Chamber

Workshop 4 | 12.45pm | A Welcome to Co.solo

Join us for the soft launch of our new programme Co.Solo.

Co.Solo is a new initiative – building a community for Solopreneurs.

During this session you will gain an understanding of what our Co.Solo programme is and how we can help support you on your journey. Our very own Marketing and Communications Manager, Rick Notley will be giving a short taster session – Marketing your business.

We are excited to soft launch our new programme and we can’t wait to see you there!

Norfolk is full of talented business men and women and we’re delighted to have some of them giving up their time to provide free mentoring sessions for young professionals (under 35s) across Norfolk.

Date: 26th February 2024.

Time: Hourly slots available between 10am – 2pm

Meet in person at Swaffham Cafe, 3 Market Place, Swaffham, Norfolk, PE37 7AB

Topics

Sales

Coaching

Training

Management

Project Management

Construction

About Zoe

Zoe has been running her own builders merchant for the last 10 years but has been in the trade for around 30. She has worked in small and large companies, a manufacturer for 10 years working at a senior level working on sales, operations, manufacturing and working across divisions delivering training and selling a range of products incorporating other areas of the organisation. She has also worked alongside Mckinsey (London) in delivering a change programme. So she understands corporate life and running a business.

Ever heard of “preference” in trade? It’s like rolling out the red carpet for certain products based on where they’re from. If your products align with the origin rules in a Trade Agreement, it can unlock the door to reduced tariffs, more lenient quotas, and favourable trade terms.

In simpler terms, meeting origin requirements in an agreement grants your product “preference.” This means you’re paying lower tariffs than those non-qualifying goods.

High utilisation rates signal businesses are able to comply with preferential rules of origin, qualifying for tariff perks. On the flip side, low utilisation might mean some hurdles are getting in the way of tapping into these benefits.

Join our webinar, as we dive into the details, guiding you on how to leverage these benefits to your advantage.

The Big Debate returns, bringing local business leaders, MPs and decision-makers together to debate the key issues impacting our region’s businesses. Join us at the Forum, Norwich, for our high-profile annual policy event, which is a cornerstone of the commercial calendar where we put your voice at the heart of the debate.

Topics for the 2024 Debate are:

Transport and Infrastructure

People, Skills & Wellness

Economy in Norfolk

Net Zero and Sustainability

Our speaker lineup for the Debate is currently as follows:

Transport and Infrastructure

Martin Halliday: Director at Freightforce Distribution Ltd

Jonathan Denby: Head of Corporate Affairs at Greater Anglia

Esme Yuill: Head of External Affairs at Transport East

Richard Pace: Managing Director at Norwich International Airport

People, Skills & Wellness

Chloe Smith MP: Member of Parliament for Norwich North

Rebecca Headden: Business Director / Co-Founder at R13 Recruitment Ltd

Dean Pierpoint: LSIP Engagement Manager

Kathryn Horton: CEO of Turning Factor

Economy in Norfolk

David Melloy: Business Development at Ascot Lloyd

Alice Tomkins: Inward Investment Professional at New Anglia LEP

Chris Starkie: Director of Growth and Investment at Norfolk County Council

Fiona Mcdiarmid: Experienced Chair and Non-Executive Director

Justin Galliford: CEO at Norse

Net Zero and Sustainability

Alex Durand: CEO of Klyne Aviation, including the Saxon Air Group of companies, and Vice Chair at British Business & General Aviation Association

Richard Buckingham: Climate Change and Carbon Manager at Anglian Water Services

George Freeman MP: Member of Parliament and Former UK Minister of State for Science, Technology & Innovation

Ellen Goodwin: Sustainability Manager for the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital

What to Expect:

Engaging Discussions: Direct interaction with key decision-makers and local MPs.
Networking Opportunities: Connect and collaborate with fellow Norfolk businesses.
Community Voice: Be part of Norfolk Chamber’s flagship policy event, where the voice of the Norfolk business community is amplified and heard.
Highlights:

Insightful Debates: Dive into critical topics affecting our local businesses and economy.
Q&A Sessions: Pose your burning questions directly to MPs and leaders shaping local and national policy.
Thought Leadership: Gain valuable perspectives from influential speakers driving change.

Why Attend:

Empowerment: Your chance to influence policy-making by contributing your insights.
Networking: Forge new connections, partnerships, and collaborations.
Knowledge and Insights: Gain valuable industry insights from experts and thought leaders.

Who Should Attend:

Local Business Owners and Leaders: Those passionate about policy and the future of Norfolk’s business landscape.
Entrepreneurs and Innovators: Individuals seeking to stay ahead in the local market.
Showcase Your Business: Exhibit at The Big Debate 2024

Elevate your business’s visibility and engagement by securing one of the limited exhibitor stands at The Big Debate 2024.

Member exhibition stand price: £220

Non-Member exhibition stand price: £275

This is your opportunity to directly connect with Norfolk MPs, local business leaders, and a captive audience interested in shaping the region’s business landscape.

For more information contact: shelley.rudling@norfolkchambers.co.uk

Norfolk is full of talented business men and women and we’re delighted to have some of them giving up their time to provide free mentoring sessions for young professionals (under 35s) across Norfolk.

Date: 19th February 2024.

Time: Hourly slots available between 10am – 4pm

Meet in person at Royal Norwich, The Weston Estate, Weston Hall Road, Weston Longville, Norwich, NR9 5JE

Topics

Procurement & Supplier Management
Networking & Connecting
Running your own business as a Solopreneur
Sounding board & Signpost for your ideas

About Chris

Chris is a Chartered Procurement & Supply Professional and Fellow of CIPS. Chris is an active Member of the Institute of Directors and proactive networker across the Norfolk and London business communities.

Chris has been an independent professional through CJC Procurement Ltd since 2016, a classic case of redundancy into consultancy and Solopreneurship and Chris has supported Norfolk Chambers to set up our Co.Solo programme.

Our engagement groups represent local businesses in the community, to connect, support, and give voice to every business in Norfolk.

As well as having the opportunity to discuss key topics, you’ll also be able to network with fellow businesses.

Our aim is to have groups in many cities, towns, market towns, and villages across Norfolk, to connect, support, and give voice to every business in Norfolk. These groups are accessible to all businesses, whether you are a Chambers member or a non-member.

These groups will provide you with a platform to debate issues that are most important to you, and your business and the Chamber network will lobby and influence on your behalf, using our dedicated team, our website, social media channels, and our digital platform.

Your feedback will be used by our team and the Chamber’s Board to help shape the strategic direction of Norfolk Chambers to ensure we can truly be the voice of Norfolk businesses.

Whether the local challenge is skills, road, rail, digital infrastructure, recruitment, or the rising costs of doing business, we want to hear from you.

Agenda

9am Arrival and networking

9.10am Welcome from Norfolk Chambers

9.15am Introductions

9.20am start conversations

10am Event close

This event is kindly sponsored by one of our Strategic Partners, Uptech – Your Trusted IT Partner and Expert in Managed IT Services.

Visit their member page here.

Norfolk is full of talented business men and women and we’re delighted to have some of them giving up their time to provide free mentoring sessions for young professionals (under 35s) across Norfolk.

Date: 5th February 2024.

Time: Hourly slots available between 10am – 2pm

Meet in person at Royal Norwich, The Weston Estate, Weston Hall Road, Weston Longville, Norwich, NR9 5JE

Topics

HR

Personal Growth and Development

How mindset can impact the bottom line of a business.

Wellbeing

Performance

About Gemma

Gemma Crane has been in an HR Capacity in the corporate world for 24 years in a variety of sectors and industries. In the last 10-12 years has also become an NLP Practitioner, Life Coach and Results Internation Performance Coach.

Gemma is also a trustee for the Norwich Red Balloon Charity, enjoys public speaking and supports and partners with organisations to improve their processes and practices in relation to their people strategy.

Mindset-HR was founded by Gemma Crane in 2022. As the lead HR Consultant, Gemma works with businesses to think differently about their ‘People Strategy’ and processes.

Coming out of the pandemic and studying the mind for over 10 years now it is crazy how ‘people’ have changed and the changes to their priorities of what a meaningful life looks like to them.

Businesses that make changes to their culture to recognise this will thrive and achieve better results and revenue.

Management is like orchestrating a flawless concert, making sure every instrument plays its part efficiently, whereas leadership is more like being the Rockstar on stage… getting the crowd going and creating an unforgettable experience. Both are essential for a successful show, but they play different roles.

Do you feel your workplace is full of rockstars or conductors?

What does management mean to you? Does Leadership matter to you?

We want to know how the young professionals in Norfolk feel on this topic, join us on Thursday 18th January at The Forum, Norwich, where we shall discuss the difference between management and leadership. Joined by a panel of local rockstars and conductors, we shall hear from them first hand on their own experiences and how they feel on the topic. Factoring in how you, the young professionals of Norfolk feel about management and leadership.

Welcome drinks and light canapes served from 5.15pm with the event beginning shortly afterwards. Catering kindly sponsored by Uptech.

Panel

· Jamie Minors, Co-Founder of Minors & Brady Estate Agents

· Kelly Cartwright, Owner of Core Recruiter Ltd

· Stephen Moseley, Course Leader and Lecturer at City College Norwich

· Jason Carlton, Managing Director at Uptech

· Sam Squires, CEO of Inspire 2 Ignit

· Julie Furnell, Managing Director of Mobilityways

Opportunity to network and connect with other under 35’s in Norfolk while gaining insightful knowledge.

Tickets live on 8th December from 8am.

Norfolk is full of talented business men and women and we’re delighted to have some of them giving up their time to provide free mentoring sessions for young professionals (under 35s) across Norfolk.

Date: 12th February 2024.

Time: Hourly slots available between 10am – 4pm

Virtual Mentor Session – A video link will be given to you the week leading up to your session directly from the mentor.

Topics

Identifying Goals

Leadership

Breaking Old Habits

Communication Skills

Motivational Skills

Work Life Balance

Deciding what’s the best way forward!

These are not hard boundaries. Its fine just to explore your next move, in a safe environment where you won’t be judged!

About Julie

After gaining a Certificate in Sales & Marketing Management, Julie spent over 25 years working with a diverse range of business, helping them to develop and grow. This gave Julie an excellent understanding of the problems business face and the problems individuals struggle with. Business and people have changed greatly over that time.

Julie then went on to do a Diploma in Counselling. Julie finds people fascinating! When good communication and behaviour is a way of life, and used in business, barriers come down, stress is reduced, sickness and absence is reduced. Its a win, win for everyone. When people thrive, businesses thrive! Julie’s mission is to help people and businesses achieve this.

Norfolk is full of talented business men and women and we’re delighted to have some of them giving up their time to provide free mentoring sessions for young professionals (under 35s) across Norfolk.

Date: 16th September 2024.

Time: Hourly slots available between 10am – 4pm

Virtual Mentor Session – A video link will be given to you the week leading up to your session directly from the mentor.

Topics

Sales

Lead generation

Pipeline management

Sales process

Effective Sales call technique

Conversion rate improvement

About Matt

Matt Sykes is a business owner, published author, and sales coach and trainer.

Matt founded his sales training business, Salescadence, nine years ago following a twenty-year sales career in the global packaging industry. During that time, he rose through the ranks to European Sales Director with responsibility for €70m of revenue.

In 2014, he quit the corporate world to pursue his passion for sales and self-employment and his work at Salescadence centres on helping businesses mitigate the risks associated with ‘sales-malpractice’, and guiding them to help more people buy what they sell.

He has delivered sales training and coaching to hundreds of sales people across a variety of product and service sectors including Broadcast Media, Recruitment, Finance, Packaging and SaaS in the UK and Western Europe.

Matt is the author of two books, Converted (2020): How to help more people buy what you sell, and Sales Glue (2023): The vital ingredient that makes sales success stick and enjoys nothing more than interviewing sales leaders and entrepreneurs in his role as host of The Salescadence Podcast.

Join us for an evening of networking and an exclusive tour at Big C’s new cancer support centre on Dereham Road in Norwich.

Exclusive tour at Big C’s new cancer support centre on Dereham Road in Norwich. The new centre was completed in the summer of 2023, and it has already made a positive impact on the services the charity are able to provide for local people affected by cancer.

Attendees will have the chance to look around this wonderful new facility and to hear first hand from one Big C’s Nurses about some of the ways Big C are supporting people.

Light refreshments will be provided.

There is limited on street parking on the side roads along Dereham Road.

Barn Road Car Park is a short walk away located under St Benedict’s Gate Accommodation, St Swithins Road, NR2 4SZ

If you’re a solopreneur or work alone, you know that Christmas can be a lonely time. Everyone else is at work parties, but you’re stuck at home. That’s why we’re throwing Co.solo’s first solopreneur Christmas party!

Join us for a festive gathering of fellow self-employed folks to celebrate the holidays and connect with others who understand what it’s like to be on your own. We’ll have food, drinks, and games, and plenty of opportunities to network and make new friends.

Make sure you bring your business cards with you as we will be running a competition on the night and one lucky person will win a premium party package for 4 people valued at £140 which is kindly donated by Putt Putt Noddle which will include,

Allocated VIP area for exclusive use, 3 rounds of golf, 2 premium drinks or cocktails, a main meal of choice and a photo of the group to capture the memory!

So come on out and celebrate the holidays with us! You won’t regret it.