Member News

Bluemoon Investigationsare a long established company, specialising in covert inquiries for both public and private concerns. From providing evidence to the court in cases of fraud, to tailing cheating spouses across the globe, Bluemoon have had over thirty years experience in getting to the truth. They also run a College training people how to become professional private investigators. They came to Naked Element with a desire to have a better and more efficient client-facing web presence for the College.

SEO specialistSean Clarkhad been working with Will Clayton, Director ofBluemoon, to improve their web search rating, and recommended Naked Element to him for a new website. “Our old website wasn’t branded, slow and not working for us, we needed a whole new design to improve communication, speed and our web presence to potential business.” Our designer Shelley took on the challenge and worked closely with Will to get the result Bluemoon wanted. “The process was easy and straightforward – Shelley made design suggestions, and we approved those we liked, and the build was quick and painless! We’ve received prompt help and support for the small changes we’ve requested since the site went live too. There were some style changes I wanted to make, which Shelley explained could be difficult, but Naked Element worked hard to resolve them and give me what I wanted.”

The result is a responsive website that welcomes potential clients and provides Bluemoons’ service details in a clear and user-friendly way. From Shelley’s point of view the process was mostly plain sailing. “The only challenge I had was super tiny – it was to do with text layout on one page. Most people approach web design like magazine design (which has a fixed size and layout), so they assume you can be pixel perfect. Due to different screen sizes, that’s not always possible, but there are always workarounds so it was a case of trying to get the right balance across all screen sizes.”

“Will can be a bit of a perfectionist, which is really nice actually – he’s not at all picky but is great at noticing detail. Working with him was nothing but a pleasure.” And from Will’s point of view? “I haven’t had to be involved much with Naked Element in all honesty – the whole process has been painless and relatively easy, which is exactly how it should be.”

Does your business use interpreters, translators or other language skills? Do you market your products and services internationally?

Our member Sprowston High School are looking for business people to share their experiences of using different languages in business with Year 9 students. They are at a crucial point in their academic career to decide whether to continue with language education, and we would like to show them some of the uses in their later career.

Venue:Sprowston Community High School, Cannerby Lane, Sprowston, Norwich NR7 8NE

Date: Any Friday sometime between 9:15-12:30

Timings: 30min/1 hr session, flexible

Please contact Elinor Goodhead on elinor.goodhead@norfolkchamber.co.uk to participate.

East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) is appealing for businesses to help them achieve their vision to transform children’s palliative care across Norfolk and reach more families at a time they need it most.

EACH cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across East Anglia and supports their families. The charity has outgrown it’s current hospice in Quidenham – restricting the care they are able to offer. The nook appeal aims to raise £10 million to enhance these services, including a purpose-built hospice called the nook.

The building at Quidenham is old and the charity can’t develop the site more than they already have. EACH believes families in Norfolk need to receive the very best services and to do this they need a 21st century building to provide 21st century care.

The nook will be five-miles south of Norwich and provide a central hub, serving families across Norfolk with specialist care both in the hospice, the family home and community.

The new hospice will offer services unavailable or extremely limited at Quidenham including a hydrotherapy pool, music studio and larger and more accessible outside space.

There are plenty of ways your company can support the nook appeal and help families at an unimaginably difficult time:

Sign up for the nook business network and join more than 30 local businesses who have already pledged to raise money Partner with EACH and choose the nook appeal as your charity of the year

For more information on the nook appeal please visit www.each.org.uk or contact Norfolk@each.org.uk.

Alan Boswell Group, one of the UK’s largest independent insurance brokers and financial advisers, today announced that it has acquired S-Tech Insurance Services Ltd.

Founded in 1982, S-Tech provides guidance on insurance to both businesses and individuals and has more than 65 employees based at its head office in Cambridge. S-Tech will retain its name and all staff as an ongoing enterprise.

The acquisition sees gross written premium for the expanded group rise to £82m, while the Norwich-based firm will see staffing numbers exceed 300 people.

“We have been actively looking to broaden our reach into Cambridgeshire and S-Tech is the perfect fit. The company shares the same values as us, providing expert, friendly advice to its clients. But S-Tech also offers the group something new, because it specialises in technology and science, research and development and credit insurance,” said Alan Boswell, Executive Chairman. “I’m particularly pleased that we have been able to secure S-Tech’s independence, which is a rarity these days.”

Shaun Walker, founder and CEO at S-Tech, added: “We are delighted to become part of Alan Boswell Group. The sale provides security for our staff and enables us to grow our business in our chosen sectors under our existing brand and management.

“I’m sure both our existing and new customers, professional networks and introducers will continue to benefit from the group’s commitment to customer service – a key driver in reaching this agreement.”

Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers directors, Chris Gibbs, Alastair Drew and Alan Boswell will join Shaun Walker, Desmond Matthewson and Laurence Hill, on the board of the new company.

Here at Norwich Print Solutions we are excited to announce the launch of our brand new website!

Our aim was to create an engaging and user friendly site which clearly demonstrates the wide range of exceptional value, high quality products and services we offer. Please do take a look at www.norwichprintsolutions.co.uk.

To celebrate its launch, we are offering the chance for you to win a bottle of fizz! It’s so simple to enter – all you have to do is enter your name and email into our contact formand quote ‘Website launch competition’ as your message. The winner will be announced Monday 28th November 2016. Terms and conditions apply.

Nine more business women have graduated from the highly successful Women’s Leadership Programme, run by professional recruitment specialists Pure to help support more women across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire to develop their leadership style and progress on to more senior roles.

First established in 2014, Pure runs the Women’s Leadership Programme twice a year in conjunction with strategic HR consultancy People & Performance. It is designed to help organisations across the Eastern region to create a balanced talent pipeline and to ultimately achieve inclusive leadership at both executive and board level. This year’s programmes have coincided with the government announcing that the next review on improving female representation in leadership positionswill have an increased focus on getting more women into the senior managerial jobs below board level.

Lynn Walters, co-founder and director at Pure, said: “There has been a refreshing emphasis on people talking about increasing the number of female leaders, rather than just women on boards. This hasn’t just been from government ministers looking at large multinational organisations but also from many high-profile people in our region. For example, Richard Tunnicliffe, Director of CBI in the East, recently called on businesses of all shapes and sizes to look beyond boards and to help more women progress from entry-level to senior management positions. I completely agree. As a region, we need to take steps to build a pipeline of women progressing into leadership roles. This is the core reason we created this programme in the first place. Diversity is widely understood to be fundamental to the sustained growth of any business and having a more balanced talent pipeline will lead to increased future profits and help boost our regional economy.

“While it is fantastic that there are more female non-executive directors in the boardroom, the very nature of their roles makes it harder for them to be role models, as they are less visible within the organisation. This programme works with the organisation to develop inclusive talent and succession planning strategies, as well as removing any potential barriers or unconscious bias that could be preventing more women from progressing. It also supports women to become authentic and effective leaders.”

The latest business women to graduate from the Women’s Leadership Programme will join a growing alumni network of delegates, and their business sponsors, across the region. Research on the graduates from 2014 and 2015 showed that out of the 48 participants, over half have increased responsibilities within their existing role or have progressed on to more senior roles.

A special graduation event was held for the nine women at Swynford Manor in Newmarket on Thursday 10 November. The delegates and sponsors heard from guest speaker Jane Cooke, who up unto recently was HR Director of Abcam, and who has seen the organisation grow from around 50 to over 2,000 staff globally. She talked about maintaining an authentic approach, the importance of mentoring, and looking for opportunities to say yes to new projects and experiences.

Lynn Walters added: “Congratulations to all the latest graduates. I hope the programme will help them on their own personal journey to becoming some of the best business leaders of the future. I would also like to thank the employers who have sponsored our latest graduates. They are leading the way by taking proactive steps to develop their female talent and to examine their overall progression pipeline.”

The Women’s Leadership Programme includes four days of facilitated learning and two individual coaching sessions focused on building confidence and a plan, increasing strategic awareness and influence, and being effective and authentic leaders. The first Women’s Leadership Programme of 2017 will take place in January and March. For more information visitwww.prs.uk.comor email Lucy Plumb atlucy.plumb@prs.uk.com.

Pure has collected 622 shoeboxes filled with Christmas presents and essential items which will be distributed to children in need around the world as part of Operation Christmas Child by Samaritan’s Purse.

Not only did team members at the professional recruitment agency fill their own shoeboxes, they also ordered extra shoeboxes from the charity and encouraged other businesses across the Eastern region to get involved.

Joseph O’Sullivan, Manager of Pure’s Norwich Office, where the campaign was launched, explained: “At Pure we pride ourselves on supporting our local community and charity initiatives like this. As well as filling up shoe boxes ourselves, we decided to make it as easy as possible for other local people to get involved. We set up our offices as easy, central points for people to pick up or drop off shoeboxes, and arranged for members of our team to collect the boxes where needed.

Paul Sheldrake, Manager of Pure’s Ipswich Office, which supported the initiative as part of the #IpswichBig10 anniversary campaign, added: “We’ve been overwhelmed with the support we’ve received and have collected far more boxes than we ever could have hoped for. They may only be small, but they will have a big impact by providing gifts and much-needed items to children who may not receive anything else this Christmas.”

Each shoebox is filled with Christmas gifts, selected to suit a boy or a girl within age categories ranging from two to fourteen. They have also been packed with essential items such as hygiene products and school supplies. All 622 shoeboxes have now been passed to Samaritan’s Purse which will deliver them to children around the world this Christmas, including communities in need in countries across Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Leading UK insurance broker Alan Boswell Group has been shortlisted for a top prize at the Landlord & Letting Awards 2016/17, which celebrates excellence in the private rental sector.

The company has been nominated for the Supplier of the Year Award because of its market-leading landlord insurance and commitment to superior customer service. The winner will be revealed at a ceremony at The Ricoh Arena in Coventry on November 29, where the Landlord of the Year and Letting Agent of the Year will also be named.

Mark Hutchinson, Director of PropertyNet.Media, which manages the event, said: “The Landlord & Letting Awards are the premier nationwide private rented sector awards in the UK, and it’s great to be able to recognise and reward the best in the industry. We congratulate Alan Boswell Group on being shortlisted and wish them every success for the next stage of the judging.”

Alan Boswell Group’s Director of Personal Lines, Heath Alexander-Bew, commented: “We’re proud to be one of the finalists and feel it reflects our dedication to delivering outstanding customer service. We’re really looking forward to celebrating our success at the ceremony – and are hoping that we get to take home the winner’s trophy!”

Norwich Research Park scientists have won a prestigious international award for a breakthrough that could help the fight against antibiotic resistance.

Prof David Russell from University of East Anglia’s School of Chemistry, in collaboration with Prof Rob Field from the John Innes Centre, were recognised for their method of performing a rapid diagnostic test to quickly identify bacterial pathogens.

At an award ceremony held at the Royal Society in London, the team was presented with a prestigious Longitude Prize Discovery Award which supports the development of a diagnostic device for anti-microbial resistance (AMR), one of the biggest challenges facing modern medicine.

Based on dipping a tiny sample into a solution of sugar labelled with gold, the system provides a quick diagnosis, with results being indicated by a rapid colour change. The simple ‘dipstick ‘ test is much faster than existing methods of testing, removing the need to send samples on for laboratory testing and allowing much faster decisions to be made about appropriate antibiotic treatment.

Profs Russell and Field started the company Iceni diagnostics, a joint spin-out from the John Innes Centre and the UEA based at the Norwich Research Park’s Innovation Centre, in 2014 in order to explore the potential of this new technology. They received seed funding from Iceni Seedcorn Fund at end of September as well as becoming a member of the socond cohort of Archant’s Future 50 .

They are one of 12 winning teams who will use the prize to develop their technology and compete for the coveted Longitude Prize, a challenge with a £10 million prize fund to reward a point of care diagnostic test that most fully addresses the global problem of bacterial antibiotic resistance.

Prof Russell said: “We are delighted to be awarded this prestigious, highly competitive award. This discovery award has given us further motivation that we are working on an important international medical problem and heading in the right direction to try and solve the problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.”

Prof Rob Field said: “It is great to receive recognition for our efforts to take basic science through to potential products for medicine and agriculture. The JIC-UEA team have been working on these topics for more than ten years, but it is with the establishment of our joint spin-out Iceni Diagnostics that we began to achieve the necessary momentum to translate academic discovery into end-user devices”

UEA vice-chancellor Prof David Richardson said: “Winning a Longitude Prize Discovery Award is a significant and prestigious achievement for Professors Rob Field and David Russell and all the team at Iceni Diagnostics.This is a young spin-out company from UEA and the John Innes Centre undertaking vital applied research to help healthcare professionals diagnose whether an infection is caused by bacteria or viruses within just 15 minutes. The benefits of this research are considerable and range from human health to agriculture.”

Prof Dale Sanders, director of the John Innes Centre said: “This award recognises the great potential of Professor Field and Professor Russell’s research. Once developed the diagnostic could dramatically reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics, helping to address the global threat of drug-resistant infections which are killing up to 50,000 people every year in Europe and the US alone. We are proud to host Professor Field’s laboratory at the John Innes Centre and congratulate him and the Iceni Diagnostics team on winning this award.”

For more information about Iceni Diagnostics visit: https://www.icenidiagnostics.com

As all our blinds are hand made to your measurements here in Norfolk, we can take bookings quite close to Christmas and still get them fitted for you in time for the big day!

If you wouldlike yournew blinds fittedbefore Christmas, you can order any timebefore 12th December. As you can see from the list, this date applies for venetian, roller and vertical blinds.

You will need to book an appointment for the measurements to be taken, and to discuss designs.

The easiest way to book is toclick here and book onlineor phone 01603 334047.

If you order after this date, we will make an appontment to install your new blinds in the New Year

Alternatively, vouchers make an unusual Christmas Gift, especially if the recipients are moving house or redecorating.

If you catch us onSmall Business Saturday(3rd December) you can buy a £100 voucher for just £50!

Come along to one of ourNorfolk showroomsfor a personal chat.

Would you pay an extra 8p per week to help fund your policing service?

A message from your Police and Crime Commissioner, Lorne Green:

As your PCC, I am responsible for setting our county’s policing budget, and with it, how much you contribute through council tax.

60% of Norfolk’s policing budget is funded by the Government; your council tax contributionmakes up the rest. With such a significant contribution coming from your pocket, I’m reaching out to all Norfolk residents for their views before I take my budget proposals to the county’s Police and Crime Panel early next year.

Please spare a few minutes to have your say. Takemyonline survey by Friday 9 December.

If you’d like a hard copy of the consultation information pack and survey sent to you, or require the information in another format, please get in touch.

You can also share your views by telephone on 01953 424455, by email toTellLorne@norfolk.pnn.police.ukor by writing to me at OPCCN, Building 8, Falconers Chase, Wymondham, NR18 0WW.

Read the budget consultation information pack

Take the online survey now

Production Bureau recently scoopedtwo Awards at the EVCOM Live Awards heldat Supernova inLondon.Pb were successful in two categories, AV/Production Supplier and Use of Venue. The Awards recognised the company’s execution of the Doosan Global Business Forum, held during July atThe Gleneagles Hotel . Pb transformed theresortstennis centre into a high specification conference space for the prestigous event.

Their reputation fordeliveringsuch creative production for a wide variety of high profile events during 2016, hasseen Pb togrowtheir team significantly. The company now employs 60staff across two sites in Norwich and Edinburgh.