Member News

On Tuesday 15th September, 25 leaders of business, education and economic development from across Suffolk and Norfolk attended a business dinner at Aviva’s Marble Hall in Norwich, in honour of a visit from His Excellency The High Commissioner for South Africa, Mr Obed Mlaba.

The dinner, was the finale in one day programme co-ordinated by New Anglia LEP, in partnership with Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils, designed to help forge stronger connections and expand business and educational opportunities between the Eastern Region and South Africa.

Lindsey Rix, Chief Operating Officer of the UK & Ireland General Insurance business, Aviva and Board Member of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, who hosted the business dinner said:

“South Africa is the most developed economy in the continent and there is a very strong appetite for trade, investment and engagement with businesses.

“There is a great deal we have in common. This includes a strong commitment to education, the importance of renewable and offshore energy and developing the green economy. So, His Excellency’s visit was a really exciting opportunity to develop even stronger links to expand our educational, trade and investment potential and cultural opportunities.”

His Excellency said:

“We were delighted to visit the Eastern Region and create fruitful linkages in the areas of education, renewable energy and the ocean economy. South Africa is looking for partners through trade and investment opportunities between South Africa and East Anglia and has created strong connections.”

Suffolk

In the morning, Stuart Bannerman, Director of UCS International at University Campus Suffolk hosted an event for the High Commissioner, which was organised by Suffolk County Council.

This included presentations on Suffolk and Norfolk’s green economy and renewable energy, presented by Johnathan Reynolds of Nautilus Associates and a member of New Anglia’s Green Economy Board.

His Excellency also met with Tim Hunt, Managing Director of the UK University Consortium for Africa and businesses keen to do business in South Africa including Jason Hawkins-Row, CEO of Aponic, which creates vertical plant growing systems, a pioneering fibre optic cable provider and a telecoms planning solutions company.

Norfolk

On his visit to Norfolk, which was organised by Norfolk County Council, His Excellency visited the University of East Anglia’s (UEA) new Enterprise Centre and met with Richard Harvey, Academic Director of Admissions and Internationalisation. The High Commissioner learnt about the work of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change, Ocean Biochemistry and opportunities for forging links between Universities in South Africa and the UEA.

Meetings were arranged with seven local companies keen to expand their trade links with South Africa or start doing business in the country. This included businesses operating in the areas of environment, food, engineering and publishing.

The High Commissioner, who has a keen interest in sport, also visited Norwich City Community Sports Foundation and met David McNally, Chief Executive of Norwich City Football Club.

The scent of the sea, the wind in our hair, the sun on our backs… July 2015 found the JMS team dreaming of luxury, transatlantic cruises. And how could we do otherwise, when working with Imagine Cruising?

After we made their previous TV commercial in 2013, we were more than happy to welcome back top specialist travel agency Accord and their client Imagine Cruising.

We wanted this campaign to capture the way it might feel to leave home knowing you were heading off on a heavenly cruise. It all began with a casting day and a photographic shoot in central London, to select the couple who would be ‘setting sail’. Meanwhile, we got to work designing and building the stylish living room/hallway set, from scratch, in our studio. The shoot day arrived, as did the models, who were filmed ‘going away’ from their specially-constructed ‘home’. And that was it. None of us had to take one step outside of the UK – our editing team worked their usual magic and blended the studio shoot with beautiful shots of the cruise ships and stock shots of their romantic destinations.

Once we’d added the perfect music track and a silky voice-over … well, see it for yourself on ITV and C4 from 7th September 2015 – it’s guaranteed to have you reaching for your passport!

JMS – See the whole world, from our studio!

Norwich Research Park has officially welcomed one of the world’s leading independent seed technology businesses, Germains Seed Technology, to their brand new state-of-the-art laboratory.

The bespoke facility at Centrum, Norwich Research Park’s research, innovation and business hub, accommodates senior members of Germains’ Research and Development team with a strategic focus on the science of seed priming and crop development.

Dr Sally Ann Forsyth, chief executive officer at Norwich Research Park, welcomed Germains to the £11.5m Centrum building saying: “We are delighted Germains Seed Technology has chosen Norwich Research Park as a location to further research seed priming and crop development. This reinforces our global position in creating a unique cluster of business and research organisations with world-leading science credentials.”

“Norwich Research Park provides first-class science facilities and our laboratories at Centrum best-place Germains to carry out their research and development in a supportive agri-tech environment,” said Dr Forsyth.

Germains was acquired by FTSE 100 company Associated British Foods in 1990. In addition to existing Research and Development facilities in the UK, Netherlands and the US, the opening of their latest laboratory and research office further strengthens Germains’ existing links with scientific and business partners at Norwich Research Park.

Senior scientist, Dr Hamad Siddiqui, said: “With our new laboratory at Centrum, Germains benefits from the expertise and technical infrastructure at Norwich Research Park. We already collaborate with the John Innes Centre and we are looking to build new collaborations with other institutions, too.”

Dr. Gerard Mulqueen, European business director at Germains Seed Technology, which operates globally with sites across two continents, said: “This fundamental research facility at Norwich Research Park’s Centrum laboratories is a further enhancement to our product development programme, enabling Germains to continue meeting the future needs of our customers and the industry as a whole.”

Germains joins more than 40 other businesses based at Norwich Research Park including four world-renowned research institutes, the University of East Anglia and the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital. More than 12,000 people work at the site including 3,000 researchers and clinicians. The offices and laboratories at Centrum are well-suited to growing and established science-based companies looking to enjoy the benefits of being located alongside innovative businesses and cutting-edge research institutes at the Park.

Providing industry-leading innovative seed technology, Germains provides value added solutions to maximise the natural potential of seed in the field. As one of the world’s largest independent seed technology providers with a heritage of nearly 150 years, Germains operate globally with sites across two continents. Demonstrating commitment to science and development, work has now started in the new laboratory.

BBA Digital Media had the great pleasure of working with Hatters, Jonathan Trumbell, Ginger & Chadds this summer.

The group were the second independent business from Norwich to join our digital-out-of-home revolution. The intention was to help attract people into all four stores during the busy summer months, helping drive sales of both the new season fashion wear and the summer sales as we approach the autumn months.

The adverts were displayed at two different locations: one being at Carrefour Health & Fitness and the other at 24/7 Fitness at the Riverside complex in front of our 10,000+ strong captive audience. The advert was of static content featuring all four stores and their website details, which was displayed on our eye-catching screens in one of our twelve advertising slots for a duration of 10 seconds every 2 minutes.

The new shared parental leave legislation has been in place for six months now. But a report from the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) shows that while managers are generally supportive of all forms of parental leave, employees are not so confident of their managers’ support.

This new legislation was put in place to help drive gender equality in the workplace, eliminate discrimination around maternity leave and to build employee engagement. So what can employers do to remove any perceived barriers, and to increase the uptake of what is anticipated to be a critical opportunity to enable more women to proceed into senior roles?

1. Demonstrate a clear policy

Make sure your organisation has updated all of its plans and policies to ensure it covers all forms of parental leave. Then make sure this information is clearly shared with all employees through staff handbooks, contracts and any other appropriate internal communication channels. This way your staff will see that you have already considered everything carefully and are prepared to welcome requests to take shared leave.

2. Start planning immediately

Remember each employee must give at least an eight week notice period of their intention to take leave. As soon as someone approaches you, take the opportunity to start planning appropriate cover immediately. This will not only help ensure that you can manage a smooth transition, but also reassure everyone else in the team that any additional work won’t land on them without any planning or forewarning.

3. Decide if the leave can be covered internally

One of the first steps is to establish if appropriate cover can be sourced internally. This could either be done by redistributing the work between the team, or by identifying if there is a suitable employee who can step up into the role or be seconded from another department. If someone does take on the role temporarily, ensure everyone has a clear understanding of the expectations and timescales involved, and of any additional rewards or career progression opportunities which will be available as a result.

4. Decide how to recruit externally

The ILM report shows that currently only a quarter of employers go outside the organisation and use an external appointee to fill the role. However, this option was far more common among small businesses, of which there are many in our region. If you do decide to recruit externally, consider using the support of a recruitment agency, recruitment companies are experts in sourcing flexible, skilled and immediately available candidates. This will provide additional expertise in identifying someone with the skills and experience needed to hit the ground running in a temporary role. It will also help to provide guidance on ensuring all the appropriate regulations for appointing someone on a fixed term contract are complied with.

5. Provide ongoing support

Once the appropriate cover is in place, make sure you continue to provide ongoing support. Check in regularly with those who have taken over any work, and also any team members who may be affected by the change. Remember to ensure that you’ve factored in time for appropriate handovers at the end of the leave, as well as the beginning, to support the employee when they return to work.

Signed England Rugby shirt goes on tour for Norfolk Cancer Charity as World Cup kicks off

As teams for this year’s Rugby World Cup 2015 line up for this autumn’s big international sporting event, next week (Friday 18) fans now have the chance to get their hands on a framed rugby shirt to be auctioned to benefit Norfolk’s Cancer Charity – Big C.

The shirt, signed by the England rugby squad, was kindly donated by accountants M+A Partners who are corporate supporters of the charity and have links with the Norfolk based Youngs family: both sons Tom and Ben are Leicester Tigers hoping to run out wearing the England strip later this month.

“This is a chance for people to have ownership of a piece of rugby history,” said M+A’s business development manager Ryan Nesbitt. “As a firm we are delighted to be strengthening our support for Big C which is providing wonderful help for people of all ages whose lives have been touched in some way by cancer.”

The framed signed shirt is expected to tour through Tom and Ben’s home county touching down in Norwich on October 17th, the starting date of the quarter finals, where it will be auctioned by Horner’s Auctioneers to raise much needed funds to help improve the lives of those affected by cancer. It is hoped that England’s successful winning streak will enhance the value.

“Whether you are a fan of rugby, or know someone for whom this would make a perfect gift, commemorate a celebration or if you just fancy a bit of Rugby history on the wall, this is your chance to get your hands on a great bit of sporting memorabilia. We want to encourage everyone to make a really generous bid,” said Big C’s fundraiser Rachel Francis.

This exciting opportunity to acquire a signed shirt of one of rugby’s greatest teams and support the Big C will be at Horners Auctioneers, Acle, on Saturday 17th October from 10am.

Anyone can be part of the action by joining the live online video bidding link available on the website www.horners.co.uk but for a real slice of the atmosphere go along and feel the auction fever.

“Horners are delighted to be selling such a notable item on behalf of the Big C. The last big find was in one of their charity shops found by a member of staff and verified by us. It fetched several thousand pounds for much needed research and caused quite a stir,” said Henry Horner-Glister.

Brothers Charles and Henry Horner-Glister will be conducting the auction and rallying the bidding to again achieve another splendid result.

For further auction details please give Horners a call 01493 750225.

The framed signed shirt display kicks off at Pilch in Norwich this weekend until September 21.

For further details and to see it at selected venues throughout the county visit www.big-c.co.uk or facebook.com/bigccharity facebook.com/mapartnersuk

Be sure to take a picture of you with the shirt, use the hashtag #rwcshirt and post it to the Big C Facebook page and on Twitter@bigctweets

BBA Digital Media had the great pleasure to work with Sundown & Reload Festival, the first business/event to jump on board our digital signage display networks. The intention was to help increase ticket sales for both festivals, which were held at the Royal Norfolk Show Ground this September. The adverts were displayed at two different locations: one being at Carrefour Health & Fitness, located at Longwater near to where the festivals were to be held. The other screen is located at 24/7 Fitness at the Riverside complex totalling an audience of 10,000+ people. The two adverts, each of a 10 second duration, were taken up by both events in the lead up to the festivals. The eye-catching displays gave details of each festivals line-up and ticket purchasing information.

Leathes Prior is delighted to announce that Sarah Ellero and Claire McCarthy will qualify as Solicitors today, each of them completing two year training contracts with the firm.

We are delighted that Sarah and Claire have accepted permanent positions as Solicitors, having both provided valuable support to their teams since joining the firm as trainee solicitors in 2013.

Sarah will go on to specialise in Commercial Property and Agriculture assisting clients with acquisitions and disposals, landlord and tenant issues, residential and commercial development, commercial leases, investment property, succession planning and agriculture entrepreneurship. Sarah is an active member of Norfolk Young Farmers and is currently Secretary of North Walsham Young Farmers Club. She is also a competitive rower with Norwich Rowing Club.

Claire will qualify into the Private Client Team specialising in Wills, Trusts and Probate, the administration of Estates, Deputyship and Court of Protection applications and lasting powers of attorney. In her spare time Claire enjoys taking part in racing events and is a keen member of Leathes Prior Athletics Club, having run the Norwich Half Marathon for the LP team last year.

Leathes Prior Senior Partner William Riley says “I am very pleased to report that both Claire McCarthy and Sarah Ellero have today been recognised as fully qualified solicitors. Many congratulations to them both. I hope they will both thoroughly enjoy their careers which I have no doubt will be hugely successful, particularly of course as they make the wise decision to pursue them here at Leathes Prior where both have proved an invaluable help already to the teams of which they are part. So, well done Claire and Sarah and good luck for the future.”

The team at Leading UK have today unveiled a unique offer to provide a free business advice session as part of this years’ Norfolk B2B exhibition. Jamie Playford, Director, confirmed that business owners who wish to start, grow, change or improve their business can benefit from a confidential session with one of our Business Advisors. The session is designed to provide objective advice and practical solutions to deal with any business critical issues that you may be facing as well as help you plan for the future.

The Norfolk B2B exhibition takes place at Norwich City Football Club on 15th October between 10am and 5pm. You can register to attend the event by visiting the Norfolk Chamber Website: https://wp-stage.norfolkchambers.co.uk/

Interested parties can sign up for their free advisory session either on the day by visiting our stand in the Advice and Finance zone. Alternatively, please call us on 0800 246 1845 or visit our website: www.leading.uk.com

From manufacturing and engineering to marketing and digital creative more than 100 businesses in Suffolk and Norfolk have been awarded grants worth over£10.7m, from New Anglia’s flagship Growing Business Fund.

A total of 114 companies, across all districts in both counties, have secured grants to help them boost productivity and create jobs. The funding has helped with capital projects such as new premises and production lines and paid for equipment and tools, IT software and marketing campaigns. The funding is set is to create a total of 1,384 jobs over the next few years and will unlock £60.3m in private match funding.

The fund, which was launched in April 2013, offers grants of between £25,000 and £500,000, representing up to 20% of the expansion costs and must create one job for every £10,000 awarded. There is also a Small Grants Scheme which offers funding from £5000 to £25,000.

Chris Starkie, managing director of New Anglia LEP said: “The LEP’s primary focus is to help drive the economic growth of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Growing Business Fund is key to that ambition and not only supports SMEs to thrive and create jobs, but helps them to unlock further private investment which would not be available without our financial support. In two years this fund has already beaten its predicted job target and through our Growth Deal with Government we have additional funding enabling the programme to run until 2021.”

Norfolk Case Study

Krusty Loaf Bakery, with branches in Fakenham and Holt, Norfolk, has secured a £50,000 grant from the Growing Business Fund which will help build a new production line in Fakenham creating five new jobs. Bakery manager, Nick Henry, said it greatly supported the company’s expansion plans.

Nick said: “We’re really excited about the future. The New Anglia grant will help us to build a new production bakery in Fakenham, which will be completed in 2016. It will also enable us to employ a further five new people and will have a really significant impact on our business, which supplies our products to a wide variety of outlets including pubs, hotels, farm shops and tourist attractions throughout the area.”

Nick heard about the Growing Business Fund from New Anglia’s Growth Hub, which offers free support for new and existing businesses across Norfolk and Suffolk.

Suffolk Case Study

Ultra Precision based in Haverhill, Suffolk, has secured three grants from the Growing Business Fund amounting to £135,000. The precision engineering company makes components for a range of industries including aerospace, robotics and motorsport.

Geoff Quick, Managing Director of Ultra Precision said: “The grants from the Growing Business Fund have really helped drive our growth.”

“We can now invest in the latest technologically advanced equipment to make our processes faster and more efficient. This will deliver opportunities to be more competitive in a global marketplace and we aim to employ a further 10 people over the next two years to achieve our goals. “

For further information on Growing Business Fund please go to www.newanglia.co.uk/business-support/ or call the New Anglia Growth Hub on 0300 333 6536

Kerry Flower, Head of Human Resources with the winner of the Outstanding Progress and Achievement in Engineering award, Dylan Taylor, at City College Norwich’s annual Further Education Awards. KLM UK Engineering were proud to have sponsored this award and congratulate Dylan.

The Grange

Immaculate self-contained office suites available on first and second floor of substantial Victorian building set in quiet location and two minutes drive from the Norwich ring-road. The Grange stands in pleasant grounds with a view of parkland, has secure car parking and a private gated drive.

Office space is bright, modern and fully flexible. Office space is computer networked throughout and is available with or without modern office furniture and storage.

All enquiries to Laura Chandler:

email: laura@hatching-eggs.com

tel: 01603 482444/488340