Member News

Three apprentices have been appointed to an innovative apprenticeship programme which offers a professional qualification and degree course combined with practical, on-the-job experience, allowing them to earn as they learn.

Jasmine King, Alice Ames, and Tia Putt are joining Flagship Group’s Bright Futures programme, studying for a level 4 Senior Housing Officer qualification followed by a chartered manager degree apprenticeship, whilst working across the company.

The Bright Futures programme has been so successful it has led to the Group being Highly Commended in the category of Large Employer at the Eastern Region Apprentice Awards 2019, following an application by two of the first Bright Futures apprentices. 

Flagship has teamed up with training and management consultancy Dutton Fisher Associates to develop the four-year programme. At the end of the course the apprentices will have a Chartered Institute of Housing qualification at level 4, and they will be chartered managers.

The three apprentices will get to spend time in each department of Flagship, the biggest housing association in the East of England, whilst gaining key technical knowledge through the four year course.

The training will be delivered using a blended delivery model of online and face to face tutor led workshops. Each Bright Futures apprentice will also benefit from a dedicated Flagship mentor to provide guidance and support. And, each apprentice gets to dedicate one day a week towards study as they earn whilst they learn.

Crucially, at the end of the course, the apprentices will not only have valuable qualifications, they will also have a permanent job.

Lisa Collen, Managing Director of Victory Housing and Director of People and Workplaces explained: “We want to attract and retain the very best talent and to provide opportunities for people to learn and develop to fulfil their potential.

“We have worked with Dutton Fisher Associates to develop this programme which, when combined with our on-the-job experience, will give our apprentices invaluable knowledge and insight for building a career in our sector.

“At the same time as earning money, the apprentices will be able to gain qualifications funded by Flagship and learn about our business as well as the wider housing sector.

“We are delighted that Jasmine, Alice and Tia are joining us and look forward to working with them in the coming years.”

Jasmine, Alice and Tia will be joining four existing Bright Futures apprentices. This includes Morgan Lingley. Morgan didn’t have a clear idea of what job sector to pursue but after almost a year with Flagship, is now set on a career in Housing.

Morgan said: “I really enjoy working alongside such amazing staff members. They are always on hand to help especially with myself being an apprentice, I feel like I can approach anybody. I also enjoy the variety of work – such as anti-social behaviour, rent collection, and HR – I have participated in so far.

“I could not be prouder to work for a company so focused on developing staff and pushing them to their full potential. I feel as though I have landed on my feet when a year ago I had no idea what career I was going to end up in.”

Each year Flagship Group offers a number of apprenticeships across the group, starting in September. 

Following a £46m investment from Aviva Investors, County Broadband is commencing the roll out of its Hyperfast full fibre broadband network across villages in the East of England, providing a major boost to under-served rural communities and businesses.

Many rural communities still suffer from so-called ‘broadband black spots’ due to old copper-wire infrastructures dating back to Victorian times. Research* also shows two thirds of customers who have existing so called ‘fibre services’ are not full fibre at all, but arrive to their home through standard copper telephone lines – significantly affecting speeds, reliability and the ability to upgrade to meet future requirements.

In contrast, County Broadband’s high-tech ‘Fibre-To-The-Premises’ (FTTP) network delivers Hyperfast internet speeds of up to 1,000 megabits per second (Mbps) directly into some of the most difficult-to-reach homes and businesses – at more than 20 times faster than the UK average.

The construction of this entirely new network is supported by a commitment from Aviva Investors which means the company’s expansion is not dependent upon public funds or from any financial contributions from home or business owners.

Lloyd Felton, CEO at County Broadband, said the investment will help support economic growth throughout East Anglia and improve residents’ quality of life.

“Since securing the investment, we have been identifying target areas,” he said. “Many premises might have access to broadband, but the Hyperfast speeds that we will all soon need are only available to around 6% of the UK. Household usage and data consumption is already predicted to increase 10-fold every six years and only Hyperfast solutions will match this requirement.”

Based in Aldham, Essex, County Broadband is an established internet service provider in East Anglia. The company is doubling its workforce over the next few months and is in the process of securing work for many local contractors. The company has already deployed a successful all-fibre Gigabit network in Broughton, Cambridgeshire, and already supports over 3,000 homes and businesses with its wireless-based broadband services in the region.

“Our goal is to provide a world-class, future proof infrastructure which will deliver Hyperfast broadband speeds of 1,000Mbps now and even faster speeds in future as well as providing additional services such as telephony, home security and access to the vital services that the local authorities and health services plan for online access in the coming years.” Mr Felton said. “Aviva Investors’ recognise the vital need for future proof fibre infrastructure and their funding supports our strategy to service more than 30,000 homes and businesses in the region.”

As part of the roll-out programme, County Broadband is hosting a series of villages meetings. These events provide an opportunity to meet the County Broadband team and find out more about the new network.

Amid growing numbers of services being delivered online, industry experts are highlighting the need for Hyperfast broadband speeds to allow for quicker downloads and uninterrupted streaming and eliminating problems when family members simultaneously use the internet.

Hyperfast broadband speeds are also necessary for seamless access to services such as online radio, video on-demand and catch-up TV at the same time, while fibre’s faster upload speeds are more convenient when sharing photos online or making video calls.

Many businesses will also need the Hyperfast broadband Fibre provides to benefit from evolving business applications.

County Broadband are offering residents and businesses a free connection** by pre-ordering their Hyperfast broadband. 

With over 16 years’ experience, County Broadband was originally established as a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP), specialising in the provision of wireless broadband networks and services to difficult-to-reach places, especially in rural areas.

Photo 1: Lloyd Felton, Chief Executive Officer at specialist rural broadband provider, County Broadband. Credit: County Broadband

Photo 2: Lloyd Felton (left), CEO of specialist rural broadband provider County Broadband, at the operational control centre at the Essex headquarters. Credit: County Broadband

There has been a rapid increase in the number of self-employed people over the last few years, the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics from 2018 show that it rose from 3.3 million in 2001 to 4.8 million in 2017. Couple this with the rise of the gig economy and it becomes a very complicated picture. We had Matthew Potter from Howes Percival with us for the afternoon taking us through the minefield of self-employment, IR35, and the gig economy.

Matthew started off by updating the group on a number of high-profile cases such as Uber and Deliveroo. These showed the importance of making sure you as a business have a clear understanding of the difference in treating those who are self-employed differently to workers. The Deliveroo example very clearly showed that riders had the ability to turn down work without being penalised and were able to substitute someone else for themselves. These gave the room good working examples of when the three contract of service conditions were fulfilled and what it does and doesn’t look like in practice.

After a short break of lots of tea, coffee, and cake the group came together for the second half of the afternoon, this time focusing on off payroll working and changes to IR35. Matthew started by highlighting that from April 2020 medium and large companies in the private sector which contract with personal service companies will have to account for tax and national insurance through PAYE. This means that end users will be responsible for determining the employment status of individuals working for them through their own limited company, but don’t worry, HMRC have provided a guidance document and online checking tool.

As the end user businesses should have a process in place to deal with disputes around the determination they make, Matthew recommended taking specialist advice regarding workers. He went through a number of factors to consider when making a decision about the tax status of a worker including: right of control, employee benefits, length of engagement, and whether they’re an integral part of the organisation amongst other things.

Finally he presented a number of case studies which clearly showed the importance of making a clear determination and the factors affecting the result of the determination. He also covered the impact IR35 changes have had to the public sector, which had these applied to it in April 2017. Initially a blanket statement was released stating all contractors operating Personal Service Companies were inside IR35 rules, this made life tricky as a number of workers chose to quit the NHS or work via umbrella companies which was not necessary. They later stated all assessments should be carried out on a case by case basis.

If you would like to see some of the areas covered by Matthew you can find all the slides here. The afternoon was kindly sponsored by Howes Percival and held at The Nest.  

Nuneaton and Tamworth based Cheryl has recently celebrated a decade in business with a party for staff, clients, family and friends.

Cheryl’s shop based at 17-18 Abbey Green in Nuneaton was the venue for the special event which was attended by local Mayor June Tandy.

Cheryl said: “The last ten years have flown by, but I feel like a lot has been achieved in this time which I wanted to take the time to acknowledge. In particular I wanted to thank my fantastic team of five staff who have been invaluable in helping me to grow and support my practice.

“I’d also like to thank the TaxAssist Accountants Support Centre team in Norwich, as the guidance I have received from them has played a significant part in the growth of my business. Having this support means I have had more time to spend on servicing my clients and working on my business.”

For Cheryl Hopkins it was a desire to escape the corporate rat race after the birth of her first child that spurred her into action to start her own business and she hasn’t looked back since.

“Returning to work after maternity leave, I realised it was very difficult juggling home and work life with the pressures of working overtime and monthly deadlines, and I decided I needed to work for myself in order to have more flexibility and freedom.

“It’s been hard work but great fun to grow my practice from nothing to over 350 clients and I love the variety of clients that I get to meet and work with. I find that referrals happen more and more, as clients are recommending our services to business associates, friends and family. I’m looking to grow the practice further so I’d encourage anyone interested in finding out more about our services to get in contact for a free initial consultation.”

TaxAssist Accountants specialises in providing accountancy services, company tax returns, self-assessment returns, payroll, bookkeeping, tax savings and tax advice to small businesses. In addition, TaxAssist also offers QuickBooks Online and Receipt Bank which help business owners manage their finances, scan receipts and stay in control of their business.  

An event promoting work being carried out by East of England companies and their solutions to the challenges of exporting innovations to the global market within the energy industry is being held next week.

Local Solutions: Global Reach is the second annual EEEGR (East of England Energy Group) Marine Science and Technology Special Interest Group (SIG) event.

Companies such as DNVGL, ROVCO, 4C Offshore, Gardline, Cefas and James Fisher Marine Services will share pioneering ideas around autonomy, cable risk, international applications and sustainable development and how they have been developed to offer services and solutions to organisations around the world.

Set to take place on the 18th September at Norwich City Football Club the event will showcase the highly technical work being carried out by local companies.

Phil Durrant, managing director of Marine Space and the EEEGR Marine Science and Technology SIG chair said: “In the East of England we have a centre of excellence for marine science and technology, often being delivered by SMEs, to clients across the globe. This event offers the opportunity for those companies to highlight the innovative technologies and techniques that are being developed in this region to solve developer and operator problems across a range or marine sectors both here in the UK and internationally.”

Simon Gray, chief executive officer at EEEGR said: “I look forward to seeing the great work local companies are doing not only in the UK but around the world. It’s a true testament to the great work that is being carried out in our region.”

Tickets for the event are available on the EEEGR website (www.eeegr.com).

The famed ceramic artist will share her business story with the audience from across East AnglThe famed ceramic artist will share her business story with the audience from across East Anglia.

‘Business Insight with Emma Bridgewater’ is just one part of the MENTA Business Show taking place on Tuesday October 1st at The Apex in Bury St Edmunds.

The event has more than 70 exhibiting businesses, a selection of free seminars and expert guest speakers, sharing their insight. 

The event has been sponsored by Atkins Thomson for the past 11 years and Rob Dellow of Atkins Thomson says “New business is the lifeblood of our economy and we understand all great businesses start from small beginnings. Our ever expanding corporate and business support team happily advise new and existing businesses both small and large on all legal aspects relating to business and property.”

‍Nick Pandolfi – marketing manager for MENTA says ” the MENTA team have grown this event over the past few years into something that truly represents the diversity of business in Suffolk and the East Anglian region – we want visitors to feel inspired by the event as well as joining us in celebrating what is great about business people in our part of the UK.

The event attracted a footfall of around 1000 people in 2018 and this year the first 400 visitors will receive a goody bag that contains iconic Suffolk goods from the likes of Stokes Sauces and Paddy & Scott’s coffee.

To register for your FREE visitor tickets please visit here…. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-menta-business-show-2019-tickets-56638096070

There is a charge for tickets to see Emma Bridgewater CBE of £5 – these tickets can be booked from the APEX Box Office

https://www.theapex.co.uk/whats-on/details.cfm?id=466547&ins=616791

For each Emma Bridgewater ticket sold, £2 will go to MENTA charity of the year, Break.

For further details and information regarding the MENTA Business Show call 01284 760206.

Atkins Thomson can be contacted via www.fixedat.com

Residents voices are heard whilst enjoying a day of roaring family fun at Lenwade’s 85-acre Dinosaur Park

Some say that Dinosaurs developed the earth’s first strong social communities and for Housing Associations’ Flagship Homes and Victory Housing Trust it’s a crucial part of what they do.

On Saturday 7th September, for the first time, since a recent partnership which saw Flagship and Victory come together, over 1,000 residents who live in and around North Norfolk, joined 70 staff volunteers for a day of feedback and fun at Roarr Dinosaur Park.

The event offered residents and their families an opportunity to share their stories and views about the homes and communities in which they live, whilst experiencing all that the 85-acre Dinosaur Park had to offer.

Jo Wicker, Director of Engagement and Insight for Flagship Group said “Finding out what matters to our residents is vitally important and we are committed to doing just that. It was all about coming together, building strong relationships with the people that live in the communities we serve and understanding resident priorities”

In the housing providers’ aim to start breaking down some of the common misconceptions about social housing and in supporting the National Housing Federation campaign “Together with Tenants”, this was a great opportunity to consult residents on a range of topics including communication, accountability and giving residents a louder voice.

Jo continued “By giving our residents opportunities to be involved in matters that affect them and enabling them to have a voice and influence over how their homes and communities are managed, it means we can deliver an even better service in the future”.

During the fun, staff from both Victory and Flagship talked to residents and their families seeking their views on how their homes are managed and gathered feedback on what mattered to them.

In addition, NatWest, RSPCA and Green Energy Switch offered advice and information on scams and fraud prevention, pet advice and positive energy use.

Lisa Collen, Interim Managing Director for Victory Housing Trust said, “It’s so important to be able to have an honest, open and transparent relationship with residents. Bringing both Flagship and Victory together in our heartland has helped us hear, first-hand, how they feel. If we can make their priorities ours, we can deliver a service that helps people and communities to flourish”.

Residents attending explained that the event has provided them with a great opportunity to play a part in the management of their homes and communities whilst spending quality time with their family, friends and neighbours – fostering a greater sense of community pride.

Nishaa a resident of Victory Housing Trust attended the event with her family and said “the day was such a good idea, not only have we been able to have a lovely day out with our son but we have been able to spend time with people who live in our community and chat face to face with the staff who manage our homes. My son has loved it”

Norwich-based Full Mix Marketing have become official Google Partners, helping further demonstrate their expertise as effective digital marketing experts for their clients.

The Google Partners programme is for digital marketing agencies who manage Google Ads accounts on behalf of businesses or brands. Google Partners status is awarded to agencies who have demonstrated suitable experience delivering Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and achieved a number of exams and certifications within their team.

“As part of our comprehensive digital marketing services, we’ve helped many businesses get the best from Google” says Laura Nunn, Full Mix Marketing’s Digital Marketing Executive. “This is great recognition of how committed we are to doing everything correctly to turn our client’s budget into meaningful results.”

The full-service marketing agency currently manages Google Ads and other paid search and display campaigns for business in sectors as diverse as TV advertising, IT services, logistics, manufacturing and even boat sales. As well as traditional paid search adverts within search results, they also deliver display ads, shopping ads, remarketing ads, mobile only ads and social media advertising campaigns. They differentiate themselves from others by taking a more proactive approach when managing campaigns.

“Instead of relying on automation or algorithms, we balance analytics with common-sense and experience” continues Laura. “We get to know our clients and their customers so we can actively target the search terms which turn into sales. Whatever their budget, we thoroughly manage every campaign to ensure the very best results.”

Full Mix Marketing is a growing agency with clients throughout Norfolk, East Anglia and beyond. As well as individual digital, offline and creative marketing, they also help businesses identify the correct marketing strategy and can act as their outsourced marketing department. Within digital marketing they provide web design, paid search (PPC), search engine optimisation (SEO) and social media marketing.

“As this area of our business continues to grow, we aim to work towards other specialisations in the Google Partner programme” says Sarah West, Full Mix Marketing. “As a team full of marketing professionals, third-party recognition is great for showing businesses the results we can deliver.”

For more information, visit: https://fullmixmarketing.co.uk/ppc-paid-search/

A very big well done to our member, who was named as one of the ‘UK’s Top Ten Town Pub’ in the Good Pub Guide. The Bank House in King’s Lynn is going from strength to strength, as this is the fourth year in a row it has been highlighted by the Good Pub Guide, as a top place to visit creating “excellent, imaginative food.”

The recently refurbished, Bank House owned and managed by Michael Baldwin also won the prestigious ‘UK Town Pub of the Year Award’ back in 2016. Of course, all this positive success comes down to having a good team of staff, which Michael highlights “We are delighted. The Good Pub Guide is the industry’s bible and this award is a real testament to the enthusiasm and dedication which we and our team put into the running of Bank House.”

Find out more and read the recent article in the Lynn News . If your interested in visiting the Bank House do get in touch

Today, September 9 2019, almost 100 key supporters gathered to raise a glass and celebrate the launch of a major 3-year project at Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve. Earlier this summer the Hawk and Owl Trust who manage the reserve near Fakenham in Norfolk purchased the two parcels of land adjoining the existing nature reserve, extending it from 45 acres to over 200 acres.

David Lindo – The Urban Birder – well-known broadcaster, writer, naturalist, photographer, public speaker and tour leader, ceremonially launched the project by digging the first couple of digger buckets-full of soil from an area that will become a new open water scrape, designed to encourage wildlife, including scarce migratory birds, on part of the new land.

The land on either side of Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve was purchased using funds raised through the amazing generosity of the public and major donors such as Heritage Fund (previously Heritage Lottery Fund), Viking Optical, Garfield Weston Trust and the Norfolk LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) as part of a £1.7million pound project.

The launch of this 3-year project marks the beginning the on-going development and maintenance of the area as a nature reserve and community project. The Trust’s vision for Sculthorpe Moor is one where a rich ecosystem co-exists with the local community. Access for all is, and always has been, an essential part of what makes the reserve special. This project contains a large element of allowing everyone, no matter what their mobility and abilities, to enjoy, connect with and learn from the wildlife and countryside around them.

The popular and highly-regarded existing reserve is recognised as being important for its wildlife, with breeding Marsh Harriers, Barn Owls and a range of other birds of prey and owls making their homes on this small area, which is also the national headquarters of the Hawk and Owl Trust. Over the next three years the project will ensure that the new parts of the reserve will become equally attractive and essential for a whole host of wildlife such as Marsh Tits, Brambling, Cetti’s Warblers, Bearded Reedlings, Bullfinches and Kingfishers. Wild flowers will be encouraged, meaning insects will be abundant and diverse and mammals including Otter and Water Vole will make the new reserve their home.  

David Lindo, The Urban Birder’ said “There’s so much wildlife here it’s incredible and I’m so amazed by the amount of love that’s been shown to the Trust and reserve over the past two years of the appeal by the donors, supporters and volunteers.

Nigel Middleton, Sculthorpe Moor Reserve Manager, said “It was 18 years ago, cutting my way onto the overgrown land of Sculthorpe Moor, whilst monitoring Marsh Harriers nesting in the valley of the River Wensum that I first experienced what would become the reserve. From that point on I’ve dreamed and believed that we could expand the reserve and turn it into a significant place for wildlife and community. To reach this point is just amazing, and we couldn’t have done it without our fantastic volunteers.”

Adrian Blumfield, Chief Operations Director, H&OT said “Only with the generosity of over 1,300 individual donors has allowed us to start to realise Nigel’s vision for the reserve. Expanding the land is the first step. Now this drastic looking work will ensure a wonderful habitat for wildlife for the future. It will be astonishing how quickly this settles and starts attracting birds and other creatures.”  

In April 2019, Liftshare.com Ltd were honoured with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for the second time for, what the judges called, ‘exceptional contributions to the environment’ and enabling significant reductions in carbon emissions and monetary savings for both organisations, employees and members of the public.

This week their CEO, Ali Clabburn, was presented with the award by Lord-Lieutenant, The Lady Dannatt, at their Norwich based office.

Founded 21 years ago by CEO Ali Clabburn from a student bedsit, Liftshare aim to make the world a better place by making travel simple, affordable, sustainable, shared and happy.  Liftshare do this by providing market leading services for workplaces that solve parking and recruitment problems, but they also provide a free car sharing platform for the public to use for any journeys ranging from daily commute to travelling to festivals.

The platform helps people find others travelling in the same direction. This results in significant transport cost savings for businesses and individuals alike, solves workplace parking issues and provides transport options when there are few available, all whilst easing congestion on the roads and making substantial CO2 and emissions savings.

During the presentation, HM Lord-Lieutenant, The Lady Dannatt, said “It’s such a pleasure to be here to celebrate a business based around caring, sharing and making the world a better place. All three of which are so important and relevant in our world today.

“Liftshare were one of only six winners in the Sustainable Development category so a huge commendation to Ali for building such a successful business.”

Ali Clabburn responded “It’s such an honour for us to receive this award, a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the amazing achievements of my incredible team and a lovely way to thank them all for their hard work over many years. By the end of this year our one million members will have saved just under one billion car miles, £100 million, and 200,000 tonnes of C02.”

Now in its 53rd year, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the most prestigious business awards in the country with winning businesses invited to use the esteemed Queen’s Awards emblem for the next five years.  If you’d like to find out more about what Liftsharing could do for you, or your organisation, you’ll find all the information you need to know on our website https://liftshare.com/uk or on our business site https://business.liftshare.com/.  

Norfolk Community Foundation, together with the Eastern Daily Press, is excited to be bringing together local Thetford leaders to launch a new community funding initiative, Thetford shines brighter. The breakfast launch will take place on Thursday 17th October from 8.00-9.30am at Thetford Garden Centre, Kilverstone. There, Norfolk Community Foundation will be sharing their research into the key issues facing Thetford communities and discussing where there are gaps in local support. Those consulted include representatives from local charities and community groups, local councils, housing associations, police, health services, and local residents via a street questionnaire. Bringing together a wide range of voices ensures a strong community response so that support will be targeted where the need is greatest in Thetford. Significant funds have been secured from local people and the Foundation is inviting local leaders to prioritise issues and raise further funding at the launch. Initiatives to improve local lives can then be planned and initiated, with their impact closely monitored to ensure they are making a real difference. Claire Cullens, CEO of Norfolk Community Foundation, said: “We’re excited to be working with the Eastern Daily Press and the Thetford community to identify and tackle the key issues facing the local area, helping to transform local lives. Working together, we can make a real difference and help Thetford shine brighter.” The launch is a key opportunity for businesses and leaders to demonstrate that they care and want to take action in Thetford. Those who would like to attend are invited to contact Tessa Clarke at Norfolk Community Foundation via tessaclarke@norfolkfoundation.com or telephone 01603 623958.