Welcome to the Norfolk Chambers podcast, in todays’ episode we’re going to chat to the brilliantly energetic Kathy Ennis, Director and Founder of LittlePiggy.
Kathy is an ideas person with 20+ years in Business, an Author, a Mentor and an Entrepreneur – and one of our most engaged members. From Freelancers, Side Hustles and Solopreneurs to the pandemic opportunities and pushing people to re-evaluate their careers and futures, this is a brilliant podcast to listen to if you’re thinking of starting a side hustle, a new venture or you need to be inspired!
Thousands of people are coming up with brilliant ideas, spotting gaps in the market, transitioning from employee to entrepreneur or turning their hobbies into successful businesses.
We will turn your ideas into a brilliant and profitable business.
Working together we will cover key areas so that you start your business the right way and nothing is left to chance.
Now may not seem a good time to think about increasing (or starting) exports from UK to other countries. Brexit has slowed development of sales to Europe and Covid has affected our development of sales here and further afield.
Surely, all countries are in the same boat? Yes, but some are further ahead in recovery than the UK – perhaps because their problems started earlier, or because they were not hit as hard. Although opportunities for sales growth are temporarily constrained for the UK, this doesn’t mean there are no opportunities – one answer is to look abroad
With Coronavirus, Far Eastern countries were hit first, and often hardest. However, this also means they are now among the first to recover. My experience of the Far East, especially of China, suggests opportunities are increasing there by the day. The signs are that they are recovering rapidly – much faster than western markets”
Taking China as an example, fast recovery, alone, is attractive to Western exporters. However, there are extra advantages which UK companies are particularly well-placed to grasp.
There is a large and concentrated population within China of high-income consumers who favour Western foods, particularly those foods regarded as luxury or special items. These are the very items which they are, now, temporarily, denied
High-income consumers in China are concentrated in a few areas associated with points of import (mostly seaports). Even though these are relatively tew, the populations of their catchment areas are huge.
Chinese consumers favouring western foods are concentrated in the better developed cities and provinces, with better access to imported goods
British products are seen as desirable among Chinese consumers as they are associated with our history and culture – seen as attractive.
Sinofoods was founded by a UK food professional with over 25 years’ experience in China (as a long-term resident) preceded by a similar period in food manufacturing and technology in the UK. Associated with food and regulatory experts within China and SE Asia, we are well positioned to help western companies to succeed in China.
For many food products, import into China is simple. However, there are many, often minor, differences in regulations between the two markets which seem to present impenetrable barriers. Most of these are simply based on a lack of understanding of each other’s food cultures and, therefore, regulations.
Before embarking upon a ‘Chinese adventure’ it is essential that any obstacles or roadblocks are identified in advance; with many products there will only be one chance to get it right! At Sino Food we specialise in advising companies through the various phases of product design, manufacture, labelling and import. Once this part is correct and the product is right for the China market, we can also, if required, help with the importing, customs issues, etc. through partner organisations based in China.
For an initial, no commitment discussion of the opportunities for your company, or for more information on the way forward, please contact me at peter@sinofoodregs.co.uk
Huxley Events & The Crime Lab team up to create the next 30 Minute “LunchBreak Live” Session on “Is Your Boss A Psychopath”!
Is Your Boss A Psychopath? A question I’m sure we’ve all asked ourselves, well now is your chance, in this fantastic 30 minute session to explore;
What is a psychopath?
Do you know a psychopath?
Do you have psychopathic tendencies?
Take the interactive psychopath test!
Concluding with…Is your boss a psychopath?
The Event: Friday 27th August 2021 12:30-1:00pm BST Zoom Event Only £8 per ticket
Book Your Tickets Here: https://bit.ly/3CX5KCt
About LunchBreak Live We know your time is precious and you don’t always have time for “fun things” especially during the working day!
LunchBreak Live are quick, interesting 30 minute talks on a variety of fun, light-hearted topics, focusing on psychology and true crime. Think “Is Your Boss a Psychopath”, “Offender Profiling” and “Murky World of Psychopaths” (and much more).
The Presenter The experience will be delivered by Steve Gaskin a former Murder Squad Detective Chief Inspector at New Scotland Yard. He is also an adviser to BBC Silent Witness and a forensic psychologist.
Duration: 30 minutes How It Runs: You will receive a link to follow online to, ready for the video call. We use the online platform “Zoom” to deliver our experiences. You will be able to see and hear Steve during his talk. There will also be the opportunity to post questions (and time dependant, Steve may be able to answer these). Recommendations This is the perfect experience to share with friends or colleagues! Make sure you invite your friends and family to purchase a ticket as well! This is an online masterclass, and you will not be required to attend a venue.
We are a team of highly experienced and qualified HR Consultants and our mission is to help your business realise its full potential by supporting you in managing your people and ensuring they’re the best they can be!
Ignite will get to know you and your business and will tailor HR solutions to support your business needs.
“Your people are your biggest weakness when it comes to security”. You’ve probably heard this statement more than once.
We believe that this can, and should be a fallacy in all businesses when it comes to cyber security. We want to help you grow your people in to your biggest strength and asset.
So how do we get there? Well, Security is all about risk – appreciating it, understanding it, and reducing, mitigating or sometimes accepting it.
Beginning with a desire to create a culture of security within your business will set you off on the right path, and from here we’d suggest making this your guiding principle. You can read in detail about this here, where we will expand and share more about how your approach to cyber security feeds in to building this culture.
At CyberScale we talk a lot about taking a risk-based approach to Cyber Security. This is an approach that is tailored towards your specific business or organisation. It takes into account the specific data that you have, the way you use systems, the people you have in your organisation and their level of understanding of all things security, the processes that you have in place, and how all of these combine to create risks specific to you.
Different organisations will have different security requirements, that’s a given. But, what sort of differences are we talking about? Well firstly there is data. Some organisations are heavily reliant on data, some not so much. Some organisations collect and process particularly confidential or sensitive data, such as health data for instance.
Some organisations have employed staff only, where elements of security policy can be made part of their employment contract and ongoing training, whereas other organisations have a heavy reliance on freelancers or subcontract staff where this is not so easy. This will inevitably raise issues around building and embedding a culture of security. Management of systems used by these groups also differs in its level of practicality; managing and controlling devices which are company supplied is one thing, but devices owned by a freelancer or subcontractor present a particular challenge.
Going back to the beginning here will ensure that even though you’ve recognised these challenges you will be able to view them through the goal you have, which is to create a culture of security across all staff whether permanent or not. Having your guiding principles embedded in those who hire, onboard and work with all types of staff is going to be ever more important.
So how do we do this? Training. The answer seems simple, but it really isn’t at all. A culture of security will come from having a set of agreed and embedded values across the workforce which determines how everyone thinks about and approaches cybersecurity.
Training can have many aims, here it is to help you understand what you don’t know – what’s important, what to look at and prioritise when it comes to cyber security, and where to go for help that you can trust, both inside and outside of the business.
But it’s more than just telling you.
Through carefully designed exercises and discussions, we’ll help YOU discover how to determine what is important to your business, how to assess risks and impacts in a security context, and how to build a strategy and plan to improve security and reduce business risk. This is an ongoing commitment and when invested in regularly will move you towards building the security culture you seek.
With a combination of public courses where attendees will be from a range of organisations, and bespoke solutions for your business, we are experienced in ensuring that what we deliver suits the needs of your business.
We are focused on providing cyber security training that also brings personal benefits to individual attendees in their broader lives and not just in the workplace. We do not deliver a standard CBT session or something general, which might feel like a tick box exercise for the business and attendee, we ensure that we are linking the training with your specific process and policies.
Welcome to our Norfolk Chambers podcast, in this episode Haze Carver AKA The Zinger chats with tech whizz and Director Jason Carlton and Business Development Manger James Fowler, of Uptech.
As one of our Strategic Partners, Uptech work closely with the Norfolk Chambers, James is involved in our Norfolk Knowledge Hub, contributing Uptech’s knowledge, skills and expertise freely to everyone who uses the Hub.
Jason discusses what’s new in tech and how upcoming innovations will re-define our workplaces, the resilience and strength of his team and how their core values are pivotal to their success.
Your Trusted IT Partner and Expert in Managed IT Security Services
We believe that every business should have an IT system, that enables them to be more productive and to be more profitable. But even more importantly we want to make the lives of the Business owner and their staff (they use the IT more) easier and more enjoyable.
Welcome to the Norfolk Chambers podcast – in this episode our CEO Chris Sargisson is talking with Chloe Smith, Member of Parliament and leader of the Norwich for Jobs Programme and also Matt Smith, Human Resources Director at Evander. This podcast was recorded at the Evander Head Office on Broadland Business Park in Norwich.
If you keep meaning to make eco-friendly changes in your life but never quite get round to it, then listen in as Leon discusses his Ten ways to save the planet by living more sustainably.
We’ll be talking about his journey from serving as an Engineer in the Royal Air Force, to founding a multi award winning Zero emissions taxi service right here in Norwich, testing satellites for Elon Musk, and most recently setting up his own company, Leon Davies.co.uk and becoming a Sustainability Specialist.
If you would like to find out more about Leon’s business, you can get in touch with him below
Welcome to the Norfolk Chambers podcast – In todays’ podcast we’re going to chat to Sonja Chilvers, Chief Operating Officer and Alex Wiseman, Partnership Manager, at Norfolk & Waveney Mind.
The need for good quality mental health support, advice and information is greater than ever before, Norfolk and Waveney Mind are busier than ever, 60% of adults and young people who did not experience poor mental health before the pandemic are now experiencing mental health issues.
Sonja and Alex discuss the opening of REST and how Mind is focused on making mental health services as accessible as possible in the Norfolk & Waveney area .
On Site Services:
1:1 support, telephone support, intensive support package, cafe and social groups. We will also work collaboratively with partner organisations who will
come in to deliver specialist support.
An evening sanctuary operational from 6pm – midnight providing a short-term place to receive crisis support for people referred from the Crisis Team.
REST is a safe, welcoming, non-clinical space in which people experiencing mental distress or crisis can receive the support and information
they need.
REST connects people with their local community and resources, including non-mental health initiatives.
REST has been designed to reduce social isolation, build resilience and empower those in crisis, with a focus on wellness not illness.
REST is a resource in supporting people with poor mental wellbeing close to their communities and homes.
Welcome to our Norfolk Chambers podcast, In todays’ podcast Haze Carver, AKA The Zinger talks to chat to Lizzy Dring, Head of Corporate Events at Huxley Events.
Lizzy talks about, ‘bringing teams together is our absolute speciality! Whether this is in a team-building environment through an engaging activity that really gets people to work together, improve communication and achieve their goals, to helping make celebrations so special!Successes included hosting over 100 virtual team experiences for businesses across the globe (including Australia, America as well as for teams based in different countries).
Supporting the Norfolk Chambers with their B2B Exhibition which was one of the biggest business events in Norfolk in 2021.
Have you ever wondered what the key tips are to running a smooth and successful event? Sam Brown, our Conference and Events Manager, shares her knowledge and key tips to support your event. As you know running an event is never easy, although at times one can look calm on the outside, on the inside you are going through your mental checklist, spinning a hundred plates, and looking forward to a successful ending! Here are some useful pointers to support your event.
Step 1. Write a clear plan! Write yourself a clear plan of things to do, from the initial organisation, through to post-event follow up. This will help to keep you on track and know that you have done everything needed for a successful event. Planning is essential and there are tools out there to help with this! We use a website called Teamwork which allows you to create a complete event plan, give deadlines and delegate tasks to different members of your team, as well as handy reminders straight to your inbox.
Step 2. Give your event a clear theme/purpose/title Giving your event a clear purpose will help you to target and attract the right audience as well as aiding you to know what you want to achieve from the event. For example, are you growing your network, selling a product or service, or celebrating an achievement?
Step 3. Communication Once you’ve got your event purpose and plan, you need to communicate your event clearly. This includes the timings, agenda, who you are expecting to be there, who this event is for and so much more. Make sure all of your event marketing is consistent and that you are sending the same message across all channels. Don’t forget to also keep any staff, speakers, sponsors, or anyone else involved in the loop too. Remember communication is king!
Step 4. Choosing a suitable venue Getting the right venue is key to your event. Book to see plenty of different places and make a checklist of all the things your venue needs, as well as a list of ‘nice to have’ list. Does it have parking? Catering facilities? Can it scale up or down if needed depending on event numbers? All of these factors will give you room to develop the event effectively.
Step 5. Prepare for the unexpected Make sure you are prepared for the unexpected. Before you leave for your event are you as up-to-date with everyone involved and everything going on as possible? With events anything can change so suddenly, for example, speakers pulling out the day before or timings overrunning. Make sure you remain calm during these situations and think clearly.
Step 6. Too much is never enough Make sure to always bring backups. If you place all of your event presentations on one USB and keep it in a particular place, you can be sure it’ll probably go missing by the time you need it. Take several copies of any paperwork needed in case staff ask for copies, or you misplace yours. Don’t think that just because everything is on your laptop, you won’t need paper copies because something as simple as Wi-Fi not working could change everything. Prepare, prepare, prepare.
Step 7. Your team Make sure to have the right support around you. Your events staff all need to be briefed and kept up-to-date on event details so they can handle any situations that arise. Find a communication channel you can all access so you can contact your team quickly during the event.
Step 8. Follow up after Follow up evaluation – always be thinking about your next event; how can you improve? Get feedback from those who attended the event, it only has to be a quick survey using a tool like Survey Monkey. This will help to develop your next event in the future and also pick up on any negative points, such as if attendees like the food or the event format, is there something else they’d like to see added in the future? Allow them the option to remain anonymous or leave contact details so you can get in touch with them to discuss any issues further. Remember all feedback is useful, the good and the bad!
The tips from Sam are a supportive guide to help you steer your event, so if you would like any further pointers do catch us at a Chambers event and we can always expand on this.
Welcome to the Norfolk Chambers podcast, in today’s episode Haze Carver is chatting with Mark Ellaway, Digital Marketing Director of Bigfork.
From how he started his career, to building Bigfork, Mark talks all things digital. Mark shares his no-nonsense, down-to-earth advice on great website design, working through the pandemic with a creative, brilliant and skilled team, to the process of applying for Bigfork’s B Corps certification – if you’re into digital or you want to know more about great website design listen in!
We’re Bigfork, and we do web design, SEO and PPC.
That means we can build you a great website, get more people to visit it and turn more of them into customers. Basically, if you want to use the internet to grow your business, we can help.
By humans, for humans.
We may be digital people, but first and foremost, we’re human beings.
For us, digital marketing isn’t really about technology. It’s about reaching people. And that’s exactly what we help you to do. Technology is just a tool. What matters is the value you offer, the products you’ve created and the ideas you want to express.
That’s why we build a strong relationship with you, so you can build a stronger relationship with your own customers.
Bigfork Norwich 01603 513080 Henderson Business Centre,
Ivy Road, Norwich, Norfolk NR5 8BF
Cambridge 01223 902219 St John’s Innovation Centre,
Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WS
