Norfolk-based industrial supplies company ESE Direct, have appointed a new Managing Director as part of a strategy to deliver further growth and continuous improvement to the brand.
The new recruit, Jackie Wells, comes with a wealth of experience from sales and call centre management gained both in the UK and in Australia. Jackie says, “I am excited to be part of the ESE Direct story, helping them continue to grow and get the best from a very good team full of enthusiasm and knowledge”.
The appointment of Jackie comes at an exciting time for the company, as they continue to expand the product range and invest heavily in a new computer infrastructure. This new system is designed to streamline ordering, accounts and customer service, whilst providing single-view customer data, which will enable the team to harness their extensive customer base and create more targeted marketing material.
In 2015, the company was sold by previous owner Simon Francis and was purchased by a large PLC within the same industry. Commenting on the recent appointment, Group Sales & Marketing Director, Lee Wright said, “It was vital that we got the right fit for the culture of the business, and we feel that Jackie is the best person to guide ESE Direct into a bright new future”.
ESE Direct was established over forty years ago and are an active member of the local business community with their mascot George the Traffic Cone Dragon proving popular at networking events. This year, for the first time, they have decided to support a headline charity, selecting East Anglian young people’s charity Break as their partner for the year.
Reflecting the continued growth of the firm, Chartered Accountants and Chartered Tax Advisers, M+A Partners has further strengthened its leadership team with the promotion of a new Partner.
Effective from 1 October 2025, Sam Holloway joins the firm’s partnership – bringing with him a wealth of experience in corporate, personal and property tax.
Since joining the firm in 2008, Sam’s talent and dedication have seen him take on increasing responsibility, leading to his current position as Senior Tax Manager. He specialises in tax advisory with a particular focus on corporate structuring, capital gains and income tax planning. Sam also brings a strong commercial, tax, and accounting insight into all matters relating to property, making him a well-rounded and trusted adviser to his clients.
Commenting on his promotion, Sam Holloway said: “I am excited to contribute to the continued growth of M+A Partners and to further strengthen our expertise across both corporate and private client tax services. The property sector is a key area of my expertise. With regulatory requirements continually evolving, I will be working closely with landlords to help them understand their obligations, make informed decisions, and achieve the best possible outcomes.
“My focus will be on delivering clear, forward-looking tax advice in an increasingly complex and technology-driven landscape. I look forward to working alongside the M+A Partners team to help clients respond with confidence to emerging challenges, shifting regulatory demands, and future opportunities. Exceptional client service remains my priority, and I am committed to building trusted relationships that support each client’s individual needs.”
A Graphic Design student at the college of West Anglia (CWA) has helped spread festive cheer beyond the classroom after winning a Christmas card design competition for environmental services company MVV Environment.
Ezme South, who studies the UAL Extended Diploma in Creative Practice (Level 3) – Graphic Design, created the winning design, which was selected by MVV Environment to be used as the company’s Christmas eCard. As part of the prize £300 was donated to British Heart Foundation a charity of Ezme’s choice, alongside a £30 gift voucher for Ezme.
Ezme undertook the design independently, applying the creative and technical skills developed through her studies to produce a professional piece of work for a real organisation.
This achievement highlights how CWA students are able to take initiative beyond the classroom, using their learning to pursue external opportunities and build experience within the creative industries.
Clyde Dunn, Graphic Design Lecturer at the College of West Anglia said: “Ezme embraced the opportunity and challenge offered in the MVV Environment Medworth Ltd Christmas Card brief. Her design response meets the client’s requirements of combining a Christmas vibe with communicating an environmental message that is so important to the company’s ethos and values. It is a testament to Ezme’s design and creative skills that MVV’s Community Liaison Manager Andy Houghton and his team felt her work (over entries from a range of other schools and colleges) would carry the company’s festive greetings to their clients and customers. Ezme’s winning design is evidence of the strong Graphic Design training she enjoys at the College of West Anglia as well as her creative flair and ability. Well done Ezme!”
Ezme said “It was a great opportunity and a chance to show my creative skills. I’m proud to have won!”
The College of West Anglia supports students in developing the skills, confidence and independence needed to pursue creative opportunities and progress into employment or further study.
We welcomeNorwich Rocksto our digital signage screens across Norfolk. The event is using our network of screens which reach half a million people per week to increase brand awareness of their events throughout the summer.
This family friendly event is in its 8th year and is held atGibraltar Gardenson bank holiday Sunday between 1pm – 8pm. The event offers live music from some of the best local bands, an outside bar, food stalls and kids entertainment plus much, much more. Norwich Rocks has hosted the likes of Edd Sheeran and Dj sets from Gary Powell (Libertines), Bombay Bicycle Club, The Vaccines, Andy Nicholson (Arctic Monkeys) in the past.
We love to work alongside both local businesses and events from Norfolk, so it’s a pleasure to welcome the Norwich Rocks team on board!
East Anglia based specialist Recruitment Company Cooper Lomaz has partnered with award winning Sales Recruitment and Training Company Raw Talent Academy in order to enhance, grow and develop their current Norwich based office.
Over the coming weeks Raw Talent Academy will be searching across Norfolk for a number of enthusiastic and passionate individuals who have a desire and drive to work in recruitment.
Raw Talent Academy will be staging an audition day in May 2016 which will see potential candidates showcase their talent through a series of simulated business tasks and role play situations in order for Cooper Lomaz to hire the staff they consider to be best suited to their dynamic organisation.
Cooper Lomaz is delighted to partner with Raw Talent Academy in an exclusive relationship which sees Cooper Lomaz as the only Norfolk recruitment firm Raw Talent Academy working with currently. Both parties are extremely excited and confident that this is the first step in a long and prosperous relationship that will unearth some great Raw Talent for one of East Anglia’s leading recruitment companies.
Cooper Lomaz’s Commercial Director Simon Brown said ‘We are delighted to have secured the services of a market leading talent attraction company such as Raw Talent. I know from working with Lee and the team previously how much work, effort and commitment they put into every campaign Raw Talent intake. This is a real sign of intent from Cooper Lomaz to grow our business in a sustainable way with a dedicated partner‘.
Raw Talent Academy founder Lee McQueen said “I am delighted that Cooper Lomaz has chosen Raw Talent as their recruitment partner. I know my team are looking forward to working on this project with such a fantastic opportunity available to candidates. Having already spent a couple of days at Cooper Lomaz’ office it is clear to see this is an ambitious organisation looking to invest in their talent. I am confident we will be able to source high calibre, ‘raw talent’ over the coming weeks.“
With its roots in Norfolk and Suffolk, Cooper Lomaz is now pushing into regions beyond East Anglia, providing benchmark recruitment services for candidates and clients alike. Whether you’re looking for a new job or a new employee, Cooper Lomaz Recruitment Consultants are committed to delivering an unrivalled range of recruitment services covering permanent, contract, and interim appointments. They boast to have over 25 years’ experience recruiting in the East of England. Our team of over 60 specialist consultants deliver our award-winning, intelligent recruitment services. Cooper Lomaz recruits in a number of specialist industry sectors including Accountancy, Engineering, Insurance, I.T. and Food Manufacturing and placed 22nd in The Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work for in 2015.
Raw Talent Academy, born from a frustration at the lack of fresh talent within the sales industry, is an award-winning Sales Recruitment and Training business with a proven track record of unearthing hidden sales talent, showcasing their ability and nurturing success.
Raw Talent Academy partners with organisations to build and develop internal Sales Academies, as well as helping to grow existing sales teams including the sourcing of experienced sales talent. Oxfordshire based Raw Talent Academy was founded in 2011 by the 2008 winner of BBC TV show, The Apprentice, Lee McQueen. Prior to beating 20,000 candidates and being picked by Lord Sugar to be his apprentice, Lee spent 11 years working in recruitment for various national companies.
Specialist aviation company SaxonAir continues its growth reporting on a buoyant performance over the past year in most areas of the group. Since the company was founded in 2007 it has grown year on year with new charter and managed aircraft being added to the fleet, flight support contracts won through its Business Aviation Centre headquarters and increasing numbers of aircraft sales and acquisitions brokered.
The group collectively increased turnover by 32% compared with the previous year to over £13 million GBP in 2015, whilst welcoming over 20 new staff to deal with the growing demands within the organisation, providing a great platform for further drive into new business for the future. SaxonAir provides a range of aviation services including private jet charter, aircraft management, helicopter charter & utility surveillance, aircraft sales & leasing, flight support and ground handling. As well as expanding through its Norwich head office, SaxonAir have increased their operational bases across the UK with aircraft also located in both London Stansted and Luton airports.
Chris Mace, SaxonAir’s Group Commercial Director says “Our private air charter service has become increasingly popular for business travellers; it’s a recognition of the convenience and time saving abilities that can be achieved by flying privately. Air charter has the ability to turn days into hours, making valuable business sense.” The modern and diverse SaxonAir aircraft charter fleet flew almost 2,500 flight hours in 2015, a 13% increase from the previous year and equates to flying over 27 times around the world.
The company’s specialist ground handling services have also experienced growth in business aviation activities, seeing over 3,000 private and business aircraft movements, a 12.5% increase on the previous year. Alex Durand, SaxonAir CEO comments “Despite the continued difficulties and industry decline of the offshore and energy market, SaxonAir Flight Support has increased business aircraft movements and fuel sales at our Norwich headquarters showing the firm importance our aviation sector has regionally. Our diversification into other aviation sectors has played a key part in our continued success.”
SaxonAir has also seen the positive benefit in investing into the younger generation, having now provided 7 apprenticeship’s within the organisation. This commitment has recently won SaxonAir the Apprenticeship Employer of the Year 2016 in the small to medium size business category by the City College Norwich National Apprenticeship Awards.
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PRESS RELEASE STATISTICS:
Business and Private aircraft handling movements undertaken by SaxonAir Flight Support at Norwich International Airport increased by 12.5% to over 3000
SaxonAir Charter saw flying hours increase by 13% from 2014 to the same period in 2015
Collective turnover in the group was up by 30% to £13.2million GBP in 2015 when compared against 2014
20 New staff joined in the business in 2015 making numbers of 65+ today
Everyone knows the monthlyNorfolk Developermeets attract speakers from around the country to talk tech to us, but we were reminded recently that we also have a more practical function. To bring like-minded programmers together. One such successful collaboration began in March last year between John Heaser of Responsive Systems and freelance mobile developer Neil Sedger. The conversation they had resulted in a wildlife tracking app, which has recently been published on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
John posted in the NorDev Meet-up group that he was looking for help with a Cordova phone app and then decided to attend a meet-up himself. “I went along to my first NorDev meeting on 25th March 2015 and during the pre-meeting beer I overheard Neil talking about Cordova – so I asked him if he was interested in working on the project and he said yes, he had some time available, so I was very lucky! There are five of us working at Responsive Systems and whilst we have good skills in some areas we can’t be experts in everything! Neil helped us get started on the project – he is a nice chap to work with.”
“I’ve used Cordova on a few projects now” says Neil “It’s great for quickly building a cross-platform mobile app, especially if you already have a responsive browser-side web front end. It’s not for every project but it’s worth considering.”
Neil describes the app as a wildlife database with an built-in questionnaire to help users identify a creature they have found. ” ‘Dragon Finder’, has been built for the wildlife charity Froglife who are dedicated to the conservation of amphibians, reptiles, and their habitats. Users are encouraged to report sightings of creatures which can include location, habitat description and photos; this is uploaded to Froglife’s central database which they use to monitor populations, spread of disease and non-native species, and feed into other conservation projects.”
“We have brought in outside help on previous projects” says John “and I believe that co-operative skill sharing between small software businesses will play a key role in making Norwich a centre of technical excellence and that NorDev can facilitate this.”
Norse Group is the first company in Norfolk to be awarded accreditation under the Investors in Young People (IIYP) scheme (part of the internationally recognised Investors in People standard) for its work with schools, apprentices and Project Search students.
Norse board member and leader of Norfolk County Council George Nobbs said; “I am immensely proud the young people who work for Norse and of everyone at the company who has helped achieve this award, the first amongst the 30,000 companies in the county.”
HR Director Tricia Fuller said that Norse currently has 88 apprentices and 10 students given employment under the Project Search initiative.
“Since our apprenticeship scheme started five years ago we have provided around 500 apprenticeship opportunities around the country,” she said. This supports the work we do with schools providing mentors and work experience.”
“For the last six yearswe have also offered employment and education places for 10 to 12 Project SEARCH students every year, with over 70% of these young adults going on to find fulltime employment. These students have a range of learning disabilities and are often disadvantaged in the labour market. It is this sort of commitment to helping young people gain work experience and employment that has led to Norse earning this accreditation,” she added.
Norfolk Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive, Caroline Williams said; “The IIYP is a tough award to gain because an organisation needs to demonstrate that they are being innovative in their activity in supporting Young People.”
“This is a national award and we would like to show the rest of the UK through local companies being recognised for their work by gaining this award, just what a great place Norfolk is for young people to develop their skills. We congratulate the Norse Group for being the first Norfolk organisation to gain this award”
Emma Callaway and Jordan Codling both started apprenticeships with Norse subsidiary n-able in August 2015, working in the company’s warehouse. “It was a bit challenging to start with but the company has really helped me and given me support in learning the job,” Jordan said.
“I’ve been given opportunities to get to know different parts of the business, from arranging engineers’ visits to getting involved with billing,” Emma added.
“I’m quite new to Norse as I only began my apprenticeship in December last year, but I’m really enjoying it,” Lauren Kerr, who is working in Norse’s finance department, commented. “I am taking evening classes as well, which is helping to give me more experience and hopefully find a full time job at the end of the apprenticeship.”
Tracey Butcher ,Area organiser – UNISON Young Members lead (Eastern Region)said, “UNISON were pleased to be invited to acknowledge the success of the Norse apprenticeship scheme , and impressively one of the only recipients of the IIYP award. We very much look forward to continue working with Norse and supporting their apprentices.”
Students from the Inclusive Learning Department recently took part in a charity bag packing event in support of Papyrus, raising an impressive £265.
The activity brought together learners from across the department, including Internship, Developing Work Skills, Bridge to Vocation, Moving On Into Independence, Developing Independence, and Becoming Independence, offering students a valuable opportunity to engage with the public while supporting an important cause.
Throughout the day, students developed key employability and life skills such as communication, listening, teamwork and customer interaction, while confidently undertaking bag packing and sharing information about the work of Papyrus. Members of the public were extremely supportive, treating our students with great respect and enthusiasm.
One learner, Eden Langford, achieved a personal milestone by fulfilling her ambition to work at the tills and also took part in shelf stacking. A moment that she had previously spoken about during a tutorial, making the experience especially meaningful.
A huge thank you goes to all the staff and students involved for their dedication and positivity, and for representing the Inclusive Learning Department and CWA as a whole so brilliantly in the community.
It’s been an incredible journey since becoming B Corp certified, and we couldn’t be prouder of the steps we’ve taken to prioritise people, planet, and purpose. From supporting sustainable practices to making a positive impact in our community, we’re constantly working to do business the right way.