City College students, Norfolk’s young people are the workforce of tomorrow and they want to progress quickly and successfully into work. They want to be given the opportunity to hone their skills, learn from real employers and prepare for their futures.
Whatever your sector, however big or small you are, we need you to open your doors to our students, to give them real Experience of Work, and be a part of creating the work force of tomorrow.
If you can help or want any further information, please contact the Experience of Work Team on experienceofwork@ccn.ac.uk or Tel 01603 773319/7733450/7733572
Steeles Law Head of Planning and Environment David Merson reports on Ipswich Borough Council’s latest development plan proposals for the ‘Northern Fringe Area’.
Ipswich Borough Council has, as part of its Core Strategy (Policy CS10), identified an area of approximately 200ha on the northern edge of its urban area, between Henley Road in the west and Tuddenham Road in the east (the Northern Fringe Area) as land for the development of 1,000 – 1,500 dwellings and associated facilities prior to 2021 on part, and as a broad area for up to a further 3,000 – 3,500 dwellings and associated facilities after 2021 on the remainder.
The Council is in the process of preparing a Supplementary Planning Document providing a development brief to: guide the development of the whole Northern Fringe Area; identify the infrastructure that developments will need to deliver on a comprehensive basis alongside new housing, including community facilities and, at an appropriate stage, the provision of a railway crossing to link potential development phases, in the interests of sustainability and integration; and set out a schedule of infrastructure charges.
As part of that process, the Council is holding a public consultation exercise seeking views on its proposals. This exercise is to run for six weeks from 10:00am on Saturday 12 January until 5:00pm on Friday 22 February and will include various ‘drop-in presentations’ and a public meeting together with presentations to two Area Committees.
The Issues and Options Report is available online at the Council’s website and copies can also be obtained direct from the Council.
If you are affected by these proposals and wish to have assistance in making representations to the Council or require further information or advice on any issues raised in this article or any other planning and environmental matter please contact David Merson on 020 7421 1720 or at dmerson@steeleslaw.co.uk
Professional recruitment specialists Pure hosted its annual Norwich charity quiz night on Thursday 29th March, bringing local businesses and clients together for a battle of the brains which raised over £2483 for dementia support charity the Alzheimer’s Society.
The fun evening, which has become renowned for its playful rivalry between local organisations, saw 25 teams take part to pit their wits against each other. The teams included people from BDO, Grant Thornton and Kettle Foods. The overall winners were a team from Norfolk Community Health and Care who were presented with bottles of Champagne.
The event, held at the Sprowston Manor Hotel, also included a raffle, with prizes donated by local businesses including to help raise further funds.
Joseph O’Sullivan, Senior Manager at Pure’s Norwich office, said: “This was our ninth annual charity quiz night in Norwich and it was once again a fantastic success. The friendly competition between local businesses makes the event a lot of fun, and the title of our annual Quiz Champions really is becoming quite coveted now! I would like to thank everyone who attended, donated and contributed to the event. We are delighted to have to have been able to raise such an excellent amount, and to have had some of the volunteers from the Alzheimer’s Society with us on the night to tell us more about how this money will be used to support people in the local community.”
The Alzheimer’s Society is a dementia support charity which provides a range of services including the running of dementia cafes. It currently supports over 40,000 people affected by dementia and it is also the only UK charity investing in research into dementia care, cause, and prevention. It has committed to spending £150 million on cutting-edge research over the next decade.
The funds raised were secured through the entry fee for each team, with the full amount being donated to the charity, and through the raffle of prizes donated by local organisations. Pure is committed to continuing to support its charity partners across the region. This includes £2,700 raised for Norfolk’s cancer charity The Big C at last year’s Norwich quiz night.
Abate Pest Management Supports a Lowestoft Historic Property Development
A property development is underway by JCGP Developments within the Lowestoft Heritage Action Zone in Whapload Road. At the heart of the zone is the renewal of historic buildings and routes, the legacy of Lowestoft’s Herring fishing past. Jim Campbell and Glenn Parrott, builder and architect have joined forces to develop something special within the North Lowestoft Conservation Area.
The development consists of three listed buildings. Two of them were built around 1903 were last used by rope and sailmakers. The buildings are being developed into eighteen residential flats and several commercial properties located on the ground floors. The third building, built in 1676, is called ‘The Fish House’ and is deemed to be the very last fisherman’s cottage in England. Records show it was built by a family of significant wealth, which is visible by the level of detail the building still retains today. The development of this unique building is a construction of two houses which have been designed for the person who both lives and works from home.
Abate Pest Management were called in to support the project by treating all the interior woodwork for the prevention of wood boring insects. The treatment is guaranteed for 20 years and is backed by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Jon Blake Managing Director of Abate said “This is a very interesting project with some fascinating local history. The plans look very impressive and we are delighted to support JCGP Developments with this preventative woodboring insect treatment.
Whilst Abate is responsible for dealing with any future claims that might arise, should for any reason we cease to trade, the insurance becomes active and the insurance company will then deal with any claims under the guarantee. This gives property developers the peace of mind that they need.”
Photos: Above; Jim Campbell. Top right; The Fish House. Bottom right Building two.
Close to completion, Abate will be asked to look at the best method to bird proof the properties. Being in a seaside resort, gulls and pigeons will be very active, but there are many ways to prevent birds roosting and harbouring on the roofs and ledges including gels, spikes and lasers.
Lowestoft in the First World War was a significant naval base and in 1916 it was bombarded by the German navy. Damage in the Second World War was severe and many of the buildings on Whapload Road were destroyed.
The area of Lowestoft is now a conservation area at risk and will be revived through a five year scheme run by Waveney District Council and Historic England.
If your property business is looking for support relating to woodboring insect treatment or bird control please give Abate Pest Management a call on 0800 980 9767 or via their website www.abateltd.co.uk.
For nearly two decades, Digital Copier Systems (Eastern) has been supporting customers, new and existing, in providing premier hardware and software solutions to meet their digital office requirements, with a 5 Star rated Service in support. Over the past few years, we have seen a steady increase in software solution requirements, with many successful implementations. Our newest Software Solutions Consultant, Sean McLaughlan, joined DCS back in October 2017, bringing a new perspective to our software division, working closely with our existing software team to get up to speed with the brands we offer. Due to an overwhelming response to our latest software-focussed email campaigns, we are please to announce that the division will now come under the DCS-owned brand Nu Process. Continuing our ethos of being committed to providing quality customer satisfaction, and guaranteeing peace of mind, here is some more information on Nu Process: Nu Process provides software solutions to all types of businesses and industries, looking at customers’ requirements, consulting on where processes can be improved by technology, recommending and implementing with minimum fuss or disruption, and supporting over the coming years. Other software companies usually use an “off-the-shelf” type software format, and fit a customer around the features. At Nu Process, we delve deep into their business processes, looking at how long it takes to physically carry out each individual manual task (down to the time taken in opening of an envelope) and providing a solution that potentially utilises multiple technologies to answer the long term operational process problem(s). Previously, our team of Consultants and Implementation Managers have worked under the Digital Copier Systems (Eastern) banner, with much success since inception in March 2001. As of March 15th 2018, on DCS’s 17th birthday, we move forward under the name of Nu Process. We remain a part of DCS, under the guidance of Managing Director Nigel Wallis, and the new brand is championed by the entire solutions division teams. We maintain the strong relationship with Konica Minolta that DCS has long partnered with, as a 5 Star service and office solution provider, and continue to access their wealth of knowledge and existing portfolio of software solution technologies, including a close affinity with their “Process Flows” branding. Our name is related to our starting location, on Gamma Terrace, in Ipswich’s Ransomes Europark. Nu is the 13th letter of the Greek alphabet, and represents notable elements of Mathematics, Science and Engineering. In statistics, it measures the degrees of freedom. It also plays on the word “New”, despite being correctly pronounced as [nee]. You can visit our dedicated website: HERE.
Alex Butler-Zagni has joined Ashton KCJ’s Agriculture & Estates team in Norwich as an Agricultural Solicitor.
Alex joins us from the National Farmers Union (NFU), where he was the East Anglia Policy Adviser for almost seven years. Alex’s role included representing NFU members on all livestock, poultry and dairy related matters within the region.
Alex was called to Bar in 2002 and qualified as a Solicitor in 2010. Prior to the NFU, Alex worked for the Serious Fraud Office, 2 Paper Buildings, Temple and Russell Cooke Solicitors in London, as well as other firms in the Suffolk area.
Alex’s technical knowledge includes EU policy, CAP reform implications, livestock movement and recording rules, and funding opportunities under the Rural Development Programme for England. He also has a particular interest in renewable energy, rural crime, and the better regulation agenda.
Jonathan Long, Head of Agriculture & Estates at Ashton KCJ, comments: “We are delighted to welcome Alex to the team; his wide experience in agriculture in the region complements the work of the team. Alex joins partner Simon Cunningham in our Norwich office. I would like to wish Alex all the very best in his career at Ashton KCJ.”
Abate Pest Management has become the pest control company of choice to Black Cat Residential Property Limited located in Wisbech, supporting their growing number of fully managed rental properties.
Abate are well known in the housing sector, working for several housing associations, letting agents and private landlords. Jon Blake of Abate said, “we are delighted to support Black Cat Residential Property with a reactive pest control service. Its good to work with another property company that puts tenants first and have solutions in place whenever they are required.”
Wendy Ferguson of Black Cat Residential Property said, “We have had enormous difficulty in the past securing services from a reliable and competitive Pest Controller, but Jon and his team at Abate have provided an excellent service for our properties with very prompt reaction times – we would recommend them to anyone in the property industry looking for a dependable and consistent Pest Control service.”
Jon went onto say “pest control is a service that should be treated with extreme importance. There are many laws and regulations to protect the public. This legislation includes how toxic bait is used, how many times a pest controller must revisit a site within specific times, how pesticide is stored and how the waste is disposed of. At Abate we make sure that every small piece of detail is covered. We are proud to be full servicing members of the British Pest Control Authority, hold triple ISO quality certification and put our technicians through continuous training.
Abate Pest Management are now responsible for being called out to manage pest control in approximately 25,000 residential properties within Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex and Bedfordshire via housing associations, letting agents or landlords.
Give Abate Pest Management a call on 0800 980 9767 or via their website www.abateltd.co.uk.
We think it’s a good thing for live events and exhibitions
We can all agree that there’s been an awful lot of negativity surrounding GDPR. Certainly businesses need to get their houses in order from a personal data perspective before 25th May. In fact this seems to be the subject of every other email I’ve received over the past few months. You’ll be pleased to hear that this article isn’t intended to scare you to death and then offer to help you carry out an audit, cleanse your data and help you structure a re-engagement email campaign to ask existing contacts to opt in or double opt in to continue to receive your emails. I would hope by now you would have at least considered or preferably already put procedures in place so you comply with GDPR by 25 May.
In my opinion more rigid, far reaching regulations are well overdue to help protect our personal and business data, anything that reduces the amount of unwanted emails and phone calls I get gets my vote. However these new data protection regulations have left many companies and marketers very concerned about how they will reach their customers and potential customers after 25 May. The truth is that data-based emailing and calling campaigns have already become largely ineffective. We need now to be “magnetic marketers” as our potential audience has taken control of the process seeking out the solutions and products they require rather than being sold to. Subsequently our websites need to be more effective in providing advice, comment and content using blogs, news, articles and video to present products, solutions and communicate to build trust and a rapport. A return then to more traditional business values and level of personal contact that perhaps during this largely digital age we’ve grown unaccustomed to… or have we?
Well while you’ve been busy driving your keyboard and glued to your monitor pursuing an email quest you may not have noticed that face to face meetings such as breakfast meetings, seminar’s, conferences and exhibitions have become much more popular again. In fact many of the industry specific exhibitions we provide client’s stands at have waiting lists or rigid application procedures where stand space is in short supply, allocated on a first come, first served basis. We see GDPR helping to reinforce and grow this trend, proving a real positive in the wake of all the negativity. Face to face marketing, exhibitions and live events have never gone away and are today a stronger new business and marketing tool than ever before.
We have just finished designing a new website for the Norwich based, social enterprise, Norfolk Industries. Its a great business that employs people with various disabilities to produce recycled pet bedding products. They are going from strength to strength with new retail contracts coming in. The new website promotes their product range and Hank!
Abate Pest Management has been awarded the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme (CHAS) accreditation for the 4th year running.
The accreditation means that the eastern regional Pest Control company, now in its 19th year of operation, can reassure clients about their commitment to comply with important health and safety legislation.
Working with pest control companies that are accredited with CHAS, offers peace of mind to customers that they are fully compliant with the highest levels of health and safety.
Jon Blake, Managing Director, said: “CHAS is an established industry benchmark, and the renewal of our accreditation means it’s easier for over 1,000 companies to use us. We have several clients that only work with CHAS approved contractors. These companies use CHAS, as it supports ongoing improvements in the control and selection of its contractors, helping them achieve Health and Safety compliance. It also demonstrates responsibility and safeguard their reputation.”
In addition to Chas, Abate Pest Management are accredited with SafeContractor, ISO9001, ISO 18001 and ISO14001. They are also a full servicing member of the British Pest Control Association.
CHAS (The Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme) was created by experienced health and safety professionals in 1997 to improve health and safety standards across the UK.
engaging people matters gives an overview of some of the work of The Engaging People Company, as well as thoughts on engagement, communications, wellbeing, facilitation, and writing. For more information about any of the articles, please get in touch.
Staff from Flagship Group will be donning their high vis jackets from next week (Tuesday 24 April) for seven weeks for their first ever Community Campaign. The project will see Flagship employees, Flagship customers, and members of the public come together to regenerate two cemetery sites on Kitchener Road in Great Yarmouth.
Working in partnership with The Conservation Volunteers, as well as the Norfolk Community Foundation and The Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust, volunteers will take part in activities every Tuesday afternoon (1pm-4pm) to boost the biodiversity of the green space and improve their own wellbeing.
The activities volunteers will be involved in include: the removal of ivy and bracken, restoring graves and conservation work such as identifying wildflower species.
CSR Manager at Flagship Group Callum James said: “Volunteering is a great way to improve your wellbeing as it’s creating new experiences and skills. It will also create a sense of value and pride for those taking part as they’re making a positive difference by enhancing the local area. We therefore hope lots of people will come along to make the project a success.”
Mark Webster from The Conservation Volunteers said: “The Old and New Cemeteries are a fascinating place to work – right in the centre of Great Yarmouth we have some wonderful wildlife and extraordinary history. I’m sure that people who join us for this project will really enjoy conserving their local heritage.”
The project is open to anyone aged 18 years and over. Sturdy shoes will need to be worn.
For anyone interested in taking part please contact Callum James on 0845 258 6210 or callum.james@flagship-group.co.uk
This project is a continuation of the award-winning regeneration work to cemeteries undertaken by Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust and The Friends of the Cemeteries Group.