Law
firm Birketts is continuing its long-running support of Best Employers Eastern
Region through its on-going sponsorship of the initiative.
Now
in its fifteenth year and co-founded by Pure Resourcing and psychometrics
experts eras Ltd., the Best Employers programme uses an employee engagement
survey to help organisations develop forward-thinking and inclusive workspaces
and shape employers’ people strategies.
Participating
organisations in Best Employers Eastern Region also benefit from knowledge
sharing events aimed at aiding employers in developing their workplace cultures
and environments.
On
Birketts’ sponsorship, Sonya O’Reilly, Partner
in the Employment Team, said: “Birketts is proud to continue our
sponsorship of Best Employers. It’s more than a badge of honour for
organisations who participate; it’s a programme aimed at boosting the East’s
economy through employee engagement and creating better working environments
for employees – the life-blood of the region’s businesses and other
organisations.
Best
Employers Eastern Region 2025 begins at the launch conference on 26
March at the Rowley Mile Racecourse conference centre in Newmarket. The
event will feature inspirational speakers who’ll discuss the programme in
detail, and provide tips on how to get the best out of the survey.
Later
in the year, Best Employers will host an awards conference (Wednesday 15
October 2025) which brings together businesses from across the region to
recognise and reward employers going the extra mile for their people. Awards
include best small, medium and large company, as well as best-in-industry
prizes. The conference has a packed agenda of speakers from well-known
organisations too. They’ll give you exclusive advice and insights into
improving the employee experience.
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.
They’ve done it again! We’ve been awarded Highly Rated by Autotrader for the 4th year in a row!
🏆2024 🏆2023 🏆2022 🏆2021
Thank you for the incredible level of customer service and unrivalled professionalism you provide to all our customers – you really are the dream team!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
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
We are pleased to welcome Joe Mills, Managing Director of The Tree Academy.
Joe has dedicated her career to understanding the elusive strands of what it means to be human; how we can lead more fulfilling lives, be better leaders, create environments people want to work in and run more successful businesses.
The Tree Academy brings together her belief in people’s ability to improve with her vast experience in the ‘people sphere’. Partnering people and organisations who need help establishing, enhancing and refocusing their approach, she creates uniquely practical solutions.
She describes her ability to see businesses as complete and single systems, much like a tree. “To design and ‘plant’ solutions with a life-time value, it’s critical for me to understand the ‘whole’ environment, how everything connects and responds. My mind quickly grasps and holds vast amounts of information, enabling me to distil and bring to life my clear and innovative plans. Solutions in isolation will only ever be temporary fixes and more damaging in the long-term”.
I also found out she enjoys ‘prescribing’ books as part of her coaching and mentoring approach. “As humans we connect to stories in a powerful way and at times I see someone’s need to shift their thinking with what I call my ‘sideways’ approach. As I read and listen to a huge amount of books, I have many to call on”!
Joe began making incredible videos during the height of the Covid Pandemic, which we shared and you can view on The Norfolk Knowledge Hub, as well as The Tree Academy’s new YouTube channel.
“My belief in people and their ability to improve themselves and their businesses drives me. It takes empathy, tenacity, skill, experience and a huge amount of my life. I wouldn’t have it any other way”.
Joe has recently become a Co.next Mentor – to find out more about Co.next, our programme supporting Norfolk’s under 35s and to get involved, click here
Search engines seem to have the answer to everything and this is no coincidence. Google is very clever at showing you the most relevant and accurate results based on your search. It’s their mission to understand the user better and the intent behind their searches. Google must evolve and adapt as users shift their search behaviour and global conversations change.
Why do people search?
It may seem obvious but there are a number of reasons why people search on Google; they may be looking for specific information, a location, to purchase something or for entertainment. Whatever the reason, the goal is always the same… They want answers, and relevant ones.
Nowadays the way people search has evolved considerably, with the likes of mobile and voice search. As technology has advanced, how people search has changed. People now have various ways in which they can find out information, but the way they carry this out differs depending on what device they’re using.
Mobile search
People search differently on mobile compared to desktop. According to Techjury “smartphone conversion rates are up by 64% compared to the average desktop conversion rates”. There is a definite time aspect attached to mobile search and often people are more ready to act. They are usually on-the-go and want relevant answers quickly. Location-based searches are also common here, for instance when searching for a local mortgage broker you might search ‘mortgage brokers near me’. Or perhaps you’re looking for a new garden room and search ‘garden room Norfolk’. Less content, more relevance.
Voice search
Alexa and Siri have certainly shaken up how people search and introduced a new dynamic. Today search has evolved to be a lot more conversational and question-based, especially when using smart speakers. These searches tend to be longer, mirroring how you would actually ask someone a question face-to-face. This can affect your keyword length, which is where long-tail keywords come in. Instead of typing ‘mortgage broker fees’, someone would ask outloud, ‘Hey Google, do mortgage brokers charge a fee?’ when carrying out a voice search.
Clickless searches
Google wants to provide the user with the most relevant information as quickly and easily as possible, and featured snippets are a great way to do this. Featured snippets are a small section of text that appear at the top of the search result, providing short quick answers. There are different featured snippet formats, one of which is the definition box. These usually occur when searching for ‘what is’ queries, for example ‘what is equity release’? The definition tends to be short and sweet, making it easier for the user to find the correct answer to their question.
It’s clear that search behaviour impacts the results a search engine shows and understanding this is key to your SEO strategy. As much as Google needs to adapt to search behaviour changes, your SEO strategy needs to follow suit too. Need help ironing out your strategy? Feel free to give us a call on 01603 859007 or email us at hello@nuimage.co.uk.
Welcome to the Norfolk Chambers podcast, in today’s episode Haze Carver is chatting with Chris Spinks, Managing Director of Westcotec.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Chris Spinks joined the Police Force at 19 –working in response policing then specialising in roads policing and firearms including Royalty Protection and security convoy driving. From Constable in Norwich and Wymondham through Armed Response Vehicle Crew to Sergeant in Fakenham and to Inspector in King’s Lynn, and then Chief Inspector, a Head of Norfolk and Suffolk Roads Policing and firearms operations.
Westcotec thrive on innovation, relishing the challenge of bringing new approaches to old problems. Alongside traditional speed limit warning signs the company produces very specialist devices including, Road Flood Warning and Bridge Height Warning systems and Collision Avoidance System.
Westcotec manufacture in their own factory based in Norfolk, utilising high quality, rigorously tested components. The single site for Manufacture, Technical Support, Research, Development, Sales and Marketing provides an ability to react swiftly to customer’s requirements particularly in the more specialist areas, this flexibility has led to custom in not only in the UK but also across Northern Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
They are one of only a few to have obtained the required CE mark for their VAS products. Westcotec has pioneered alternative energy with wind and solar options, available throughout most of its product range. Westcotec are determined to reduce their carbon footprint so for every sign sold a tree is planted in the company owned woodland, to date this numbers in excess of 8000 trees.
If you live or work in and around Great Yarmouth or the wider Norfolk region you may be surprised to hear about our PPE and workwear shop located on the Gapton Hall Industrial Estate, we’re a little hidden away!
The My Safety Gear trade counter is a one-stop PPE and workwear store for construction, engineering and offshore workers, or anyone else who needs to purchase top quality health and safety products at fantastic prices for their business or simply personal use locally.
We stock a huge range of workwear, PPE and work safety products from top notch brands such as Portwest, Mascot Workwear, Moldex, Fort Workwear, TuffStuff Workwear, JSP, Himalayan and the list is growing, trust us! We have you covered!! Furthermore, if we don’t stock it, and if we can, we’ll find it for you!
Need your workwear fully branded up? No Problem! With our state-of-art, in-house embroidery and heat transfer equipment we can customise any work gear with your logo, corporate message or anything else you may need. Having bespoke work clothing is after all one of the best ways to advertise your business, it’s always with you, and always in front of the people who may pass you by while you’re hard at it.
So whether you are in the market for a new hi vis jacket, a hard hat, some work boots or something a little more high end, like the JSP Powercap Infinity, we have you covered.
So, why not pop in to see us at the My Safety Gear workwear and PPE trade counter today, we’re located at: Marine Park, Gapton Hall Industrial Estate, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR31 0NB. Upon arrival one of our knowledgeable team will be very happy to help you pick the right product for the right job.
What if I can’t get to you? If you’re up against time and need your stuff fast, you can call us on 01493 658571 or email sales@mysafetygear.uk and we’ll get you sorted. You will also find a fast array of top-quality work safety gear directly on this website so please take a look around.
Safety Gear – Great Yarmouth’s workwear and PPE people
Reacting to the announcement of the new Prime Minister, Shevaun Haviland, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said: “We would like to congratulate Rishi Sunak on his appointment as Prime Minister.
“The political and economic uncertainty of the past few months has been hugely damaging to British business confidence and must now come to an end.
“The new Prime Minister must be a steady hand on the tiller to see the economy through the challenging conditions ahead.
“This means setting out fully costed plans to deal with the big issues facing businesses; soaring energy bills, labour shortages, spiralling inflation, and climbing interest rates.
“We cannot afford to see any more flip-flopping on policies – the UK’s businesses need a sustainable, long-term economic plan they can believe in.
“The BCC is writing to the Prime Minister to set out the action needed to tackle the main challenges facing business. It is vital we see progress made in these areas to keep doors open and promote investment.
“Firstly, the Government must provide more certainty on the energy support package for businesses and quickly communicate how the system will work from April. Firms need to know what support to expect in the medium and long term.
“Secondly, they must fix the extremely tight labour market. Without the skilled people to do the jobs businesses need, the economy will stagnate.
“Thirdly, to grow the economy, Government must set out a strategy to boost our international trade and exports.
“People run businesses and businesses rely on people. The new administration must grasp that the cost of living and cost of doing business crises are two sides of the same coin.
“We need a clear long-term vision of how the new Prime Minister will deal with the challenges ahead and create the business conditions that allow firms, and the communities that rely on them, to thrive.”
Commenting on the Office for National Statistics inflation figures for August 2022, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Alex Veitch, said:
“This rise in Consumer Prices Index inflation by 9.9% confirms the sustained pressure businesses and consumers have been facing over the past year.
“This is also reflected in the squeeze on businesses’ operating costs as Producer Price Inflation figures remain at record highs of 20.5% in the year to August 2022.
“While the rate of growth has eased slightly, this has been driven by a fall in motor fuel costs – other goods continue to rise.
“There is a limit to how long any firm can sustain these rising costs before something has to give. We know from our research that two thirds of businesses plan to increase their own prices.
“The size of last week’s Government intervention on energy prices should have a dampening effect on inflation when it is enacted.
“But the lack of detail on exactly how much help any individual business will get, and for how long, means very few will be planning to invest any time soon.
“There are also a whole host of other issues ranging from transport and shipping costs, raw material prices, energy sector regulation and the tight labour market that must be addressed.
“It is imperative the Government’s forthcoming ‘fiscal intervention’ provides business with confidence that there is a cohesive plan to take the economy forward.”
SEO, PPC and Paid Social, what a force to be reckoned with! Many business owners believe that running just one of these marketing techniques is all they need, because why start another one when the other is doing well? Right?… WRONG! It is actually proven that running these campaigns together, if done correctly, can do wonders for your customer base and revenue. Look at it as tripling your online visibility! 3 of a Kind
Trust us, we know that choosing which way to go with your digital marketing is tough enough without giving you 3 options, which is as a digital marketing agency we are here to offer our expertise! Whilst we understand that taking all 3 routes is not always the best direction for all businesses, it has been for one of our clients, The Fine Curtain Company. We have been working closely with them for over a year now! They started on their journey with us with PCC and Paid Social, which we have seen some great results from. So great in fact that they have recently taken the final step on the podium with SEO completing their golden trio! And they are already starting to reap the benefits that SEO, PPC and Paid Social bring, some of the benefits are as follows: You Get the Best of All Worlds
The ultimate digital marketing goal for businesses is to bring more traffic back to their site, that’s a given! And each of the 3 digital marketing strategies can help to bring in an audience from a different platform. For example posting on social media could bring in customers from Facebook, Instagram or even TikTok. PPC means that you have complete control over what you appear for, who it appears for and how you appear for it. And SEO brings you organic traffic… which is important as it is proven that more people click on an organic listing over a paid one! Grabbing a handful of users using each of these strategies is an ideal way to broaden your customer base, and therefore your revenue.
Helping to Stay at the Top
PPC translates to Pay Per Click which are the paid ads that are ocated at the top of the Google Search Results above SEO’s organic listings. With a good SEO strategy and a little bit of time you will see your rankings climb. But maintaining the top spots in the search results can sometimes prove difficult, especially if Google rolls out an algorithm. Most of the time Google’s core updates will have little to no effect on your business, but it can’t help to have a backup plan in place just in case you do see an unexpected drop in rankings. PPC and Paid Social to the rescue! With PPC you always have a fall back option, having the power to pause or activate these ads whenever you feel like you need the extra spotlight. With Paid Social you can have the comfort of a constant stream of users. As Paid Social doesn’t depend on your site being high in the organic search results.
Criss Cross
A fully woven digital marketing web is sure to catch more than one fly. Using PPC and Paid Social marketing opens opportunities for remarketing ads and tailored ads on Social. You can target a specific audience or even people who have viewed your site organically. There is a rule in the industry that suggests that someone needs to see an ad 7 times before they are encouraged to buy or even notice the product. Criss crossing to different platforms with your ads using SEO as a base line and PPC and Paid Social as a booster can boast incredible results!
SEO, PPC, Paid Social, all of these strategies are a great way of taking off on your flight towards an online presence. If taking all of these on at once is too much of a step then don’t worry! Here at Nu Image we are happy to have a chat about which direction we feel is the best way to take your digital marketing journey. Get in touch with one of our friendly digital marketing team for more information!
Welcome to the Norfolk Chambers podcast, in today’s episode Haze Carver is chatting with Mark White, The LinkedIn Professional.
Did you know that LinkedIn’s biggest demographic is age 25-35?
In this episode, Mark discusses insights and advice, and how LinkedIn can work better for you and your team. From dwell time, voice messaging to training your home page – this is a brilliant podcast if you are looking to increase your LinkedIn presence.
Mark has trained over 500 businesses, over 13 years working with companies, teams and individuals to help them match their business needs and opportunities with all that LinkedIn offers … essentially unlocking the opportunities that exist to start more meaningful conversations, advance more sales opportunities and increase visibility & marketing.
