The Norwich Good Economy Commission (NGEC) is a collaboration between Norwich City Council, University of East Anglia and other organisations in the local economy.
The NGEC will create a unique forum for our community to come together and address some of the problems in our city’s economy, by creating a space for sustainable, innovative projects, backed by consistent research and evidence.
The NGEC are currently offering an exciting opportunity to help promote the NGEC and its mission. They are calling for tenders to help them create a product or platform that can be used to initiate conversations about the economy and encourage community engagement with the Commission.
Southgate are proud to announce that we have ranked 48th in the Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200.
The International Track 200 ranks Britain’s mid-market private companies with the fastest growing international sales, measured over the last two years. With past alumni include Dr Martens, THG and IHS, eligible companies are required to have international sales greater than £1 million and total sales greater than £25 million.
At Southgate have seen an impressive average growth of international sales by 68.38% over the last two years. Southgate is one of the leading packaging distributors in Europe and with our exciting international developments we look forward to globally expanding our trade network.
Delivering critical care throughout the pandemic has significantly impacted waiting times for non-urgent treatment, leaving many people left coping with pain for months. NHS waiting time data in September 2020 showed that 39.4% of patients had been waiting more than 18 weeks at the time the statistics were recorded. Though the treatments are classed as non-urgent, painful conditions or injuries can significantly impact quality of life and overall wellbeing. Supporting your people For those looking to avoid adding to the NHS’s growing burden whilst still accessing affordable healthcare, Surgery Choices can help your people get the treatment they need to get back on their feet quickly and return to work sooner. Surgery Choices provides your people with immediate cover for new conditions and fast access to fixed price private treatment packages, should they need surgery. With two options to choose from, the plans cover over 60 specific surgical procedures for conditions such as slipped discs, hip and knee replacement, gallstones, hernias and carpal tunnel. If you’d like more information about Surgery Choices and the benefits for your people and your business, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Our friendly Customer Care Team is here to help. Online westfieldhealth.com Email businessenquiries@westfieldhealth.com Phone 0114 250 2000 9am-5pm, Mon-Fri (except Christmas Eve and public holidays)
With Schools opening back up on the 8th March, we’ve put together a Back to School range of products to ensure the safety of all staff and pupils, with everything from Hand Sanitisers and Surface Sanitisers to PPE and Safety Screens. Get in touch now for your copy of the brochure or special bespoke pricing. 01328 851407 | sales@anglianchemicals.com
On the day The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, delivered his second Budget on 3rd March, TaxAssist Accountants was pleased to provide its franchisees with personalised versions of the Budget 2021 material to share and communicate with clients, prospects and business referral contacts.
This included a summary highlighting the announcements that will affect businesses and the self-employed, and an e-mail newsletter to its clients.
The latter was personalised for franchisees’ individual websites enabling them to share with their clients the changes pertinent to their businesses just hours after the Budget was delivered.
During the day, the Support Centre team posted live updates to the @TaxAssistUK Twitter, as well as posts on the national Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. The centralised mailing system meant franchisees were able to benefit from the Support Centre sharing the Budget Summary and Highlights to franchisees’ Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Business Pages and personal profiles on their behalf.
Over the next few days, the Support Centre will be posting the following Budget-related stories, all housed in the Budget Reports Hub, across franchisees’ social media profiles and pages:
TaxAssist Accountants will be also be running a client facing webinar covering all of the key topics announced in the Budget, which will be hosted by Daren Moore FCCA, Group Commercial Director and Andy Gibbs FCCA, Group Technical Manager on Tuesday 9th March 2021.
James Mattam, Group Business Development Director, said: “The Support Centre team pulled out all the stops to ensure we delivered bespoke Budget commentary in a timely and efficient manner for the benefit of both the accountants in our network and their clients. This Budget was hugely important for business owners across the UK to understand how the Government is going to support them as we come out of lockdown and get the economy firing on all cylinders once again.
“We emailed the Budget summary to over 77,000 clients on behalf of franchisees, leaving them free to concentrate on running their practices – one of the many beneficial services we offer to our network of accountants. The accountants and tax experts in the TaxAssist Support Centre who have put together all of the Budget content are digesting the deeper details released by The Chancellor and will present a webinar to franchisees this week to support them with many new updates we all need to be aware of, in order to advise clients of the changes that affect their businesses.”
If you are interested in joining the TaxAssist Accountants network, regular Virtual Discovery Days are being held, where you can find out more about the technical, marketing and business development support on offer. Call 0800 0188297 or submit an enquiry via the button at the top of the page to register your interest.
In this week’s episode of Impromptu Business Chat, James and Mark talk about the encouraging signs coming out of lockdown and the prospect of economic recovery and growth. They provide 3 top tips to help you grow your business over the coming months by proactively managing cash flow and managing working capital. Along the way they make reference to the Toyota production system, Johnny Cash, and Mark’s fridge freezer.
In his Budget statement the Chancellor has confirmed that the reduction in VAT for tourism, leisure and hospitality businesses from 20% to 5% has been extended by six months until 30 September. It will then rise to 12.5% for the following six months before returning to the standard rate of 20% in April 2022.
The VAT reduction is for many aspects of accommodation, food, drink (excluding alcohol) and tourist attractions. The reduction was originally due to end on 12 January 2021 before being extended to 31 March 2021 in the Chancellor’s Winter Economic Statement, when he said the reduced rate would help 150,000 businesses survive the winter months.
Ahead of the Budget, Boris Johnson referred to it as a “Budget for recovery.” There’s no doubt that businesses within the tourism, leisure and hospitality sector have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Survival is their first priority and they certainly need help to recover from the effects of the past 12 months.
The VAT reduction first came into force on 15 July 2020, and just 16 weeks later, on 3 November, many businesses in the industry were again forced to temporarily close their doors. Many have not traded since and will not do so ahead of 31 March 2021, when the VAT rate was due to increase back to 20%. Therefore, of the 37 weeks that the reduction was due to be in place, some businesses were only able trade for 43% of the time, restricting their ability to benefit from the reduced rate.
With this in mind, the extension is a welcome boost to the affected businesses hoping for a positive 2021 summer season and beyond. However, it’s disappointing that the VAT rate will increase to 12.5% from 1 October 2021 before returning to 20% in April 2022. Many of our neighbouring countries have permanently lower VAT rates than the UK, with France, Italy and Spain all having a 10% VAT rate applicable to accommodation. This makes it potentially cheaper for consumers to head abroad rather than opt for a British staycation which would help the UK economy recover.
Further measures were announced in the Budget which will affect the tourism, leisure and hospitality sector. These include:
Further grants of up to £18,000 for businesses within the sector
A freezing of the duty payable on alcohol sales
Relaxation of corporation tax loss rules
Enhanced capital allowances
An extension to the 100% business rates holiday through to June 2021, with reduced relief available for the rest of 2021
The recovery of the tourism, leisure and hospitality sector will rely heavily on the support of the government packages and the confidence of the public, which will hopefully increase following the vaccine rollout.
In this week’s Tourism Business Chat, Chris Scargill speaks to Philip Turner, founder and managing director of Chestnut; a collection of pubs, inns and restaurants throughout East Anglia.
In their conversation, Philip speaks frankly about the impact that restrictions have had on his own business, as well as the leisure and hospitality sector. He speaks candidly about the Government’s handling of the pandemic, and the anger and frustration this has caused amongst business leaders in the sector. He also reflects on a purchase he made just before lockdown. News of COVID-19 was rumbling in the background at that point, and he explores his feelings around the timing. He reveals what he’s learnt from this experience ̶ if you don’t learn, you don’t get better!
Although he started his career in the City, Philip’s passion for the hospitality sector led him onto the acquisition trail and his words of wisdom for those looking to get into the trade, are invaluable. He hopes that an upside of this pandemic will be an opportunity for both employers and customers to look at the hospitality sector through different eyes, both in terms of careers and turning away from the transient nature of job roles.
Philip reflects on the changes his HR department made at the start of lockdown, focusing on the wellbeing of his teams, and creating a motivational space for people to communicate, and come together, including charitable work they did in their communities. He expresses his fears that many on furlough may never be able to return to full-time work, and that the prospect of the ‘long-term sick note’ is very real as a result of the impact of restrictions on those working in the sector. Cultivating and nurturing your teams is key to the success of your business.
Philip freely admits that he can’t change a keg, but he can balance the spread sheet! As a self-confessed ‘glass half full’ man, Philip has high hopes for the sector moving out of COVID-19. His insights are key for anyone working in the sector, at any level, and business leaders who’ve been impacted by closures or restrictions during the last year.
You can subscribe to Tourism Business Chat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. Make sure you subscribe, so you don’t miss out on our upcoming episodes; next week Chris speaks to Richard Hughes from The Assembly House in Norwich.
This Budget Summary from MHA Larking Gowen covers the key tax changes announced in the Chancellor’s speech, including measures to mitigate the impact of coronavirus, and explains how these changes affect businesses and individuals.
This summary covers the key tax changes announced in the Chancellor’s speech and includes tables of the main rates and allowances. At the back of the summary you will find a calendar of the tax year with important deadline dates shown. We recommend that you review your financial plans regularly as some aspects of the Budget will not be implemented until later dates.
The Chancellor had a difficult task in this Budget: to indicate how he might balance the Government’s books in the future, while still having to pay out huge sums to support the economy. He said that he would continue to provide ‘whatever it takes’ to protect businesses and jobs during the present crisis, while being honest about the need to ‘fix the public finances’ and setting out his plans to build the future economy…..to continue reading this article, and view the full analysis and tax year details, click here.
SITRANS TH320/420 is designed to support all common resistance thermometers and thermocouples. It also evaluates resistance and millivolt signals. Setup is quick and easy with the SIMATIC PDM or the Handheld Communicator.
Both temperature transmitters SITRANS TH320 and TH420 combine perfect measurement and intelligence for every temperature and condition.
The true reliability of the SITRANS TH420 is exemplified by the dual sensor input with 4-wire sensor connection and hot backup function. In case of a sensor failure, the transmitter seamlessly switches to the second sensor, so that the data is recorded continuously and without any loss.
The sensor trim realized following the Callendar-Van-Dusen-Method as well as the additional function of the sensor drift detection (SITARNS TH420 only) allows a high accuracy, accelerated calibration time and optimized calibration planning.
The SIL2/3 certificates in combination with a broad range of ex and marine approvals are the perfect solution for your safety-critical applications, also under harsh conditions up to -50°C.
User-friendly details give SITRANS TH320/420 its uniqueness: Without opening the 4-20mA loop, the output current can be read out directly with a multimeter. A red/green LED shows the technician the status at a glance.
Benefits
High availability during measurement
High reliability and long-term stability
Avoidance of production stop because of measurement failures
Best cost-benefit ratio for facility management
Cost reduction through anticipatory maintenance
High sensor accuracy
Extended temperature range up to -50°C + SIL2/3 approvals
Enquire on our website https://www.pisales.co.uk/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1179
We’re excited to announce two new members of staff have recently joined the growing PI Sales team. Craig Hamman – Project & Site Service Manager
I have spent 10 years working as an Electrical & Instrumentation Field Services Engineer in North Africa in the Oil and Gas industry. Primarily responsible for providing power generation and product transmission technical support to oil/gas pipeline maintenance personnel.
Prior to this I spent some time in the food and beverage industry installing and commissioning bottle inspection equipment and then later in the Steel Industry in an E&I maintenance role.
Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with family and socializing with friends, running and playing golf.
I am a believer in the principle that you get out of life what you put in. Hard work, adaptability, integrity and a commitment to constant self-improvement are the ideals that I strive to implement in my own life.
Toni Kirkpatrick – Internal Sales Administrator
I have spent 28 years working for an Industrial Process Control Systems Integrator, Industrial Electrical Services (IES) Ltd. During this time I spent 8 years as a Sales & Engineering Administrator, 12 years as a Purchasing Manager and 8 years as the Accounts Assistant/Receptionist.
Outside of work I am married mum of a 12 year old daughter. I enjoy keeping fit including; gym, bootcamps, running (completed 4 half marathons), muddy races and assault courses.
We are delighted to be joined by Emmet O’Sullivan, Account Manager, Burkerts to talk to us about working with Process Instrument Sales on the new Treatt development at the Suffolk Business Park.
The development represents the most significant investment for Treatt in the 130-year history of the firm, which manufactures and supplies ingredients to the flavour, fragrance and consumer goods markets.
Bürkert Fluid Control Systems is the leading manufacturer of control and measuring systems for fluids and gases. Its products have a wide variety of applications and are used in a number of industries such as Water Treatment, Hygienic Processing, Gas Handling and Microfluidics.
So Emmet, what has been Burkert’s role in the Treatt Development?
As the market-leading manufacturer of valves, sensors and controllers we have been working in partnership with Process Instrument Sales for the RC Treatt new factory project. The scope of the project is to supply valves including on-off modulating ball, manual ball check, globe and needle valves. As you can imagine we have been involved in detailed technical discussions throughout the process to ensure the highest standards in what we deliver
What has worked well?
The trust built up between Burkert, PI Sales and RC Treatt is of great value to us. The scale of the projects means that we have to work closely together as a team to ensure a seamless transition from drawings to reality. Our role is to ensure extreme precision when it comes to optimizing processes, which ensures they are implemented with maximum efficiency and at minimum effort.
How important are developments like this for UK engineering?
In these unprecedented times, projects of this scale are of immense value, not just for the parties involved, but to give others confidence that things can indeed get done, and done well, despite the pandemic. Hopefully, it will, in some small way, generate more positive thinking and decision making by management within the industry.
How long have you worked with Process Instrument Sales?
I have worked with them since 2012 but their relationship with Burkert goes back longer. We worked on a successful project last year supplying 1061 switchboxes to fit onto their existing rotary actuated valves. This project was successful because, with the pilot valve intrinsic with the switchbox, instead of externally mounted, less cabling would be required thus providing a saving in time and cost. Other projects have included globe control valves for water and steam at ForFarmers and rotary valves and switchboxes for a global manufacturer of paints and coatings.
What have been the benefits of working with Process Instrument Sales?
Process Instrument Sales, particularly Jon Tayler, has a long established reputation in the area and has built up close relationships with a great many end-users in the East of England and beyond. PI Sales are seen as a reliable and trusted one-stop shop for customers and we are pleased to be a part of that team.
What are the positives you are seeing in your industry right now?
The hygienic food and beverage industry is following in the footsteps of the pharmaceutical industry in using automation to greatly improve their process optimization. As the lockdown from COVID-19 starts to ease, many plant managers are looking to automation and feedback as ways to keep their plants operating whilst being able to monitor them remotely. This can be seen in the product mix specified by RC Treatt where even many of the manual valves are fitted with position feedback units as well as all the automatic valves.