walk away with a load of expert tips from the kitchen and your own delicious handmade pud. 10 am – 14.30. £60 a ticket.

Wednesday 21st November

Clever canapés class with Exec chef Andrew Jones. Half a day including coffee and biscuits and a two-course seasonal lunch. Walk away with party prep expertise from Andrew and your own delicious handmade canape selection. 10 am – 14.30. £60 a ticket.

Friday 7th December

Christmas wreath masterclass with Jo from Constance Rose. Half a day including coffee and biscuits and a two-course seasonal lunch. Walk away with a very cool new skill and your own huge door wreath. 10 am – 14.30. £110 a ticket.

Wednesday 6th February

The perfect date … Chocolate making masterclass with Exec Chef Andrew Jones. Half a day including coffee and biscuits and a two-course seasonal lunch. Walk away with a desirable new skill and your own box of handmade chocolates. 10 am – 14.30. £60 a ticket. 

 To book call 01603 879900 or email info@thedialhouse.org.uk

Prosecco and shopping 

On the first Friday of every month we’d like you to stop and shop with us. We’ll be handing out a glass of prosecco between 4 and 6 pm for all those who fancy a browse of our objects for sale downstairs and also up in the Green Room boutique with Jo. Starting Friday 5th October and ongoing!

Open House Shopping event 

Thursday 22nd November 

5 pm onwards. To include Christmas shopping, music, Objects, Greenroom clothing boutique, wine tasting with our wine supplier Rob in the cellar, our pastry chef Zoe making festive treats in the aga room and a grand tour of our bedrooms 

Our 8 boutique bedrooms now feature complimentary white company products . . . 

Book a room directly with us and you’ll receive a complimentary cream tea during your stay as well as the usual handmade biscuits and whiskey or port residents nightcap. When booking dinner in advance you can also take advantage of 3 courses for £25 too. With state of the art sound systems in each room and marble bathrooms with trench showers and roll top baths, can you really afford not to visit?

FARMYARD

Introducing the Farmyard feasting Menu

LONG LIVE BEEF WELLY! We’ve launched our Christmas menu and we’re extremely pleased to say that from 27th November and through all of December we’ll be creating sharing style Beef Wellingtons. It’s been an ambition of mine for a while to feature a few impressive feasting dishes, Henry VIII style, so I’m keen to kick it off with these. ARE YOU GAME?  It can’t happen yet because we’re waiting for the first frost to officially kick off game season … but when it does, I’ve got plans for a pheasant Kiev on the menu … Keep a beady eye on social media for the launch.

NEW LOOK LUNCH We’ve relaunched our lunchtime offering this month – it now features special wines by the glass and a regular steak frites appearance. Two courses for £15 and three for £19. Carafe of wine also available.   Don’t forget we’re also open for theatre dining from 5.30pm with our new set menu. So, you can have a light supper and be at the Theatre Royal in time for curtain call.

Exec chef – Andrew Jones

Lincoln-based Terry Peachman’s team have been named one of ten runners-up awarded for their forward-thinking proactive service.

Terry, who has been operating as a TaxAssist Accountant since 2002 and looks after more than 550 clients from his two offices in Lincolnshire was thrilled to be recognised in this global contest.

“It is fantastic that our practice has been recognised on the global stage.

Our entire business now revolves around QuickBooks, having decided two years ago to embrace new technology and adopt it as our primary choice of software.

We have seen a complete transformation in our practice, which is why I decided to enter the contest.

“We have found that cloud technology has enabled us to offer enhanced business support and advice that delivers better value for money for our clients, as well as time savings and greater efficiencies in terms of staffing in the practice.

Our client numbers are consistently increasing, and by getting clients using QuickBooks as early as possible, we will ensure we are ahead of the game for the staging dates of ‘Making Tax Digital’.

“Another bonus to using QuickBooks has been the increased appeal to millennials. Not only have we seen an increase in younger clients, but the practice has benefitted when it comes to staff recruitment, helping us to attract and retain a younger workforce.”

Group Commercial Director, Daren Moore, said: “Technology is integral to the future of accountancy and, because TaxAssist Accountants is a market leading network, we have embraced and championed a comprehensive software estate, of which QuickBooks forms a key part.

“Congratulations to Terry, who has been an early adopter and exponent of all the benefits cloud technology offers, and is now, along with his clients, reaping the benefits.”

Now in its fourth year, the Firm of the Future contest invited bookkeeping, full-service accounting and tax firms in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and, for the first time, India, to showcase how they see the value of the cloud, serve as a trusted advisor to their clients, and grow their practice with modern marketing techniques.

Ariege Misherghi, global leader of Intuit’s Accountant Segment, Small Business and Self-Employed Group, said: “Each firm’s submission clearly highlighted both how they embrace new technologies and ideas, and just as important, that they recognize that this is what will drive their firm and clients forward to greater success.”

REGIONAL SCHOOLS COMMISSIONER TO

SHARE INSIGHT IN IPSWICH

MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST BOARD MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES ATTENDING

Vertas Group Limited, and its specialist education support company Schools’ Choice, will jointly host its first education conference aimed at trustees and board members of multi-academy trusts.

Education leaders from across the region are keenly awaiting a keynote speech from Regional Schools’ Commissioner Sue Baldwin, where she will share her view on the strategic role of trustees.

The event, which takes place at Wherstead Park in Ipswich on 15th October, also sees the launch of a network for trustees, aimed at supporting strong governance, sharing best practice and assisting those new in post.

It is recognised that the role of trustees carries more responsibility than that of a governor; this conference aims to provide expert opinion to support trustees with these additional accountabilities. Delegates will hear about ethical leadership from Leora Cruddas, CEO of Freedom and Autonomy of Schools National Association, and legal responsibilities of board members, from Roger Inman, Stone King LLP.

In addition, there will be a question and answer session with a panel of experts and opportunities to attend these workshops:

     Understanding your Financial Responsibilities within a MAT

     Ensuring Educational and Commercial Performance

     Accountability and the Scheme of Delegation

     Recruiting and supporting the CEO

     Setting a communications strategy

     Intentional Culture Design.

The event will also showcase the total facilities management offer from Vertas, from innovative recycling and waste management to grounds design and maintenance, and allow guests to sample their catering offer with creative hospitality.

Places at the conference are limited; interested multi-academy trust board members and trustees can email communications@schoolschoice.org for more information.

 Julia Dolan, Head of Schools’ Choice said:

“We are delighted to be part of the conference – the first event of its kind in the eastern region. We recognise the importance of trustees and the positive impact they can have on the children and young people within their Trusts. The conference will support their development.”

Ian Surtees, Chief Executive Officer at Vertas Group Limited, said:

 “This is a first for the Vertas group and we are very much looking forward to hosting senior leaders within the education sector. We are already a significant provider of education services across the region, working with approximately 400 schools and colleges. Since School’s Choice joined the Vertas group we have strengthened the relationship we have with multi-academy trusts and been able to offer them complementary services.”

Making connections

You can’t get two places much farther apart than Great Yarmouth, a small coastal town in Great Britain and Tauranga, one of the largest cities in New Zealand.  When TVC received an enquiry for our ColcheK2 system from Tauranga Council, we were a little surprised but wholly delighted!

At 168 km2 to our 10.08km2, around 16 Great Yarmouth towns would fit inside Tauranga’s city limits. Despite our latitude and magnitude differences, Tauranga does have its connection to our little seaside town here in the UK. Tauranga has an oceanic climate like Great Yarmouth. Our small town, however, cannot be described as sub-tropical! Whilst our average humidity levels are in the same region – Tauranga at 85.5% and Great Yarmouth at 81% – our summer temperatures don’t come close to the stunning weather in New Zealand in the spring. With Greater Tauranga being a popular tourist destination, both places see their populations swell during the summer months as holidaymakers descend upon them. Whilst we may not have any mountains with waterfalls and lakes, we do have popular beaches and natural attractions.

The main similarity we have, however, is that all local people and holidaymakers, need to be kept safe during their day-to-day activities and at public open-air events. Tauranga City Council is responsible for around 530km of roads and approximately 700km of footpaths, cycleways and access ways and this means, along with numerous other duties, they are tasked with an incredible number of lighting columns to maintain.

Safety doesn’t happen by accident

If you have thousands of steel lighting columns and you want to check they’re safe, how do you do it? A visual inspection can give you an indication but only above ground. It’s highly likely that a lighting column will look to be in great condition above the surface, but below ground, corrosion could be affecting the foundations, and hence the stability and safety, of the lighting column. So, if you want to inspect below ground level, what are your options? You could set about digging up every column, but the costs are going to be astronomical and it’s not effective time management, not to mention the disruption it will cause to citizens and businesses.

Therefore, you need something that will be quick, accurate and portable which also minimises disruption, labour and costs. This is where TVC’s ColcheK2 system comes up winning. It’s compact and hard-wearing and designed specifically to detect corrosion in steel tubes such as lighting columns. The system is deployed from outside the column and a small internal search head detects losses in wall thickness from ground level to a 750mm depth below ground level. The critical area of any planted steel column is from ground level to approx. 200mm below ground. Water, road salt, other chlorides and oxygen from the air combine to make the area at, or just below ground level, a highly corrosive hotspot. This is the area most at risk from corrosion and is the highest stress point in the whole column. The vast majority of column failures and collapses happen in this small area. ColcheK2 easily covers this entire area accurately, giving reassurance that the column is in good condition (or otherwise) in this high failure area.

TheColcheK2 has an optional ultrasonic range finding system to accurately feedback the search head depth inside the column. This feature is unique to the ColcheK2. The operator can locate and identify the depth of an actual defect and its significance to within 20mm of the defect depth.  Using the normal access door, the ColcheK2 scans this critical area and the remaining below ground section of the column, giving an instant reading of the percentage loss of wall thickness.

As the majority of TVC equipment can be bespoke-fitted with optional requirements, it is generally built-to-order so upon receiving approval from Tauranga Council, we set about manufacturing the ColcheK2 for them. The unit was delivered recently and within a week of receipt of the unit, we received an email from the council to show us exactly what they’d found.

They had this to say:

“…NDT kicked off today and we found our first faulty pole – showing 90% loss (see Image A)…Excavations validated our findings…[using] a shovel to strike the column face, firstly above ground level- no damage, then below ground, to check for the level of corrosion (see Image B).

This is good news as it clearly shows the value of this testing.”

Have You Got Your Marketing Budget Right?

Businesses on average will spend upto 11.4% of their total company budgets on marketing.

With statistics as high as this it is essential that you ensure your company that your marketing budget is optimised to your business objectives and goals.

At Netmatters, we have created a handy new tool to help businesses review their current marketing budget.

Our Marketing Budget Calculator

We have created our free to use marketing budget calculator. This has been created to help provide guidance on what budget your business will need, to align your marketing budget with your specific business goals and targets.

We’ve made it easy for you to determine whether you are getting long term value from your current marketing budget. All you need to do is fill out the fields in the marketing calculator with information about your values and goals and it will provide you with figures you should be considering for your marketing spend to achieve the amount of new customers from your marketing efforts.

Visit our Marketing Budget Calculator today and see what your current budget will potentially bring to your business, you can find our calculator on the following page https://www.netmatters.co.uk/marketing-budget-calculator

As Norfolk businesses ready themselves for Talking Tech 2018, we take a look at the growing technological trends in exhibitions & event marketing.

Once an industry thought killed off by advancing technology we explore some top trends which continue to augment the industry and provide ever more intriguing ways to harness the power of exhibitions.

Do you think technology will remain a servant or become a master in events…and will you & your events evolve in time?

‘Expect Extraordinary’

image-display.co.uk

Be a part of something amazing! The GoGoHares may have left the streets but now it’s the time when we need some serious attention from the business community.  It’s your chance to secure a permanent reminder of the 2018 sensation which has delighted people all summer by brining fun, education and creativity to Norfolk. Norfolk children’s charity Break organised the GoGoHares sculpture trail in partnership with Wild in Art. As Break move into their 50th year, they are as reliant as ever on an amazing network of people, companies and organisations who support their work though volunteering or fundraising.  The money raised by the GoGoHares trail will help fund the vital work carried out by Break’s Moving on Team across East Anglia, supporting vulnerable young people live independently after leaving the care system.  The GoGoHares auction will take place at the Forum on Thursday 11 October, doors open at 6pm and will be presented by the charity patron Jake Humphrey.  

There are two ticket options to choose from:

Reception Ticket – £30pp

These tickets will grant you access to the downstairs atrium in the Forum where you can have a closer view of the Hares as they go under the hammer, and enjoy drinks and canapes. Buy your tickets here!

Balcony Dining Ticket – £25pp (+ £14.95pp payable to Pizza Express on the night)

These tickets give you a bird’s eye view of the evening from your own table in Pizza Express.

Each person will need to order food from the Pizza Express set menu priced at £14.95pp. This does not include drinks. Buy your tickets here!  

Each ticket includes a GoGoHares Auction Guide, and will grant you access to the auction preview on the morning of the auction 10.00 – 14.00. For more information, please visit www.gogohares.co.uk

CITY HARES

We are pleased to announce that the team from TW Gaze will be running our auction at the Forum in the evening of 11th October, where 50 City style hares will be sold under the hammer. We are also pleased to announce that Easy Live Auction will be running the online bidding during this live event.

Auctioneers Mike Sarson and Elizabeth Talbot will be sharing the evening auctioning off the 50 lots. Elizabeth is also known for featuring in Cash in the Attic, Antiques roadshow road trip, Flog it, Bargain Hunt and Celebrity Cash in the attic.

City hares stand 1930mm tall and 1127mm wide.

COUNTY HARES

The following county hares will be part of an online auction separate to the main event on 11th October.

51 Humphrey Hare 53 Chrome Hare 54 Ketts Oak 55 Harleston Hare 57 Lancaster 58 Slalom Sally 59 Sydney Long Ears 64 Kicks 66 GoGo Hareatio

County hares stand 1600 tall and 896mm wide.

BIDDING ON THESE HARES IS LIVE NOW until 2.30pm 11th October.

BID ONLINE HERE

All the proceeds will go to Break to support their ongoing work with young vulnerable people across East Anglia.

With grateful thanks to TW Gaze who are organising and running our auction, supported by Easy Live Auction who will be running the on-line bids.

Click here for the full Terms and Conditions and Conditions of Sale for the GoGoHares Auction.

TimeNorfolk, the pregnancy loss charity, has seen their dreams of helping to refurbish a bereavement room at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital move a step closer after successfully obtaining a £2,500 charitable grant through the Closer to You programme, by Ecclesiastical Insurance Group.

The charity supports women and men who need support following a pregnancy loss, such as miscarriage, stillbirth, termination for abnormality, termination and infertility. Also for those facing an unplanned pregnancy or other pregnancy related issues. The bereavement room will be designed to offer a more appropriate environment for families to spend time following a loss or death.

The grant was awarded to the charity after local independent insurance brokers, Alan Boswell Group, made the application on their behalf.

TimeNorfolk director Lesley Bradfield said “We hadn’t even been aware of the Ecclesiastical programme so we are very grateful to Alan Boswells for bringing it to our attention. This grant will make a huge difference to the project which we hope will be underway soon.”

The Closer to You programme give Ecclesiastical’s insurance broker partners the opportunity to be part of its ambition to give £100million to good causes by 2020. Lee Boswell, Marketing Manager at Alan Boswell Group, explains their reasons for choosing TimeNorfolk: “We really wanted to find a project where this money could make a substantial difference. We’re really hoping that the money will give TimeNorfolk the base required to help towards the refurbishment of a new bereavement room. It would make a real difference to the hospital and, of course, to the families that need to use it.”

TimeNorfolk’s Norwich centre opened in 1999 and quickly grew to cover the whole of Norfolk. They have four part-time staff and approximately 25 volunteers.

If you need support following a pregnancy loss or other pregnancy related issue then you can call TimeNorfolk on 01603 927487 or visit their website www.timenorfolk.org.uk

Not-for-profit small and medium-sized enterprises will soon be invited to apply for grants of between £1,000 and £7,500 to offer innovative employability training courses helping residents in the Great Yarmouth borough.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s new Inclusion Project will assist long-term unemployed and economically inactive residents who face complicated life challenges and who are most disconnected from community support, including from entry-level training, volunteering and work placement opportunities.

As a key part of the initiative, which is funded by the borough council and the European Social Fund, the council will be making available £120,000 over three years to not-for-profit SMEs in order to develop employability services that address gaps in the training currently available and meet residents’ needs.

Eligible applicants can be based anywhere in the UK, but must deliver their proposed new services within Great Yarmouth’s communities and be prepared to match-fund their requested grants, either from other funding sources or in kind.

As the other element of this project, the council will work individually with 242 people of working age, living in the borough’s most challenged wards, who are identified as furthest from the jobs market, including the long-term unemployed. They will be connected to support that meets their specific needs, either the new courses or existing services.

Eligible enterprises interested in finding out more about the grant opportunity are invited to the project launch, which will take place at St George’s Theatre, on Wednesday, September 19, from 11.30am to 1pm. They can also contact Tracey Read, Inclusion Project Coordinator, via tracey.read@great-yarmouth.gov.uk or 07468 764753.

Cllr Andy Grant, chairman of the housing and neighbourhoods committee, said: “We have secured this valuable funding from the European Social Fund, via the Department for Work and Pensions, to complement our wider nationally-acclaimed work with partners to strengthen communities, build connections and improve life chances for all.

“This is a great opportunity for not-for-profit SMEs to be part of this exciting work and to help drive towards inclusive economic growth in the borough by assisting those furthest from the workplace into training, education, volunteering and ultimately jobs. We would like to invite any eligible SMEs interested in finding out more about these exciting grant-funding opportunities to attend the launch or get in touch.”

European Social Fund

The Inclusion Project has received £342,332 of funding from the European Social Fund (ESF) as part of the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme in England. The Department for Work and Pensions is the Managing Authority for the England ESF programme. Established by the European Union ESF funds help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, skills development, job creation, social inclusion and local community regenerations.  For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding

We are proud to announce that we are working closely with the team at Advice to Buy (https://advicetobuy.com/) to create a new, bespoke website and spread their presence widely online. Advice to Buy are business consultants who specialise in assisting people looking at purchasing a business in the UK and abroad. With more than 35 years of experience in helping people realise their business goals, aims and dreams, Advice to Buy bring a lot to their industry.

Having approached us with virtually no online presence, no brand and no digital marketing, we have been helping Advice to Buy pursue their business goals and dreams of attracting users and clients online.

Issues We Have Tackled

Having no online presence whatsoever meant that the concept of Advice to Buy, as well their reach was non-existent online, beyond their existing connections. Therefore, we worked to implement the following with the team at Advice to Buy:

• New Website – Without a website, the offering of Advice to Buy would be severely limited. Therefore, we worked with our design and development teams to design, create an implement a fully responsive and rigorously designed website with a content management system (CMS), made easy to use for the client
• Branding and Design – Having a distinctive, professional and clean brand image is always important and we have worked together with both our design team as well as the team at Advice to Buy to create a professional brand for the client
• Social Media Profiles – Another important aspect of being present online and promoting a business to potential customers is the use of social media platforms. In the case of Advice to Buy, as a company aimed at professionals, LinkedIn has played (and continues to play) an important role in gauging client interest and attracting new leads
• Search Engine Optimisation – A core part of the strategy with Advice to Buy is the use of Search Engine Marketing, also commonly known as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). By working to get Advice to Buy higher up the rankings organically [on Google Search], more users are exposed to their brand, helping propel their business further

We are looking forward to continuing our work and progress with the team at Advice to Buy. With a lot planned moving forward, Advice to Buy are very much on the ascendancy and well on their way to online and digital success.

Why do our training?

Do you work within an organisation where you are responsible for creating video content or do you think you should be creating some?

Whether you are a beginner or already have some experience, our workshops are designed to help you to develop your skills.  Not only will you leave with the ability to keep on producing engaging video, you will have produced a short promotional film as part of the training that you can use straight away.

“As a scientific research institute, we have a unique set of challenges to communicate very technical, applied science to a broad community. To help us do this more effectively, we enlisted the help of Eye Film to train our Communications and Engagement team in how best to tell complex stories through film. Cameron and Charlie came on-site and delivered 2-days of high quality training including a range of tips and tricks in both filming and editing, that immediately improved the content we were producing. The training was also suitable to allow us to pass on this knowledge to a number of people across the organisation, meaning the skillset of many more people than just those there on the day, have been raised.” Andrew Lawn, Digital Channels Specialist, John Innes Centre

Our next course is running on Tuesday 2nd & 9th October in Norwich. For more information and to book your place go to https://www.eyefilm.co.uk/projects/videotraining/ or call us on 01603 727750, it would be great to talk to you.

The Maids Head Hotel in Norwich, which claims to be the oldest hotel in the UK, with its story dating back to the first Norman Bishop of Norwich, is offering a choice of three or four night Festive breaks.

Christmas at the Maids Head features culinary feasts prepared by award winning Head Chef, ‘Magic’ Marcin Pomierny and his talented brigade, along with the warmest of hospitality and lots of entertainment.

The hotel is perfectly located in the heart of Norwich, with the Cathedral directly opposite. Guests can attend Midnight Eucharist on Christmas Eve and services on Christmas Day.

Walking tours are on offer with experienced City of Norwich Tourist guide, Paul Dickson. Enjoy People and Places, Colegate and Elm Hill on Christmas Eve, exploring an area bursting with the history of Norwich. Then on Christmas morning, it’s a short stroll round Tombland discovering the stories of this ancient part of the city.

There will also be magic, music and a Gala Dinner Dance and casino night, along with the option to watch Aladdin at The Theatre Royal on Boxing Day.

T. 01603 209955, www.maidsheadhotel.co.uk