Member News

We would like to invite Norfolk Chamber Members to join us at our next seminar :-

Friday, 12 July 2013 – 8:45am to 10:30am

Norwich Seminar – Friday 12th July 2013

Investment: Managing Risk in the New World Order

We’ll be running two sessions, one at 9.00 and another at 12.30 – each will qualify for 1 ½ hours of CPD for both Solicitors & Accountants.

Places are limited so please confirm your place at www.chadwicks.co.uk or call me on 01603 251687

Of value to both professional advisers and private clients, our seminars aim to give you a good introductory understanding of issues underpinning some of our more important financial decisions. The tone is relaxed but professional and discussion among the group is encouraged. Richards curiosity & passion makes a potentially humdrum subject engaging and thought provoking.

This month we are focussing on the financial crisis and how it exposed shortcomings in financial risk management. We will look at new approaches that build on the experience of the last few years and introduces behavioural finance as an explanation for some of the problems we have faced.

Starting by looking at how we make decisions, we will use a behavioural approach to explain common investment mistakes and how we can be better prepared to avoid them. We will also look at effective ways of using technical analysis to improve risk/return ratios before considering how we can apply this to reduce downside risk.

By the end of the session you will have a better understanding of your own investment decisions and share our healthy cynicism towards much of the fund management industry’s marketing hype!

We expect each seminar to last around an hour and a half with a further 30 minutes for questions and discussion. Chadwicks are approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority as accredited CPD providers.

A light lunch or breakfast will be available.

The seminar is free of charge but places are limited.

The seminars are held at our offices where there is ample free parking.

For more details and to register please visit https://www.chadwicks.co.uk/contact-us/seminar-registration/ or call me on 01603 251687

These days the majority of us are growing ever more conscious of the need to control our businesses better. Unfortunately, watching doesn’t always mean knowing.

Psychologists state there are 2 ways to watch something – ‘overtly’ and ‘covertly’. Research concludes that the winning modern businesses will be those who are transparent in both their purpose and their method in overt observation. In watching in the open, so everyone knows the who, what, when and why.

Taking this approach, why might you choose to track your people or your products?

There are obvious ones:

• Saving money on unnecessary worker or logistic costs
• Being billed for hours that haven’t actually occurred
• Knowing where and when your workers clock in and out
• Access to work records, tasks done and hours accrued
• Ease of reporting, pulling down information and collating time sheets
• Seamless integration with payroll systems
• As evidence for customers or clients paying for your service

They’ll be others of course depending on your industry, but proof of time and attendance systems are meeting a growing need to keep a tight rein on company finances. Those workers who resist or resent the integration of these systems might be seen to be those likely to abuse existing in-house systems that rely on trust.

Essentially, a business that integrates tracking saves money. When all is said and done, money that stays in the business means the business can stay in business, keep their staff and move forward.

If you’re left standing still by money lost in inefficient systems then that’s exactly what you’ll be left with – a business that stands still.

For more info on how NFC tracking can help YOUR business, click to view our site

Lucas Hickman Smith designed four affordable homes for Saffron Housing Trust at Colton near Marlingford. The site is on the southern edge of the village with views out across open countryside as it falls away to the Yare valley, and is also very prominent in the approach to the village from the south. The design took this view as its starting point.

The massing and broken roof line of the four houses are designed to emphasise a slight rise in the land on the approach along the Barford Road from the east, and the steep pitch ensures that the pan-tiled roofs are the dominant element in the composition when viewed across the fields from the south. Construction materials are locally appropriate – pan-tiles, red brick, black weather-boarding – but the buildings are clearly contemporary.

Detailed design for the project was led by LHS, working to Wellington Construction under a ‘design and build’ contract.

More info on our website here.

Ashton KCJ hosted its first Charity Golf Day at Weston Park Golf Club near Norwich on 19 June.

19 teams took part in the highly successful ‘Midsummer Golf Classic’, raising funds of just over £1,900 for three charities which Ashton KCJ is supporting through a Charity of the Year partnership – Nelson’s Journey, Macmillan and Magpas.

The event brought together a wide range of businesses and professionals from Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The day included a 9 hole Texas Scramble and putting competition, followed by an 18 hole competition in the afternoon. The weather was unusually kind, and the players enjoyed a long sunny afternoon’s play on the excellently maintained course.

The winners of the 18 hole competition were HSBC, with Shorthose Russell taking second place and Churchgate Accountants coming in third.

In the evening, guests were treated to a three course dinner and prize giving ceremony, followed by a short presentation by Colin Lang, Chief Executive of Nelson’s Journey. The Norwich-based charity provides bereavement support to children and young people who have lost someone close to them, such as a parent or a sibling. We were also delighted to welcome Martin Goymer, who owns Weston Park, as a guest at the dinner.

Thanks go to everyone involved in helping to raise such a substantial amount of money and to Chris Ginn at BDO for his generous donation of a signed Nottinghamshire County cricket shirt as a raffle prize.

Following a strong third year of growth for Big Sky Additions we are very pleased to announce that we have secured the services of Tina Maguire.

Tina will be working in partnership with us continuing to provide an unrivalled level of industry knowledge and exposure to the Norfolk Accountancy market. Recruiting across all sectors at all levels from clerical to Senior Qualified both Temporary and Permanent staff we are a whole service specialist Accountancy Search & Selection Agency.

Norwich-based telecoms company, Comms Supply, has enjoyed a storming start to the year. May 2013 was the company’s single busiest month in terms of sales, where an impressive £78,000 worth of new business was achieved; far exceeding the targeted £45,000. Furthermore, within the first week of June 2013 alone, sales more than doubled May’s entire month: June’s current figure stands at £175,000. Since launching in early 2012 Comms Supply has been on a constant upward trajectory in attracting new business and increasing monthly turnover. In May last year, the company’s annual turnover was £68,000; it is now £1million.

Along with a core business base within East Anglia, Comms Supply has clients across the UK, including Devon, Manchester and Yorkshire. In Norfolk, Comms Supply is proud to work with Nelson’s Journey, Air Livery, Seajacks, NWES, The Forum, East Anglian Air Ambulance and Blue Sky Leisure, and many others.

Commenting on Comms Supply’s recent performance, Karl Alderton, managing director, said: “Comms Supply has been in business for over a year now, and indicators suggest we’re well on our way to achieving our two year target of £2.5million turnover. Part of this key growth is around our new hosted solution which is works really well for businesses of all sizes and all sectors; from companies with just two users to thousands of users. Our hallmarks are straight talking, honesty and always putting the customer first – even if that means making a smaller than possible individual sale. In the long run this adds up to building a positive reputation, earning recommendations and attracting more new business. We’ll only ever recommend straightforward and effective solutions based on what the client needs, nothing unnecessary.”

In June 2013, new starter, Rhys Alderton, joined Comms Supply, bringing the staff total to six. Rhys will be working as part of the support team, training to support on technical solutions and provisioning.

Comms Supply provides a wide range of business telecoms services: from comprehensive phone, mobile and broadband packages to simple line rental; with an aim of delivering innovative and flexible communications solutions that really help businesses to thrive. To find out more or to arrange a business telecoms audit please call 0333 2020 900 or visit www.commssupply.co.uk.

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Amber Davis at Plain Speaking PR 01603 487 291amber@plainspeakingpr.co.uk

Monday 24th June 2013 – BBC Watchdog find the best UK Airport currency prices at Norwich A recent BBC Watchdog survey of currency exchanges at fourteen UK airports highlighted ICE PLC located within the terminal building at Norwich International Airport as offering the best airport rate of those surveyed.

On the day of the BBC Watchdog investigation (Monday 3rd June 2013) £500 could be exchanged for 560 Euro’s at ICE Norwich compared to the lowest offering of 510 Euro’s at another UK airport bureau.

Tom Johnson, Head of Online Business at iceplc commented “We work hard to keep our prices fair and as competitive as possible. Consumer champion Which? recently price-shopped our airport rates and found them to be consistently the best over a six week period (Which? Money report June 2013).

“Our online services are the most cost-effective for us to deliver and this is reflected in the highly competitive rates we are able to offer, which are consistently amongst the best in the UK. We were voted best online travel money provider in a Which? consumer panel this year (Which? Travel report March 2013). We know that convenience is key for customers which is why we offer a number of choices to enable travellers to buy currency at market competitive rates, when it suits them whether online in advance, in branch or last minute at the airport. Our Click & Collect voucher service offers customers discounted rates on Euros and US Dollars at some of our key branch locations when collecting in-branch, including various departure venues across the UK including Norwich International Airport.

For more information on ICE PLC please visit www.iceplc.com

Ends

1. Whatever your mobile strategy – whether for publicity, increasing traffic to your site or as a direct push for sales- build your efforts around the mere 2-3 seconds you have to make an impact to potential customers. Tailor the balance between being clever and straight-to-the point to reach the targets you need.

2. If you know your market, find out how they like to get their information. What kind of information are they looking for and how do they prefer it to be displayed? Do customers respond to infographics and clever design or are the technical details more important? Find their preference the best you can and match your message. Not sure? Consider feedback plug-ins for your site, launching polls on your twitter and facebook pages and reviewing your website’s analytics for click-throughs and interaction.

3. Remember your market may be engaged in other activities whilst reading your message. They’re also looking at a smaller screen, so keep everything small and ready to read without the need for lots of scrolling. This definitely means not TOO much text!

4. An effective headline. Like a good email subject line, it’s crucial in grabbing the attention. Once again, keep it short, sharp and to the point. You don’t have time to waste on words that don’t hit the mark.

5. Give customers something to engage with. Getting your customer to interact with you builds loyalty. If you get them to ‘do’ something to get your special offering, then they are more likely to repeat the action another time (as long as the ‘push’ results in a win/win situation) So suggest they click or text to vote, enter a context, get a coupon, download, request info etc. Get them to flex their fingers and opt in.

6. Encourage sharing. Most apps have this feature built in. Can you offer them something to help them spread your word? What freebie, discount, or special mobile giveaway would appeal to them?

Integrating even just a few of the above points with a test, learn, refine approach to your mobile marketing, whatever your strategy, will give it great potential.

New to Norwich, Think Mobile Media makes fantastic apps, QR codes and mobile websites that grow your business. Geraldine is a partner at the firm and for full details on how we could help your business please view our site here

Energy firm Proserv, which recently took on the Great Yarmouth based subsea controls subsidiaries of Weatherford, has strengthened its global position after acquiring the engineering business Velocious.

The deal for the company, based in Perth, Australia, will see Proserv integrating more than 20 members of staff specialising in intervention, tooling, engineering innovation and project management into their business.

Established in 2006, Velocious has been involved in providing innovative solutions to some of the most demanding projects faced by oil and gas companies across the globe. The company specialises in the subsea domain with intervention on subsea production equipment being a particular area of strength.

Delivering innovative solutions to clients operating in the subsea space relies on the multi-disciplinary team of engineers at Velocious and their very significant knowledge and experience.

Velocious has a strong track record for oil & gas project management and has worked for a host of international companies.

The deal comes six months after Proserv acquired US company Total Instrumentation & Controls (TIC), taking on its 300 members of staff. In addition, Proserv also took on Weatherford’s subsea controls subsidiaries in Great Yarmouth during 2012, adding a further 300 staff to the company.

This latest deal sees Proserv increase its talent pool to in excess of 1900 employees and reinforces the company’s position as a leader in drilling and subsea innovation.

David Lamont, Proserv’s chief executive officer, said: “Velocious is a widely respected business which fits well with Proserv’s ethos of ingenuity and innovation.

“As we have shown in the past, we are always looking to invest in companies which strengthen and diversify our suite of products and services. The Velocious team bring a variety of skills and a great depth of knowledge to Proserv.”

The Velocious announcement comes days after Mr Lamont was named Ernst & Young Scotland Entrepreneur of the Year 2013. At the event, he was praised by the judging panel for moulding “a phenomenal business of a truly global nature” in overseeing a 25% year-on-year growth during his two years at the company.

Brian Matthews, director at Velocious, said: “Proserv has grown to become a leading player in the energy sector in recent years. Joining forces with Proserv will allow us to continue growing on a global scale.”

Proserv, which is headquartered in Aberdeenshire, UK, is a market-leading company specialising in exploration & production, drilling, and infrastructure technical solutions and services to the global energy industry. The company operates worldwide across several regions.

Proserv has experienced exceptional growth over the past 12 months particularly in the subsea services sector.

For more information about Proserv, visit: www.proserv.com

Remember the Norwich Elephants? This Summer the Gorillas are coming – 53 of them. The painted sculptures will be at strategic locations throughout the City of Norwich showcasing local artists, businesses and the Norfolk charity Break.

With the public backing of Jake Humphrey, the GoGoGorillas trail is set to be the biggest talking point of the summer. This is also the first trail in Norwich to interact with visitors through a custom built app and QR codes.

The app gives visitors all the GoGoGorillas trail information and takes advantage of mobile technology to include many valuable trail based features. With GPS tracking, visitors can find their way between each gorilla location, upload photos to the integrated Flikr gallery and share the app on popular social media platforms.

Think Mobile Media, a newly formed media partnership in Norwich, built the custom trail app in close liaison with Martin Green of Break. Martin wanted an interactive app, and he asked Think Mobile Media to devise a competition around the inbuilt QR scanner. Sponsors and retailers are also set to benefit from QR code coupons unlocked from within the custom trail app.

It’s the perfect way for visitors to access information on the trail, makes sure they don’t miss a thing, and encourages them to pass it on to all their friends! Martin from Break will keep in touch via the app’s messaging system to build the buzz, encourage donations and share the fun.

Download your GoGoGorillas app now.

Smart Messenger has provided businesses with an easy, cost effective email marketing solution for the last ten years. In this time the standard monthly fee has never increased – it is still just £10. The service however, has grown and developed to keep ahead of clients needs and expectations.

What better way to mark the occasion that with a big tasty cake! Cake designer Minette from Candii Clouds created a very impressive iPad cake complete with a Smart Messenger leaflet,congratulations banner andballoons all of which were edible! The cake was cut and enjoyed by visitors to the Chamber of Commerce B2B event in March.

I believe the reason Smart Messenger has stood the test of time is down to our approach. We get to know our clients and their business and provide campaign advice and guidance as part of our standard service.”

Holly Stibbon, Director.

We are pleased to annouce that a talented young Norwich DJ, Dan Benton, 19, a Business with Enterprise student at City College Norwich, has won a £1,000 grant from Nurture Financial Planning Ltd to support his new start-up, Bare Bass, which organises club nights.

Dan is the first winner of our Entrepreneurs £1000 Grant, which was open to 16 to 25 year olds in the Norfolk area with ambitions to start up their own business ventures.

The judges were impressed with the passion shown by Dan, who currently works part-time at the Wonderland night club in Norwich in addition to studying on his college course, and who is aiming to establish a career in live music and events management.

The young DJ has invested the grant in professional-level DJ decks, headphones and a carry case, giving him all of the key equipment he needs to be self-sufficient as an event organiser for local night clubs.

The first Bare Bass-organised event will be held at Twilight Norwich on Friday 21st June, from 10pm to 3am, featuring up-and-coming amateur DJs playing a mix of Drum and bass, Grime, Jungle and Dubstep.

While Dan expects to be very busy ensuring the event as a whole is a success, he hopes to celebrate the launch of Bare Bass by fitting in a set himself at some point during the night.

Dan is already looking ahead to further Bare Bass nights, which includes plans for an open mic event and collaborations with professional musicians to run live music nights.

Dan is coming to the end of his Business with Enterprise course, which is part of the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy at City College Norwich. He plans to progress on to the Foundation degree in Leisure and Events Management at the college, which he hopes will provide a valuable step toward his eventual goal of managing live music festivals.

Dan Benton said:

“After finishing my A levels I began working in clubs, starting off collecting glasses and then getting to work behind the bar and seeing more of the event management side of things.

“The Peter Jones Enterprise Academy course gives everyone the chance to work on something they really enjoy doing and that’s what led me to set up Bare Bass. Winning this grant is a huge help as it means I can be self-sufficient, with the right equipment, and use my links with musicians and clubs to start organising my own events.”

Simon Linstead, Managing Director, Nurture Financial Planning Ltd, said:

“Working with the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy students at City College Norwich has been an amazing experience. They have all impressed me with their drive and enthusiasm for the businesses they have been working on.

“It was a difficult decision for the judges to make, because of the high standard of the applications, but Dan stood out because of his determination to push through with the launch of Bare Bass and his clear passion for what he is doing. The judges felt that these qualities, aided by the start-up grant, will make a huge impact on his business.”

Corrienne Peasgood, Principal, City College Norwich, added:

“As one of the Gazelle Group of colleges, and a member of the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy network, we are seeing increasing numbers of our students, in all subject areas, getting involved in enterprise and entrepreneurship.

“Supporting student enterprise is greatly enhanced by the links we have with our local business community – and the support of Nurture Financial Planning through this grant is a great example of that partnership in action to help a young person get their business off the ground.”

To find out how your school or college students can apply for next year’s Nurture Financial Planning Ltd young enterprise grant, contact Simon Linstead on 0844 800 3370 or email grant@nurturefp.co.uk