Member News

Jim Crawford, currently Station Director for Sizewell B power station has been appointed as Project Development Director for EDF Energy’s Sizewell C project.

The new role takes effect from 1 March and will see Jim take responsibility for leading the Sizewell C project to a successful final investment decision and into construction.

EDF Energy’s Paul Morton takes over from Jim Crawford as Sizewell B station director. Paul has a long history with the energy sector and joins Sizewell B from EDF Energy’s Cottam power station in Nottinghamshire.

Speaking about the appointment Jim Crawford said: “I have been proud to be station director of Sizewell B. The station had a record year of power production in 2015 and has saved some 126 million tonnes of carbon dioxide since it started operating in 1995.

“Sizewell C provides a great opportunity to build on this, to provide more local jobs, more contracts for UK businesses and more opportunities for young people in education whilst delivering power generation for 5million homes for 60 years.”

Paul Morton said: “Sizewell B is a fantastic power station with a great track record. I am delighted to take on this new role and am looking forward to getting to know the team at the station and the local community.”

Jim Crawford was appointed Station Director of Sizewell B power station in March 2010 following two years as the stations Plant Manager. Jim graduated in 1979 from Strathclyde University with a degree in Chemistry and was awarded an MBA in 2001. He has been in the nuclear industry for 36 years with the last seven years based with his family in Suffolk.

Paul Morton brings 25 years’ experience in the power industry and has worked for CEGB, PowerGen, EON and EDF Energy at High Marnham, Ratcliffe, Connah’s Quay, Enfield, Grain (Oil & CCGT) and Cottam.

Sizewell B delivers safe, reliable power to over 2million homes and businesses every day and is on track to have a ‘breaker to breaker’ run of generation over the last 18months. Which means non-stop electricity was delivered to the grid between the maintenance outage in 2014 until the next outage in April 2016.

Sizewell B achieved a UK industry record in 2015 by delivering 10.45TWhrs of power generation. The station will operate until 2035 but this could be extended by 20 years.

The station is a key employer in the eastern region bringing some £40million pounds each year into the local economy. Over 550 people are directly employed at the site on the Suffolk coast with a further 200 carrying out contract roles.

Sizewell C is a proposed new nuclear power station that would be built to the north of Sizewell B on the Suffolk coast. It would have two reactors, known as UK EPRs, capable of generating enough electricity to supply around five million homes. The project would create 5,600 jobs during peak construction and 900 jobs during operation. EDF Energy has completed the first stage of consultation on the project.

Cottam and its sister station West Burton A are coal-fired power stations near Retford in Nottinghamshire, capable of generating enough electricity for approximately 7.5 million UK homes. Cottam is a 2000MW station which began generating power in 1969 and employs 220 people and around 175 contract partners

TaxAssist Accountantsare helping OPEN Youth Trust (OPEN) on Bank Plain, Norwich, to explain the world of tax to its young people as part of the charity’s Life Hack workshops.

Robin Johnson who runs TaxAssist Accountants, based on Aylsham Road, Norwich, provides a wide range of accountancy services including tax returns, annual accounts, payroll and bookkeeping and is part of the largest network of accountants offering a wide range of experience and expertise to over 59,000 small businesses right across the UK.

Ally Flatman, OPEN’s Youth Project Officer, explained that the Life Hack sessions prepare young people to find their own way in life – doing the shopping, washing and tidying, budgeting and understanding banking or insurance. “Explaining the basics of tax to a group of teenagers could be exceedingly dull, but TaxAssist make the sessions interactive and interesting, so much so that we tend to lose track of time.”

The sessions include an explanation of PAYE, tax codes, NI, pay slips, payroll, self-assessment, sick pay, maternity and paternity pay, pensions and the difference between PAYE and self-employment.

Robin Johnson, Director of TaxAssist in Norwich said: “Working with these young people keeps me on my toes as they ask far more questions than any of my clients. None of them had any idea about tax so it’s great that OPEN gives them opportunities like this to learn about something that will impact on their working lives so much in the future.”

John Gordon-Saker, CEO of OPEN, is very grateful for TaxAssist’s support and generosity of time: “By bringing in professionals our programmes are given added credibility. Not only have TaxAssist supported our ambition to get every young person who comes through our doors into work, but they have also sponsored our own first apprentice youth worker and I hope they are the first of many Norfolk businesses who will want to help us make a difference to young lives through enlightened social responsibility.”

SaxonAir Charter Ltd, one of the leading UK based private air charter companies has invested in enhanced training for their crew on in-flight health and safety. The training ensures all staff on board are able to better deal with any illness or injuries that may arise mid-flight, in addition to their standard crew training.

The course was held by MedAire, a health and safety company for crew of airlines in business aviation and yachts, and the crew qualified after a period of intense training at Inflite Jet Centre, Stansted Airport. The course taught crew members the skills to successfully and confidently respond to medical events before, during and after a flight, integrating first responder training with the medical kits that are available on board an aircraft and is taught by instructors from medical, triage & aviation backgrounds.

Phil Stead, Head of SaxonAir Crew Training says ‘I believe it is accepted by the pilots and cabin staff that following attendance of the MedAire course, they are now better prepared to meet today’s increased demand for passenger safety and welfare in addition to SaxonAir’s ongoing commitment to enhancing training requirements to facilitate a safer and more acceptable environment for our clients.’

In addition to the course, SaxonAir made it their highest priority to purchase defibrillators for their longer range aircraft ensuring maximum safety to all passengers and crew. This is not a standard requirement in the industry so the company is proud to be one of few to have invested in this equipment. Pilots and flight attendants of SaxonAirs midsize & heavy jet fleet are now proficient in dealing with illness and injury in many areas including; CPR techniques and AED use, hypoxia signs and response, altitude physiology & trauma management.

Norwich Research Partners LLP has appointed Paul Reed as its new financial controller.

Home to over 40 science and technology based businesses and covering 230 hectares, Norwich Research Park is dedicated to developing a thriving science and innovation park by supporting start-up businesses and attracting a range of organisations involved in science and technology.

Mr Reed, who joins the team from the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association brings with him an outstanding wealth of accountancy experience, gained working for a diverse range of major East Anglia-based businesses.

Paul said: “It is wonderful to be at the centre of such a forwarding-thinking organisation that is dedicated to supporting innovative developments. Having previously worked for start-up and corporate organisations, I can very much identify with challenges both new and established businesses face.

“I am absolutely delighted to join the team and finding out more about life here at Norwich Research Park.”

Norwich Research Park chief executive officer Dr Sally Ann Forsyth said: “Financial controller is a pivotal role and we are really pleased to welcome such an experienced financial manager as Paul to our senior team. I am very much looking forward to working with him.”

Tax Assist Accountants are helping OPEN Youth Trust (OPEN) on Bank Plain, Norwich, to explain the world of tax to its young people as part of the charity’s Life Hack workshops. TaxAssist Accountants, based in Aylsham Road, Norwich, provide a wide range of accountancy services including tax returns, annual accounts, payroll and bookkeeping and are part of the largest network of accountants offering a wide range of experience and expertise to over 58,000 small businesses right across the UK. Ally Flatman, OPEN’s Youth Project Officer, explained that the Life Hack sessions prepare young people to find their own way in life – doing the shopping, washing and tidying, budgeting and understanding banking or insurance. “Explaining the basics of tax to a group of teenagers could be exceedingly dull, but TaxAssist make the sessions interactive and interesting, so much so that we tend to lose track of time.” The sessions include an explanation of PAYE, tax codes, NI, pay slips, payroll, self-assessment, sick pay, maternity and paternity pay, pensions and the difference between PAYE and self-employment. Robin Johnson, Director of TaxAssist in Norwich said: “Working with these young people keeps me on my toes as they ask far more questions than any of my clients. None of them had any idea about tax so it’s great that OPEN gives them opportunities like this to learn about something that will impact on their working lives so much in the future.” John Gordon-Saker, CEO of OPEN, is very grateful for TaxAssist’s support and generosity of time: “By bringing in professionals our programmes are given added credibility. Not only have TaxAssist supported our ambition to get every young person who comes through our doors into work, but they have also sponsored our own first apprentice youth worker and I hope they are the first of many Norfolk businesses who will want to help us make a difference to young lives through enlightened social responsibility.”

Vote before midnight on Sunday 28 February for Norfolk’s Rachel Duffield to be crowned the VisitEngland/ Daily Mirror Tourism Superstar 2016

We’re down to the last few days of voting in this year’s Tourism Superstar award, run by VisitEngland in conjunction with the Daily Mirror. Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse Learning Officer, Rachel Duffield, has been on the campaign trail now for the past six weeks, to bring back this prestigious award to the county.

Rachel, a.k.a. ‘Moaning Martha’, is one of 11 nominees across England and the only one from the East of England. She needs your vote to win the award. Please vote for Rachel / Martha here by midnight this Sunday, 28 February:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/travel/british-breaks/vote-now-visitengland-tourism-superstar-7164018

As ‘Moaning Martha’ she’s been entertaining and informing visitors to Gressenhall for the past seven years with grumbles and gossip about workhouse life – all in authentic Norfolk dialect. She’s even been on a workhouse diet for a month! You can meet Rachel/Martha in the nominees’ film at the link above, and in a series of very funny YouTube clips called ‘Woss in my baag’: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCutYGra0qZOtrpagOyEfFNA

You can tweet about Rachel’s nomination by using #TourismSuperstar and @moaning_martha

With tourism one of the major industries in Norfolk, it would be fitting for Rachel to win the award and to help publicise the fantastic tourism offer in the county.

Norwich based legal IT solutions firm, Tiger Eye, has announced a 12 month sponsorship of the tiger keepers at Banham Zoo in Norfolk, as part of celebrations to mark the company’s 10th anniversary.

Banham Zoo currently has two Siberian Tigers, also known as Amur tigers, which are the largest of all the big cats. It is thought that there are currently just 360 Siberian tiger in the wild.

Tiger Eye will provide support for the zoo’s team of cat keepers in their vital work with this endangered species. Banham Zoo’s tigers, Kuzma and Sveta, are part of an international breeding programme.

Managing director of Tiger Eye, Dave Wilson, said “Our company name provides an obvious connection to the tigers, but there is far more depth to our reason for wanting to support these incredible creatures. We have long admired the impressive work that The Zoological Society of East Anglia (ZSEA) undertakes at Banham and Africa Alive in Suffolk. As a local business, we were very keen to pledge support for their important tiger conservation programme, which is part of an international effort to hopefully enable these amazing animals to survive long into the future.”

Martin Goymour, CEO of ZSEA said “I’d like to offer my thanks to Tiger Eye for sponsoring the tigers at Banham Zoo. Without the support of companies like Tiger Eye, our vital work looking after the animals in our care and at conservation projects worldwide would be put at risk. With only 360 Siberian Tigers thought to remain in the wild, they are one of the world’s most endangered species. It’s thanks to Tiger Eye and all of our generous supporters that we are able to continue our work to help protect them.”

Founded in 2005, Tiger Eye uses cutting edge technology to provide advanced document management solutions for clients, in the legal, financial and professional services sectors. The company’s clients include Birketts LLP and Hammerson PLC. By streamlining a company’s digital assets, including data, emails, records, images and media, users on and off-site are able to have greater control over company information, meet stringent compliance regulations and improve business efficiencies.

For more information, please visit www.tigereyeconsulting.com

February 2016

Norwich based training business finalist for National safety achievement award

Norwich based training provider Shield Health & Safety has beaten stiff competition to be shortlisted as a finalist for the RTITB Partner Achievement Award 2016.

Only 20 training providers from across the UK were selected as finalists out of nearly 450 eligible work place transport training companies. Shield Health & Safety was shortlisted following an assessment of several criteria such as business growth, feedback scores from trainees and results from their training audits.

“The RTITB Partner Achievement Awards 2016 were created to reward forklift truck training providers for their dedication to high quality training,” says Laura Nelson, Managing Director of RTITB, the UK’s leading workplace transport training accrediting body.

Craig Hillam from Shield Health & Safety says “Being shortlisted for the Partner Achievement Award has emphasised the determination the team at Shield has, in achieving a high standard when it comes to machine training. We are humbled by the fact that we have been trading for only a short time and yet have been recognised by our accrediting body, the RTITB in achieving this nomination. We look forward to celebrating with the other nominations soon.”

The results of the awards were announced at the finale of the RTITB Partner Conference held at The Mere Golf Resort in Knutsford, Cheshire. The winner of this prestigious award received a luxury, all-inclusive holiday for two to Barbados. The first runner up received £2000 worth of shopping vouchers and third prize got £1000 shopping voucher.

“The winners will gain recognition and acclaim from the industry,” says Laura. “However, we will also celebrate the hard work and commitment to quality training that all our RTITB partners provide.”

For more information on Shield Health & Safety please visit www.shieldhealthandsafety.co.uk. Alternatively, to find out more about RTITB training visit www.rtitb.co.uk or call them on +44(0)1952 520200

RTITB (formerly the Road Transport Industry Training Board) has been synonymous with high quality training in the transport, warehousing and logistics industries for over 50 years.

RTITB provides businesses with effective tools to train people and supports them to ensure the training is delivered correctly.

We believe passionately in the role that training plays in improving safety and increasing efficiency in the workplace. Some 175,000 professionals from these industries attended RTITB courses last year. The company accredits 600 sites across the UK and Ireland for the delivery of materials handling equipment training and manages the largest Driver CPC Periodic Training consortium in the UK. RTITB also operates dedicated services for transport, warehousing and logistics instructors including an instructor training academy, online shop and professional register.

Visit www.rtitb.co.uk for further information.

National Employee Motivation Day takes place this week (Thursday 25 February) with the aim of inspiring organisations to put staff motivation at the forefront of business thinking. The key message of the day is that increased employee motivation has a powerful impact on a businesses’ bottom line and the economy overall. As strong advocates of employee engagement, of which employee motivation is a significant element, we wholeheartedly agree. Here’s just some of the key reasons why:

Higher revenues and GDP

This is the second year National Employee Motivation Day has taken place. It was originally created by Argos for Business in response to a 2015 survey which showed that over half of the UK’s employees regularly felt demotivated at work. But using the findings of a Kenexa study, Engage for Success has highlighted that if the UK were to increase its employee motivation and engagement levels to be in line with other European countries, such as the Netherlands, this could be associated with increased revenues and growth leading to a £25.8bn increase in GDP.

Improved productivity and performance

Motivated employees are more productive. They have more enthusiasm and drive to finish projects and play their part in making the business a success. They invest more of themselves in their work and strive to do better which results in higher quality work. They also work more efficiently and with greater levels of collaboration, creativity and commitment, all of which has a positive impact on the bottom line.

Better customer service and staff advocacy

Engaged employees will be stronger advocates of their organisations and help protect the employer from the reputational risks associated with poor service levels or product quality. The more motivated an employee is, the more likely they are to be customer focussed. They will have the patience and willingness to go the extra mile to deliver the best possible service, and a happy customer is a returning customer.

Lower turnover and absenteeism costs

Motivated employees are more committed and therefore more likely to stay with an organisation, increasing your employee retention figures, helping you keep hold of top talent and reducing the costs involved in recruiting and training new staff. Higher levels of employee engagement also impacts positively on levels of absenteeism as many sick days are not taken because an employee is unwell but because they feel undervalued, demotivated and disengaged.

Increased innovation

The more motivated employees are the more they will feel empowered to drive innovation. This needs to be fostered through the creation of a workplace culture in which they have the opportunity to put forward ideas which could be the key contributors to market differentiation and growth. Given the chance, motivated employees could provide creative solutions to improve the customer experience and boost profitability or offer inspired marketing ideas to help build the brand.

Boosted morale

By increasing employee motivation you will create a workforce which is proud to be a part of your organisation and which is inspired to do their best. They will care more about the future of their organisation and put in greater effort to helping meet its objectives. It only takes one de-motivated person to have a significant impact on the morale of an entire team, reducing this level of inspiration and effort in the business.

Do you know how motivated and engaged your employees are?

If you would like to find out more about how motivated your employees are then take a look at our Best Employers Eastern Region initiative which includes a completely free employee survey on a company’s culture and values, and the impact this has on engagement and the way in which people perform.

Experienced Accounts Administrator Required – Thunderbrook Equestrian Ltd

Term: Permanent

Hours: Full Time

£18,000 to 22,000 (salary dependant on experience)

We are a small but rapidly growing animal feed business looking to expand our team and recruit a full time Accounts Administrator. Your role will involve mainly working in Finance, using SAGE Line 50 software. You should be able to cover all aspects of day to day company book keeping. This position offers the potential of career progression with our company, as we expand, for the right individual.

Company in Griston (IP25 postcode), near Attleborough require an experienced Accounts Administrator in the following areas:

Sage Line 50. Bank reconciliations. Microsoft Excel. Sales, purchase ledgers and journals. Able to work independently. Credit control. Answering calls and placing calls when necessary Excellent communication skills both written and verbal

All interested applicants should email a CV and cover letter. No phone calls please

info@thunderbrook.co.uk

Sports for Schools run athlete-led physical activities events to inspire children to participate in more sport, raise money for PE equipment in schools (over £1.75m to date), and support GB and Olympic athletes financially. They partner school groups with athletes to motivate and encourage children to enjoy being active and boost confidence. The company’s current system was labour intensive and needed a smoother, more integrated booking system. Naked Element’s developer Matt Wells explained “staff had to schedule the time-table for the whole of the following term manually, relying on their knowledge of athlete & school locations and resolving any issues raised by changes in availability and double bookings etc. As the following term approached this would eventually lead to a very labour intensive, ‘big-bang’ scheduling activity.”

“Naked Element implemented a brand new event scheduling system to automate and improve what was originally a manpower intensive, spreadsheet based process. The new System provides a web interface that enables Sports for Schools Athletes and Sportivaters to manage their own availability and always gives them an up to date view of their future events.”

[Athlete Page Rachael Latham] “The majority of the functionality however is tailored for Sports for Schools staff. This enables them to view a list of the closest athletes/sportivaters to a given school (in real-time whilst they are on the phone to that school). Once they’ve selected the appropriate candidates it then indicates their availability and also shows when they are already scheduled on other events nearby to minimise travel time between events. The date can be selected and the athletes/sportivaters assigned at the same time.”

The project was not without its hurdles though! A flexible, two-way integration with the existing CRM was required, to enable staff to stay in control of their own data. “We took a pragmatic approach to solve this issue” Matt says “one that focused on the needs of the administrative staff. Rather than being prescriptive about when and what they were allowed to do, we gave them the tools to move data between the systems and ensured that they had a good understanding of how and when to use (and not to use) those tools.”

The software also required extensive use of 3rd party mapping and geocoding APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), which can prove costly. Naked Elements’ initial solution was to use Google APIs “but it soon became clear that the number of calls necessary to the APIs exceeded Google’s free usage quotas and even the entry level licensing costs were understandably much too expensive for our client.”

“We therefore ported the whole system to use some similar MapQuest APIs. However, this caused a number of issues because the postcode coverage of the MapQuest APIs was significantly poorer than those of Google. In the end we required a more complex technical solution under the hood which used the MapQuest APIs, but was capable of falling back on the Google APIs for postcodes that MapQuest struggled with.”

Michael Ledzon, director of Sports for Schools, was impressed by the speed at which Naked Element were able to determine what was required. He initially decided to work with Naked Element because he was aware of our background, education and experience. The requirements capture was “excellent and straightforward”, which was something that was important to Michael. The cycle of development was efficient too, in no small way due to the effective communication between Naked Element and Sports For Schools. “Naked Element was able to understand our requirements and beaver away – we never felt we had to chase for anything. They drove the project and made sure it all happened in a timely manner. I have been involved in projects that have been the opposite.”

“The end product is very intuitive and clean and that’s been really good. They captured our requirements and turned it into something easy and useful. All the users love it and I’ve had other companies ask who we got our system from!” So when asked if he would recommend Naked Element?

“Absolutely. In fact I already have!”

Digital Marketing agency, Bigfork, have designed a new website for the leading East Anglian independent property group – Arnolds Keys. You can read the full website design case study on our website here.

Bigfork – we make websites stand out t:01603 513080