Member News

Norwich, Tuesday 12 June 2012 – Norwich International Airport – Planning Application for Engine Testing A new planning application has been submitted for an Engine Test Facility at Norwich International Airport.

The application, submitted by the Airport Authority, identifies a site for the construction of the facility on the north eastern sector of the airfield. This site was identified through an extensive evaluation of all possible options, taking account of a range of factors including the impact of noise and emissions on those living near to the airport, as well as land availability and other operational constraints. The application seeks permission to construct a state of the art Ground Run Enclosure (GRE) which has been developed and refined in conjunction with key stakeholders including the airport, KLM UK Engineering, noise and environmental impact specialists and the local community. This facility will enable engine testing to continue at Norwich International, thereby securing the 341 full time and up to 100 contract jobs provided by KLM UK Engineering. It would also safeguard a significant number of indirect jobs within the local supply chain. The maintenance, repair and overhaul services provided by KLM UK Engineering to both domestic and international airlines has operated under a number of guises at Norwich International for over 35 years, during which time they have carried out the testing of aircraft engines as an integral part of a complete maintenance and overhaul package.

Andrew Bell, Chief Executive of Norwich International Airport said: “This application is the culmination of an enormous amount of work to identify the optimum location and technology to enable engine testing to continue to take place, whilst minimising as far as possible the impact of the activity itself on the surrounding community. The ability to test engines is critical to KLM UK Engineering’s business at the Airport and we hope this new facility will provide the solution to many years of uncertainty.

Freebridge Community Housing is holding its first Week of Wellbeing to support the wellbeing of its employees.

From 18th – 22nd June, a series of events and activities will take place focusing on how individuals can improve their Career; Physical; Mental; Social; Economic, and Community Wellbeing.

The week is part of the housing organisation’s bespoke and targeted approach to wellbeing which aims to meet the needs of employees and the business, and maximise available resources.

During the week, employees will be able to access coaching sessions provided by fully trained coaches. Health checks will also be on offer and smoking cessation and drink aware packs will be available.

The Freebridge stress management toolkit will be launched and employees will be able to try out relaxation techniques. And ‘Manage your Money’ advice sessions will be held where employees can gain an insight into how to make better use of their money.

Tony Hall, Chief Executive said: “We are committed to supporting the wellbeing of our employees. We recognise the importance of having a happy, healthy and engaged workforce for the long-term satisfaction of our employees and the continued success of the business.

“The Week of Wellbeing provides us with an opportunity to stop and think about ourselves and consider ways to improve where we want to. We have a long-term commitment to employee wellbeing and will ensure that we support this on an ongoing basis through a dedicated action plan.

“Our targeted approach demonstrates that smaller companies such as ours can make a real investment in this without huge financial expenditure. We understand that good employee wellbeing has genuine and tangible business benefits. Our focus has been on developing a programme that is right for our employees, using the existing networks and resources we have access to.”

Freebridge’s employee programme complements customer wellbeing initiatives such as Mind Mental Health First Aid training and Do Something Different behavioural influencing training.

Freebridge Community Housing, which operates in West Norfolk, employs around 180 employees across a range of business functions.

Anyone who is interested in finding out more about Freebridge’s approach and sharing wellbeing resources should contact Michelle Playford on 01553 667738.

Ingeus in King’s Lynn has worked its magic at local care home, Courtenay House, by not only providing a talented activities coordinator to help keep the home’s 42 elderly residents entertained, but by also conjuring up a mobile magician to perform shows there.

The care home, based in Tittleshall near Fakenham, turned to local Work Programme provider Ingeus having struggled to recruit suitable staff in the past. Ingeus, which works with employers to support unemployed people back into work across the East of England, quickly recommended Sam Bunting from Great Ryburgh for the activities coordinator vacancy. Having worked with Sam to develop a new CV, Paul Hunt from Ingeus’ Employer Services team recognised that her organisational skills as a lone parent and her voluntary work hosting reading groups and organising trips at her son’s school would perfectly qualify her for the job.

After two years out of work, Sam, 35, now loves spending her working day organising quizzes, games, trips and other social activities for the Courtenay residents. She is also busy planning an awareness event with local partners for National Falls Week in mid-June and couldn’t be happier.

“Every day is different and I love chatting with the residents, we have a real giggle,” said Sam.

“I’m delighted to be off benefits and back in work after getting nowhere trying on my own. Ingeus kept me motivated throughout my job search, found this vacancy and encouraged me to apply. My family commitments have made it difficult to find suitable work in the past but I can happily manage both here.”

In addition to Sam, Ingeus is also supporting Heacham magician Paul Williamson, also known as Magical Paul, in his quest to find work. Paul, 36, turned a childhood love of magic into a profession and spent many years working abroad and on cruise ships as an entertainer. Returning home in 2009, Paul was unsuccessful in finding work and was referred to Ingeus by Jobcentre Plus at the end of 2011.

Ingeus provides a broad range of job-seeking support to unemployed people, including the option to be self-employed. With Ingeus’ help, Paul is building a business plan, sourcing funding and actively targeting local care homes with details of his act. He is a regular performer at Courtenay House where he clearly has the residents under his spell.

“We love Paul’s shows and we wish him all the best in building up his business,” said home manager, Sharon Hipper. “The residents love both him and Sam.

“It is important to provide stimulating and interesting activities for our residents and Sam’s come up with some great new ideas. She’s settling in brilliantly.

“We’ve struggled to recruit the right people in the past, many applicants not understanding the nature of the work or the practicalities of working in a rural location.

“Ingeus only put forward qualified, motivated people who were well briefed on the role. Advertising and spending time processing applications can be expensive and time consuming, whereas Ingeus’ services are fee-free and hassle free.

“We have some more vacancies for staff coming up and I will certainly be calling on Ingeus to work its magic again.”

Visit www.ingeus.co.uk/employers or contact Paul Hunt atIngeus King’s Lynnon 01553 668880 for further information and the range of free recruitment services provided to employers.

We’re off to catch more rain in Devon and Cornwall on 28th and 29th June at the local franchise exhibition. These events are focused on local business partners and we hope will start the process of finding franchisees who want to run their own supply teacher business for schools.

Our ambition is to identify mature people who have the drive and determination to succeed. As with all businesses the ability to manage one’s own time and to interact well is essential. We anticipate people connected with schools or with a teaching or a recruitment background will find the opportunity to run their own business compelling.

We are also looking for a franchisee in Norwich to develop the business for local schools in Norfolk. This will be a great opportunity locally as we already have teachers able to work as supply teachers in Norfolk today.

Job Description

We could tell you that the successful applicant will have input on the design of our marketing strategy. That (together with an assistant) they will take responsibility for delivering that strategy across multiple websites and through advertising, PR, literature, marketing events, newsletters, and social media. We could tell you that it’s a great opportunity to develop your career at a well established and successful solicitors’ firm. And that would all be true. But, if you’re the kind of person we’re looking for, you’ll have worked that, and a lot more besides, out for yourself. In fact, you could have written all of that yourself, probably in your sleep.

So how about we’re up front and frank with you instead? It’s like this. False modesty aside, we like to think we’re quite good at what we do. Which is the law, or more accurately, helping our clients with their legal issues. The independent guides to the legal profession recommend us quite a lot, and some of us are acclaimed as leaders in our fields, not just locally, but nationally. Which is great. But, we’re not very good at marketing. Some of us aren’t even that interested in marketing. We’re too busy helping those clients with their legal problems. Which means, to be blunt, that in marketing terms, as a firm, we punch below our weight. We make less of a splash than we should given our professional reputation.

And we’ve been ok with that, because, as we said, we’re mostly interested in helping our clients with their legal problems. But, the law is changing. Tesco law, social media, all of that. This role is a real opportunity for the right person because it’s not just about having great communication, or design, or IT skills (though you’ll need all of those). It’s about working with a marketing team to take a successful and established law firm’s marketing (and with it, your career) to the next level. To develop and implement a strategy that will get the message about what we do out: to tell our story better, to connect us better with our clients and potential clients. Isn’t that what marketing is about? And if you’re up for that challenge, we’d like to talk to you, and if you can deliver, it could be very rewarding for you.

Starting salary is at least £25,000 per annum, depending on what you can bring to us, core hours are 9.00am to 5.00pm but a willingness to work outside these hours on occasion (including weekend events) is essential, as is your own car and a clean driving licence.

To apply please send a copy of your CV (two pages maximum – normal sized typeface) with a one page covering letter (also normal sized typeface) to:

Anna Godfrey, HR Manager: agodfrey@leathesprior.co.uk

Closing date: midnight on Thursday 14 June 2012

The RedCat Partnership have won the prestiguous CIEH Health and Safety best training centre and tutor for 2011

The team are really proud as they won the same accolade last year; the award has only been running for 3 years!

The Level 4 Award in Managing Health and Safety in the Workplaceis a 5 day course- so not for the faint hearted- which is assessed by both a controlled assignment and a written examination

The course is ideal for those in a managerial or supervisory position that requires the knowledge & understanding of the Health and Safety issues involved

The successful student whoc scored the highest mark (a Distinction) was Sarah Moss of Norwich Samaritans – Sarah has found the course invaluable to her work at the local charity

The team are heading down to the House of Commons in July to pick up their awards!

The next course begins on the 14th November and further details can be found at www.redcat.gb.com The Course is accredited with both CIEH & OFQUAL so internationally recognised

It can also be used by persons wishing to deliver the CIEH’s Level 2 suite of courses

Leathes Prior Velo Club (LPVC) upped the ante this year with each rider completing the Norwich 100 Cycle in aid of the British Heart Foundation.

The route starts in the Close in Norwich and heads North out of the city to Reepham and then up to the coast at Morston before turning East onto the “Hills of Doom” running along the coast to Cromer. From there the cyclists continue round the coast to Horsey before turning Eastwards via Wroxham and back to Norwich.

LPVC’s Peloton Romeo (Mike Barlow, Aidan Tidnam and Ed Savory) blasted round in just under 6 hours with Peloton Juliet (Catherine Hepworth and Polly Langford) completing in 6 and a half hours.

The firm’s heroic triathlete, Paula Lawn (a Norwich 100 miler last year), opted for the Norwich 50 followed by an 8 mile run.

After the cycle Mike Barlow, the firm’s Managing Partner, commented: “I have fought some tough litigious battles in my time. The ride was harder but just as satisfying. The real difference is that I don’t tend to waddle out of court!”

The grant of an injunction by the Irish High Court against a former Yoga Therapy franchisee serves as a stark reminder of the advantage of having professionally drafted post termination non compete restrictive covenants within a franchise agreement.

Yoga Therapy claimed that after terminating the franchise agreement (which contained non-compete provisions) in October 2011, its former franchisee, Ms Henkel Murphy, had been poaching its students by using confidential information which gave her an unfair competitive advantage which was damaging the franchisor’s business. The franchisor also claimed Ms Murphy was using source material belonging to the yoga centre to teach her students.

Under the terms of the court order, Ms Murphy is prohibited from operating yoga training courses in respect of students enrolled by her during the operation of the franchise agreement.

Monday 28th May 2012 – Isle of Man now within easy reach from your local airport.

Flybe’s franchise carrier Loganair and Norwich International Airport officially marked the inaugural flight to the Isle of Man on Saturday.

The flights will operate once a week on a Saturday during the summer 2012 season and will finish on 22nd September 2012. Flybe and its franchise partner Loganair will also offer a choice of convenient connections between Norwich and the Isle of Man on other days via Manchester to enable passengers to find flights to suit their travel plans.

This is East Anglia’s first non-stop service to the Isle of Man and is designed to offer an easy and convenient link for those holidaying, visiting Friends or relatives.

The flights have proven to be extremely popular and with flights on several dates throughout the summer fully booked the airline responded to this demand and extended the summer timetable earlier this year.

Andrew Bell, Chief Executive of Norwich International Airport, said “It is fantastic to be able to offer the Isle of Man for the first time from Norwich International and we are delighted that the destination is proving popular with both the local holidaymakers and business travelers of East Anglia.”

I am proud to announce that the RedCat Partnership Ltd has won the prestigous Best CIEH Health & Safety Training Centre Award for 2011 (We also won the award in 2010 so are mighty pleased)

We will be off to the House of Commons in July to receive this very special honour.

The award is granted to the highest scoring Student in the Level 4 Examinations too- this was our candidate!

The RedCat Partnership Ltd delivers a suit of CIEH Charterered Environmental Health courses

The Level 4 Health and Safety Course is for Owners & Managers of Businesses. The course takes place over 5 days and each hazard / section revolves around a syndicate case study and past paper questions; the sixth day is the exam and controlled assessment day

The Course covers Risk Assessment of the major Health and Safety Hazards, establishing and monitoring controls, staff training, accidents & investigation, the management cycle; Health and Safety Culture & a sprinkling of law

The next course takes place on Nov 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd and 28th Dec, with the exam day on 12th Dec

The course (unlike IOSH Managing Safely) is OFQUAL accredited

With the first quarter of 2012 behind us we look into how the insolvency market has performed based on the statistics recently released by corporate research specialists Hardman & Co.

Corporate Insolvency

The increase in corporate insolvencies for the first quarter of 2012 (512 more cases (+8.8%) than during the last quarter of 2011) was to be expected and reflects the normal seasonal upturn in the post Christmas period. However, the 6,316 new corporate insolvencies in the first quarter of 2012 was also a 4.2% increase on a year-on-year basis and follows three quarters in which numbers reduced quarter-on-quarter.

It is the fifth successive quarter that there has been an increase in corporate insolvencies on a year-on-year basis. However, the rate of growth has decreased in each of the last two quarters. The Insolvency Insights report released by Hardman & Co suggests this may be due to a “benign enforcement environment” which they believe may see the number of corporate insolvencies remain depressed.

Conclusion

It would seem that despite Britain’s slipping back into recession in the first quarter of this year, what Hardman & Co describe as a benign enforcement environment combined with low interest rates may enable many companies to survive in the near future, suppressing growth in the number of corporate insolvencies. However, the future is very uncertain and should interest rates increase or creditor support wain the industry could see a sharp rise in the number of corporate insolvencies.

We would urge the management of any company struggling to meet its liabilities to seek advice. The eventual failure of a business that has traded on in spite of insolvency can have repurcussions for the personal wealth and liberties of those involved in the management of them. Leathes Prior are non-appointment taking insolvency and restructuring specialists who offer advice to the management of struggling businesses with a view to protecting them against the pitfalls of trading in difficult circumstances.

To ensureGreat Yarmouth Borough Councilprovide the best support, the Economic Development Unit and enterpriseGY team would like to know how your company is performing to ensure that we are better placed to support businesses in the Borough.

If you could take the time to complete the short questionnaire below it would be very helpful. All responses will be confidential and used only to measure the current business climate in the Borough, to improve the services that we offer and to identify gaps and opportunities.

The survey has now closed – thank you for all your responses. A short summary will be posted soon.

Thank you