Member News

Small and medium businesses are everywhere and are vital to the success of the UK economy. There are many threats against them including being susceptible to fraud. SME’s may be vulnerable to fraud because they have to focus on other aspects of the business.

The Norfolk Against Scams Partnership (NASP) is a partnership of organisations committed to taking a stand against scams and aims to make Norfolk a scam free county. We are working together to protect and support residents and businesses in Norfolk from scams, doorstep crime and fraud.

https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/business/trading-standards/scams/norfolk-against-scams-partnership

Scams Awareness Campaign  2019- Monday 10th to Sunday 23rd June

This year’s theme is to ensure that people “stop, report, talk” if they think they’re being targeted by a scam.

• Stop – As scams have become more prevalent and complex, consumers and businesses  must have the knowledge to recognise a scam to protect themselves and those around them.

• Report – Scams are massively underreported which poses problems for the authorities tackling scams across the country. Consumersand businesses  need to know how to report scams and be empowered to take action

. • Talk – Anyone can become a victim of a scam and encouraging conversations with business contacts , friends and family we can protect one another.

You can find out more about the Scams Awareness campaign and sign up as a supporter on the Citizens Advice Scams Awareness 2019 webpage

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/our-campaigns/all-our-current-campaigns/scams-awareness-campaign-2019/

During Scams Awareness 2019 we will be sharing more information on how to stay #ScamAware on our social media sites. You can follow us on Twtter @Norfolkccts or like us on Facebook – Norfolk Trading Standards

Businesses can sign up to our Business Alert page where we provide the latest news about business scams as well as other relevant updates. 

https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/business/trading-standards/scams

We were thrilled when Tiger Eye Consulting contacted us earlier this year to let us know they had decided to raise money for our charity by completing a ‘Tiger Trek’.

This 46 mile coastal walk took place from the 17th to 19th May and saw the determined team – Karen, Richard, Kev and David – walk from Hunstanton to Cromer, finishing at the historic Cromer Pier to raise a brilliant £500. They were joined on their Trek by colleagues Hanna and Aaron on Day 1, and Peter and Dave on Day 2.

We caught up with the team (once they enjoyed a well-deserved rest!) to hear all about their fantastic fundraising challenge.

How did the idea for the Tiger Trek come about?

“Last year, a few members of the Tiger Eye team supported Martyn Wells, IT Director at Wright Hassall, on his charity walk across Wales. He is one of our customers, who had cancer and was raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support. A few of our team here are keen walkers and have walked various pathways across the UK and further afield, so the idea came naturally to them. The concept of ‘netwalking’ wasn’t a big trend at that time (when the idea of Tiger Trek was first conceptualised back in October of last year) but we felt that taking networking outside, into our beautiful countryside, was a great idea.

Once we heard the term ‘netwalk’ and realised that networking, combined with exercising, was becoming quite popular, we came up with Tiger Trek. We encourage walking meetings and physical exercise here as part of our PAWS for Health wellbeing scheme, so we loved the idea of getting outside and encouraging other businesses to exercise their bodies, to in turn exercise their minds. We always play with puns around Tigers, because of our company’s name, so Tiger Trek didn’t take too long to come to mind.”

Why did you decide to support The Benjamin Foundation?

“We then chose a range of charities – some local, some international – and decided which felt closest to our hearts. The Benjamin Foundation was unanimously voted for as the one we were going to support with the Trek. Working in our community, battling homelessness, youth disadvantage and more, we felt your charity was vital for Norfolk and Suffolk and we all felt that knowing we were raising money for your fantastic cause would encourage the team to keep on going throughout the Trek. A video really helped us to understand the work of your charity.”

What was the toughest bit of the trek?

“The shingle was pretty tough!”

What was the most enjoyable part of the trek?

“The most enjoyable part was seeing the awareness we raised for your wonderful charity. We have supported your charity for a while, and we hope to continue to do so through volunteering at The Assembly House for your Flight for Youth campaign later this summer.”

How did you feel when you finished?

The team were elated once we had finished – although, at that time, I think we were too tired to feel anything (especially our toes!) It was wonderful that even days after we had finished, the donations kept rolling in to the Virgin Money Giving page from our supporters, and the feeling of pride kept growing with every donation that came in!”

Thank you so much to the Tiger Trek team!

But the fundraising doesn’t stop there. To be in with a chance of winning a £50 voucher with Dynamic Fitness, just donate £5 or more to the Tiger Trek fund at Tiger Eye’s Virgin Money Giving fundraising page. One lucky donor will be chosen at random to win the Tiger Trek prize. For any queries regarding the Dynamic Fitness competition, please contact Georgina, Marketing Assistant at georginar@tigereyeconsulting.com

Chao Pang has opened a new walk-in tax and accountancy shop on 28 Stonecot Hill, Sutton.

Chao is a CIMA-qualified accountant with a very successful 15-year career in industry, latterly as a deputy Director of Finance. 

She decided the time was right to open her own practice and is thrilled with the look and feel of the shop.

“The new shop looks great and provides the ideal environment to meet with the small business owners in the area to discuss their tax and accountancy requirements,” said Chao. “I would encourage anyone interested in finding out more to pop in for a free consultation.”

Chao explains what attracted her to become part of the TaxAssist Accountants network: “My career has progressed well, but as I started getting closer to directorship in my late 30s, I started to think about my goals for the next 20 years. I wanted something more exciting and inspiring where I could build on my knowledge, experience and hard work and that has the potential for growing – however far I want the business to grow. “I came to a discovery day in early 2018 and Karl Sandall [Chief Executive of the TaxAssist Group] and the management team were very open. After doing my own feasibility analysis and speaking to many franchisees, my husband and I were convinced by the business model and decided to go for it.

“The process of joining was very smooth and everything has gone very well so far. The Support Centre team in Norwich have been very helpful and knowledgeable and things have progressed well in terms of setting up the practice. I look forward to being a member of the TaxAssist family for many years to come!”

If you would like to find out more about joining the TaxAssist Accountants network, please give Nikki Haythorne a call on 0800 0188297.

The next step is to attend a discovery day at the Support Centre.

David Manning, managing director of cloud, connectivity and data centre experts, MIGSOLV, has become the latest ambassador for the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor.

Driven by key players in the private and public sectors, the Tech Corridor seeks to further establish the Eastern region as a ‘go-to’ location for technology firms looking to establish, grow and cluster.

“Becoming an ambassador seemed a perfect fit” says David “Not only are we proud to be located in Norwich but, as a data centre, it offers us a lot of advantages. I’m looking forward to using our experience to demonstrate to businesses outside our region just what can and is being achieved here.”

As an ambassador, David adds his voice to the rising number of companies championing the region as a strong base for technology-led products, services and manufacturing. MIGSOLV supports businesses across sectors with next-generation solutions for protecting, connecting and managing their IT and data, all from their world-class data centre in Norwich.

“We’re delighted to have David aboard” says Linn Clabburn, Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor Programme Director. “MIGSOLV are the perfect example of an exciting and innovative business doing great things in Norwich and Cambridge. Furthermore, they demonstrate the vast range of services already here to support equally technology-minded businesses who make it their home. We look forward to David helping us spread the word!”

We were delighted to hear that we’ve been recognised as a standard bearer for animation at the 40th Annual Telly Awards 2019, picking up gold and bronze in the General, Branded, Not-for-profit category.

This is the first time we’ve entered The Telly Awards, an international event honouring excellence in video and television across all screens so we feel humbled to have done so well the first time round.

Last year, the awards attracted more than 12,000 entries, and previous winners include The Guardian, The History Channel, Bloomberg, CBS Interactive, Conde Nast, HBO, HuffPost, Microsoft, NBC, Ogilvy and Mather, Time Warner and The Wall Street Journal.

Strategic Director, Daniel Spencer says: “The team are stunned. This is a really tough award to win, because the standard of entries is incredibly high. And since we were competing against long-established global players and thousands of entries, we were secretly hopeful but not expecting to win, let alone win twice!”

Curveball picked up Gold for their animated explainer for The Salvation Army called “Can you spot the signs of a modern slave”

And Bronze for the animation called “Whole Life Vision” for The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

Other winners in the same “General, Branded, Not-for-profit” category include the American Red Cross and CNBC Catalyst, the in-house advertising agency of CNBC International.

Creative Director, Oliver Lawer: “It’s incredible. Really. We couldn’t believe it when we found out. And to win it for our not-for-profit work too is something special because it just goes to show what we can achieve when clients put their trust in us.”

Sabrina Dridje, Managing Director of The Telly Awards adds: “Curveball Media is pushing the boundaries for video and television innovation and creativity at at time when the industry is rapidly changing,” said Sabrina Dridje, Managing Director of the Telly Awards. “This award is a tribute to the talent and vision of its creators and a celebration of the diversity of work being made today for all screens.”

This isn’t the first time Curveball has won awards.

Working with PR agency Third City, the animated explainer they created for The Wellcome Trust was awarded first place in the CIPR Excellence Awards 2017 for Best Use of Digital.

While another video, again working with Third City, was awarded a PRCA City and Financial Award for their #ITPsUnfair video made for the Association of British Insurers.

KLM UK Engineering & WestJet Sign New Contract for Line Maintenance Support

Just a few weeks after signing LOI (Letter Of Intent) with AFI KLM E&M for GEnx engine support, the Canadian airline extends its partnership with the global MRO network in the field of 737 line maintenance.

Paris, Amstelveen, Norwich, 3rd June 2019 – A European leader in the regional jets & narrow body aircraft market and having an internationally acknowledged expertise on the Boeing 737, Embraer 170/190, BAe146/Avro RJ, Fokker 70/100 & Airbus A320 Family, KLM UK Engineering is delighted to confirm this new contract with WestJet.

KLM UK Engineering commenced line maintenance support with WestJet at Glasgow on their Boeing 737 fleet from April 2019.

Alan Lawson, Line Maintenance Manager at KLM UK Engineering commented: “We are delighted that WestJet has chosen KLM UK Engineering to fulfil this contract at Glasgow and we are looking forward to developing this working partnership further during the coming years.“

Jason Munroe, Senior Category Manager in Strategic Procurement at WestJet said: “This is an exciting time for WestJet’s network expansion and we are eager to enter into this new contract for line maintenance support from KLM UK Engineering to cover our Glasgow operations.”

The Captain is hugely honoured to be hosting one of America’s finest award-winning singer songwriters right here at his Kings Lynn HQ on Sunday 7th July. My dear chum, the simply superb Rachel Harrington is back here in Blighty. Much loved by audiences across the British Isles, Rachel is touring the UK before heading into the heart of the American West in late summer and onwards into Europe as the days grow short. A haunting storyteller with a compelling whisky and honey voice, she sings of broken souls, lost dreams, hard living and unexpectedly joyous dying, weaving a melancholy tapestry from the words of her grandfathers, years on the road, nights under restless skies and the mistakes and misfortunes of everyday hearts. Her yearning tales cut to the bone, straight from her rural roots, raw and absolutely true to her own experience, peppered with the humour that wards off despair when life’s ordinary hopes come tumbling down. Born to hard working stock, Danish dairymen and Irish lumberjacks, Rachel Harrington’s family has been in Oregon for six generations and a sense of place runs through her work, no doubt informing the songs for her new album Hush the Wild Horses which she’s almost finished. Huzzah! Growing up in a Pentecostal family, Rachel was raised on Gospel until an old cowboy called Dutch introduced her to the sound of Loretta Lynn, inspiring her own style of American gothic country stirred by careworn fireside soul. BBC’s legendary DJ Whispering Bob Harris proclaimed her first album The Bootlegger’s Daughter one of the best albums of 2007 and I must say I have a copy of everything she’s recorded. But to hear her live in an intimate setting really is quite something. Truly this wandering star of dark Americana is not to be missed. I do hope you can join us; all money raised on the evening will be donated to Make-A-Wish Foundation. Tickets are a veritable bargain at only £12 in advance, £15 on the door. Book here

Free business skills workshops will take place in Gt Yarmouth in July to help people who are thinking of setting up their own business or have taken the plunge during the last 12 months.

MENTA’s mission is to help people achieve their dreams of becoming self-employed or running their own successful company.

The series of three, four-hour workshops cover business planning, marketing and bookkeeping and will be held at the Imperial Hotel, Great Yarmouth.

MENTA trainer, John Clarke said, “I meet people from all age groups and backgrounds who come along to gain expert support and business skills training.

The sessions are informal and the feedback we receive is fantastic, people get a lot of practical advice which they appreciate.” Leanne Castle, MENTA’s marketing manager commented, “The 12 hours of free start-up Start Right training has been completed by more than 500 Norfolk and Suffolk based people. In the last three years at least 270 of them have made their dream a reality and started their enterprise.”

The start-up training is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and isn’t affected by Brexit. MENTA’s long-term aim is to produce more employment opportunities and prosperity in Gt Yarmouth and the surrounding area.

For more details visit the MENTA website www.menta.org.uk and go to the ‘start up’ page or call 01284 760206 for details. Booking is essential.

As it marks its sixth birthday, leading maintenance company RFT can celebrate carrying out a massive 60,000 responsive repairs each year.

The facilities, repairs and maintenance specialist, part of the Flagship Group, was set up in 2013 to take a new approach to looking after the Group’s homes.

Over the last six years, the company has done just that. It has grown significantly to offer responsive and planned repairs, grounds maintenance and cleaning, ensuring a joined-up service for the customers of its 28,000 properties.

This is complemented by the gas maintenance service provided by Gasway, which Flagship Group acquired in 2017.

With an area of operation the size of Wales, RFT has some 232 vans on the road and each year it brings 1,200 empty homes back into use. It also renews in excess of 1,500 bathrooms and kitchens. 

In the last year alone, RFT fitted more than 900 kitchens and 600 bathrooms.

Warren Gannaway, Operations Director with RFT Services said: “When RFT was set-up, the overriding goal was to provide a great service to the Flagship customers by bringing all these areas of expertise in-house. It was a huge challenge and opportunity to set up a new company completely from scratch and the RFT staff should be proud of what they have achieved in that time.”

The partnership with Victory Housing in January 2019 brought an additional 5,000 homes in North Norfolk into RFT’s remit. And, RFT – which offers a 24/7 service – now also works with other housing associations, local associations and businesses.

RFT’s growth has been supported by technology and the development of an in-house developed IT operating system which supports the team’s work across such a large geographical area.  Further improvements are planned as RFT looks to the future. Warren said:

“We are focused on continuous improvement and making our service even better for our customers. Innovation is at the heart of how we work and we have plans for further enhancements, such as electric vehicles.

“RFT has made a huge difference over the last six years and that is down to our great staff, both in the support roles and our customer facing operatives, who are empowered to make the right repair, first time to meet the customer’s needs.”

We have Arts Council support but we have to unlock it!

We are thrilled the Arts Council has awarded £14,950 as a National Lottery Project Grant. This provides the major part of funding for a pilot project in a close working partnership with Norfolk Library Information Services and artists. A funder we approached for the critical matched funding to release the ACE funds of 10% of the estimated total project budget of £25,000, has advised us sadly they cannot support us after all. So we are approaching you as leaders in the business community asking for your help in the form of a corporate social donation, perhaps £500, £1,500 or even the full 10%, £2,500.

Creative learning in the community: pilot projects with libraries 

The project will develop NPT Creative Learning services and deliver immediate benefits to families and children visiting libraries in Norwich, Aylsham and Brundall.  We shall use our skills and experience to explore how puppetry and creative play can have a positive impact on the work of Norfolk Library Information Service. 

Your co-funding help will help ensure we can

• Develop and run programmes with 3 children’s libraries of different sizes (main, town and village scale libraries in terms of users and building spaces) and different settings (city, market town, rural)
• Present in each of the partner libraries a programme of professional development for library staff, a touring puppet show and one or more puppet making and performing workshops, all with a focus on how these can assist the development of literacy skills (reading and writing) 
• Evaluate these programmes against agreed indicators, including the delivery of public benefit to users, report the results and propose future development

​Benefits for your firm

• Demonstrate active corporate commitment to wider activities in our cultural and social landscape
• Share in the publicity about the project in the communities where the events will be run
• Recognition of support in our evaluation reports as well as updates and summaries on social media
• Recognition of your support on our website 

Please get in touch with us if you would like to offer or discuss support! Perhaps there are other opportunities for us to work together. We have been a regular venue for book, music, and charity launches as well as corporate events. So if you haven’t visited us before or in depth, perhaps you would like to visit for a short tour and a chat over coffee?  You can contact us by email or phone: Ian Woods will have the fullest picture on ianwoods@puppettheatre.co.uk, 01603 615564 or you can contact me nichopkins@puppettheatre.co.uk. Thank you Nic Hopkins, Chair of Board of Trustee

An innovative million-pound project designed to unlock the talents of graduates and Norfolk’s thriving small-medium enterprises will start this summer following a successful bid to the Office for Students (Ofs).

The Gateways to Growth – Unlocking Talent in Norfolk project will receive £300,000 of funding from the Office for Students and attract additional support from partners making the total project worth £1,000,000.

UEA led the successful bid to the Ofs Challenge Competition. It will run for 3 years and aims to boost engagement between graduates and Norfolk’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through internships and enhanced skills training linked to Norfolk’s Enterprise hubs.

Key Facts:

£1,000,000 project, including £300,000 Ofs grant

1,600+ Norfolk SME businesses and 750 graduates supported over three years

Focus on working with six Enterprise hubs linking SMEs with graduate interns

UEA Vice Chancellor Professor David Richardson said: “Bringing talented graduates and Norfolk’s innovative SME businesses together is vital for our region. UEA has a significant role to play in support Norfolk’s thriving local industries and this project will deliver real benefits both to our graduates and to small and medium enterprises in our county.

“UEA is proud to be leading this project which will help to stimulate and support local industry and entrepreneurs and graduates.”

The tailor-made project will address some of the problems faced by Norwich and Norfolk’s economy and UEA’s graduates, many of whom want to remain in Norfolk after completing their studies but struggle to secure graduate level employment. 

Julie Schofield, Joint Head of UEA Careers Service, said: “Our graduates love to stay in the city and county and yet there is a perception that there are too few graduate jobs for them.  Our local economy is 90%+ SME and from our research we know that graduates do not always think that employment in an SME is a viable career option and SMEs do not always appreciate what a graduate can do for their business.” 

Chris Starkie, Chief Executive of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “We have more than 60,000 businesses in Norfolk and Suffolk so there is a huge opportunity for graduates to find excellent roles on their doorstep and have a fulfilling career. There is also substantial investment in tech and energy taking place therefore these sectors will experience immense growth. Now more than ever this is the place where ideas become reality and you will want to be part of it.”

The winning bid has been developed by University of East Anglia (UEA), with support from New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP); Chamber of Commerce, Norfolk County Council, Norwich City Council, South Norfolk Council, UEA SU, Hethel Innovation Centre, Kings Lynn Innovation Centre, Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor and the St Georges Works.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students said: “There is an outdated assumption that the typical student experience involves moving far away from home to study and work. This is not true for a large number of students and graduates, and we know that, whether by choice or circumstance, many stay in their home towns.”

“Graduates should not have to move to London to get good jobs. It is essential that those who stay in their home towns and cities can enter high-skilled work and are not locked out of the graduate labour market.”

“This funding will help universities and colleges find ways to remove barriers to local graduate employment, broaden the choice for those local graduates, and help ensure that students are getting the right skills to enter rewarding work. It’s good news for graduates, universities and local employers in search of highly-skilled, work-ready graduates.”

Meeting like-minded business people in a friendly and informal  environment is a fantastic way of making those all important business contacts. MENTA’s networking event, Coffee Means Business returns to The Feathers Hotel, in Holt on Tuesday 18 June when sole traders, freelancers and company owenrs and staff are welcome to meet up over coffee and biscuits.

Leanne Castle of MENTA will host the event and comments, “Linking up, making new contacts cannot be underated in business, especially if you are someone who works remotely. Running a business can be a lonely place and to have the opportunity to meet others can lead to some great connections and sharing of ideas.”

“Our invited speaker will be Keith Osborne of Keith Osborn photography who will be sharing his thoughts on why we need proffessional photographs to reflect our brand.”

MENTA’s Coffee Means Business events don’t require a membership or joining fee, just £5pp payable on arrival. The event on Tuesday 18 June at The Feathers Hotel at Holt starts from 9.30am and finishes at 11.30am (it is fine to arrive later, or leave earlier).

For further details go to www.menta.org.uk and visit the events and networking tab or call 01284 760206

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