How is your business is doing in these challenging economic times – have the events in Europe affected you, or are you managing to grow your business in spite of everything that is happening?
The last QES survey reported that Norfolk businesses were planning to invest in plant, machinery and training and they were cautiously optimistic and hoping for a better quarter. Let us know how your business is doing and what you think about the future and possible economic growth.
The British Chambers of Commerce Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) is used by the Bank of England and the Chancellor to plan the future of the UK economy. The survey takes less than 3 minutes to complete, so please take the time to input into this important survey to ensure Norfolk has a voice. The survey needs to be completed online by Monday 11 June 2012.
Please click here. The Password is economy and your Chamber ID number is 75. If you prefer a hard copy please print the attached form and fax back to 01603 633032.
Commenting on the proposals outlined in the Beecroft Report, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber, said:
“Adrian Beecroft is right to point out that at a time when millions of people are unemployed, ministers should be looking for ways to make it easier and less costly to employ people, not the other way around. Of course employment rights are important, but should be weighed against opportunities for the unemployed who are looking for work.
“Ministers should consider and progress all proposals that would give businesses greater confidence to hire – an outcome that would benefit companies, individuals and the UK economy as a whole.”
Commenting on the proposal for a new compensated no-fault dismissal route:
“Employers tell us that hiring staff is expensive, so dismissing someone is always a last resort. We are not saying that businesses should be able to ‘fire at will’, but the fear of not being able to dismiss a troublesome employee prevents many businesses from recruiting.
“A compensated no-fault dismissal route would be more favourable financially for an employee than if they were managed out of the business on performance grounds. Both parties would also avoid the emotional distress, uncertainty and reputational damage of an employment tribunal. However, this system would be costly and would not provide the full protection offered by compromise agreements, so would only be used in extreme cases. Furthermore, the impact on employment rights is minimal and vastly outweighed by the boost to employer confidence and the number of jobs it help to generate.
“Compensated no-fault dismissal should accompany proposals to make compromise agreements easier for employers to use. This will help businesses create jobs for the large number of talented, hard-working people that are unemployed in the UK.”
Commenting on flexible working and shared parental leave proposals:
“Businesses are not against flexible working or shared parental leave as concepts, but face real problems when it comes to implementation. Most businesses cannot accommodate unlimited flexible working and are concerned by the potential damage to employee relationships if they grant one request and have to turn down a more worthy request later.
“Shared parental leave introduces new and serious complexity to the relationship between an employer and member of staff. For the first time the employer-employee relationship will be contingent on a third party – the employee’s partner’s boss. Employers should be able to focus on the day to day running of their business and creating jobs and growth, rather than managing the family matters of employees.”
The government outlined a series of energy related reforms this week in order to introduce stability into the market. On Tuesday, a draft energy bill was brought before Parliament. The bill will extend feed-in tariffs to large scale energy projects, introduce emission performance targets for power stations and measures to ensure there is excess capacity in the system to provide security of supply. The draft bill will now be examined by a Parliamentary Select Committee and a full bill is expected later this year. Read more on this in British Chamber of Commerce blog here.
On Thursday it was announced that the next wave of cuts to solar feed-in tariff incentives will come into effect from August 1. The tariffs will be set to decrease on a three month basis thereafter, with pauses if the market slows down. All tariffs will continue to be index-linked to inflation. The new tariffs should give a return on investment (ROIs) of over six percent. The measures have been broadly welcomed by the solar industry.
John Morse, Operations Director of marine survey company Gardline, has been appointed as new Vice President of Great Yarmouth Chamber Council.
Commenting on his appointment, John said: “I am very excited to take up this new role. As an employee of Gardline, which is one of the largest Great Yarmouth employers, plus my previous relevant experience, I will be able to contribute to the Chamber’s forthcoming development and help to support this vital industry sector.
“I believe there should be a concerted effort to regenerate a new economy in Great Yarmouth, based upon the offshore renewables and other related opportunities. An economy such as this will provide long-term employment, net inward migration and general viability away from, but parallel to its traditional tourism base.
“I think it should be the responsibility of every Chamber member to provide support and direct mentoring to businesses in Great Yarmouth, and in collaboration, we should all strive to generate a strong, vibrant, and expanding business environment for the town.”
The following is update on the BIS Business in You (BiY) campaign businessinyou.bis.gov.uk. So far there have been over 90,000 visits to the “Business in You” portal and there are now 9,900 subscribers to email updates.
The current theme is employment which covers existing and new offers to businesses, cutting across several departments and channels. There is also a new online tool, “Taking on an Employee”, which brings together everything a business needs when considering employing for the first time. The new tool can be found at: www.businesslink.gov.uk/employ.”
The Business in You has also teamed up with The Guardian and Channel 4 as part of the drive to support small and medium sized businesses.
The partnership includes a competition run by The Guardian for start-ups and growing businesses, who get a chance to win a package of business support, mentoring and £15,000 worth of advertising in The Guardian. Channel 4 have produced adverts and video clips, which show real-life case studies of successful small businesses designed to inspire new start-ups and help existing ones to grow. To find out more go to www.guardian.co.uk/business-in-you
Finally, a major direct mail campaign has also been launched – targeted at growing businesses – via Companies House, who are in turn promoting BiY through their new “Get it Right, First Time” series of events. Events are taking place in London on 3 July: https://www.ipo.gov.uk/getitright.htm
The World Trade Organization (WTO) seems incapable of bringing its members together in a binding agreement to complete the Doha round of trade talks, and yet countries are still queuing to join.
In September 2003, talks being held in Cancun, Mexico, collapsed in the face of irreconcilable differences between rich and poor countries. In December 2005, another make-or-break WTO meeting failed in Hong Kong.
Director-General Pascal Lamy reported to the WTO General Council on 1 May 2012 that, with regard to the Doha Round, “my conversations over the past few weeks with Ministers and delegations have provided me with a sense that Members wish to continue to explore any opportunities to gain the necessary traction and make tangible progress soon”.
So not yet dead, but certainly not about to come to a conclusion any time soon.
Nevertheless, the WTO remains open for business and countries continue to make their way through the long accession process, with the two most recent recruits being Montenegro and Samoa.
They have become respectively the WTO’s 154th and 155th member after both informed the WTO that they had accepted their membership package. Under WTO rules, a country becomes a member 30 days after national ratification.
As part of their accession commitments, both have agreed to further liberalise their trade regime and to accelerate integration in the world economy. The countries have also pledged to provide a transparent and predictable environment for trade and foreign investment.
Samoa has promised to fully implement the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement by June 2012.
See the WTO website for details of the accession package agreed by both countries.
With an employment rights report, commissioned by the Prime Minister from a leading venture capitalist,a second publication has appeared with the aim of making life easier for businesses.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) and the Institute of Directors (IoD) have put forward a comprehensive plan for growth which they describe as the culmination of 18 months’ evidence gathering by the 2020 Tax Commission and the start of a major new campaign.
A joint project by the TPA and IoD, the Commission in its final report calls for “radical but realistic reform” of the UK tax system including the abolition of eight taxes and the creation of just one – a Single Income Tax.
According to a full analysis of the proposals by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr), a leading economics consultancy, the changes would increase GDP by 8.4% over 15 years – equivalent to an additional £5000 per family in 2012-13.
Among other recommendations, the report suggests that marginal tax rates should not exceed 30%, and the personal allowance should rise to £10,000. Taxes on capital and labour income “disguised as business taxes” should be abolished and replaced with a tax on distributed income.
Furthermore, transaction, wealth and inheritance taxes should be abolished while transport taxes should be cut.
Income Tax and Employees’ and Employers’ National Insurance should be merged into a single tax on labour income, with rates levelled down so that certain groups do not face higher bills.
Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax should be replaced with a single tax on capital income – dividends, interest and rent – at a rate of 30%.
Allister Heath, Chairman of the 2020 Tax Commission, concluded: “It is time for Britain to make a vital choice between tweaking the status quo and letting our economy continue to be crippled by complex and punitive taxes, and drastically changing course with a radical but realistic plan for a tax system fit for the 21st century.”
Food and Farming Minister Jim Paice has recently visited China on a mission to open up trade for Britain’s farming, food and drink sector.
“Food and farming already plays a vital role in the UK economy but I believe there are still great opportunities for growth in emerging markets like China,” he explained. “We need to keep ahead of the game by developing strong trade relationships with the world’s second largest economy.”
China’s growing middle class is increasingly buying foreign food and drink, seeing it as aspirational and recognising its high quality.
Whether it is Scotch whisky or frozen lobster, artisan crisps or malt drinks, an increasing number of British favourites are becoming supermarket staples, the Minister claimed.
He was looking to build relationships with key retailers and importers to smooth the path for British producers looking to make their mark in China. At the same time he was also promoting high quality breeding pigs from UK producers.
China is the world’s biggest market for pig meat and, at the end of his visit, the Minister announced a £50 million trade deal to sell British pork.
As well as the trade in breeding pigs, Mr Paice promoted the skills and technologies available in the UK to support breeding programmes, which have the potential to be even more lucrative.
The Government understands the importance of trade and investment to delivering long-term growth and prosperity in the UK and around the world. The Government’s strategy on trade and investment was detailed in the White Paper, “Trade and Investment for Growth”, which was published in February 2011.
The White Paper identified three key goals:
help UK business trade and invest more and in new markets
attract investment to the UK
strengthen the multilateral trading system, including helping developing countries benefit from trade and investment.
ONE YEAR ON….
It has been just over a year since the Government launched the White Paper. Led by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and working closely with UK Trade and Investment and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the White Paper advocated a whole of government approach to trade and UK growth.
The Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Lord Green, has recorded a short message to acknowledge some of the achievements and challenges of the first year of implementation
Lord Green also said:
“We’re now one year on from the launch of the White Paper. I am pleased to report that we have laid much of the necessary groundwork and made some real progress. However, we are taking a long term approach and our strategy cannot be secured in just one year; this is a marathon, not a sprint.”
“Trade and investment are absolutely fundamental to rebuilding and rebalancing our economy. The UK has a strong history as a trading and investing nation and continues to be one of the world’s most attractive places to do business, but the world is changing and we cannot be complacent.”
“Encouraging businesses to export more is at the very heart of our approach. We need to ensure business, especially our small businesses, have all the tools they need to flourish, that we strengthen and improve our relationship with trade partners around the world, that we fight protectionism and ensure poor countries can benefit fully from free and fair trade.”
In supporting trade and investment in 2012, the Government will prioritise five key areas of activity:
1) Roll-out of the SME exporting campaign, to double outreach to companies to 50,000 per year by 2015 over the next few years.
This will see conferences in every region of the country; active engagement with support networks; targeted support of SMEs at trade fairs and on trade missions; and e-networking of SMEs to support mentoring and experience-sharing.
2) Marketing high value opportunities in fast growing markets
This will involve an ambitious programme of conferences and other country-specific activities, along with trade missions for key sector providers, including SMEs.
3) Showcasing inward investment opportunities, especially in key economic infrastructure developments and building on our world-class science base
This will include more proactive identification of major overseas investors; special programmes for strategically important countries; and a major and sustained client marketing progress.
4) Working to ensure a supportive financing environment for exporting and investment
This means close engagement with banks on trade finance; expanding UK Export Finance marketing efforts; and active marketing of international venture capital providers and angel investors.
5) Seizing the one-in-a-lifetime potential of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics through a major international business programme aimed at boosting British exports and attracting inward investment
Over the coming months they will also:
Support the EU to conclude Free Trade Agreements with India, Singapore and Canada; and open negotiations with Japan
Agree more elements of Doha; and
Find ways to press forward the international trade agenda with like-minded countries.
The Government’s commitment to open trade and investment is ambitious and long-term. It has already secured some key achievements. Their focus now is to build on this, and ensure the UK’s future prosperity
On 30 May Charles Bean, Bank of England spoke to a packed Norfolk Chamber Breakfast at Norwich City Football Club. It was a terrific opportunity for him to speak with local business people and it is great that the Chamber are able to bring their members closer to organisations such as the Bank of England.
To read more on Charles’ view on the Norfolk economy, click here
The New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership is leading the UK’s transition to a green economy.
On Monday 11th June New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership will present its Green Economy Pathfinder Manifesto to Government at a reception in the Houses of Parliament.
Attendees will include business leaders, representatives from Government departments, environmental organisations, local authorities and community groups.
The Manifesto, called ‘Leading the Way’, sets out the barriers and opportunities for sustainable economic growth, goals and aspirations and features case studies of business and organisations which are leading the way in developing the green economy.
The Manifesto represents the opportunity to embed good practices in the region’s green economy, across businesses and organisations, locally.
New Anglia helps to grow jobs and remove the barriers to business growth in Suffolk and Norfolk. It is committed to leading the transition towards a green economy, delivering benefits across the region and nationally.
International best practice highlighted by the Manifesto ranges from cutting edge research on the Norwich Research Park to eco-building techniques being pioneered in housing developments across Suffolk and Norfolk.
The Government invited New Anglia to take the lead on the development of the green economy last November and report back with recommendations on how the UK can seize the opportunities presented by the green economy.
Andy Wood, Chairman of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership and Chief Executive of Adnams plc said: “The New Anglia area has a wide range of energy resources, which is why we are ideally placed to lead the growth of the green economy.
“New Anglia is committed to building the green economy in a sustainable way and to share our knowledge and expertise across the UK.
“There will be a 45% projected growth in the low carbon and environmental market by 2012/15 and we want to place the green economy at right at the heart of business success – because it makes good business sense.”
Mark Pendlington, the Director, Anglian Water Group, chairs New Anglia’s Green Economy Pathfinder Board.
“New Anglia has brought together a group of talented people with specialist expertise to develop the Green Economy Pathfinder Manifesto”, said Mr Pendlington.
“As part of the Manifesto we have featured case studies of some innovative organisations which are at the cutting edge of developing services and products which will drive forward the green economy.
“The Manifesto provides a route map for all businesses large and small to seize the exciting opportunities of green growth. This will create and secure jobs and help our goods and services to compete and win the global marketplace. It’s a route to economic recovery, and we want businesses in Norfolk and Suffolk to be leading the way – by example.”
The Manifesto will be published on the afternoon of Monday 11th June on the website www.newanglia.co.uk.