Norfolk County Council is looking at how we can support businesses in Norfolk to help ensure their workforces have the skills needed to take advantage of the digital revolution.
Please help by filling in this short survey (open until 21 July 2019).
The survey is completely anonymous and will take just five minutes to complete.
The answers will help us understand more about business needs in the county.
A ground-breaking flexible working initiative from Chartered Accountants, MHA Larking Gowen, has this month received national recognition from Working Families – an organisation encouraging flexible and employee-friendly work places across the UK.Named national winners of the Working Families Best Practice Award for Best Flexible Working, the award establishes the East Anglian-based accountancy and business advisory group at the forefront of new thinking on the relationship between employers, employees, and their work.
“We are proud to have won the Working Families Best Practice Award for Best Flexible Working initiative”, says Amanda Ninham, Head of HR at MHA Larking Gowen who, along with her team and a pilot group, developed the programme, “the ability to flex around our people’s daily demands supports our wellbeing commitment, and we’re delighted that our approach is recognised as best practice in the UK.” The company’s flexible working initiative, which included an office redesign to incorporate quiet space, hot desks, and collaborative working space, was developed through consultation with the pilot group, and followed a successful trial. “Over a third of our employees now work flexibly,” continues Amanda Ninham, “employee surveys show greater levels of happiness and engagement. Agile working options include flexitime, compressed, part-time and annualised hours, term-time working, remote working, and alternative office spaces.”
Amanda Ninham says that the benefits to both our people and the business have been profound. “employee sickness and unplanned absences have dropped, so has the need for costly overtime and time-off-in-lieu, and benefits have been seen in an increase to chargeable time. We encourage teams to meet once a month, use internet and Bluetooth technology to support communication between team members, and have a social fund to develop stronger team bonds. In addition, we continue to get positive feedback from clients, as well as new recruits,” she concludes.
Emma Arthurton, a manager at MHA Larking Gowen, is one of the employees to benefit from the award-winning approach. “I work part-time annualised hours, so instead of worrying about hitting a set number of hours a week I have an annual target and can decide my working pattern. Generally, I work term-time and have school holidays off. It takes careful planning to ensure I can still meet clients’ needs and I make sure it works. This is the most important part of my employment. It’s worth far more to me than money.”
“I congratulate MHA Larking Gowen, and all the winners of this year’s Best Practice Awards,” says Jane van Zyl, Chief Executive of Working Families, “We applaud all the employers recognised for taking creative approaches to embedding flexibility, building supportive cultures, and listening to and learning from their employees.”
The ink is barely dry, but today Hawk and Owl Trust are celebrating watching the mid-summer sun rising over their new land area.
They have ‘signed on the dotted line’ in the purchase of 150 acres of land surrounding their existing 45 acre Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve near Fakenham in North Norfolk.
The reserve is famous for its wildlife and habitats and with the addition of the new land will offer a home to a vast range of wildlife from plants and fungi, to Otters and birds of prey.
Public support for the appeal to raise the £1.7million needed to buy the land and turn it into a wildlife paradise has been astonishing, with enough raised in just two years to enable the land to be secured and the three-year project to manage the land and develop the infrastructure to be started. The project relied on a major Heritage Lottery Fund award, and a significant amount has also been donated by the Local Enterprise Programme (LEP).
The Hawk and Owl Trust, a national charity dedicated to conserving wild birds of prey and their habitats whose headquarters are at Sculthorpe in North Norfolk, can’t wait to get started on delivering the 3-year project to allow public access to the land and develop the habitats to make the land more suitable for the widest range of wildlife using their proven land management techniques.
Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve is already one of the country’s most accessible reserves and is internationally recognised for its wildlife.
The reserve is located in the beautiful Wensum Valley in Norfolk, and is a marvellous, peaceful place with a huge variety of wildlife in a rich and unusual mosaic of woodland, fen and reedbed habitats. At only 18-hectares (45 acres), the existing reserve is easy to explore and offers everyone a real opportunity to get involved with the natural environment. Small but perfectly formed: a real gem, it is recognised how important being out in the fresh air is to our mental well-being.
The two large areas of land on either side are currently rough grassland and were about to be put on the open market for sale. Hawk and Owl Trust were given two years to raise the money to purchase the land and begin the project and thanks to the generosity of a huge number of visitors and supporters, alongside a large Heritage Lottery Fund application and significant donations from individuals and the Local Enterprise Programme (Norfolk LEP).
The new area of land has a rich history of peat cutting, gravel extraction, gunpowder manufacture, brush making, shooting range, charcoal making and water mills. The Trust’s vision for the area is about so much more than amazing wildlife. The future will see a rich ecosystem co-existing with the local community with access for all, rural history, rural crafts and traditional sustainable management benefiting the landscape, people and wildlife.
The three-year project to deliver the vision for the reserve will begin on August 5th as the diggers roll onto the barren fields to scrape away the first bucket loads of soil in the formation of open water and redirection of the ditches. A new entrance near the visitor centre will be the next task, as boardwalks and other fully accessible pathways will be taking shape around the reserve.
As wildlife struggles more with loss of habitat, man-made obstacles and changing climate, nature reserves are an increasingly important oasis. Likewise, it is now recognised that activity out in the fresh air, and enjoying mature, are crucial to our own health and mental well-being. One of the key goals at Sculthorpe has always been accessibility to all, allowing everyone that chance to experience wild places.
A programme of activities, and the opportunity to get involved and volunteer have always been a key role and the new land will enable the Trust to offer this to even more people.
Nigel Middleton, Sculthorpe Moor Reserve Manager, said “I have been working towards this since first seeing the land 18 years ago. For much of the time it seemed like a hopeless cause, but now the dream has come true. The Trust will benefit but at the heart of it all, it will be the wildlife and local people in this area that will be the true beneficiaries. I can’t tell you how excited I am for the future of the reserve!”
Adrian Blumfield, Chief Operations Director, H&OT said “It has taken a lot of effort to reach this stage, and the project to bring this land to the point of being an amazing place for wildlife and people has only just begun. A lot of people and businesses have been a part of this vision, so far, and I thank them all. This is a fantastic landmark in this process. The future is bright!”
Contact information – available for interviews.
Nigel Middleton (Sculthorpe Moor Reserve Manager and Conservation Officer, Eastern Region) Office: 01328 856020 (8am to 4pm) Mobile: 07771 415859 Email: nigel.middleton@hawkandowltrust.org.uk
Adrian Blumfield (Chief Operations Director) Office: 01328 850598 (8am to 4pm) Email: admin@hawkandowltrust.org.uk
Employee satisfaction and employee engagement are sometimes used interchangeably. While both are imperative to an organisation’s people strategy, it is employee engagement that drives business performance.
Pure, professional recruitment specialists and founders of Best Employers Eastern Region, explains why it is important to understand the difference before making any strategic decisions about evolving workplace culture.
What is the difference?
Employee satisfaction is the extent to which employees feel content and happy with their jobs and their workplace. Using Herzberg’s Motivation Theory, often referenced in business and HR articles, satisfaction is met by achieving hygiene factors which fulfil basic needs such as pay, job security, a safe work environment, a manageable workload and work-life balance. Whereas employee engagement is the extent to which people are personally involved in the success of an organisation. Engaged employees will go the extra mile because they feel a strong emotional connection to the organisation. They want their company to succeed because they identify with its mission, purpose, or values on a personal level. Believe it or not, an employee can be satisfied with their job, but disengaged (think about the person who often arrives late, does just enough to get by, chats a lot throughout the day and leaves bang on 5pm). Additional motivation factors are needed to take an employee from being content and satisfied to fully engaged, such as more challenging work, recognition and responsibility.
Why does it matter?
Employee satisfaction levels strongly influence an organisation’s staff retention levels. People who do not feel content, or believe that their needs are being met, are more likely to think about looking for another job. But just being satisfied doesn’t result in the high performance or engagement needed to drive business growth. People who are content to get the job done are less likely to challenge the status quo. However, engaged employees, who feel emotionally invested in the success of the business, are more committed to helping their company achieve its goals. They make the direct choice to go above and beyond, apply the maximum effort, look to add value and suggest new ideas, all of which improve productivity and innovation.
Engagement enablers
Engage for Success, the voluntary movement promoting employee engagement as a better way to work, has carried out a lot of research into the specific motivation factors which take employees beyond job satisfaction to being engaged. It describes employee engagement as:
“A workplace approach resulting in the right conditions for all members of an organisation to give their best each day, committed to their organisation’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organisational success, with an enhanced sense of their own well-being.”
To help employers create this workplace approach, it has identified four common features of highly engaged and high performing organisations. These Four Enablers are:
Together these enablers encompass a set of key engagement factors including; visible and empowering leadership, a real understanding of an organisation’s vision, a coaching culture in which managers are equipped to stretch their teams, strong communication channels which keep employees informed and able to contribute ideas, and a genuine, authentic approach to living by the organisation’s values.
How does Best Employers Eastern Region help businesses with employee engagement?
To be able to create a culture of engagement, it is important to understand where you are currently at. Our Best Employers Eastern Region employee survey has been expertly developed in conjunction with eras ltd to ask the right questions which will capture accurate feedback needed to monitor employee engagement. As well as looking at employee satisfaction, it provides detailed findings on the key factors which impact on engagement and performance, including how staff perceive their organisation’s current culture, their understanding of the company’s vision and values, and how supported, empowered and engaged they feel by leadership and management teams. Each organisation receives a tailored report summarising the culture, values and leadership style and an action plan to help inform strategic planning and deliver long term results. Find out more about Best Employers Eastern Region 2020 here >>
Maids Head Hotel Sous Chef, Elliott Winson, is a finalist in the Norfolk Food and Drink Awards Chef of the Year 2019 competition. Eight chefs will compete in the live cook off, at City College Norwich, on the morning of Tuesday, July 9. This will be followed by a technical skills challenge in the afternoon.
To enter the competition chefs had to submit a main course, with a budget of no more than £4.50 a portion, featuring local, sustainable and seasonal Norfolk produce. Elliott’s main course features Gressingham Duck: confit duck leg with potato rosti, smoked carrot purée, heritage carrots, pickled elderflower and duck jus split with elderflower oil. Chefs will be required to cook four portions of their main course during the live cook off and will have 2½ hours to complete the task.
Elliott said: “This is the second time that I have entered the Chef of the Year competition. I am really pleased to have made it to the final and will do my best to bring home the winner’s accolade for the Maids Head brigade.”
Christine Malcolm, General Manager the Maids Head Hotel said: “Congratulations to Elliott for reaching the final of Norfolk Chef of the Year. Everyone at the hotel wishes him good luck for the cook off on July 9.”
Elliott Winson (28) has worked at the Maids Head for 5½ years. He joined the kitchen team as Chef de Partie, having worked at Norwich Mercure and Dunston Hall, before progressing to Junior Sous Chef, with responsibility for running the patisserie section. Elliott was promoted to Sous Chef eight months ago.
He follows Head Chef, Marcin ‘Magic’ Pomierny, as a finalist in Norfolk Chef of the Year. Magic won the Chef of the Year title in 2016 and has been a semi-finalist in the National Chef of the Year competition, run by the Craft Guild of Chefs, for the last two years.
Allergens are now back in the news and customers are becoming immensely interested, particularly allergen sufferers. To a customer this could be a matter of life or death. We also know that you are only as good as your staff and their service. Can you ask yourself…”do I or my staff understand and are aware of the 14 Allergens and follow a robust procedure to ensure your customers safety?”. This includes anyone that handles the food, from the chef to the front of house. Let us help you, inform and educate your staff. BUY TWO GET THE THIRD FREE! (offer only relates to this course and date) We have a course in Spalding on the 26th June at an offer of £50 per person (buy two and get the third free!), to help build knowledge and to ask any questions that you may have to our expert tutor. Level 2 Food Allergen Awareness and Control in Catering Award covers: • Food allergens and food commonly causing intolerance’s. • Characteristics and effects of allergens. • The importance of effectively communicating information regarding allergenic ingredients to customers. • How Staff can minimise the risk of cross-contamination from allergenic ingredients. To book now www.ehtc.co.uk/level2foodallergen, spaces are limited and come on a first come, first served basis. However we do offer courses throughout the year. Please contact the team if you are looking for further dates. If you have any questions, need advice or want to speak to our of our experts, please don’t hesitate to get in touch on 0800 689 3512 or email ehtc@breckland-sholland.gov.uk
Independent, East-Anglian accountancy firm Aston Shaw has announced the purchase of King’s Lynn firm, Burrells. Burrells was first established in 1992 and since then it has gone on to build an enviable reputation in the area.
The acquisition of Burrells is the next step in Aston Shaw’s ambitious growth strategy, claiming it will enable them to grow their King’s Lynn team and be better resourced overall as a firm, ultimately improving the level of service provided to clients.
Burrells has built its considerable reputation primarily through its specialist tax advisory services. The acquisition means that Aston Shaw will incorporate this expertise into their own service offering, giving the firm a further edge over its competitors.
Dominic Shaw, Director of Aston Shaw said: “As a firm, we have only recently started to branch out into West Norfolk, having acquired the equally well-reputed King’s Lynn firm, Kirby & Haslam back in April 2018. Since then, our broad range of services and straight-talking approach to tax and accountancy has proven popular with the local business community.”
“For us to continue to deliver a consistent level of excellence, we need to ensure that we have the capacity and resources to do so; we’re confident the purchase of Burrells will allow us to continue to cater to the needs of West Norfolk businesses.”
Burrells Director, Stephen Burrell, will be joining Aston Shaw as a result of the acquisition. Stephen has been working as a Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA) for more than 50 years.
Aston Shaw Director, Mark Noakes, said: “Stephen brings with him a wealth of experience that will no doubt benefit many of our clients both in King’s Lynn and our other office locations. I look forward to welcoming Stephen and his team to the firm.”
All staff from Burrells will move to Aston Shaw’s newly renovated office on King Street.
Always ready to take up a sporting challenge, and on the lookout for ways to raise money for Monthind’s chosen charity, Little Havens Hospice, Monthind Partner, Simon Biggs, is busy preparing for his next venture.
On Thursday 26th September 2019, Simon will be setting off from Little Havens Hospice in Benfleet on a 55-mile cycle ride to Harwich. He can have a rest on the ferry before cycling 60 miles from Hoek of Holland to Breda on the Friday and then covering the final 92 miles to Bruges on Saturday.
We caught up with Simon after one of his gruelling training rides in the less than glorious British weather: “This is going to be a physically challenging adventure for me, stretching over three days, so my training has begun in earnest. My fundraising target is £1500, which will help Little Havens to continue to deliver the amazing care they offer children and young people from Essex and the surrounding London Boroughs, who have life-limiting or life-threatening illnesses. Little Havens provides a holistic service by looking after the whole family which may include emotional or educational support for the child’s siblings, parents, grandparents and carers or assistance with social issues.
“Indubitably an amazing charity, providing a sadly necessary service in the most difficult circumstances, I feel privileged to be able to raise funds to enable the Hospice to carry on doing its incredible work, and it is only fitting that I have to push myself hard to make that money!”
If you would like to sponsor Simon, or find out more about the cycle ride, visit the JustGiving page.
Alan Boswell Financial Planners are pleased to announce the introduction of our new Core Advice Team to help close the advice gap here in Norfolk, and further afield. In 2013 the Financial Conduct Authority removed most commission payments within financial advice. The advice now needs to be paid for separately from any charges that apply to the product being recommended and while this is entirely appropriate there have been some unintended consequences.
For example, a client who wishes to invest £30,000 often may struggle to find a financial planner to advise on this amount for a reasonable fee.
It has led to an advice gap, whereby a number of firms providing financial advice withdrew services for those with less than £100,000 to invest. Some companies introduced robo-advice, an online solution where clients were taken through an online journey and didn’t interact with a financial adviser at all! At Alan Boswell Financial Planners we recognise that financial advice needs the personal touch to fully understand the client’s circumstances. The Core Advice Team (CAT) is our answer.
Alan Boswell Financial Planners – Core Advice Team
The Core Advice Team can advise on virtually all areas of an individual’s financial planning needs. The team provides advice face to face in Alan Boswell’s Norwich office but can also operate over the telephone and via online systems such as Skype to ensure comprehensive advice is delivered in the most cost effective way possible for the client.
Quality advice that clients can trust is paramount and the dedicated team is led by Shaun Coleman, a Chartered Financial Planner with 25 years of advice experience.
“Alan Bowell and Company has seen the increasing difficulty people have when they want to access high quality financial advice at a reasonable cost. This is of particular concern given the ever increasing array of options available and the sometimes significant impact a wrong decision by a person, who doesn’t have access to advice, can make. Alan Boswell’s decision to set up a specialist team to aim to address this growing issue is good news for those who need advice they can trust, at a price they can afford. As a Chartered Financial Planner, I am very pleased to have been appointed as head of this team and we are looking forward to addressing the gaps in the availability of advice that Alan Boswell’s has identified.”
What does the Core Advice Team charge?
There is no charge for the initial one hour consultation. Subsequently, the team typically charges a minimum initial advice fee of £750. The minimum advice fee will often be significantly lower than fees charged by other financial advisers who may charge £1,500 or more on a £30,000 investment and possibly up to £3,000 on a £100,000 investment.
A higher fee may of course be chargeable for more complex or involved work, or for advice on multiple products but all fees would be fully discussed and agreed at the outset before any work is undertaken.
If you’d like to arrange your free, no-obligation consultation, call Alan Boswell Financial Planners on 01603 967967.
The 18 teams joining Credo Asset Finance for the Canaryball Rally later this year got together on Wednesday for an inspirational night of fun and fundraising ideas.
The Rally which will take place on 9th -13th October, will recreate the journey across Europe that Norwich City Football Club undertook in their famous 1993/1994 UEFA Cup run.
The teams will start at the Nest in Norwich, before driving to Arnhem in Holland, Munich in Germany and finally Milan in Italy all in the aid of their chosen charity Community Sports Foundation and their #BuildTheNest campaign.
Two of the rally teams shared their own inspirational stories – Jacob Bowles, Norwich City’s current Fan of the Season, who along with his family announced on the evening they had already raised over their £5,000 target for the #BuildTheNest campaign trading from his ‘On the stall city’ market activities; and the aptly-named ‘Team U Pukki’ shared how their wide range of fundraising activities had already pledged nearly £4000.
Credo Managing Director Simon Gray said: “I was delighted to see such a good turnout and for our teams to network and share fundraising stories and ideas. Our thanks go to the Virgin Money Lounge for hosting the event and helping our teams set up their own fundraising pages.”
CSF Senior Fundraising & Events Manager Emma Fletcher said “It was wonderful to hear how rally participants are already doing such amazing things to raise money for the build the nest campaign. I can’t wait to see what else happens over the next couple of months, it’s an exciting time!”
There are a range of commercial sponsorship opportunities for businesses interested in supporting the Canaryball Rally – for details of how you could get involved please contact Fran Brown at Fran@credoassetfinance.com. Follow the Canaryball Rally on Twitter! @canaryballrally
Due to the success of our Growing Future Talent Programme, Turning Factor have secured funding from Norfolk County Council for a further 50 places for our Leadership and Management course. The programmes are running in Norwich, Thetford and King’s Lynn, starting July, August and September 2019.
If you are an aspiring manager or want to gain confidence in your ability to lead others then this programme will help you increase your skill set.
The programme will focus on communication, commercial awareness, leadership, winning behaviours, motivation and managing the performance of your team. There is also an opportunity to gain an ILM Level 3 qualification.
If you would like further information please contact 01603 881689 and ask to speak with Philip Macdonald
A Norfolk IT expert has been nominated for a prestigious international award for his work within the software development community.
Chris Sainty, Lead Software Engineer with Flagship Group, has been put forward for the exclusive ‘Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award’ run by the software giant.
The award is given by Microsoft to ‘technology experts who passionately share their knowledge with the community.’ The scheme has been around for 20 years and is extremely exclusive – there are only around 3,233 MVPs worldwide with just 165 in the UK. This is out of a technical community of around 100 million.
Chris’s nomination is due to his work on a Microsoft product called Blazor. He has been blogging about the product for the last 18 months and he has even written about it for a number of high-profile technical publications.
He also offers support and expertise online to fellow software engineers, and more recently, he was invited to take part in a podcast and present at a software development event in Cambridge.
Should Chris be successful, he will have the opportunity to spend time at Microsoft’s HQ. Chris said:
“From a personal perspective, the MVP award is a recognition that I’ve helped people. And that is the most important thing for me. I’ve always been passionate about what I do, about learning and sharing knowledge with fellow developers.
“One really exciting benefit of being an MVP is the opportunity to work closely with the teams at Microsoft. All MVPs are invited to the annual MVP Summit at Microsoft’s HQ in Redmond, a special, multi-day conference featuring lots of in-depth technical sessions and feedback groups. Having the opportunity to give feedback and help shape the products you love is pretty cool.”
Matt Brazier, Director of IT & S with Flagship said: “Myself and the whole team are thrilled to see Chris getting this recognition. He is committed to developing his knowledge and technical expertise to meet the needs of our colleagues and customers. Being considered for this award by Microsoft is a huge endorsement for a him, and we are very proud of all that he has achieved.”
MVP status is awarded for 1 year after which MVPs must re-submit for the next year.
*You can read Chris’ personal website here: https://chrissainty.com/