Chamber members had the opportunity to highlight and discuss the challenges facing the local business community with Chloe Smith, MP for Norwich North today (Wednesday 09 August).
Amongst the topics discussed were Brexit; business rates; the need for better broadband and mobile coverage; road and rail improvements; and the skills and enterprise agenda.
On Brexit, the business community highlighted the need for the Government to move forward with negotiations and asked for continued communication and engagement when considering replacement UK regulations. With business rates, the group stressed the urgent need for the Government to review the business rates system to provide a much fairer system of collecting business contributions.
Mobile and broadband coverage was again raised as a considerable challenge to those businesses wanting to be able to take advantage of new technology developments and compete with the rest of the UK. They noted that unreliable connections act as barriers to growth, which put those companies most in need of support at a competitive disadvantage.
All agreed that more work needed to be done to close the gap between business and education, some of which can be done locally, but more support from central Government was called for to help put more focus on the enterprise.
Commenting on the meeting, Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager from Norfolk Chamber said:
“We are really pleased to welcome Chloe Smith to the Norfolk Chamber office to hear from the local business community. It is important that our MPs understand the needs of business and the Chamber will continue to ensure our members views are hear loud and clear in Westminster.”
Drivers are warned to expect delays on the A140 into Norwich from the north today (Fri 11 August) following the urgent reprogramming of work that will require two-way traffic lights from around 8.00am. Some of the work on the construction of the A140 Cromer Road/A1270 Norwich Northern Distributor Road junction, has to be carried out under the observation of a gas inspector, who became available at short notice for a limited period. The traffic lights will be under manual control to minimise delays. Norfolk County Council and Balfour Beatty apologise for this late announcement and for the disruption this will cause on the A140, especially following the closure yesterday of the B1149 Holt Road for up to three months. ~ The start of work on breaking up Holt Road was delayed by Wednesday’s bad weather and will now start today (Fri).
Traffic lights on the A140 Cromer Road at the Norwich NDR junction construction site will be lifted for the opening weekend (12-13 August) of Cromer Carnival, which runs from Saturday 12 August to Friday 18th.
Traffic lights will be needed on the A140 again next week, but only during the day. Where possible, they will be used out of peak hours, and will be manually controlled if they have to be used during busy times. They are needed because work on the approaches to the new north roundabout and bridge over the NDR is very close to live traffic on the A140 Cromer Road.
Motorists are advised to allow for similar delays on the A140 Cromer Road over the coming weeks as construction teams carry out as much work as possible ahead of two weeks of A140 overnight closures (8pm to 6am). These are scheduled to start on Monday 4 September to tie-in the new roundabout and bridge over the NDR to the existing road.
Buxton Road, Spixworth
On Buxton Road, Spixworth, 24-hour two-way traffic lights will remain in use until the closure of the road to vehicles for two weeks from Monday 21 August to tie-in and surface the new bridge over the NDR. Cyclists and pedestrians will not be affected since the separate cycling and pedestrian path over the bridge should be complete next week.
Holt Road closure – diverting traffic
Additional signs are being added on Church Street, Horsford, directing all traffic from the A140 to turn left at its junction with the B1149 Holt Road. Drivers heading for Horsford and towards Holt can then use the New Drayton Lane roundabout to return north. This avoids a build-up of traffic on Church Street caused by right turning vehicles.
Plumstead Road, Thorpe End footway and mini-roundabout Work on a footway extension and mini-roundabout that was postponed this week because of the bad weather will resume in Thorpe End on Tuesday when a vacuum excavator will start excavating around buried service pipes and cables. Two-way temporary lights will be needed during the footway works, and three-way lights when work moves on to the mini-roundabout at the junction of Plumstead Road with Broadland Drive. The work, which is part of the main Northern Distributor Road project, will take up to six weeks altogether. Norfolk County Council and Balfour Beatty apologise for the disruption caused by these and other traffic management measures during construction of the new road.
DONG Energy is proposing to develop a new offshore wind farm (Hornsea Project Three) in the North Sea, off the North Norfolk Coast. The proposed wind farm will be capable of generating up to 2,400 MW of electricity, enough to meet the average daily needs of more than two million homes.
They are holding a series of public events from 4-13 September where you can find out more, ask questions and comment on the proposals.
Norfolk consultation event dates are:
Mon 04 Sept 17 3pm – 7pm Swardeston Village Hall
Tues 05 Sept 17 4pm – 7.30pm King’s Centre, Norwich
Wed 06 Sept 17 4pm – 8pm Corpusty and Saxthorpe Village Hall
Thurs 07 Sept 17 3.30pm – 7.30pm Weybourne Village Hall
Fri 08 Sept 17 3.30pm – 7.30pm Reepham Town Hall
Tues 12 Sept 17 4pm – 7.30pm Hall for All, Weston Longville
We’re pleased to announce details of the free 20 minute masterclasses at the B2B exhibition on 12th October 2017. We’ve selected a line-up of highly experienced, successful trainers to cover core areas that will be useful for any business.
Ian Hacon, from Yellow Brick Road will kick things off at 11.30am by revealing ‘The Secret of Successful Networking‘ to help visitors make the most of networking opportunities at the exhibition and grow their business contacts.
At 12.15pm we’ll hear from Matt Sykes, a trainer at Mindspan Global, with over 20 years of sales experience. Matt will be delivering an interactive session that focuses on ‘How to improve your selling game‘, revealing the behaviours of highly successful sales professionals.
Jonathan White, Managing Director of Desire Marketing will speak about the effectiveness of ‘Using Social Media to grow your businesses.’ Social media is the perfect digital marketing channel to help businesses with customer retention, acquisition and development strategies. Discover how using LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter can support your business growth at the same time as raising your company profile.
Sarah West, an award winning chartered marketer from Full Mix Marketing will deliver the final session of the day, entitled. ‘How to get the most from your marketing budget‘. This session will cover setting your budget for the results you need, understanding the types of marketing that will give the best return and improving your marketing to get more from your budget and customers.
Completely free and open to all businesses the masterclasses are available for all visitors to attend. Find out more or reserve your place online here
The plans for the long-awaited £300m upgrade of the A47 have been revealed today (Monday 14 August), with the preferred routes for the various section improvements being confirmed.
Highways England, who have been consulting over the details of the project, confirmed improvements for junctions and roundabouts, including Thickthorn roundabout, on the edge of Norwich, and two roundabouts in Great Yarmouth. The two Norfolk sections earmarked for dualling are between North Tuddenham and Easton and between Blofield and North Burlingham.
Philip Davie, Highways England programme leader for the A47, said:
“We have listened to the public’s views and these have helped shape and inform our approach to our proposed schemes. Work now continues, adding detail to the design for each of the dualling and junction improvements, and on planning how we will deliver them in a way that keeps traffic moving.”
Norfolk Chamber and council leaders welcomed the news but highlighted the need to keep up the momentum for the work to be completed as soon as possible and also for further investment to dual more sections of the 115 mile route between Great Yarmouth and Peterborough.
Commenting on the preferred route announcements, Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:
“”We welcome the announcement of the preferred route options, as the next steps towards delivering the long awaited improvements along the A47. The A47 is a main route across Norfolk and is very important to the local economy, so we are keen to see these improvements delivered at the earliest opportunity.
“However, there is still a significant way to go to bring one of Norfolk’s main routes up to standard, even with the current planned improvement schemes. Norfolk Chamber and its members will be working in partnership with the A47 Alliance, to call on Westminster to provide funding for further improvements, such as the dualling of the Acle Straight and the dualling of the section between Tilney and East Winch, both of which will help businesses to deliver greater economic growth and jobs in our region.”
For more details on the preferred option, see the below links:
Highways England must follow due process in delivering the improvements to the A47. The announcement of the preferred routes will be followed by detailed survey works, which will lead to a formal Statutory Consultation period and eventually to an application for a Development Consent Order. It is hoped that the actual construction works will commence in Spring of 2020.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), in partnership with DHL, today (Thursday) publishes its latest Quarterly International Trade Outlook, which shows that while many exporters continue to put in a solid performance, wider economic factors are a cause of concern.
The BCC/DHL Trade Confidence Index, which measures the volume of trade documentation issued by accredited Chambers of Commerce for goods shipments, fell by 2.25% on the quarter – but still stands at the third highest level on record.
The survey, based on the responses of over 3,500 exporting businesses, including those from Norfolk shows that while export sales remained steady during Q2 2017, there are a number of economic factors that are giving businesses cause for concern.
As the pound continues to fluctuate, the findings of the survey show that 68% of manufacturers who export consider exchange rates as a concern to their business.
Recruitment difficulties are high for exporters in both sectors, with 67% in manufacturing and 51% in services reporting problems finding the right people. Access to skilled manual or technical labour was a particular issue for exporters in the manufacturing sector (69%).
Just over a third of exporters are concerned about inflation (36% in manufacturing and 33% in services). The results also show that 39% of exporting manufacturers expect the price of their products to increase over the next three months. Of these, 81% say this is due to the pressure from the cost of raw materials.
Key findings from the report:
The balance of manufacturers reporting improved export sales rose to +27% from +26% in Q1, the highest level since Q4 2014. In services, the balance of firms reporting improved export sales rose to +13% from +10% in Q1, which remains below the historical average of the sector
The balance of manufacturers reporting improved export orders fell to +20% from +22% in Q1, while in services it rose to +9% from +5%
The balance of exporting manufacturers who expect their prices to rise stands at +39%, and raw materials were the cause of price pressures for 81%
68% of exporting manufacturers cite exchange rates as a concern to their business, and 49% in the services sector
36% of manufacturers and 33% of services firms view inflation as a concern
The BCC/DHL Trade Confidence Index, a measure of the volume of trade documentation issued nationally, fell by 2.25% on the quarter. The Index now stands at 123.72 – down 2.54% on Q2 2016 – but stands at the third highest level since records began in 2004
Commenting on the findings, Julie Austin, International Trade Manager at Norfolk Chamber said:
“Norfolk exporters continue to put in a solid performance but are keeping a watchful eye on volatile exchange rates, rising inflation, and ongoing skills shortages.
“Many Norfolk manufacturers are capitalising on the advantages the fall in sterling has brought to overseas sellers since the EU referendum. That said, exporters also tend to import raw materials and product components, and are concerned that the sustained depreciation of the pound may erode their margins.
“The recruitment difficulties facing Norfolk companies reaffirms the need for action on the domestic agenda. Tackling skills shortages, and ensuring the UK’s future immigration system is responsive to economic need, will help boost the growth potential of Norfolk’s all-important exporting businesses. At the same time, a real push to provide local firms with practical exporting advice and on-the-ground support, will put the UK in a better position to take advantage of post-Brexit trading opportunities.”
Ian Wilson, CEO DHL Express UK and Ireland, said:
“Whilst UK businesses continue to deliver a strong export performance, they are increasingly concerned about what lies on the economic horizon.
“68% of manufacturers report exchange rates as a concern, and over a third of exporters are concerned about inflation and rising costs of raw materials. Access to the right talent is also an issue and, combined, these concerns serve as a stark reminder that more needs to be done to secure the future of UK exporters.
“As we begin negotiations for our departure from the EU, the UK government must ensure that the concerns of businesses are acknowledged and that the necessary infrastructure is put in place to ensure Britain continues to be truly global – maintaining and further developing our country’s international trading links.”
Commenting on the position paper for continuity in the availability of goods for the EU and the UK, Julie Austin, International Trade Manager for Norfolk Chamber said:
“Businesses here in Norfolk and the rest of the UK, as well as on the Continent will welcome the British government’s desire to maintain maximum continuity in the way goods are traded when the UK withdraws from the EU.
“UK goods will be fully compliant with EU regulations, product standards and safety checks at the time of the UK’s exit from the EU, and vice versa. Trading companies should not have to get new product approvals, or be subject to duplicate safety checks, for existing products. Related services should also be able to be sold as well.
“As the negotiations continue, both sides should commit to avoid unnecessary compliance checks for businesses, both at the time of the UK’s exit from the EU, and in future wherever the UK and the EU agree to maintain close regulatory alignment.
“A ‘no deal’ scenario, which would see loads of extra red tape imposed on goods traders on both sides of the Channel, must be avoided – as it’s in no one’s best interests.”
Norfolk Chamber, is working in partnership with New Anglia LEP, BITC and the Enterprise Advisor Network to support the work being done in the Norwich Opportunity Area to create greater engagement between business and schools.
The Norwich Opportunity Area is one of 12 Opportunity Areas in the UK and has received £6m investment from the Department of Education to ensure that all young people in our city can reach their potential.
The ambitious target of the Opportunity Area is for every child in a Norwich school to have a meaningful encounter with an employer each year that they are at school. While many of our schools already do great work in this area with many businesses and providers, to improve social mobility we must scale this up significantly – in 2016 Norwich was ranked 323rd out of 324 local authority areas for social mobility.
The Norwich Opportunity Area and its supporting partners are looking to create a cohesive and effective approach to raising aspirations and equipping young people with the skills that they need to succeed but we need the help of the Norfolk business community
You will be able to hear how Norwich City schools and colleges will now be supported by the Department for Education and the Careers and Enterprise Company to engage more strategically with local employers and organisations. We’ll show you how you can get more involved in a city school
Who should attend this event?
Are you a business that would like to support young people in a Norwich school to think about careers and prepare for working life?
Do you already have a strong relationship of supporting employability, careers or enterprise in a school in Norwich?
Do you have an engaging company programme that you would like to share with schools and colleges in the city?
Does your organisation promote and/or broker employer engagement through a wide range of activities?
Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:
“Through our Young Chamber programme, we are working to help bridge skills gap, using our extensive connections with the local business community and the strong relationships with our school members.
We have recently launched our Young Chamber Enterprise Recognition Award to recognise and celebrate education establishments in Norfolk who are committed to improving the employability skills of young people in our region. We would encourage any business, looking to engage and support schools, to attend on 20 September to find out how to they can help deliver their workforce of tomorrow.”
Norfolk’s young people are making important decisions about their future career based on their A Level results, released today (Thursday 17 August). We are confident their hard work will have paid off with excellent results, but employers also value personality and experience. Now, it is time to think broadly about the opportunities available.
Whilst university has been the traditional next step, it is not always the right opportunity for everyone. Whilst recent research has highlighted an ‘image problem’ with apprenticeships, many of Norfolk’s young people are seeing the advantages and benefits and taking this opportunity.
Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager at Norfolk Chamber said:
“Young people have many options open to them and I would encourage those students who have received their ‘A’ Level results today to consider all options, including an apprenticeship. With modern advanced apprenticeships, young people can have a fantastic opportunity to access great training, develop skills and gain qualifications whilst working for an employer.”
The following useful tips can help young people understand what options are available whatever their results:
Norfolk’s careers information, advice & opportunities website: Help You Choose for a range of courses available post A levels; degrees, Foundation Degrees, HNDs and other courses at the same level. You can tailor your search by educational establishment, subject, qualification or location. It tells you how to apply, and different sources of finance which might be available.
On Thursday 17th August over 50 guests joined us at Jarrold Norwich for an informal evening of fun, fashion and networking! The evening started with a networking icebreaker called the outfit challenge, this involved guests getting into groups and picking an on-trend outfit from the fashion floor for under £250. Each team presented their outfit and were judged by the Jarrold’s stylists. The winning outfit included Black jeans and textured white jacket. Jarrold provided a delicious buffet which guests tucked into before and after the networking challenge and the wine was flowing throughout the evening.
Following guests were treated to a beauty demonstration by MAC and fashion show from the Jarrold’s team. The evening was closed with a raffle prize draw with prizes from Jarrold and an exclusive hour for guests to shop around the fashion floor. All guests left with a big smile on their face, and several left with a new piece for their wardrobe! The next upcoming event is Talking Technology on Thursday 20th September at The Space in Norwich https://bit.ly/2x5bNCW
Residents across North Norfolk are being warned to avoid paying private companies that charge for appealing against council-tax bands.
North Norfolk District Council has received reports of people being asked to hand over their bank details by these third parties – all for providing a service that is actually free for householders. Employing one of these companies does not help or influence the outcome of an appeal, and is a complete waste of money.
What makes matters even worse in this instance is that some of these third parties are trying to impose a fee simply for filling out a form, regardless of whether the application to lower the council-tax band proves successful or not.
Cllr Wyndham Northam, NNDC Cabinet member for Revenues and Benefits, said: “If you are a council-tax payer and you want to appeal your council-tax band, it is easy to do this yourself and there is absolutely no charge for doing so.
“Some private operators are very clever at selling their services, but signing up with them means paying an unnecessary fee and receiving absolutely nothing in return that council-tax payers can’t do themselves.”
NNDC warns people to be wary of all cold-callers, especially those demanding bank details. People should never hand over their bank details or other personal information in situations such as this and should always make further inquiries if in any doubt.