Member Blog

Despite growing up and spending the vast majority of my life living in Norwich, I haven’t really been to the seaside town of Great Yarmouth that many times, despite it being only 20 miles away. I certainly never imagined finding work there. I’ve visited Yarmouth for business three times since Christmas this year, secured one piece of business with a local company and now it’s looking like Naked Element could be securing some more.   I’ve been fascinated by engineering since a young age. From the differential which helped drive the Lego car I had as a child, to internal combustion engines, power stations and large ships and planes, I like to know how things, big and small, work. When I was younger I even wrote to the BBC’s Playschool programme to find out how their clock worked and received a photo and a full explanation in response (I wish I still had them now).   So when a Norfolk Chamber breakfast offered the opportunity to hear from a senior member of Seajacks, who own and run some of the most advanced off-shore equipment in the world, I was very excited. I enjoy the breakfasts and networking at the chamber anyway, the big machines were a real bonus!   After the customary speed networking, which is a great way to mix up the room and help you meet people, and the breakfast itself, John Vingoe, Operations Manager at Seajacks, told us about their largest vessel, the Scylla, and how it would be used to help build the East Anglia One windfarm off the coast of Great Yarmouth between July and October of 2018. The Scylla is a Gusto MSC NG14000X multipurpose jack-up which is home to 130 crew, has a massive deck area of 5000m2, can operate in waters down to a depth of 65m and does up to 12 knots. It’s a beast and will be used to install concrete jackets for the wind farm.   But what’s really great about Seajacks is their commitment to source locally and where they can, they do! There are, of course, some specialist equipment and skills which are not available locally. The East Anglia One wind farm operation will be based out of a port in the Netherlands and although equipment and labour is available in the Netherlands, Seajacks will be flying over its people and supplies from the local area, even though there is a modest extra cost.   The slowdown in the oil and gas industry and its effect, especially on employment in Great Yarmouth, is widely known. Seajacks weathered the storm in a unique way by redistributing its crew around different vessels. John described to us how usually a ship’s company is hired and released as needed on a per vessel basis.   This was Caroline Williams, CEO of Norfolk Chamber’s, last Great Yarmouth breakfast before she moves on to pastures new after 17 years. I’d like to thank Caroline personally for the help, advice, support and friendly engagement she has given me over the last few years since Naked Element has been a Chamber member. I wish Caroline every success in the future and look forward to bumping into her, as I am sure I will!   Networking takes time. It’s not unusual to come away from a Chamber event having started to build some excellent relationships, but without much more than a warm lead. From this Great Yarmouth Chamber breakfast I came away with two solid leads and another demonstrating future potential. A morning well spent!

Cities, by their very nature, aren’t small (unless of course you’re a pretend city like Ely). According to Wikipedia there are over 141,000 people in Norwich and over 370,000 people in the ‘travel to work’ area. I’ve got a lot of contacts on LinkedIn, but these numbers of people are large by anyones’s standards!

Since I came back to work in Norwich for the third time in 2011, I’ve been expanding my professional network at an exponential rate. From time to time, and more frequently as time goes on, I encounter people I was at school with and Rebecca White was one of those people (although she was a year or two above me at Notre Dame High School).

Rebecca is a social entrepreneur and CEO of the social enterprise Your Own Place.  Your Own Place equips young people with the skills, confidence and knowledge to live safely and securely. They achieve this by continually developing innovative and entrepreneurial solutions as well as collaborating for the benefit of  young people. By working restoratively and delivering high quality interventions they create a culture of empowered and independent young people.

After a number of exchanges on linkedin, twitter and email with Rebecca, I was invited along to hear Baron John Bird, founder of the Big Issue, speak at the St. Giles House Hotel in Norwich. This was an unusual event for me to be invited to, as there was no tech or business angle, but we’re all familiar with the Big Issue and I was already  impressed with what Rebecca was achieving, so I was intrigued. On our way to the event my wife and I encountered the Big Issue seller who is often at the top of Lower Goat Lane near the Guildhall, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he knew John Bird was only meters away.

I was completely unprepared in almost every way for John Bird. We sat at the back, the only place there were two chairs left together, around one of a handful of tables shoehorned into the packed room on the first floor of the hotel. A couple of the usual suspects  such as Sarah Daniels from the Redcat Partnership and Lucy Marks of the Norfolk Network also wandered in. My first surprise was to discover that Sarah, who I know well, was chairing. I knew from that point on that with the self proclaimed, “loudest voice in room”, we were in for a fun couple of hours.

Baron Bird of Notting Hill was astounding.  A huge personality and presence in the room. He took us through the highs and lows of his life from his upbringing in Notting Hill by Irish, Catholic, racist parents to living on the streets of Edinburgh at 21, meeting one of the founders of the Body Shop, Gordon Roddick, his rehabilitation in prison where one of the “screws” taught him to read, his three wives, money, the Big Issue and admission into the House of Lords. John Bird was funny, entertaining, loud, inspiring and great entertainment. I’ve never seen someone move so much in such a small space, often with both arms in the air, a loud passionate voice and little respect for political correctness. It was refreshing.

26 years ago there were more than 500 homeless charities in London (there are now around 2000). All of them lacked something. None of those charities were helping the homeless to stop being homeless. John Bird had a vision, inspired by Street News in the USA and spawned from a case study funded by the Body Shop, the Big Issue was born. A way of helping homeless people make money to stop them being homeless. John Bird believes in a hand up, not a hand out and is working hard to prevent the next generation of Big Issue sellers.

I could have listened to him all evening. He finished by explaining some of the social ideas he’s pursuing, such as creating a Kitemark called the Social Echo to award to businesses who act on their social conscience.

One such social enterprise is Your Own Place. Following an introduction by Sarah, Rebecca White showed us a recent video which explains the work they do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2p5_P1fk_c&feature=youtu.be

Your Own Place are looking for employer sponsored Volunteer Tenancy Mentors. The training costs the employers just £300 per person for two days. Your Own Place work with businesses to provide their staff with a unique training and development opportunity as Volunteer Tenancy Mentors and to prevent youth homelessness at the same time. Their Volunteer Tenancy Mentoring training packages include high quality volunteer training, comprehensive policies, training packs, vetting and ongoing support for the mentors.

The event was over all too soon, but as well as finding out more about what someone I was at school with was up to, seeing some regular faces and making a new contact at Leathes Prior, I was inspired to contribute and am looking forward to Rebecca coming to speak to the Naked Element team at Whitespace.

‘What is our purpose?’ is a fundamental question for companies, the answer to which will often result in a succinct and powerful mission statement. ‘What are we trying to achieve?’ similarly can unlock a vision for the future, a look over the horizon at what will be the outcome of the work.

 But just as an important a question for companies is ‘who are we and what matters to us?’ This is often a much more difficult query to respond to as it isn’t easy to distil into words the essence of a company. Or, in other words, the organisational values.

 The values are so much more than words stuck on a wall or written on a website. They are the living, beating heart of an organisation. They are what gives a company its personality as they provide the framework for the behaviours expected from the people within.

 And there are many ways in which companies can bring their values to life and make them intrinsic to how a business is run.

 They are invaluable at recruitment. They convey to potential new employees what they can expect from a company, and they allow candidates to truly consider if their own values align with those of an organisation. This can be demonstrated practically by interview and assessment around the values. This process helps both parties truly understand if they are right for each other, which is vital for any successful relationship.

 The values also have an important role to play in management – after all, conversations around behaviours are far more productive when built upon the safe foundations of the values. ‘I felt that you could have shown the Empathy value more in that discussion,’ is a more positive angle for a discussion than ‘You were very rude.’ By using the values to underpin difficult management conversations, the sense of it being ‘personal’ is diminished – which means the employee will hear what is being said in a more receptive way.

 They can also be used to recognise and reward behaviours which align with the organisational values. In drawing out positive value-based behaviours, companies are also able to highlight examples of what is expected, which only serves to continue to reinforce the whole sense of ‘this is who we are.’

 They can also provide a reference for decision-making and discussion, not least when thinking gets stuck. ‘Does what we’re trying to do fit with our values?’ and if the answer is ‘no’ then proceeding is often not advisable.

 And they provide a point of difference. This is particularly important in sectors where there may be similar companies operating. The values become the Unique Selling Point, what differentiates an organisation – and what might give it its competitive edge over its rivals.

 When I set up The Engaging People Company, I spent a great deal of time thinking about what values I wanted for the organisation. Because, through the values, I would be projecting to the world ‘who’ this company is, and setting my stall up for how I will work. After much consideration, I settled upon the values of ‘be authentic, be creative, have fun and be kind.’ Through these four fundamentals, I am communicating that this is who The Engaging People Company is, this is how it will operate, this is what you can expect – and this is what you can hold me to account on.

 By making values part of the everyday dialogue within an organisation, as well as embedding them within the engagement practices around recruitment, retention, management and recognition, companies can create a sense of belonging. The values become owned by the people, something which connects them and creates a sense of being one big team. And ultimately, the values create a sense of being valued.

Blinds have long been recommended as a cost-effective solution for offices, schools and an array of commercial and public sector organisations.

Norwich Sunblinds has been producing an outstanding array of beautiful blinds and shutters (as well as curtains) for domestic and commercial properties for many years but this research confirms what we have always thought.

Studies show that the humble blind can make fundamental changes to our well-being and the environment.

Recent research carried out by the BBSA (British Blind & Shutter Association) has proven that effective Solar Shading brings many positive benefits to commercial companies and organisations, and the people working for them.

Most notably these include positive effects on our behaviour and the environment.

  The benefits of Natural Light on productivity at work.

People prefer to work in natural light conditions rather than artificial. Working with natural daylight has been shown to improve people’s emotions, attitudes and cognitive responses. Office workers recently placed daylight in the top two most desirable elements in the workplace.

Research has also demonstrated that office workers performed 10-25% better on tests of mental function and memory recall when they had the best possible views.

We spend 90% of our time inside buildings, and lack of connection with natural light is known to affect body rhythms negatively.

Solar Shading

The use of blinds and shutters; used appropriately in the commercial environment, can solve the problems previously associated with the use of too much glass in a building.

Many older buildings lose or gain too much heat through their glazing, and it was thought that using less glass would help this problem. However,  we have already seen the negative effects of people working without natural light, so companies and public sector organisations are realising the benefits of controlling heat loss or heat gain through blinds and shutters. This provides their employees with a much more natural, comfortable and pleasant environment in which to work.

Blinds and shutters can be made to suit a multitude of situations, and they are very cost effective.

• Solar Shading with well-designed blinds or shutters allows large areas of glazing to be used in buildings with all the known benefits that brings.
• Solar shading provides control of heat and light gain when needed.
• Solar shading provides an ambient temperature in commercial & public places which improves productivity.
• Controlling glare in a commercial or public place is a legal requirement, blinds and shutters do this.

Solar shading through bespoke blinds and shutters for the commercial and public environment can, therefore, be credited with contributing to superior work performance, higher productivity, increased concentration and a decrease in absenteeism.

  The benefits of Solar Shading on our Environment – Save Energy & Save Money

The UK is known as a ‘heating’ nation which means we spend more to keep our buildings warm than cool.

Glazing is known to be a weak element in building construction and known for heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer. Using blinds and shutters can help reduce these gains and losses and control light levels.

Effective use of blinds and shutters in the workplace can reduce energy consumption, reduce the need for artificial lighting and hence reduce energy bills.

With correct solar shading, companies can use less heating or air conditioning, making them a cost-effective solution.

The Shard, one of London’s most iconic buildings, solves the problem of solar shading by using motorised roller blinds built into the external envelope of the building. The Shard achieves 88% heat rejection.

If you would like to learn more about how your company can best utilise blinds and shutters to help improve the working conditions for your employees, increase well-being and productivity, together with saving money, then call us on 01603 334 085 send an email, or visit a showroom.

A version of this article originally appeared on our Norwich Sunblinds and Cambridge Sunblinds website.

What are the differences between a Mobile App and a Website optimised for Mobile? And how can I work out which one is best for me? This is a question we often get asked here at Naked Element, and there are a lot of biased articles online favouring one or the other.   Consider that a Website optimised for mobile may be a public facing website or a secure login area for members, is easy to navigate on mobile phones and tablets but better viewed on desktops. A Mobile App may be a game you play on your phone, which is easy to navigate on mobiles.   There are differences between the two approaches, so in simple business language and without bias, here are a few things to consider to help you decide. It is worth noting that no one area should be considered in isolation.   Accessibility   A Mobile App may be downloaded from a store such as Play Store and Apple Store onto a phone, so that it is accessible by the user even when they are not connected to the Internet. This requires the user to download software onto their phone before they can see the content.   A Website optimised for mobile is only accessible via a browser when you are connected to the internet, so nothing needs to be downloaded and it’s easily accessible by new users.   Ask Yourself – Will my user base change frequently and be connected to the Internet at all times?   A Mobile App may be best if you have a specific set of users who will use the app intensively. It supports interactivity and regular use.   A Website optimised for mobile may be best if you have a lot of content that cannot easily be arranged on a Mobile App and if your user base may change.   Interactivity and amount of content   A Mobile App lends itself to regular and heavy use, such as gaming, managing your bank account or social media. A Website could also lend itself to regular and heavy use if it were a login area of a website where you manage your customers accounts, such as a quotation and ordering system, but the amount of content presented could be more extensive.   Ask Yourself – Have I got focused content that’s easily navigable and interactive?   Visibility   A user would have to search for a Mobile App in their store, whereas the Website may be found via any search engine or accessed from a known public facing website.   Ask Yourself – How will you inform new and potential users where to find your App? Where would they expect to find it?   And finally, a Website optimised for Mobile can also be developed to behave and act like a Mobile App. So if you really like the idea of a Mobile App but the questions above direct you to a Website optimised for Mobile, we can help you achieve the best of both worlds.   A blog by Emma, Commercial Director

Shutters are very popular because they are insulating and economical as well as being extremely versatile.

Our 10% off offer last year was so popular that we’ve decided to re-run it for the month of April 2017.

The offer applies to domestic shutters and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

Why Shutters? In the Winter, shutters are more effective at keeping the warmth in than blinds and curtains. This helps to reduce energy bills.

In the Summer you have many options – shutters can be opened completely to let the light in, closed completely to keep the room cool or you can open the louvres to let air flow in. You can even have one shutter open and one closed.

Check out our useful case study here.

Because our shutters are made to measure they can suit almost any room, and are especially useful in older properties with windows that might not be perfectly shaped. They also look great in bay windows. At Norwich Sunblinds we can cater for special shapes e.g. circles, arches, gable installations.

Shutters are easy to clean, provide additional security and can also help to deaden sound – especially useful if you live near a busy road.

Click here to find out more about shutters or click here to book an appointment for our free measuring service.

A version of this article originally appeared on our Norwich Sunblinds and Cambridge Sunblinds website.

We are pleased to annouce that we have launched a new website Bridging Loan Hub. The site acts as an introducer for those looking for bridging finance in the UK. This is a type of short term finance used mostly by homeowners and property developers as a way of making a large purchase before other funding becomes available. 

A common example is for homeowners that have not sold their home yet but are desperate to complete on a new property or they risk losing it. A bridging loan allows them to get the money they need to complete on the property and then they can repay the loan when their house eventually sells.

Why Did We Set It Up?

Whilst our company specialists in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and getting other companies to the top of Google, we find that we are already working with lots of bridging lenders including SPF and Silverstream Finance. The brands have benefitted from receiving high quality leads through Google, so it only made sense to continue and help them achieve this. So setting up a broker website means that we can continue to pass on leads to our partner and they can continue to grow their business.

How Does It Work?

Customers apply for finance of up to £25 million that can be used to invest in a new property, development, business or invest opportunity (although property is the most common one). Using our basic application form, the customer enters their basic contact details and clicks ‘get a quote.’ The details are then passed to a professional broker that we can partnered with who will speak to the applicant and get a better idea of their requirements. Once confirmed, they will run a series of checks such as affordability, credit and property valuations and then put them in touch with the best lender based on their criteria. From the customer’s point of view, they are able to find the right lender for the product and amount they are looking to borrow. Part of the FCA’s requirements of Treating Customers Fairly means that the applicant will always be offered the lowest interest rate possible – so we can pleased to give the customer a good deal.

About The Products On Offer

Applicants can borrow between £50,000 and £25 million on a loan that is typically secured on the property or business premises in question. The funds are transferred to the customer’s bank account in one lump and the loan term is a maximim of 24 months, whereby this point, the borrower has either sold an asset to repay the loan or they refinance.

The interest rates start at 0.59% per month and the customer has the choice to repay in equal monthly instalments (like a mortgage) or they can roll up the interest and pay at the end of the loan term. 

Moving home is a common reason for using a bridging loan but it is also used by property developments to renovate a new or existing property and get access to finance without having to apply for a mortgage and be caught up in the regular property chains. Since valuations and solicitors are a key part of the application process, on average takes 3 to 4 weeks for a loan to be successfully funded.

Bridging Loan Hub is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under reference number 713027.

“Speaking at nor(DEV):con  is a good indicator that people know what they’re talking about”   If anyone knows the truth of that sentence, it’s Dom Davis. People in the tech industry know him for many different reasons – as CTO of TechMarionette, providing consultations through Somewhere Random, or perhaps even his YouTube gaming channels – but his speaking career was launched by nor(DEV):. “I started doing the local talks for the Norfolk Developers evening sessions, then speaking at nor(DEV):con, eventually graduating to larger and larger rooms at the conference. That eventually led to offers to speak from outside Norfolk.”   ‘Outside Norfolk’ ended up being Israel. A conference over there was looking for interesting international speakers and found Dom’s talk from nor(DEV):con on YouTube. After negotiating travel arrangements, they flew him out to give the closing keynote. “Off the back of that I got to speak at Foundercon in Berlin. So now I can say I’m an international keynote speaker!” He’s also got talks at GraphConnect and ACCU coming up later in 2017.   Dom has also been engaged as a trainer as a direct result of being at nor(DEV):con. “I was asked to provide training on Go to others, based on the fact that I am a respected member of the community – Paul Grenyer‘s opening keynote gave me glowing review! Speaking at Nor(DEV): is a good indicator that people know what they’re talking about.” Dom also bumped into the founder of one of the companies formed at the last SyncTheCity at the 2017 nor(DEV):con, who offered him consulting work. “There’s work and business to be done with all this talent and business in one place!”   Click here to read on the blog   Words by Lauren

Over the coming months, you will all have a role to play in shaping a new Economic Strategy for Norfolk and Suffolk.

New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership is working with local authorities and businesses to develop a strategy which outlines our ambitious vision for the future. It will look at how we build on our strengths to make the most of our region’s opportunities.

Consultation is key to the success of this piece of work as it is you – the local businesses – who will create jobs, innovate and drive economic growth.

Our current plan runs to 2026 and sets out ambitious targets to create:

• 95,000 more jobs by 2026 • 15,000 new businesses by 2026 • 117,000 new homes by 2026 • Increased productivity (added value per job) to equal the national average We are on track to reach many of these targets and where progress is slower than we’d anticipated, we are working together to drive the change which is needed. The new Economic Strategy will give further strength to our plans to achieve them. We will be looking at the timeframe for the new Economic Strategy and the targets will be reviewed accordingly.

So what are we doing? At the moment, work is under way to develop the evidence base which will be used to look at future potential growth. Over the next few weeks, that evidence will be analysed and any gaps will be identified. The draft evidence report will be ready by the end of May. Once that report is ready, we will start consulting with businesses to get your views on the future scenarios which the data presents.

We will keep you updated, but if you would like to know more, you can read the full FAQs on our website.

Exciting times – you’ve got a business, you feel ready to start taking on some export opportunities. You’re ready to grow, so it’s probably time for some translation. Well, before you do – please, just think this through carefully.

You’ve got a lot to think about at this point. You probably won’t know your whole budget, or how to pick a translation provider, or even how to manage the whole thing. You can save a lot of hardship, time and money by getting things right at this crucial stage – and here’s how:

1 – Are you biting off more than you can chew?

Are you planning on targeting 12 countries, and adding a whole load of languages to your website? Great if you’ve got really strong skills in the business and a nice big budget, but for most, this isn’t a good idea. Start with what you can realistically focus on. You need to be able to realistically see this through and do a good job.

2 – What are your goals?

If you’re in e-commerce then you want sales, I assume. But, what else are you after? Likes? Do you want people to sign up to an online course? Or download a book? Share this information with your translation provider – because they’ll make their own assumptions if not, and you may miss out on useful insight.

3 – What are your assumptions right now?

The likelihood is that you’re basing your plans on a hypothesis – or an assumption. Presumably you are working in the belief that adding a certain language to your website will result in more sales. Or that there are people in a certain country interested in buying your products. We’re not saying that’s wrong, it’s likely to be correct – but you should recognise it as a hypothesis, it’s not really a fact until you’ve tested it or seen seem really evidence. That can be as easy as just asking the question, but with something as important as this, it’s really valuable to acknowledge and identify that hypothesis at this early stage.

4 – Start small, but think big.

Think about testing that idea BEFORE you go ahead and translate everything. Use analytics to see the results of small changes. What would be the effect of adding just a landing page to your website in another language? Or, what if you were to pick just your 50 most successful products and translate the keywords and descriptions for them? It might not get you over the line, but you would start to understand the effects this might have on the user journey through the site. Are people reading more and staying longer? Is your page or products getting found more through search? If so, great – it’s working. If not, think about why before you move on.

5 – Resist the urge to start with the marketing copy.

Most people would think to begin by translating their creative copy and persuasive material. That, after all, is where your most obvious ROI is going to come from, right? But it’s the wrong approach. Horse before the cart and all that!

Start with your core vocabulary. Get an excel spreadsheet and write down the first 100 words that come to your mind to summarise your business. I don’t mean a sentence or a paragraph. Single words that describe what you do. Here’s an example for a software training company.

So, you’re picking out the words that sum you up, and that represent the right words to use for your key services or products. In some cases it may be clear that you’re using one word and intentionally avoiding alternatives. Like, face to face training vs. one to one training. In that case, it would be well worth adding another column as a DO NOT USE list.

Translate those. And check them. Yourself. Not just the translation company. Then put them into Google, or use the google keyword analysis tool and see if people are actually searching for that term. If not, it’s probably the wrong term. The translation company should be happy to do that bit for you, but you might want to check it yourself.

Get that list perfect, make sure it’s the right words. They should say exactly what you do, and be the terms people in your target market are actually using. And keep that list – it belongs to you, not the translation company and it will inform any future copywriting, SEO, web development and marketing you carry out. It’s going to become one of your most valuable assets as you grow.

Make sure your translation company uses those terms. That’s easily done by using a CAT (Computer Assisted Translation) tool. Don’t work with any translator or translation company who doesn’t.

6 – Think about the future.

You should be ready to start on your first big translation order, but proceed with caution. Right now, if you’re talking to translation companies about translating your website and a load of other materials, they’re going to be nice and excited. They all will. But once that bulk of work is over, what will your needs look like? Most likely, you’ll want to actually get into conversations and interactions with consumers and real people, in the country you’re targeting? That means emails, short letters, maybe even tweets and social media updates… how are those companies going to help you there? Don’t just concentrate on the big bulk of work. Ask them very clearly, “How will you help me if I have a short email of 30 words that I need translated the same day?” – if it’s a minimum fee of £30 and a rush fee for anything less than 24 hours, you’re better off knowing in advance.

Look for a company with a multilingual consumer support solution or with a speciality for handling work fast, without resorting to machine translation and at good prices – ideally without a massive retainer.

On Wednesday 22nd March 2017, the third annual report of Tech Nation was published. The report is the most comprehensive analysis of the UK’s digital economy, concluded from over 2,700 survey responses, 220+ community partners and 61 founder case studies.   Naked Element was invited to attend the Tech Nation 2017 launch event at the Royal Institution in London, proudly representing the Norwich Tech Community, along with Neil Garner from Thyngs.   Neil was mentioned in the Tech Nation Norwich Cluster report for his innovative organisation “Thyngs”, enabling anyone to make everyday objects easily interactive through their smartphones. Paul was mentioned as founder of Naked Element and Norfolk Developers group for their annual conference, which included a “Schools day”, helping students to engage with the Norfolk Developers and to promote Digital Tech skills.   Most discussions at the event were based around the government and the sector working together, and what the strategy is for the future to continue the growth of the UK’s digital economy, as it’s clear that digital is a critical contribution in 2017.   So why is the government backing the Tech sector?  

• In the past 5 years we have seen a 22% increase in the Digital Tech industries turnover, currently at £170 billion
• Tech investment in the UK is two and a half times more than any other European country
• The average salary of those in the digital industry is £51k, being 44% higher than the national average. Tech workers are helping to boost the wider UK economy
• through higher productivity levels per worker.
• All businesses will be digital in the future, this means many businesses will be based on and run by Technology

  Karen Bradley, Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport (“The Ministers for Tech”) went on to discuss the strategy set in place to address the key areas of support our industry is expected to receive.  

• We continue to face a deficit of women in the Tech industry as the ratio of men to women is currently 3:1. This is a key issue and the government are keen to try and address this.
• Making sure that we have home grown talent. New measures to ensure this include:
• Adults who lack core digital skills will not have to pay for training
• Coding is being introduced from Key Stage 1
• Attracting the best and the brightest – this year we received x5 more applicants for Tech jobs in the UK. Although we are seeing growth, with a new Tech company starting up every 60 minutes, we must continue to attract this talent.
• Having finance support at every stage of growth
• Digital connectivity
• Access to the space we need. Tech companies are growing at an alarming rate and ensuring we have enough space for them can be challenging
• Undertaking reviews of tax in R&D to allow more money to be spent on it
• Next generation full fibre – 1 million is being invested in 5G, having the connectivity they need whilst they’re travelling, at work and anywhere
• Introducing a new forum in which Tech city are looking forward to playing an active role in. Karen Bradley, will potentially chair this forum to review strategies, set priorities and meet every quarter.

  Digital is utility and no one should be left behind. With the backing that we have from government, we can hope to move forward as an industry, continuing to innovate and excel as a digital nation.   Lastly, I just want to say congratulations to the Norwich Tech community and to our contributions of £1.65 million to the report. We’ve got some of the most innovative digital companies and I really think this is just the start for us. Also congratulations to the whole of the Tech nation on another superb report. It’s a shining example that the government are committed to boosting this industry, and gives us great reason to be upbeat about the future. We have the momentum, and we have the innovation to ensure that the UK remains a global leader. As we approach a very exciting era, we need to draw on the best talent and ensure the world knows global Britain is open for business.

Have you ever pondered which type of blind to choose, or what a certain design of fabric would look like in a blind?

Take a look at the images associated with this article. We’ve picked three fabric designs and show you what that fabric looks like in each type of blind – Vertical, Roller and Panel.

The pictures show

• Vertical blinds made from Louvolite’s Como Ocra design fabric alternating with Carnival Navy:
• Como Ocra fabric in made to measure Roller Blinds:
• Como Ocra design fabric, again alternating with Carnival Navy, but this time in made to measure panel blinds:

​The type of blind makes quite a difference, doesn’t it?

Add in the huge choice of fabric designs, and that’s quite a decision for you to make.

This is where our experience comes in. We have been making blinds for over 35 years, so we have seen all different styles, in a huge range of fabric, in a variety of settings – both home and office.

Here are a few more comparisons for you:

• Roller blind with Louvolite Tropicana Apple Mojito fabric
• Panel blinds with Tropicana Apple Mojito and Carnival Kiwi Chive fabric
• Closed Vertical blinds with Tropicana Apple Mohito fabric and Carnival Kiwi fabric
• Vertical blinds with Tropicana Apple Mojito and Carnival Kiwi and Chive

And for blinds with a block colour:

• Carnival Breton Blue Panel blinds closed
• Partially open Panel blinds with Carnival Breton Blue fabric
• Panel blinds with Carnival Breton Blue fabric complemented with Zepher Quarts and Carnival Taupe fabric
• Roller blind with Carnival Breton Blue fabric from Louvolite
• Vertical blinds with Carnival Breton Blue fabric

If you like to do your own research, have a read of our guide to buying blinds or have a browse of the various options for made to measure blinds.

If you would like some help, book an appointment.

We visit you to take measurements, show you samples and chat about what would work best for you.

This article originally appeared on the Norwich Sunblinds website