Start your journey to optimum health with our online 6 week course
Starts June 13th – July 20th
* Boost Your Immune System
* Increase Energy and Vitality
* Improve Sleep
* Find And Maintain A Happy, Healthy Weight
* Weekly interactive webinars and videos
* Regular 1-1 guidance and group support
* A weight loss plan that works
* Achievable Goals
£185
Please contact us enquiries@wellbeinginternational.co.uk for more information
On Friday 05 June, Great Yarmouth Borough Council submitted to Government a bid for £19.9m to help transform and revive Great Yarmouth town centre as a vibrant economic, cultural and community hub.
National investment from the Future High Streets Fund is crucial to deliver the council’s exciting £49.2m regeneration package of interventions, which respond to the challenges town centres face by making the most of Great Yarmouth’s special strengths, including its cultural heritage and visitor economy, and by diversifying the town centre’s offer.
Building upon the Town Centre Masterplan and significant highways improvements already seen at key gateways, the ambition is focussed around introducing more residential, culture and leisure uses, bringing empty buildings back into use, making more of the borough’s rich heritage, and improving linkages and sense of arrival from key gateways and the seafront.
Supported by a business case, the exciting vision includes relocating the already popular library to a larger building in a more central location, converting space in empty or under-utilised historic buildings into new homes, building new housing at The Conge and King Street, establishing a new heritage centre and redeveloping the Market Place. This aim is to support town centre sustainability into the future, supporting footfall, further regeneration and investment.
Cllr Carl Smith and Cllr Trevor Wainwright, the leaders of the council’s main political groups, said: “Government funding is critical to delivering transformative change for our town centre. We have put together a robust business case and an exciting and cohesive vision for regeneration, including an enhanced library as a new leisure anchor. While all town centres face shrinking retail space and reduced footfall, successful places continually reinvent themselves, using their special strengths as a platform.
“We’re seeking to make our town centre sustainable into the future with a wider range of uses, including an enhanced residential, culture and leisure offer, maximising opportunities linked to heritage and modern technologies, as well as by improving links from the railway station via the town centre to the busy leisure hub that is our seafront.
“This vision dovetails with other regeneration work and investment in the borough, including on the seafront, North Quay and Hall Quay, and will hopefully act as a catalyst for further investment. These are exciting times for Great Yarmouth.”
County council leader, Cllr Andrew Proctor, said: “Norfolk’s libraries already do a lot of great work and they are vital hubs for learning, community activities, tackling loneliness and obtaining training and jobs.
“This is a bold proposal and relocating our library could help even more people as well as playing a crucial role in the future transformation of Great Yarmouth’s town centre. The County Council is fully behind the borough council’s bid.”
Brandon Lewis, Great Yarmouth’s MP, said: “The borough council are submitting a strong bid, which would result in transformational change for the Town Centre and I would like to congratulate everyone involved in preparing it. As the Member of Parliament, I have no hesitation to back this bid, and will champion the cause in Westminster.”
The council expects to hear on the outcome of the bid later in the year.
The package of interventions
Enhanced library: The council is working with Norfolk County Council to explore opportunities to relocate the strong library offer to a more central location, with the potential to later attract even more people and possibly expand the facilities into a learning hub, working with local schools and colleges. Any library move will be subject to funding, public consultation and a suitable building being secured. Initial conversations are underway with the owners of the former Palmers building. We would like to hear what Great Yarmouth Residents want from their local library. Click here to take a short survey and give us your views.
New homes: The council has recently submitted a planning application to redevelop The Conge with 89 new homes, providing good quality housing to help meet local needs and create a sense of arrival to the town centre from the railway station. Match funding is sought from the Future High Streets Fund.
The council is also seeking funding towards residential conversion of a number of historic buildings in the Market Place and King Street, which are currently empty or under-utilised. In addition, funding is sought to enable Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust to develop new contemporary houses on eight plots at the rear of King Street, which will improve the street scene and sense of arrival from the car park.
Market Place: The council is committed to the Market Place redevelopment and is seeking external match funding from the Future High Streets Fund. A planning application has been recently submitted. The investment will see the market facilities significantly improved, with new units under an architecturally-striking canopy, designed to ensure the market is brighter and more inviting.
Under the bid, the Market Square events space will be expanded to support an enhanced cultural and artistic offer, 50 flowering cherry trees will be planted to border the Market Place car park, and there will be further public realm improvements.
Heritage centre: Supported by the council, Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust has recently bought the empty former Greenwoods store with plans to convert into a new heritage centre as part of the Future High Streets Fund bid. This will showcase the borough’s rich cultural heritage and act as a gateway building for those seeking to explore the borough’s history.
Low carbon and digital: In addition to targeted tree-planting, the council is seeking funding for other green interventions in the town centre, including further electric vehicle charging points, future proofing public transport and digital technologies.
There aren’t many silver linings to be found in the midst of a pandemic, but the way local businesses were able to rally round for their communities is one of them. Many consumers, who’d never shopped with their local suppliers before, turned to those businesses for supplies and services when big brands couldn’t reach them. For the community, they became a lifeline, and for the businesses themselves, it meant boosted sales and visibility.
So, as the UK begins to ease lockdown and some kind of normal life resumes, the local businesses who found new customers want to keep hold of them. But with the national and global players in all sorts of different industries gearing up to win back their customers, what can they do? Your farm shop might not have the marketing budget of Sainsbury’s, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stay at the forefront of your new customers’ minds. Instead, you need to find the right tools, create good content and reach those people directly.
Email marketing is an affordable solution for businesses who want to stay in touch, build brand loyalty and entice buyers back. It doesn’t cost a lot to use a professional email marketing platform like Smart Messenger. So, you don’t need to blow your budget, you just need to get the right messages to the right people. Find out how much email marketing costs.
Here are some suggestions of content to include when you are using email marketing to build connections with new customers.
1. Storytelling.
All businesses have stories and the ones from the past three months are particularly interesting. How did you serve your community during the lockdown, what did you do to reach customers who desperately needed your help and what response did you get from the people where you live and work? Tell those stories and thank the community for turning to you and buying local. It’ll engage their hearts and minds as they read your email.
2. Showcase
Remind your customers of all the reasons why your product or service is the best choice. It might be the way you make it, a bespoke element, a genius solution or a sustainable supply chain. Identify the things that make your most loyal customers come back time and again, then tell the new ones what they can expect from you.
3. Promote Local
Champion the ‘buy local’ cause for yours and other businesses. Remind your new customers that you were there for them when they needed you and will be again. Share the local suppliers you work with to produce your goods or service, then shine a light on those companies you buy from. Show customers that buying from a local supplier means the money goes back into the local economy, which benefits everyone.
4. Offers and loyalty plans
Got something to give? Send it through email marketing. Smart Messenger customer Panther Brewery served their community during the lockdown and sent a ‘thank you’ voucher to new customers. The result? A fantastic email open-rate and more sales.
“As email marketing newcomers, we wanted to choose a service where we could rely on support throughout. Our Account Manager advised us on how best to structure our first campaign and what to offer our clients. The results were brilliant – we achieved a 68% open rate and a 42% click through rate! We’re absolutely delighted with the service.”
Martin James, Owner & Head Brewer at Panther Brewery
5. Highlight change
Your business practice might have changed due to the new rules, or perhaps you’ve diversified your product range to meet a new need. Whatever changes you’ve made, tell your customers. Our client Office Water Supplies became incredibly busy after diversifying into sanitation supplies early on in the pandemic. They came to us, we created a managed campaign for them, and now their customers know their business has expanded. It was easy for them; despite the fact they were snowed under with demand.
“We learnt of Smart Messenger and their services via Norfolk Chamber of Commerce and the member training sessions. Further to the outbreak of Covid-19, we felt it was imperative we reached out to our network to keep them updated with new products and services that had become available. In addition, we wanted to reassure existing customers that we could continue to serve their requirements. The feedback has been excellent, really clear decisive designs with minor alterations never being an issue and instant customer response. We look forward to continue working with the team at Smart Messenger moving forward.”
Paul Mitchell, Business Partner at Office Water Supplies
These are just a few of the ways that you can engage with your new customers and encourage them to keep using your local business. If you’d like to know more, get in touch with our friendly Smart Messenger team on 01603 858250.
We seem to have been overtaken by the Covid 19 Virus and lockdown. This had consequences which we had to address. All events and fundraising were cancelled. Essential awareness & profile increasing talks we give to the community were also cancelled and we saw our income dry up.
But we have amazing members and supporters who have managed to keep some funding coming in!
We had a dual head shave which raised £2300, then a 14hour music marathon which has raised another £850, and then a supporter did a 4day virtual cycle ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats, 874miles in 4days raising £1500 for us. Finally, we received a donation of £2000 from the Royal Household Warrant Holders Association Charity. These donations have softened the impact of our income decreasing. The good news is, that we have been chosen as Charity of the Year by the Sandringham Royal Warrant Holders for the year 2021 to 2022 and will look forward to working with them.
Covid 19 has affected what we do as a charity
So, to recap, our normal routine covered supplying the Air Ambulance as a stakeholder in the RePHILL trial. This is a 3year trial to determine whether giving blood at the scene of an accident has any beneficial outcome for the patient in recovering. The trial is totally randomised, we and the crews have no idea if there is blood or saline in the boxes we deliver daily, until they are opened on scene. The trial will be concluded in December 2020. Without NBB involvement as an essential stakeholder, the trial would not have gone ahead.
Our deliveries of blood, blood products, path lab samples and any item required for the clinical treatment of patients in the 3 Norfolk NHS Hospitals continued as normal. Our collection and deliveries of Donor Breast Milk (DBM) has continued to and from the milk banks, including the new regional milk bank hub in Norwich, and to the hospital NICU’s. Covid 19 has changed all this. Why? Initially we had contracts, called Service Level Agreements with the 3 main hospitals. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, The James Paget Hospital in Gorleston and the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital in Norwich. We started delivering Covid samples from the 3 main hospitals to Microbiology in the research park in Colney. It started as a trickle but in line with increased testing, demanded by the Government, we are transporting more and more samples on a nightly basis. In addition, 8 more smaller community hospitals have now asked us to transport their samples as opposed to sending by taxi. Now we have 11hospitals to look after and the number of samples delivered, has gone up to 257, from the end of March through to the end of May. In addition, there has been an increase in the collection and delivery of Donor Breast Milk during the daytime as well. All this is on top of our normal tasks. At the peak of the pandemic, the Air Ambulance suspended the RePHILL trial as the staff in Haematology were now tasked with Covid related items. We had an increase in Covid samples, increased DBM and all on top of a drop in fundraising income.
How do we manage? 2 items of good news came our way.
1, HMRC after years of negotiations declared all liveried blood bikes would now be classed as ambulances and are now exempt from the road fund licence, with effect from 1st April 2020.2, BP Fuel declared, they would supply free fuel for all emergency vehicles, including liveried blood bikes until 4th June.. These 2 items alone will save us a lot of money. RFL alone is £1500 per year, and our monthly fuel costs are in the region of £1300 per month, so these are big savings for us. With these savings, we decided to give our volunteers a pay rise to take their pay from £0.00 to £0.00 and the same applied to our charges to the NHS, no increase. It will remain a free of charge service by unpaid volunteers Thanks to sound financial planning over the last 3 years, we are in a good position to ride out the storm, (cue music “Riders on the Storm” by the Doors) , but it will affect our fleet replacement program. We are looking at funding and need to raise £150,000 for 10 bike replacements over the next 2 years from 2021. A milestone for us was reached in April when we completed 8,000 callouts since starting in October 2012. At an average cost to the hospitals of £70.00 per callout we have saved the NHS £560,000 and many lives in the process. In 2021, we will be holding our 1st ever Charity Golf Day, sadly this year it had to be cancelled due to Covid. Has your company experience of sponsoring sporting events? We are looking for a sponsor, who wants to be actively involved and we would be pleased to discuss our plans with you. Please contact me via email or mobile 07538 785022
Can you help?
By following us on Facebook, Norfolk Blood Bikes, share and like our page. By visiting our website By donating For further information please email us at corporate@norfolkbloodbikes.org.uk
As lockdown is eased, implementing the necessary measures to make business operations as safe as possible has been at the forefront of the planning and Risk Assessments around COVID-19 are a priority.
However, many workers may face challenges about returning to work including whether it is safe for them to do so. Not one person has been excluded from the traumatic experience COVID-19 has put us through. It has impacted us all whether financially, physically or emotionally and quite possibly all three. At this time, our most valuable resource – our employees – need to feel safe and also need to feel listened to in a way that is manageable, kind and considered.
Here at insight6, we have launched a Covid-19 Safety Checker that will automatically seek feedback from your team about how safe they feel at work. The system will alert you in real-time if anyone says they are feeling unsafe or concerned. This provides you with the essential due diligence and duty of care records, should you need them, and importantly, also ensures ALL your team have the opportunity to voice their concerns in a safe and easily managed way.
For more information, please click on the link below or call Judy Randon 07909 542737 or email judy.randon@insight6.com
TaxAssist is championing a Buy Local campaign to help business communities thrive by encouraging consumers and local businesses to come together and support each other.
The Buy Local message has never been more important, with businesses needing all the help and support they can get post coronavirus lockdown. TaxAssist Accountants is keen to champion their cause and its network of accountants are pushing out the message nationwide across their shop windows, websites and social media channels.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of small businesses including retailers, barbers, restaurants and cafes have temporarily closed and these businesses in particular will need support to help to keep the local economy thriving once they are given the green light to re-open from 15th June for non-essential shops.
There have though, been many examples of innovation from the small business sector, which has embraced technology and ingenuity to adapt to the conditions imposed by the pandemic and TaxAssist has created a dedicated Buy Local hub on its client site to highlight many positive stories.
Karl Sandall, Group Chief Executive at TaxAssist Accountants, said: “I am really impressed with how businesses have shown tremendous energy and innovation in adapting how they operate during these difficult times and we must all do what we can to help them. This is because the local business owners you are spending your money with will, in turn, put that money back into the local community by using local suppliers and employing people which all helps to keep the local economy thriving. The Buy Local message is key and one which TaxAssist Accountants is proud to spearhead.”
During the pandemic, TaxAssist Accountants is holding Virtual Discovery Days and has continued to receive a steady stream of enquiries about its franchise opportunity as people evaluate their future career and lifestyle choices.
“I think that lockdown has really forced people to rethink what they want from their life and what’s important to them,” states Karl. “Certainly, from people we have spoken to recently who are interested in joining TaxAssist, we have heard that they want to cut out their commute and fulfil a wish to take on a more rewarding role, by working with local businesses and integrating more closely in their communities.
“TaxAssist Accountants is a people-based business, operating from shops and offices, but our strength is that by fully adopting market leading software, the network has proven itself to be remarkably resilient, able to continue to offer a first class service to over 77,000 clients remotely. The timely advice, guidance and support our accountants have been able to offer during the COVID-19 pandemic has been very well received and will make a real impact on the survival and recovery of independent businesses across the UK.”
If you are interested in joining TaxAssist Accountants, we are holding monthly Virtual Discovery Days where you can spend a day with the team and find out more about the business opportunity and support on offer. Click here for more information.
The planned changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme have been confirmed by the Chancellor and set out in a factsheet. Further guidance on flexible furloughing and how employers should calculate claims is expected from HMRC on 12 June.
Flexible furloughing Employers will be given the flexibility to bring furloughed employees back part time from 1 July 2020, but will be responsible for paying the employees’ wages for the hours/days worked. Employers will be able to continue to claim under the scheme for the balance of an employee’s normal hours and will be required to confirm the usual hours an employee would be expected to work in a claim period and the actual hours worked. Scheme closes to new employees from end of June From July onwards, claims can only be made by employers already using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme in respect of previously furloughed employees. The scheme will close to new entrants on 30 June, which means that the final date by which an employer can furlough an employee for the first time will be 10 June, in order to have met the three week minimum period of furlough. However, employers will have until 31 July to make any claims in respect of wages for June. Employer contributions The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is to be slowly tapered from August 2020, resulting in employers being required to gradually increase their contributions towards furlough pay. The tapering will take effect as follows: June and July: The Government will pay 80% of wages, up to a cap of £2,500, plus employer National Insurance and pension contributions. Employers are not required to pay anything. August: The Government will pay 80% of wages, up to a cap of £2,500. Employers will pay employer National Insurance and pension contributions. September: The Government will pay 70% of wages, up to a cap of £2,187.50. Employers will pay 10% of wages to make up 80% total, up to a cap of £2,500, plus employer National Insurance and pension contributions. October: The Government will pay 60% of wages up to a cap of £1,875. Employers will pay 20% of wages to make up 80% total, up to a cap of £2,500, employer National Insurance and pension contributions. We await the further details from HMRC on 12 June. Speak to the specialist Employment Law team at Hatch Brenner Solicitors for Employment law advice via 01603 660 811, or find out more in our Employment Law for Employees and Employment Law for Employers web pages.
We take a look at one of the many ways you can assist the implementation of social distancing measures in an office environment, by using zonal flooring.
Open plan offices may struggle to find adequate ways to keep employees distanced when returning to work, following the adjustments to current coronavirus rules. Zonal flooring is one effective way to keep continuity with a new spatial design, and clearly divide large open plan spaces into concise, targeted areas.
Have read HERE
On 12 May, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention, or “furlough” Scheme was to be extended, providing additional support for wages until October.
In that announcement, he said that the scheme under current rules would be extended until the end of July, but thereafter there would be a winding down of the scheme, with employers required to contribute and part-time working being a possibility.
On 29 May the Chancellor added a little more meat to the bones of this announcement, and also changed it slightly in response to pressure from business groups.
The headline points are as follows:
From 1 August 2020, the furlough scheme’s support begins to be wound down:
We are still awaiting the updates to the Treasury Direction and the Employer’s Guidance which are expected by 12 June.
Further advice and free webinar
For an in-depth look at the extension to the scheme, the rules that will apply and how things have changed following the release of that guidance, please JOIN US for a FREE webinar on Monday 15 June at 2pm where we will be considering the changes to the scheme. For further information and to book your place, please click here.
For specific advice for your business, please get in touch with our specialist Employment Law team through this website or by calling 0330 404 0778.
For all of our COVID-19 (Coronavirus) advice, please visit https://www.ashtonslegal.co.uk/coronavirus/
Our partners at Ashtons HR Consulting are also on hand to assist you.
This information is correct at 11.00am on 1 June 2020.
The Norfolk Mead have refreshed their popular takeaway Afternoon Tea menu for June.
The summer-inspired menu now includes a strawberry and ruby chocolate pot, lemon drizzle cake with lemon curd, alongside owner Anna’s famous chocolate brownie with salted caramel banoffee topping. The full cream team also includes fresh sandwiches which have been refreshed to include smoked ham with Dijon mayonnaise, mature cheddar and chutney, and egg mayonnaise with mustard cress. For savoury fans, there is a sausage and apple roll, and of course, the amazing plain and fruit scones with clotted cream and fruit jam. James Holliday, Owner of the Norfolk Mead commented: “It has been really fun working through ideas to refresh our Afternoon Tea menu for June – inspired by summer flavours of strawberry and lemon, we are so pleased with the new menu. A cream tea is a real treat – very celebratory, and our customers are enjoying laying everything out at home to enjoy in the garden whilst the weather has been so gorgeous. “Now the lockdown measures have been eased to allow larger groups to meet, we’ve heard from customers who are planning to meet friends and family outside who they haven’t seen for several months, with the cream tea something everyone can enjoy to make the occasion really special and memorable. As we offer cream tea delivery, it’s also a great option for people who can’t get out and about yet so we’ve had orders from people who want to treat their neighbours or elderly relatives. We’re so grateful to the local community for supporting our business during this time, and have heard of lots of people trying us for the first time which is fantastic.” Priced at £15 per head, delivery is £3 within 18 miles of Coltishall (NR12 7DN), and the team will consider further deliveries – although this may be subject to an additional delivery charge. Afternoon tea can also be collected directly from the Hotel in line with the most recent social distancing and Covid-secure guidelines. The Takeaway Afternoon Tea Delivery and collection is available every weekend throughout June. Order Norfolk cream tea delivery here, or email info@norfolkmead.co.uk
Green Duck on Western Way in Bury St Edmunds has taken cyber security company Labsec under their wing, expanding their IT offering for businesses into the realm of network, application and data security.
With UK small businesses targeted with 65,000 attempted cyber attacks each day and the average cost of a data breach clear up standing at £25,700, according to insurance firm Hiscox[1], it has never been more essential to have robust security measures in place especially as workforces enter into a more remote way of working.
The incorporation of Labsec into Green Duck’s operations enables the IT collective to provide invaluable cyber security consultancy including strategy and planning to protect against and identify risks of data breach, incident response planning for effective action, and cyber security awareness training for employees.
The acquisition of Labsec comes just over two years after Green Duck joined forces with website and app development company Source Code Studio, seeing the Bury St Edmunds based business continue to expand and grow.
A relaunch of the newly branded Source Code Studio and introduction of expanded website design and app development services is also coming imminenly.
“We never want to stand still,” explained Green Duck CEO Rod Jackson. “We’re ambitious. This means we strive to continually learn, develop and innovate in order to offer exceptional products and services to our customers.
“By joining forces with Labsec and Source Code Studio, Green Duck can operate as an IT collective, which means clients benefit from a single point of contact for all their IT infrastructure, support, software and security needs. Gone are the days of a business owner or IT manager acting as a go-between for multiple providers – now you have access to experts all in one place.”
To discover more about Green Duck and new additions Labsec and Source Code Studio, visit greenduck.co.uk or call 01284 700015.
[1] https://www.hiscoxgroup.com/news/press-releases/2018/18-10-18
Sign up for our free “Let’s Talk” newsletter including recruitment information and advice, legislation updates and much more!
HR support and advice is more critical than ever before, Hales Group want to help our clients navigate any prevalent staff issues and provide answers on some of the most commonly asked questions during this time.
Please find a link below to the third edition of Let’s Talk.
https://online.flippingbook.com/view/396759/
Let’s Talk will be issued every fortnight, if there are any topics you would like to see covered or have any specific questions you would like us to answer please contact us.