Member News

It is with great pleasure that Cozens-Hardy announces the promotion of Claire Nelson from Solicitor to Associate Solicitor.

Claire joined the firm in 2014 as a Trainee Solicitor and qualified into the Private Client team in July 2016. Claire advises on Wills, powers of attorney, trusts and estate administration and inheritance tax planning. She is currently an Affiliate member of STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) and is studying for the Diploma in Trusts and Estates.

Michelle Collins, Partner and head of Cozens-Hardy Private Client department:

“Claire has really come into her own as a private client solicitor since starting with the firm five years ago.She works incredibly hard and is very determined to increase her skill set and knowledge, alongside which she is always keen to participate in the firm’s marketing activities. Her ambition, coupled with technical abilities and highly approachable personality, have been quite rightly reflected in her promotion to the position of Associate in the firm.”

Claire Nelson, Associate Solicitor:

“I’m delighted to have been appointed as an Associate Solicitor. I undertook my training contract with the firm and am shortly coming up to three years’ qualified. It’s brilliant to have received recognition for my hard work to date and I’m looking forward to the next stage of my career with the firm.”

The Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) team at Tudor Lodge Consultants are proud to announce that we are now working with youTalk-Insurance, a news and information website dedicated to the happenings and developments across the insurance and risk management sectors in the UK.

youTalk-Insurance has for many years been providing the UK market as well as the wider world, with unique and thoroughly informative insights into what makes these unique industries tick as well as the latest news.

We were approached by the team at youTalk-Insurance as they have been seeking to update what they do and how they do it. With Google becoming more and more important to businesses right across all sectors, changing focuses to search engines has been a logical destination for youTalk-Insurance.

Why Google for News and Guides?

Although many people associate search engines with only offering up ‘sales’ and ‘products,’ there is an underlying core of information which lies at the very heart of what Google in particular does. Hence, over the last few years, ranking highly on search engines such as Google in cases of websites not explicitly selling something has become very important.

Millions of people in the UK and indeed around the world are turning away from traditional media and news outlets such as newspapers, television broadcasts and radio; the natural place most of these audiences have moved to is online. This is split between social media, such as Facebook and search engines such as Google, where people can pick the outlet whose views and leanings reverberate with them.

Therefore, for news, sites, it is now of paramount importance that when it comes to popular online searches like ‘UK latest news’ or ‘business news UK’ that they are right up there, where they will be found. For youTalk-Insurance this has been no different. The insurance and risk management industries are the same as other key industries, with consumers actively searching for relevant news and content.

What We are Doing for youTalk-Insurance

youTalk-Insurance have a bespoke content management system (CMS) and this has meant that implementing the necessary SEO updates and changes is quicker and more straightforward than it may otherwise be.

Meta Data – As with many news and information-focussed sites, youTalk-Insurance had some meta data (titles and descriptions) that were inadequate; too long, too short and duplicates, which we are working to clean up. This will help the site to be properly indexed by search engines

Backlinks – A crucial factor in SEO, we are ensuring that only clean and reputable sites link to youTalk-Insurance, making it a cleaner and more efficient site for Google to crawl

On Page Work – We are also working to ensure that youTalk-Insurance capitalise on their great content, structuring it all properly and to a satisfactory standard for SEO. This includes how H titles are used and the topics titles of the content

We are delighted to announce our Summer Programme of events for families and children is now available on our website, and the printed brochures will soon be available. 

For our special and very full Easter programme, do have a look at our special Norfolk Chamber Members’ Events Page

For more details about Easter opportunities to bring the family, check out 

https://www.norfolkchamber.co.uk/events/member/join-us-norwich-puppet-theatre-easter

And then … it’s our early May Bank Holiday Programme

3 Little Pig Tails by Garlic Theatre  Saturday 4th May at 11am and 1430

Tickets £9.50 or Family (4) £30.00 https://puppettheatre.co.uk/whats-on/puppetry/3-little-pigs-tails to book

Family Combination: Petite Puppets: See Garlic Theatre’s fun French take on the classic story of the Little Pigs, then make a mini puppet troupe of your own.  A wonderful opportunity to spend the day at the Theatre together and a chance to extend the magic of puppetry beyond the show.  11am

Tickets £15.00 or Family (4) £55.00 https://puppettheatre.co.uk/whats-on/workshops/family-petite-puppets to book

Stop Press Advanced Notice!

For our programme over early May bank holiday weekend, we are delighted to extend our Easter special welcome off for Chamber members:

As a special welcome bonus, present your business card with a Norfolk Chamber membership number written on it

to claim a free hot or cold drink with each ticket!!!

Or to support us by donations, corporate support or volunteering, please visit https://puppettheatre.co.uk/support-us

The Home Office is working with industry through its Flag It Up campaign to help raise awareness of the threat of money laundering.

A toolkit is available with information and leaflets to download.

For more information click below

Risk & Policy Analysts Limited have announced that on the 3rd April 2019 they transitioned to become an employee-owned business run through an employee ownership trust (EOT). 

Pete Floyd and Meg Postle founded RPA in 1990 providing independent consultancy to the private and public sector across UK and Europe.  RPA has developed a strong reputation and proven expertise in the fields of environment, economics, chemicals, UK & EU policy and sustainability.  RPA’s headquarters are just outside Norwich in Loddon and are supported by London and Brussels offices.

The decision to transition to be an employee owned business was driven by the desire to sustain the company’s independence and recognition of the fact that the company was built through the hard efforts of its employees.  Pete Floyd said “It is a great time to step back as I know that the jobs we created are in safe hands and the team will flourish over the coming years”.

Staff will own 75% of the business through the trust, with future profits being shared equally.  Newly appointed Managing Director Matthew Lambert and long-term employees Panos Zarogiannis and Teresa Fenn become Directors and join Meg on RPA’s board.  They will work with the newly appointed Trustees to ensure RPA grows and develops for the benefit of all employees.  The Trustees compromise of 2 elected Directors, 2 elected employees and 1 ndependent Trustee.

When asked what the transition meant for staff, Researcher Liam Wakefield said “This is a really exciting opportunity for myself and my colleagues.  I really feel part of something now, and I’m sure it will show in our work”.  Elizabeth Daly, who is one of the employees elected to the Trustee board, stated “I’m looking forward to our first meeting and contributing to the future development of the company”.

Matthew Lambert confirmed “This is a fantastic start to 2019 for us all.  Everyone has contributed to our future vision and we are all excited by our plans to grow profit and headcount this year whilst ensuring that RPA remains a great place to work.”

RPA has joined 330 other employee owned companies and became a member of the Employee Ownership Association (EOA).  Deb Oxley OBE, CEO of the EAO, said: “We congratulate Risk & Policy Analysts on its transition to employee ownership.  By widening ownership of the business to its employees Risk & Policy Analysts is securing the future of the business, including its ethos, values and employees, while rooting itself locally for the longer term to the benefit of the communities which it serves.”

Huge Congratulations to Leon Davies, Director of Zero Taxis for winning The Norwich and Norfolk Eco Awards 2018/19!  The awards were held at the city’s historic St Andrew’s Hall, with biologist and conservationist Prof Ben Garrod hosting.

One of the winners in the Norwich City Council and Norfolk County Council organised awards was Norwich-based Zero Taxis, which won the small/medium business category for running with a fleet of electric vehicles.

Judges said, “This initiative marks a big leap forward in sustainable transport in the city. The move towards hybrid taxis has been really encouraging, but running an all-electric fleet brings unique challenges, and Zero Taxis have done a great job showing what’s possible.”

Tom McCabe, interim head of paid service at Norfolk County Council, said:  “Each year the Norwich and Norfolk Eco Awards recognise the people, businesses, community groups and schools that embrace an ethos of environmental sustainability. This year we have been overwhelmed with entries across all six categories and tonight we get to celebrate the best of the best.  It is everyone’s responsibility to prioritise sustainability and I believe that these environmental champions will inspire the next generation of exciting eco projects.”

Richard Willson, environmental strategy manager at Norwich City Council said:  “Once again, the judges were blown away by the projects put forward, making it a really difficult job to choose the winners.  The message from the people of Norwich and Norfolk is clear that looking after our environment is everyone’s job.  Tonight is not just about celebrating some of the bigger projects and schemes people are championing but also an excellent reminder that we can all make a difference in our day-to-day life.”The awards are made possible through the support of a range of businesses and organisations, not just those who apply, but also through sponsorship.

The Advice & Guidance team at City College Norwich design sessions around employability and progression which are used within the curriculum at various times of the year.

These sessions are reviewed annually and it would be really beneficial to have some employer input during these reviews to ensure that the sessions are relevant to today’s employer requirements. This could be in the form of focus groups or 1:1 sessions and would help the students develop the skills required to engage with business’ within the local community.

This year the sessions will be reviewed week commencing July 8th, specific dates to be confirmed.

If you would like to be involved in creating the next lot of sessions for students please contact Alexandra Miller, IAG and International Team Leader on alexandra.miller@ccn.ac.uk or Laura Pitchfordm Careers Advisor and IAG Team Leader on laura.pitchford@ccn.ac.uk

Coleman Opticians Hearing and Vision centre on St Augustine’s Street, Norwich wins the award for Family Optician of the Year 2019, against tough opposition from 5 other national finalists.

Winning an Optician Award is one of the highest accolades for optical professionals, practices and companies.  The director team from Coleman’s attended the ceremony on Saturday 30th March at the Hilton, NEC, Birmingham. Pat Sharp was the MC for the evening, and the cheers from the table when Coleman’s were announced emphasised how much this award means to this hard-working team.

This family focussed business that has been around since 1930 practising as a chemist, specialising as an optician since 1945, continues to foster the core values of its history through the next generation of its owners. These values are supported by the whole team with their friendly approach to all their customers. 

Coleman’s prides itself on being a family friendly practice and many of the families who come along to Coleman’s are multi-generational having been recommended by their families.  ‘Coleman’s has always been my parents’ opticians, they came highly recommended.’

The practice has a seating area specifically for children with toys, games and a selection of engaging spectacle frames including popular trends.  It is bright and friendly to help children feel comfortable whilst at the practice. There is also a separate waiting area with tea and coffee facilities, video screen, books and magazines that is accessible and roomy for the adults.

Coleman Opticians social media feed is active within the local community, supporting projects and networking with the business sector too.  The practice encourages interaction, informing patients of the services they offer and the importance of family eye health.  They run family reading activities and events in line with their charity involvement and are always looking for exciting ways to communicate with outreach activities within local schools and groups.

The team at Coleman Opticians become part of your family too. Extended families and generations both recommend and return to the practice.  This was summed up by a customer new to the area by saying; ‘We were given lots of tips about the city of Norwich from the staff and indeed help with starting somewhere new. A huge friendly welcome was most appreciated and still is.’

The culture from the team at Coleman Opticians extends into the local community too with a wide range of activities, charity support and sponsorship. 

Each year the team support a local charity and last year Norfolk children’s charity Break was chosen.  Their support involved sponsoring a sculpture on a charity GoGoHares trail that ran throughout the county, encouraging families to find all the hare sculptures using a map or app on a large-scale treasure hunt.  This sculpture now resides in the shop in Norwich after it was bought back at the charity auction where over £400,000 was raised.

The practice like to encourage people to feel happy and to talk whilst in the practice and are very aware of loneliness in the community, this is endorsed by some of the practice fundraising initiatives including book swaps as well as tea and coffee making facilities.

The opticians are part of the Recycle for Sight Programme for the local Lions club, supporting sight for families in developing countries as well as being a location for Refill Norwich, where people can come in off the streets to refill their water bottles or have a drink of water.  They also found out in January 2019 that they had been chosen as a centre for recycling contact lenses being part of a global campaign to reduce plastic waste.

The Coleman principle of supporting the local community and local charities is encouraged in their staff. The company pay for every member of staff to have one day a year to volunteer for a charity of their choice.  This initiative gives staff the opportunity to learn new skills, have fun and help others as well as having great mental health benefits.

Coleman’s are delighted to have been chosen as the winner of this prestigious award and the judges were particularly impressed with the education links in the local area and go out to schools to teach children about eye health as well as going along to High Schools to provide opportunities for learning about a career as an optometrist or audiologist as the practice extends its healthcare to hearing also.

Kate Fenn, Director ‘We are absolutely over the moon to be announced as the winners of The Family Optician of the Year 2019. This award epitomises all our core values and we continue to strive to make eye health education and community one of our key priorities’.

David and his team will be hosting an event on Thursday, 25 April, 2019 with some after-work nibbles, and a glass of wine with a chance to explore the practice and access to the audiology and eye clinic services.  

City College Norwich has celebrated its outstanding apprentices and the employers who have shown exceptional support for apprenticeships, at an awards night held at the Great Hospital in Norwich.

The College’s 2019 Apprenticeship Awards followed on from National Apprenticeship Week, which celebrates apprenticeships and the positive impact they have on individuals, businesses and the wider economy.

Eight awards were presented to individual apprentices for their achievements and progress, with an Overall Apprentice of the Year announced on the night. 

Awards were also presented to four of the college’s most outstanding employer partners.  These awards recognise employers’ exceptional support for apprentices – with categories for micro, medium and large employers – and there was also an Overall Contribution to Apprenticeships award.

City College Norwich currently has more than 1,200 Apprentices on its programmes, up to and including degree apprenticeships, and 676 apprenticeship employers working in partnership with the college. 

“These awards showcase the very best of apprenticeships”

Congratulating the award winners, Ed Rose, City College Norwich’s Director of Higher Education and Apprenticeships, said:

“As ever these awards showcase the very best of apprenticeships.  The diversity of our winners show that apprenticeships really do offer opportunities across the age groups and throughout all types of employer.  It’s a real challenge to pick an overall winner from so many outstanding candidates with such great stories.  We’ve been delighted to be able to celebrate our winners’ achievements.” 

Apprentice award winners

Oliver Holmes, a Contracts Manager with Norwich-based IT firm Osiris Technologies, was named Overall Apprentice of the Year.  Oliver is working towards the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship. 

Oliver was praised for the contribution he has made to his employer using the knowledge and skills developed through his Degree Apprenticeship.  Osiris have implemented a number of Oliver’s recommendations in relation to the monitoring of its financial and service performance. 

The Overcoming Barriers to Achievement Award went to Rob Honeyman, who completed a Business Administration Apprenticeship with Flagship Group.  After spending most of his working life in the construction industry, Mr Honeyman was forced to change career because of a severe back problem.

Joining the health and safety team, and retraining through the Apprenticeship, represented a “huge change” in his working life and circumstances.  Rob was praised by City College Norwich’s apprenticeship team for maintaining his “positive attitude despite facing a massive learning curve” and for his participatory approach and “thirst for learning”. 

He was also “brilliantly supported” by his employer, Flagship Group, who showed great belief in him.  Rob has since been offered, and accepted, a permanent position with Flagship.    

Other winners included Tony Iacovazzo, a plumbing apprentice with Anglia Gas Services Ltd, who was named Construction Apprentice of the Year.  Last May Tony took first place in a national plumbing and heating skills competition, to take the title of HIP UK Heating Apprentice of the Year 2018.  He is now passing on what he has learnt by helping to coach this year’s City College Norwich entrant to the competition.     

Overall Contribution to Apprenticeships: Gasway

The Overall Contribution to Apprenticeships award went to Gasway, who have been key supporters of the new gas engineering apprenticeship which was launched by the college in December. 

Gasway have placed the new apprenticeship at the heart of their recruitment and training strategy, taking on 14 gas engineering apprentices and providing them with exemplary support.  Gasway’s support for the new apprenticeship has gone much further, however, as the company generously gave time and labour to assist the college in fitting out its new gas engineering workshop.            

Anne-Marie Seale, Head of HR and Apprenticeship Delivery, Gasway, said:

“We are delighted to accept this award and to be recognised by City College Norwich for our contribution to apprenticeships. City College are a progressive college and Gasway are passionate about growing our talent in order to address the skills shortage in our industry. This combination has allowed us to work collaboratively to build a sustainable partnership which will continue to create new engineering opportunities within our region.”   

Full list of City College Norwich’s 2019 Apprenticeship Award winners 

• Alex Curtis (Spectra Packaging) – Digital Apprentice of the Year

• Sarah Eley (Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital) – Health Apprentice of the Year

• Martha Frosdick (The Salon, Costessey) – Service Industries Apprentice of the Year

• Karl Gilbert and Eleanor Rose (Cecil Gowing Infant School) – Childcare, Education and Early Years Apprentice of the Year

• Oliver Holmes (Osiris Technologies) – Business, Management and Professional Services Apprentice of the Year

• Robert Honeyman (Flagship Group) – Overcoming Barriers to Achievement Award

• Anthony Iacovazzo (Anglia Gas Services) – Construction Apprenticeof the Year (Electrotech, Plumbing, Trowel and Wood Occupations)

• Stuart Meek (UCP Zeller) – Engineering Apprentice of the Year

• Chloe Adcock and Southlands Dental Surgery – Apprenticeship Employer of the Year (micro)  

• Pipeshield International Ltd. – Apprenticeship Employer of the Year (medium)

• UCP Zeller – Apprenticeship Employer of the Year (large)    

• Gasway – Overall Contribution to Apprenticeships 

Amanda Hope and her partner Graham have created a warm, caring and learning place for their clients. They have built their Day service on their unwavering ethos that independence is a right, not a choice. Based in Bawburgh, Norfolk they offer Workshop based learning, Creative activities, Leisure activities and a sensory room as a Day service for Adults with learning difficulties.  ‘My passion and drive in life have always been to help others achieve their full potential. To allow for the empowerment of every individual, for everyone to have a voice’ says Amanda, a fully qualified social worker. Her background has been a mixture of both children and adult as well as palliative hospice care in both children and adults.  Amanda and Graham are also shortly to be taking on the Quiddenham Hospice site to create a new venture called Hope House, a ten bedroomed Respite centre. We wish them every success with this outstanding new project! 

info@independentlivesnorfolk.co.uk

Independent Lives (Norfolk) Ltd Unit 1 Lodge Farm Barns Bawburgh Norfolk NR9 3LZ

City College Norwich has been awarded £6.1m by New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) for an inspirational new building focused on skills for the digital industries.  

The Digi-Tech Factory

The new building, planned for the 2020-21 academic year, will provide industry-standard facilities for a combination of both new and existing courses in digital skills.  Given the working title of ‘the Digi-Tech Factory’, the inspirational new building will bring together all the college’s digital skills provision into a single, purpose built-space with industry-standard facilities.  

The Digi-Tech Factory will be home to a wide range of full- and part-time courses, as well as apprenticeship learning, from creative media, to software and programming, and ‘hard’ digital skills relating to networking, infrastructure development, electronics and automated manufacturing.  It will also ensure students from across the College’s provision can acquire the digital skills that will underpin their industries in the future.

Designed by Coffey Architects, the new building will provide a modern, industry-standard and efficient environment to bring together digital technology, engineering and design courses.  Subject to planning permission being granted, the 3-floor building will be situated adjacent to the award-winning Creative Arts Building on City College Norwich’s Ipswich Road campus.  The 1970’s Southwell Building will be demolished to make way for the new build.   

The total investment in the project will be £9.1m, with City College Norwich contributing alongside the £6.098m investment from New Anglia LEP’s Capital Growth Funding.  

City College Norwich’s digital skills expansion

In line with the LEP’s Local Industrial Strategy, the UK Digital Strategy and the Department for Education’s Adult Basic Digital Skills agenda, the number of students on the college’s digital skills courses is set to more than quadruple over the next 3 years (from 107 at present to 477 by September 2022).

This growth will come from increasing the numbers of students the college takes on to its existing digital courses and, importantly, from new provision that has been specifically designed to meet employers’ digital skills needs:

• T-Levels: City College Norwich will be among the first colleges to introduce the new T-Level qualification in Digital Skills in September 2020.  The Level 3 course, which is equivalent to 3 A levels, has been designed to meet the needs of employers and includes a substantial work experience element (around 20% of each student’s time on the course).  It will have pathways in Digital Production, Design & Development, Digital Support & Services, and Development & Digital Business Services.  Current Year 10 students can register their interest in T-Levels at City College Norwich at https://www.ccn.ac.uk/t-levels/
• Apprenticeships: With demand from employers growing, City College Norwich expects the number of digital apprentices it trains and assesses to more than double over the next 3 years.  The college already offers employers a range of Level 2 and Level 3 apprenticeships with a digital skills focus, from Infrastructure Technician to Digital Marketer.  From 2022, this will be expanded to as many as 12 different apprenticeship Standards, with the following new apprenticeships (all at Level 4) among those set to be introduced: Network Engineer; Software Developer; Data Analyst; Cyber Security Technologist.
• Basic digital skills for adults: As well as preparing young people for careers in highly-skilled Digi-Tech roles, the college is also responding to employers’ need to have more staff trained to a basic level in digital skills.  The college will support this priority by providing Entry Level and Level 1 Adult Basic Digital Skills to 250 students per year from 2022.   

The Digi-Tech Factory facilities will also be used by students from other curriculum areas across the college, reflecting the reality that digital skills are required in an ever-increasing number of job roles, in every sector of the economy. 

“Great news for our students and for employers”

Giving her reaction to the announcement by New Anglia LEP, Corrienne Peasgood, principal of City College Norwich, said:

“We are thrilled that our plans for an inspirational new building for digital skills can move forward, with a view to opening the Digi-Tech Factory in 2020-21.  The Digi-Tech sector is growing more than twice as fast as the wider economy, so it is essential that we have the right facilities to meet the growing demand for digital skills.  This is great news for our students and for employers.  We will continue to work very closely with our employer partners to make sure our expanding digital skills provision rises to this important opportunity for students, for apprentices and for the Norfolk and Suffolk economy as a whole.”     

Abate Pest Management has been approved as health and safety compliant by the UK’s largest health and safety assessor CHAS (Contractors Health and Safety Assessment) for the 5th year running.

Awarded to businesses that demonstrate excellence in their approach to health and safety, CHAS is recognised industry wide as an acceptable standard to buyers. CHAS will give Abate’s customers further peace of mind and confidence that the work it carries out is fully compliant with the latest health and safety legislations.

The accreditation means that the award-winning Pest Control company, now in its 20th year of operation, can reassure clients about their continued commitment to comply with important health and safety legislation. Working with pest control companies that are accredited with CHAS, offers peace of mind to customers that they are fully compliant with the highest levels of health and safety.

Jon Blake, Managing Director, said: “CHAS is an established industry benchmark, and this award means it’s easier for over 1,000 companies to use us. We have several clients that only work with CHAS approved contractors. These companies use CHAS, as it supports ongoing improvements in the control and selection of its contractors, helping them achieve Health and Safety compliance. It also demonstrates responsibility and safeguard their reputation.”

In addition to Chas, Abate Pest Management are accredited with EN 16636 CEPA certification, SafeContractor, ISO9001, ISO 18001 and ISO14001. They are also a full servicing member of the British Pest Control Association.CHAS (The Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme) was created by experienced health and safety professionals in 1997 to improve health and safety standards across the UK.

To contact Abate please call 01953 603390 or visit https://abatepestmanagement.co.uk