Member News

• The ‘Hope Funds’ scheme is offering grants of up to £10k for projects working to alleviate homelessness in the East of England; • In the first round of funding in summer 2021, £96k in grants were awarded to 11 organisations in the region; • Applications are invited from registered charities, social enterprises, and community based not for profit ventures by 6 December 2021. ‘Hope Funds’, a scheme offering grants of up to £10k to support projects working to tackle homelessness in East Anglia, is once again open for applications – after £96k was awarded in the first round of funding. 11 organisations working to alleviate homelessness across East Anglia were the recipients of funding up to £10k this summer, and now applications are invited once more by projects which share the aims of Hopestead, the charity behind the grant scheme. Hopestead is looking to support organisations which can provide access to a safe place to live, tackle the causes and impacts of homelessness – as well as homelessness itself – or empower people who have experienced or are at risk of homelessness to take control and get past the challenges in their way. They are also keen to invest in projects which enhance communities, and give people connections to build relationships, solve problems and try new things to create a sense of belonging that makes a house a forever home. Applications are invited specifically from registered charities, social enterprises, and community based not for profit ventures, and grants are open to projects which share Hopestead’s aims. Hope Funds opened on 1 November and 6 December is the deadline for applications.  Successful applicants will be announced on 20 December, and these projects will then be invited to submit full proposals by 24 January 2022. The funds will be granted in March 2022. The announcement of the latest round of Hope Funds grants is testament to Hopestead’s ethos to work collaboratively to achieve the charity’s ambitious goal of ending homelessness in the East of England. CEO Marie-Claire Delbrouque explained: “We’re so proud of the partnerships we’ve made since we launched in October 2020. We know that it is only through working together that we can make homelessness a rare, brief, and non-recurring event in people’s lives, and ensure that those moving into a property from a route of homelessness have everything they need to thrive. “There are so many incredible organisations and fantastic projects working to alleviate homelessness across our region, and through our Hope Funds grant scheme, we have an opportunity to support these great initiatives that are making such a vital difference. “Our first round of funding showed us just what an impact the Hope Funds grants can make, and I would urge eligible applicants to please do apply.” Organisations and projects wishing to apply for the Hope Fund grant scheme can do so here: Apply for funding – Hopestead Hope Funds previous recipients St Martin’s Housing Trust was amongst the recipients of the first round of Hope Funds grants and was awarded a grant to provide tenancy training for 32 people to aid the prevention of homelessness. Lucy Bone Head of Community Services at St Martins said: “We have been extremely fortunate to receive this funding. It gives us the opportunity to deliver training to the people we support  to develop the skills needed to live independently in a safe and secure environment and to feel confident they can sustain this in the future.” Empanda, a CIC which offers community-based housing related support across Norfolk and day care services across Norfolk and Suffolk also received a grant.  A representative of Empanda said: “The grant from Hopestead has enabled Empanda to access a small team of specialist counsellors able to respond quicker, and often more appropriately to the young persons’ needs assisting them to become more positive about their future. We know from experience that when a young person feels positive and in control of their life they are more likely to move on to permanent accommodation successfully and avoid the pitfall of repeat homelessness.” Another recipient was Village Orchard CIC, a not-for-profit organisation which provides personalised mental health support through one-to-one therapy sessions and group work. A spokesperson for Village Orchard explained how they would be using the grant:  “We will be providing a 12-week closed therapy group for 6 to 8 participants, as well as 16 weeks of 1:1 therapy for 2 participants.  The Village Orchard East CIC understands that homelessness can stem from trauma.  We are so grateful to receive this funding and to have been granted the opportunity to provide this support for people who need it, thank you Hopestead!” Hopestead was also pleased to provide a grant to Norfolk Community Law service. A spokesperson for the service said: “The independent specialist Debt and Welfare Benefits advice and representation we can provide is quite literally life changing. The funding from Hopestead means we can help more people. People who have been made most vulnerable by society. On their behalf we say thank you.” And, The Horticulture Industry Scheme CIC (Thetford) received a grant and remarked: “We are so grateful to Hopestead for awarding us funding as part of their Hope Funds project. This funding will enable us to help ten households who have struggled with their gardens because of Covid-19. Our team of employees who have suffered difficulties such as homelessness will be working on this project to transform these householders’ gardens.”

Norfolk based ISP, FreeClix, have recently launched SimRush 5G, a unique 5G broadband product that is perfect for businesses who need to improve their broadband’s speed and reliability. It is capable of providing download speeds of more than 300 Mbps in and around Norwich. The professionally installed system comprises an external broadband router with multiple long range antennas to ensure an ultrafast service is delivered where 5G is available, and an internal router with the best dual-band WiFi built in for extremely high-speed wireless access.

But that’s not all.

Not only is SimRush 5G compatible with all UK 5G mobile networks, it is also backwards compatible with the 4G LTE network. When on 4G, SimRush 5G can still produce amazing broadband speeds of up to 100 Mbps. These high-speeds are possible because of the CAT 20 4G LTE chipset on the external antenna, which provides much faster speeds compared to previous SimRush hardware.

This gives two brilliant advantages of using SimRush 5G:

If you’re lucky enough to get 5G but unfortunate enough that it fails, you have automatic failover to 4G built into your broadband set up so you won’t go offline.

If you only have 4G network coverage in your area, you can still use SimRush 5G to get you excellent speeds using just the 4G network.

So, what does this really mean?

SimRush Co-Founder, Peter Freeman, discusses the benefits of using SimRush 5G for Norfolk based businesses.

“SimRush 5G is a fantastic way of getting exceptional broadband speeds in rural areas. We recently upgraded our customer, The Gunton Arms, who are over 8 miles away from the nearest 5G area, to SimRush 5G and saw huge improvements in their internet connection. They can now achieve much faster average speeds of 90 Mbps download!”

“We are extremely pleased with the performance of SimRush 5G across the UK. But as a Norfolk based company, we are even more delighted to see that it is also benefitting businesses in the local area. For those with 5G coverage the improvements are vast. 5G mobile technology offers extremely low average latency, meaning the amount of lag experienced when using the internet is minimal. It’s ideal for businesses who are reliant on a reliable broadband connection to keep their business functioning and productive. The built in 4G failover provides an extra layer of security and reduces the likelihood of downtime.”

“We’ve seen a big increase in the amount of enquiries from businesses with leased lines who cannot afford to risk the potential loss of money from an internet outage, particularly from professional services firms, the care sector and hospitality outlets. SimRush 5G is the perfect solution for these businesses. We recently proved this by helping a business that had a prolonged leased line outage to get their 25 staff and connected devices back online within hours of the initial request by rapidly deploying SimRush 5G.”

SimRush 5G has additional appeal for business users due to the unique Static Public IP addressing service that’s available. This cost-effective fixed IP solution enables remote access to CCTV, web servers or a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service which is a must for most businesses.

SimRush 5G is available to buy now from FreeClix, the UK SimRush Master Distributor. Please click here for more information regarding the product range and a comprehensive guide to everything 5G.

“5G network coverage is growing all the time and we are seeing more and more incredible speeds that are rivalling those of traditional broadband services. SimRush 5G enables businesses to get faster broadband speeds and improved reliability, whilst also future proofing their connection for years to come.”

Use a coverage checker to find out if you’ve got 5G network coverage in your area now!

As part of its ongoing environmental strategy, Howes Percival has joined the Legal Sustainability Alliance (LSA). The LSA is the leading sustainability network for law firms and the UK legal sector. It is a collaborative network which allows its members to share best practice and to work together to ensure law firms play a full part in tackling the climate crisis. The LSA provides members with access to a range of tools, resources and advice to help firms become sustainable. Howes Percival has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and its dedicated Environmental Committee has already embarked on a series of initiatives to reach this target which include reducing the use of paper, optimising recycling across offices and reducing the volume of marketing materials. Environmental partner, Hannah Steggles said,

“As the COP26 Climate Change Conference shines a light on global environmental issues, we are really excited to do our part and push forward in our sustainability journey by joining the LSA. Reducing our environmental impact is a key priority for Howes Percival and we are really pleased to join a network of like-minded organisations”.

  For more information about the Legal Sustainability Alliance, please visit legalsustainabilityalliance.com.  

James Groves, Managing Director of Indigo Swan says of being a Finalist in the IoD East of England Director of the Year Awards, ” You can’t achieve anything on your own. You are only as good as those around you.” ” Surround yourself with people better than you. Last week I was fortunate to receive some personal recognition on top of the team being recognised as finalists for a number of awards. This made for an amazing week. I am extremely honoured and grateful to those who nominated me. None of this would be possible however without the hard work, dedication and commitment of each and ever swan, so to them I say thank you. The people below make me better, they make the company better, the culture better and they will do anything they can to make us successful and well respected as a business in Norfolk, the East of England and far beyond. This is about them, our clients and our partners. It is today and always will be. If I pick up some recognition in the process then it makes me proud and makes me know that as a leader I am doing something right. Thank you for trusting me, following me and believing in me and what we are doing. A great end to the year ahead and the boost we need heading into 2022.” Indigo Swan

We’re absolutely delighted that Mills & Reeve are Chamber Business Awards 2021 Regional Winners for Equality Trailblazer award. Congratulations! The Chamber Business Awards is one of the showpiece events in the business calendar, recognising and promoting the best of British business through a series of regional heats, culminating in a virtual Awards ceremony, taking place online on the 9 December 2021. This year we had entrants from organisations of all sizes and sectors across the country and want to express sincere thanks to all the Chambers who nominated their members. The quality of nominations received this year is testament to the strength of businesses across the country. Congratulations to the 2021 regional winners, listed below, who will go forward to represent their business at the Chamber Business Awards virtual ceremony on Thursday 9 December 2021. Click here to book your tickets Join the conversation on Twitter as we count down to 9 December #ChamberAwards.

Congratulations to our incredible Norfolk Chamber members who have been nominated in The Norfolk Business Awards! These awards are brought to you by Archant who bring the county’s business community together to celebrate each other’s achievements and highlight the leaders in each industry. These awards bring Norfolk’s diverse and vibrant business community together in order to celebrate companies who are truly outstanding in their sector and honour the achievements and contributions being made to the local economy. On behalf of the entire Norfolk Chambers Team we wish you all the very best of luck! Business Person of the Year Christine Malcolm, Maid’s Head Hotel James Groves, Indigo Swan Julie Hunt, Face to Face Finance    Changing Lives Special Recoginition Award Norwich Theatre  Yellow Brick Mortgages   Customer Excellence Award Breakwater IT  R13   Disruptor of the Year Indigo Swan Liftshare Group   Education in Business Award Face to Face Finance   Employer of the Year Evander Liftshare Group   Green Business of the Year Liftshare Group Netmatters   Marketing Innovation Award PlantGrow   Scale-Up Business of the Year Netmatters Yellow Brick Mortgages   Start-Up Business of the Year Keeler Recruitment   You can view the full list of Awards and nominations here

Great Yarmouth’s famous seafront is going green over the coming weeks as the rollout of low carbon LED streetlights in Norfolk has moved to the east coast town. Work is now well underway to switch the 195 old lights along Marine Parade and nearby roads to efficient new LEDs. A total of 15,000 lights are being upgraded across the county by 2023, a figure which will add to the 22,000 lights that have already been converted to LED since 2008. This has saved 12,500 tonnes of CO2. Cllr Martin Wilby, Norfolk County Council Cabinet Member for Highways, Infrastructure and Transport, said: “Our major LED upgrade programme is one piece of the considerable work we have planned to achieve our ambitious target of becoming carbon neutral as an authority by 2030. “Replacing thousands of high energy consuming streetlights with efficient new LED lights allows us to cut carbon emissions and save money too.” For each street that is upgraded to LED lights the average percentage energy saving is about 60%. Many of the LEDs can also be controlled remotely saving on staff time and travel. The LED upgrade work links closely with the county council’s pledge to achieve net zero carbon by 2030, as part of the authority’s Environmental Policy which was adopted in November 2019. A report on the progress so far and next steps for the Environmental Policy was considered by Cabinet this morning, Monday 8 November.

A multidisciplinary team from Ashtons Legal has recently advised Camgrain Stores Limited in relation to their involvement in a new multi-million pound, state of the art, oat processing plant in Northamptonshire. The other parties involved in the creation of new entity Navara Oat Milling Limited were Frontier Agriculture Limited and Anglian Maltings (Holdings) Limited. Along with Camgrain Stores, the plant will be owned and run through the new Navara Oat Milling brand. The Kettering plant, which has already started to be constructed, will be the largest, most modern oat-processing facility in Europe. Expected to complete in 2023, it will produce oat ingredients for the food and drink industry. Advising Camgrain Stores on the venture were partners Paul Whittingham and Geoff Hazlewood from Ashtons’ Corporate and Commercial Team. They were ably assisted by partner Simon Cunningham from the firm’s top-tier Agriculture & Estates Team. Paul Whittingham said: “Myself and the team at Ashtons’ are delighted to have assisted Camgrain and their co-operative members on this exciting project which will meet the ever increasing demand for oat ingredients which we all use in our day-to-day lives.” Simon Willis, Group CEO of Camgrain Stores adds “We would like to thank, Paul, Geoff, Simon and the team at Ashtons for their professional help and guidance completing the complex legal documents requirement to conclude the Navara Oat Milling, Joint Venture Agreement. The new joint venture will see the plant built alongside our existing Camgrain Advanced Processing Centre in Northants. This is great news for our farmer members as it expands opportunities for them with an increasingly sought-after cereal grain and will involve them in projects such as the development of new varieties. It’s good to be bringing advanced technology to the UK food supply chain, adding value not just to farmers, but also to the local community.” More information about Camgrain Stores and their involvement in this project can be found by visiting https://www.camgrain.co.uk/navara-oat-milling-project-announcement

We are thrilled to be working with the exciting team at Chanty, on the redesign of their already successful website. Chanty is a team communication and team collaboration platform which allows users to collaborate seamlessly. A viable alternative to Slack and other well-known collaboration apps and platforms, Chanty have been making some exciting moves over the last few months. Having produced a range of useful and informative resources, including their productivity and work-life balance calculators, Chanty are now taking their website to new levels. What We Are Working on With Chanty We have been working on the Chanty website for a few months and have been improving their search engine optimisation (SEO) and user engagements through a variety of means and methods, all of which are starting to slowly take effect, having a positive effect on the rankings and engagement of users on the Chanty website. Website Crawling – First and foremost, we have been working on making sure that the ‘crawling factors’ of the website, i.e., the technical SEO ranking factors are up to date and fully optimised. This has included taking care of, fixing and optimising elements of the website, including:

• Meta titles and meta descriptions
• Page titles and headings
• Response codes
• Website architecture

Online PR Opportunities – A fundamental part of any SEO campaign and project are the online PR opportunities that any brand and website can garner. Thus, we have been working hard to get Chanty’s brand, messaging and name out to the relevant masses online, to ensure their brand gets the wide exposure it requires and deserves. Website Content – Another key tenet of a successful SEO campaign is the content that lives and sits on any given website. In the case of Chanty, this has meant working with their fabulous copywriting and content team to ensure that all content, from blogs to core page content and all in between, allowing more good content to rank and get found as necessary by Google and other search engines. Page Designs – Page design and user experience (UX) is an important part of SEO and thus, we have been working with the design and development teams at Chanty to ensure all new page designs are reflective of best SEO practices as well as user experience practices.

Paul has competed in two of the most competitive industries in the world: elite sport, and performance psychology. Paul played professional football at Premier League level, for both Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich City FC. He realised though, early on in his career, that whilst he knew he wanted to play football, he also had a time limit on his career. This realisation sparked a career in his other passion—psychology. Paul is now a qualified psychologist; published author of ‘The Stupid Footballer is Dead’; and motivational speaker. He works worldwide, with companies such as Microsoft and Aviva, on performance psychology, the power of our beliefs, and how they form and get in the way of our success in business. Paul chats to James and Mark about the ‘growth mindset’ that’s needed in business. They discuss how improvement and progression only come from a certain type of mindset, and hinges on how you approach a situation, and then deal with it. They talk in depth about the power of beliefs. If we all spent time unpacking our beliefs, we’d realise just how many negative ones we have, and how much they get in our way! Paul also gives fascinating insight into what it takes mentally to play at the highest level of the beautiful game, and the imposter syndrome that can come with it, and how he came to realise that his Belfast accent was not a barrier after all! If you are enjoying the series, we would really appreciate it if you could follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, or wherever else you get your podcasts! You can also find all episodes on our website www.larking-gowen.co.uk/IBC If you have feedback, questions or think you might be a great guest on the podcast, please get in touch! Email the team at podcasts@larking-gowen.co.uk Show notes: Contact Paul at: paulmcveigh.co.uk LinkedIn Mentioned books: The Stupid Footballer is Dead Man’s Search For Meaning: The classic tribute to hope from the Holocaust Robert Dilts Awaken The Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Life Top tips: Tip 1 – Belief systems and reaching goals skip to 38:30 Tip 2 – Internal and external locus of control skip to 41:00 Tip 3 – Identity – transitioning from footballer to business psychologist skip to 38:30 Listen here!

Successful business-to-business (B2B) marketing agency Full Mix Marketing has expanded their team by welcoming experienced marketer, Karina Zimmermann. Karina joins the team with over 11 years’ experience gained delivering marketing for one of Norfolk’s most iconic businesses, Bernard Matthews Foods. “From strategy to digital marketing, I’m so keen to apply my skills in such a fantastic new environment. It’s slightly different to marketing Turkey Dinosaurs but the fundamentals are the same! It’s about delivering effective marketing which really communicates to our client’s customers” says Karina of her new role. Originally from Koblenz in Germany, Karina arrived in the UK as a teenager partly through the German city’s twinning with Norwich and went on to study business management at the University of East Anglia. In over a decade as Marketing Manager for Bernard Matthews, Karina led many significant projects including two rebrands, nationwide multi-channel advertising campaigns and a number of packaging redesigns. Karina’s new role at Full Mix Marketing sees her swap the leading brand of turkey-based family foods for a wide range of clients in sectors as varied as flow chemistry equipment, intellectual property law and lorry tension curtains. Karina adds: “Having taken a break to have my daughters, I’m eager to rekindle my love for marketing. I can’t wait to make a positive difference in the team that has already made me feel so welcome!” Full Mix Marketing has become East Anglia’s leading B2B marketing agency, delivering strategic, digital and creative marketing for a growing number of clients across the region and beyond. The agency often acts as another business’ marketing department, delivering a comprehensive range of marketing including strategy, PR, website development and social media. “Karina joins us with a wealth of experience, gained in a large and well-respected company. We can already see the big benefits it will deliver our clients” says Full Mix Marketing’s Managing Director, Sarah West. Karina is the third member of Full Mix Marketing’s growing team to have been born outside the UK. “The great benefit of a diverse team is that it provides different perspectives. It undoubtedly makes us even more effective at delivering the best results through marketing for our clients” concludes Sarah. Having moved to larger city-centre offices in 2020, Full Mix Marketing now has a team of seven and has recently doubled its number of clients, many of which have worked with the agency since it began in 2016. Karina’s role as Marketing Executive sees her take responsibility for delivering key aspects of marketing for clients including the UK’s largest supplier of gift cards, the designers of innovative new cleaning technology and one of the country’s leading contract electronics manufacturers. More details of Full Mix Marketing can be found at: https://www.fullmixmarketing.co.uk/

In this weeks Impromptu Business Chat, James and Mark share the time management difficulties they’re encountering as they return to face-to-face meetings. Many people are, for the first time, managing their workloads and diaries with a mix of face-to-face and virtual meetings, placing new challenges and stresses. How do you overcome this? As usual, James and Mark come up with 3 top tips, cross-referring to musical links whenever they can! If you are enjoying the series, we would really appreciate it if you could follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, or wherever else you get your podcasts! If you have feedback, questions or think you might be a great guest on the podcast, please get in touch! Email the team at podcasts@larking-gowen.co.uk   Listen here!