That’s the question Norfolk Chamber of Commerce is asking. Always committed to stimulating debate the Chamber is asking you if the Norfolk brand is a help or a hindrance when it comes to marketing.
Famously, Aviva scrapped its 200 year old trading name of Norwich Union with the objective of growing the brand, and helping it to compete on a global scale. The strategy was that ‘Aviva’ would appeal to an international market more than Norwich Union.
By the same token, Bernard Matthews have proudly trumpeted Norfolk as the very essence of a successful brand. Being branded ‘Colman’s of Norwich’ has kept people as keen as mustard in that international organisation’s products. But then, whilst Start-Rite have not put a foot wrong in their marketing, they’ve never added Norfolk to the branding.
Now comes the exciting news that Hoseasons have commissioned a £1 million TV advertising campaign to promote their 28,000 places to stay across the UK & Europe, and it features entirely Norfolk scenes.
Simon Altham, Managing Director of Hoseasons describes the commercial as a “marvellous showcase for Norfolk’s tourism offering”.
Hear his views on how the Norfolk brand has given Hoseasons a competitive advantage at the Great Yarmouth Business Breakfast.
Caroline Williams, Chief executive of the Norfolk Chamber said “Businesses need to understand that using the ‘Norfolk brand’ can enhance their offer. It’s a point of difference, and separates them from the generic nationals. It can make their offering entirely unique. We’ve put Norfolk at the heart of what we do. We’re the Norfolk Chamber and proud of it!” Join the debate.
Norwich School has been awarded Norfolk Chamber’s highest level of their Young Chamber Enterprise Recognition Award.
The Chamber’s Young Chamber Enterprise Recognition Award is an award recognising and celebrating education establishments in Norfolk that are committed to improving the employability skills of young people in our region.
Bearers of this award will have evidenced a clear understanding of the local business needs and will be working to equip students with the necessary skills as well as creating opportunities for students to engage with local organisations. An education establishment with the ‘Commended’ Gold Tick will have shown the most commitment to student employability outcomes and has gone above and beyond in delivering a culture of enterprise.
Norwich School were able to show their commitment to enterprise engagement across the life of their students. The Young Chamber judges were particularly impressed with the sustainable and focussed programmes that were in place to encourage students to consider their future opportunities in the world of business, which is why they awarded the ‘Commended’ level.
Norwich School is delighted to be ‘Commended’ in the Enterprise Recognition Award. Tom White, Head of Economics and Business Enterprise said:
“We’re very pleased to receive this award as it is the outcome of a sustained team effort. Norwich School approaches enterprise education from a wide angle. My colleagues have carefully put together a curriculum that is rich with work experience, community service, careers fairs and enterprise activity days. We have the active support of governors, parents and local business enhancing what we can offer in school. I am grateful to all the mentors, advisors and business people who have contributed to this success.
“The Enterprise Recognition Award also highlights the high level of engagement we see from our pupils. In the classroom and their clubs, societies, competitions and Young Enterprise companies, our pupils show a commitment to enterprise. They are frequently resilient, creative, dynamic and entrepreneurial. Congratulations on their achievements.”
Presenting the award, Glyndwr Thomas, Finance Business Partner at Aviva and Board member of Norfolk Chamber’s Young Chamber Board said:
“Recognising Norwich School with this award is fully deserved. Their commitment to embedding an enterprise approach is admirable and the evidence of the positive outcomes this creates is particularly encouraging. Giving our young people the skills and the opportunities to work with businesses and to prepare them for the world of work is critical to the success of Norfolk enterprise.”
Nova Fairbank, Head of Policy, Governance and Public Affairs and a member of the Young Chamber Board said:
“One of Norfolk Chamber’s key priorities is helping to bridge the gap between business and education. Our Young Chamber programme is designed to help create stronger business engagement with schools and support the raising of young people’s aspirations and soft skills.
“We are delighted to be able to award ‘Commended’ status to Norwich School. They have an active agenda of engagement with the local business community and are very proactive in ensuring their students have access to business engagement opportunities, such as supporting Norfolk Chamber in the delivery of our B2B event, as well as running their own Young Chamber group, where the students deliver their own business breakfasts.”
Norwich School is particularly keen to help support other schools to achieve an Enterprise Recognition Award, commenting on this, Nicola Hill, Assistant Head said:
“We would be delighted to talk with any school who would be looking to put themselves forward for this award in the future – we worked together with many colleagues in our own school to put ours together and would enjoy helping other schools to do the same.”
Last week two of our favourite colleagues got engaged!
We are super happy for Sam and Jack. Sam and Jack both started working at the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce back in 2013 as apprentices. As many of you will know they have both flourished in their careers since then. Jack is now the IT and Data Manager and Sam is the Conference and Events Manager, they are both key members of the team who contribute to a whole range of Chamber of activities.
We wish them well and can’t wait for the big day!!
The New Anglia Skills Deal Programme is an opportunity for employers, alongside training providers, to seek funding for project proposals that address a gap in – or barrier to accessing – training provision. Skills Deals funding is available to co-fund projects that will raise skill levels, create jobs and drive enterprise and economic growth in Norfolk and Suffolk. Expressions of Interest in this funding are now being invited.
Funding awards of over £50,000 are available for projects lasting up to two years. The Coastal Communities Fund (CCF) will encourage the economic development of UK coastal communities by giving them funding to create sustainable economic growth and jobs.
The government has committed £27.8 million to support the CCF in 2013/14 with money generated by the Crown Estate’s marine assets. The Big Lottery Fund is delivering the CCF on behalf of Government, operating under the name Big Fund. CCF is a UK-wide programme but there are some country specific requirements and priorities. Information about these is contained in the help notes to accompany the application form.
The following types of organisation can apply:
charities
voluntary and community sector organisations
social enterprises, including cooperatives and community ownership initiatives
local authorities
development agencies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
local enterprise partnerships in England
private sector companies.
Opening and closing dates for 2013/14The Coastal Communities Fund isopen for applications from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales from12 March 2013. The programme opens for applications from projects in England on 3 April 2013.You can downloadhelp notesand astage one application formthis section of the BIG website as well asquestions & answersand information on State Aid.
Please ensure you familiarise yourself with the country priorities- each country has its own unique requirements and in order to have the best possible chance of getting funding you must demonstrate how you meet these.
Applicants will be required to submit a stage one application by:
Norfolk County Council wants to create a Norwich Western Link to improve travel between the A47 and the western end of Broadland Northway (formerly the Northern Distributor Road) and to tackle transport problems in the area. They published four potential routes for a Norwich Western Link earlier this month and have now made further information about them available to coincide with the consultation opening. You can find out more about the options online via www.norfolk.gov.uk/nwl or by coming to one of their staffed events taking place in local communities throughout the consultation period. A full list of these events is below. Once you have looked through this information, there are a number of ways you can respond to the consultation. If you are responding on behalf of an organisation or in an official capacity, they would encourage you to respond in writing, as follows:
Tuesday 11 December at Taverham Village Hall (12-6pm)
Wednesday 12 December at Hall for All, Weston Longville
Friday 14 December at Salvation Army Church, Fakenham
Tuesday 8 January at Aylsham Town Hall
Thursday 10 January at Diamond Jubilee Lodge, Hellesdon
Friday 11 January at Great Witchingham Village Hall
Monday 14 January at The Costessey Centre
Tuesday 15 January at Dereham Memorial Hall
Wednesday 16 January at Honingham Village Hall
It’s really important that they receive your views on the four options for a Norwich Western Link – all the consultation responses will be used to help them identify a preferred route for the Norwich Western Link in Spring 2019.
Your response to the consultation must be in before midnight on Friday 18 January 2019.
Norfolk Chamber recently welcomed Phil Eckersley, the Bank of England’s Agent for the East of England to Norwich City Football Club, where he provided on off the record overview of the UK economy, including the impact of Brexit on the economy, since the Referendum in 2016.
In front of over 80 business leaders, Mr Eckersley answered questions on growth, investment, productivity, trade barriers and the international potential for the UK. He also noted that the Bank of England stands ready to meet both the opportunities and the challenges that may arise from Brexit.
Commenting on the lunch, Fiona Ryder, President of Norfolk Chamber said:
“It was a fantastic opportunity for Chamber members to hear the latest thoughts directly from the Bank of England and we would like to thank Phil Eckersley for joining us for lunch and providing some very relevant economic insight.”
Abellio train operator Greater Anglia has reported a further improvement in train punctuality for the most recent four-week period ended 27 April 2013, with a public performance measure (PPM) result of 94.1%.
This continued and improving performance (in the previous period for March 2013 punctuality was 93.6%) means that the moving annual average (MAA) punctuality result – which measures performance over a 12 month period – has again improved to a new high of 92.4%, the best MAA figure recorded so far for the Greater Anglia franchise area (which was established in 2004).
Greater Anglia has consistently delivered improvements in train punctuality since taking over the franchise in February last year, and in this most recent four-week performance period for April, punctuality for the route sectors of the Greater Anglia network was: Metro & Southend 96.7%, West Anglia 93.9%, Mainline 93.8%, Rural 92.6% and Stansted Express at 90.4%. The 12 month MAA punctuality level for Mainline services continued to improve and to a new all-time high of 91.3%.
Individually, 6 of Greater Anglia’s rail lines now have a 12 month MAA punctuality figure either at or in excess of 95%. In Essex, the Romford to Upminster line has current punctuality of 99.3% and Braintree to Witham is 95.7%. In Suffolk, the Lowestoft to Norwich service is at 95.4% and Sudbury to Marks Tey is 95.1%. And in Norfolk, the Norwich to Great Yarmouth and Sheringham lines are both recording 95% punctuality. Meanwhile, the punctuality for Greater Anglia’s Norwich to London Intercity services in April of 93.2% was amongst the best performance achieved for these services since 2000.
Ruud Haket, Managing Director Greater Anglia said: “I am very pleased that train punctuality once again improved in April, reflecting our continued and relentless efforts, working in partnership with Network Rail to provide improving and consistent train service performance at Greater Anglia.
“We recognise there is more work to do in achieving greater consistency and will continue to focus on delivering further improvements in train punctuality for our customers across the region.”
Last Thursday night was one of Norfolk’s biggest events in the annual business calendar, with our gold Patron’s Anglian Water sponsoring the event, and over five hundred people attending from the business community. This certainly showcased the talent and innovation in our county. Host, Katherine Ryan certainly added a new dimension to the evening and demonstrated a real fondness for the county too, as well as being a great hostess!
We are so happy for our members who won the category’s below, a very big well done!
We’re now about to enter the final week of the campaign and Small Business Saturday (1st December) is only just over a week away. The theme for the final week is Shop Local. This is all about encouraging audiences to support and/or purchase from small businesses and to use the Small Business Finder to do so. Small Business Saturday is an independent grassroots movement that the government are supporting. The campaign aims to promote the value of small businesses to local communities; provide support to small businesses; and encourage the public to shop small and shop local. Why support Small Business Saturday?
Small businesses are the backbone of the UK economy
Over 99% of the UK’s 5.7m businesses are small
We want to highlight government support on offer to help small businesses start-up and grow
Government support is available for small businesses and entrepreneurs
How can you support?
Share local stories of small businesses on your channels
Follow us on twitter (@HMGEast) and retweet and like our regional case studies. We’d love to spread the message about how brilliant the small and local businesses in the East of England are.
Norfolk Chamber are taking part in the Active Norfolk Workplace Challenge 2018. (We currently sit in the top 20 companies/organisations taking part for ‘actvitity points’!)
Companies and organisations across Norfolk are invited to take park in the ‘Workplace Challenge’. The aim of the programme is to promote sport, physical activity and health improvements. You can sign up to take part for free.
One of the oldest accountancy in Norwich, Larking Gowen began back in 1888, originally set up by Charles Larking in Norwich, then in 1969, the company merged with another Norwich accountants Harman & Gowen, thus Larking Gown was formed and has continued to grow into the company we know today. Now one of the UK’s top 40 accountancy firms with eight offices across the region. It is a company that has certainly managed growth and seen a number of changes in all our working practices over the years. Staff wellbeing is certainly now at the heart of Larking Gowen since they launched their wellbeing programme. This programme is continually evolving and developing through engagement with their staff and Wellbeing Champions. It is great to see Larking Gowen’s forward thinking and investment in their staff support. This has gained them recognition and is now part of their working culture. Selected as the Regional winner of Workplace Wellbeing Award, Larking Gowen met all the BCC Judges criteria below; • Evidence that the health and wellbeing of your employees are embedded in your businesses culture • The activities that your organisation undertakes to promote and encourage the positive health and wellbeing of your staff • How you assess your employee’s health and wellbeing needs • The impact that your health and wellbeing initiatives have had on your employees and the wider business. The Norfolk Chamber of Commerce is delighted for Larking Gowen winning this award and we wish them well in the next stage of the completion. https://www.britishchambers.org.uk/events/chamber-awards