Member News

Coaching is an incredibly powerful tool that can help create more productive, engaged and fulfilled employees.  Despite its many benefits, however, coaching is often under-utilised.

One reason is that coaching is often seen as a learning and development technique that is reserved only for those in executive positions. Nothing could be further from the truth! 

The following are five ways coaching can contribute at all levels of your organisation.

1. Helping staff adapt to change

Managing change, whether driven by technological developments, evolving consumer patterns of behaviour, or organisational re-shaping, is one of the greatest learning and development challenges in any workplace. Changing job roles and responsibilities can be a huge challenge for individuals to get to grips with.  Coaching can help staff to understand that change can be good, helping to shift their mindset from a negative to a positive one, and removing the fear factor from something that is a fact of modern working life.     

2. Improving productivity and performance

The productivity gap in the UK, relative to many of our neighbouring economies, is a long-standing and seemingly intractable issue. Coaching can play a key role in helping individuals feel more confident and achieve real gains in their performance levels.  Where the staff members being coached are managing or leading teams, this can in turn lead to improved productivity by the team as a whole.  

3. Making staff feel valued

Coaching, by its very nature, helps individuals feel more valued.  Introducing coaching within a workplace sends a powerful message to employees that they are valued, that their views matter, and that they are worthy of investment.  This promotes a more inclusive culture within the organisation and helps individuals feel more motivated and engaged with their work. 

4. Assisting in the return to work

One specific application of coaching is assisting people who are returning to work following a career break. Returners report that it can take several months before they feel part of the team again and some say that it can take time to get back to working to the best of their ability.  Coaching can help smooth the transition back to work from maternity/paternity leave or a sabbatical, helping to ensure that this process does not sap an individual’s confidence or motivation during the readjustment period.       

5. Dealing with challenges more confidently

Research by ILM has found that, amongst those who have received coaching, improved confidence, performance and productivity are cited as three of the most positive changes witnessed for themselves, others and their wider team or organisation.  84% said that coaching would have helped them in periods when they struggled to manage an individual. 

Who can become a coach?

With the right training, backed by an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) qualification, coaching skills can be developed by anyone with a commitment to supporting the development of their colleagues.  It brings benefits to the coach, as well as to the colleagues being coached.

One of the key attributes for any workplace coach is the ability to listen and to ask the right questions. You don’t need to have specific knowledge or experience of the specialisms of the people you will be coaching.

The great thing about coaching is that it is provides a very practical skill-set that is flexible enough to deliver results in any workplace, and it can be used with a wide diversity of staff and situations. 

Find out more:

The ILM Coaching Award (Level 3) is offered by City College Norwich, with the next 3-month courses (daytime and evening) starting in April 2019. 

Come along to our next college Information Evening on Thursday 28th February, 4pm-7pm, at our Ipswich Road campus, to find out more. 

This blog is based on the recent ILM report, Cracking Coaching: Five Ways to Make an Impact at Work, which is available at https://www.i-l-m.com/learning-and-development/coaching-and-mentoring-qualifications/cracking-coaching.     

Freebridge Community Housing welcomes tenants to new homes in King’s Lynn

Freebridge Community Housing is delighted to have handed over the keys to eight brand new flats in Albion Street, King’s Lynn, following the completion of work to regenerate the site where the old Blockbusters video store originally stood.

The development which sees a mixture of one and two-bedroom flats also contains two commercial units on the ground floor which are available for rent.

Tony Hall, Chief Executive of Freebridge said: “The work we’ve done on Albion Street has seen us take a site in the centre of town with a building that hadn’t been used for many years and transform it into something that the town can now be proud of.”

“Part of Freebridge’s mission is to develop homes for people in West Norfolk so it’s always extremely rewarding to know that residents will soon be moving in and settling down in these brand new flats. 

“We think the new building on Albion Street is a fantastic addition to the centre of King’s Lynn and we hope the people who have now received keys for the properties will be very happy living there over the coming years.”

Whilst consumers are flocking from the high street to purchase products and services online, the basic principles of their behaviour remain the same. That is, they need something and are prepared to spend money where they feel they’ll get the best value for said money.

The goal of every business, naturally, is to at first attract the attention of such consumers, then convince them they’re the best provider of whatever it is they’re looking for.  

In the days of the high street, it was fairly straightforward for businesses to do this. Indeed, they simply designed impressive shopfronts, hired the most helpful staff, and presented their products in a flattering way. By doing this, it was possible to stop passers-by, get them in for a browse, and deliver the best service with hopes they would purchase a product.  

How online competition works:

When it comes to doing business online, things are slightly different to the world of bricks and mortar. Instead of shops, it is websites which are responsible for generating leads and sales.

Frustratingly, it’s not enough for websites to be attractive, functional, and customer-friendly in the way that shops have to be.

No, websites have to be all of these things and be visible in Google.

Indeed, a well-made website without any search engine optimisation (SEO) to support it is a bit like a beautiful and competitively priced boutique being built it in the Australian Outback.

Sure, a chance traveller will love the place, but it’s not going to reach anywhere near its full potential.   

This means that businesses need to invest in digital marketing campaigns that help to cement their online reputation and improve their standing in Google.

So far, so good.

The fly in the ointment, of course, is that bigger businesses have greater resources than smaller businesses. When it comes to the web, larger organisations are able to spend a greater amount of time securing valuable links through content marketing.

They can also stump up any costs involved in acquiring relevant traffic.

Add these things together and big businesses have themselves websites which perform extremely well.

The flipside of this is that smaller businesses need to get creative if they want to attract new customers online.          

Indeed, with online monopolies continuing to grow, there’s never been a better time to understand how it’s possible to beat them.

How online monopolies are created through Google:

To demonstrate how online monopolies are created through the search rankings, I carried out a couple of searches from my desktop computer in Norwich.   

Bear in mind that Google is aware of my location and is serving up results to reflect this. My first search was for ‘estate agents in Norwich’. Sat in pole position for this enquiry was property giant Right Move.

Despite not having a physical presence in the city, their site came first because it features a portal that lists all of the homes for sale and properties to let in the area.

From a user’s perspective, there’s no doubt this is great. However, my search terms suggest I’m looking for an estate agent based in the city.

Thankfully, a little further down the page was our client Pymm & Co, a Norwich estate agent who do have a physical presence in the city.

Having acquired relevant and local links, their business competes when searches are completed nearby. This is a nice win, obviously.

My second search was for ‘luxury office furniture’. This time it was flatpack kings IKEA who occupied the top spot.

Thanks to their ‘home office’ page, they’re considered by Google to be the most relevant business for anyone looking to spruce up their workplace.

As you might expect of a such a large business, their website presents products in a clean and friendly way, making it easy to complete a purchase.

However, nowhere did I suggest in my search terms that I was looking to furnish a home office. Instead, it would have been more useful to find myself on the site of our client, Office Furniture Scene.   

Indeed, as local experts in both luxury and commercial office furniture, it was with some satisfaction that I saw them appearing below.

What this shows is that, when armed with seemingly endless marketing budgets, big businesses are able to conquer the top spots on Google for various search terms, even when they’re not specialists in them.

This begs the question- what are smaller businesses to do about this? 

How to beat online monopolies:

When it comes to competing with the giants of the web, there can be no doubt that an effective local SEO strategy will be the key to driving new business.

Indeed, securing local and relevant links will ensure that Google considers a small business to be the most useful one for nearby searchers.

It’s also hugely important for small businesses to optimize and post from their Google My Business account, either by themselves or via an agency like ourselves.

By doing this, it’s possible to provide searchers with all the information they need to get in touch and view products.

Known as ‘the 3 pack’, this feature (which sits right at the top of Google) allows local businesses to appear before even the biggest of big businesses. The benefits of this for a small business fighting a monopoly war cannot be overstated.

At Nu Image, we take great pride in helping our clients compete with the goliaths of their respective industries.

Getting to know their business and their competitors, we create carefully thought-out campaigns and employ effective local SEO strategies to attract searchers who are looking for their services.   

Once we’ve got them on the site, we’re also confident that our user-friendly web design and clear calls to action will direct them towards making a purchase, placing a booking, or contacting the business for further information.

In this way, we’re able to effectively combat monopolies which have migrated from the high street to the web, giving smaller businesses a competitive edge.

If you’re interested in finding out more about how we can help your business compete online, give us a call on 01603 859007 or send an email over to hello@nuimagedesign.co.uk.

Growing full-service agency Full Mix Marketing have welcomed an experienced digital marketer to their ranks as they prepare for a busy year ahead.

Laura Nunn becomes the latest addition to their expanding team, bringing with her almost a decade of experience delivering digital marketing for a major publisher and a national digital agency. A self-confessed ‘digital geek’, Laura will help lead and deliver digital marketing including online advertising (PPC), search engine optimisation (SEO) and website design.

“Full Mix Marketing already feels like home” says Laura about her new employers. “It’s lovely to be part of a team that’s so dedicated to doing a good job. It’s great to use all my skills and experience whilst be actively supported to keep learning and developing.”

The Norwich-based agency have grown steadily since they were established in 2016 by CIM Chartered Marketer Sarah West. They have been credited with helping businesses from across the region and beyond to achieve significant success and recently welcomed their first European client from Denmark.

A graduate of Norwich University of Arts, Laura is experienced leading digital marketing teams and takes on responsibility for the growing level of online marketing the full-service agency delivers.

“Laura is an important addition to our team” says Sarah West, Managing Director. “Though we deliver the full mix of effective strategic, creative and offline marketing, digital marketing is naturally a growth area. Not only is Laura ambitious and talented, but she’s helping us provide the proactive focus clients need to achieve their goals online.”

The team of six deliver a full range of strategic, digital and creative marketing for businesses in sectors including IT, retail, logistics, professional services and leisure. In 2018, founder Sarah won the Institute of Directors’ award for New Director of the Year in East Anglia and the agency was named one of the region’s Future50 businesses.

With experience working with national brands including Nicki Clark, Laura has begun taking the lead managing online promotion and helping deliver web design and social media for their growing number of clients.

Full Mix Marketing is currently offering a 20% discount throughout 2019 on all projects they begin before 30th April. Sarah says “We’ve grown steadily since 2016, built a very talented team and gained some great clients. We’ve appreciated the help and support we’ve received along the way and want to do something to help others.”

For more information on Full Mix Marketing visit www.fullmixmarketing.co.uk or contact 01603 446227

Great Yarmouth Borough Council – Annual Business Ratepayers Meeting

People are invited to Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s Annual Business Ratepayers Meeting, which will take place on Tuesday, February 12 at 10am in the Town Hall. This meeting will take place in the Council Chamber and will be chaired by Cllr Carl Smith, the deputy council leader.

Norfolk County Council – Business Ratepayers Consultation event

Norfolk County Council is working in partnership with Norfolk Chamber of Commerce to deliver the county council’s Annual Business Ratepayers Consultation event. It is scheduled for Wednesday, January, 30, 4pm to 6pm, at Club 101, Norwich City Football Ground.

The event provides local business ratepayers with the opportunity to learn more about the County Council’s budget planning and prospects for 2019/20 – and to discuss the impact of this on the County’s delivery of key services as well as the impact on the economy. Click here to book your place.

Lloyds Bank’s Business Barometer for January 2019 shows:

• Overall confidence for firms in the East of England fell four points in the past month to six per cent
• A net balance of four per cent of firms are now pessimistic about the economy, a decrease of two per cent
• Firms’ confidence in their own business prospects was 17 per cent, compared with 27 per cent in December

Business confidence in the East of England fell to its lowest level in more than a year during January, according to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.

Overall confidence slid four points to six per cent, the lowest since the regional Business Barometer report launched a year ago, as companies reported a dip confidence about their business prospects, down 10 points to at 17 per cent.

But East of England firms’ pessimism about the economy lessened slightly, from six per cent to four per cent.

Businesses’ hiring intentions showed that a net balance of eight per cent of firms in the region now expect to reduce their headcount during the next year. At the end of last year, a similar proportion (eight per cent) expected to create new jobs.

This comes despite overall confidence across the UK rising two points to 19 per cent as firms’ optimism about the economy climbed three points to 10 per cent. Companies’ confidence in their own prospects edged up one point to 27 per cent.

The Business Barometer questions 1,200 businesses monthly and provides early signals about UK economic trends both regionally and nationwide.

Steve Elsom, regional director for the East of England at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “Firms across the region have started off the year on a cautious footing with hiring intentions, confidence in business prospects and optimism about the wider economy all falling.

“There’s no doubt that companies across the UK are navigating uncertain times, which makes planning ahead hard. Firms in the East of England have proven their resilience time and time again and we’re committed to be by the side of businesses whatever the year ahead may bring. That’s why we’ve pledged to lend up to £1.7billion to East of England businesses during 2019.”

Across the region, a net balance of 13 per cent of businesses said they felt that the UK’s exit from the European Union was having a negative impact on their expectations for business activity, compared with 18 per cent a month ago.

Regional picture

Businesses in London showed the most confidence, at 36 per cent, ahead of the West Midlands (31 per cent) and the South East (23 per cent).

Those in Scotland and the North East were the least confident, with an overall confidence of just one per cent, 18 points below the national average.

Sectors

The construction and manufacturing sectors had both the highest confidence (30 per cent and 28 per cent respectively) and the strongest hiring intentions (26 per cent and 30 per cent respectively).

Meanwhile, the retail (14 per cent) and services sectors (19 per cent) had both the lowest confidence as well as the weakest hiring intentions (nine per cent and eight per cent respectively).

These pictures were also reflected in the sectors’ views about the impact of Brexit. Net balances of 15 per cent (services) and 13 per cent (retail) expected the UK’s exit from the EU to have a negative impact, compared with just three per cent in manufacturing. A net balance of nine per cent of construction firms expect it to have a positive impact.

Hann-Ju Ho, Senior Economist, Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking commented: “Despite businesses ending 2018 on a low, it’s good to see that, across the UK as a whole, they’ve started the year on a slightly more positive footing.

“The results for the manufacturing and construction sectors are particularly encouraging and we hope the picture will improve further as we move into February and beyond, if geopolitical uncertainties subside.”  

Way to Africa Ltd and its sponsors present Investment opportunities in Africa 2019. Britain’s post-Brexit trade and investment with Africa a continent that hosts some of the fastest growing economies in the world need to be enhanced.

IOA 2019 is an annual event showcasing the many investment and business opportunities that Africa has to offer. IOA 2019 is the first ever sole investment exhibition designed to bring senior African government officials and successful entrepreneurs together with key investors from across the world.

Way to Africa Ltd is aimed at promoting Africa as a prime destination for businesses and investment. This trailblazing event will focus on attracting investment into Africa’s diverse business sectors-agriculture, renewable energy, infrastructural development, real estate, health, culture & tourism, retail, hotel & hospitality, education, mining and technology.

The aim is to highlight Africa’s growing economy, identify trained and trainable young workforce, political stability and the government’s commitment to growth and improving infrastructure, business and investment environments.

The event will be held on Saturday 8th June 2019 from 10am to 4.30pm at Jury’s Inn Midsummer Blvd, Milton Keynes MK9 2HP

We will like to invite all your members to this conference please book your space for free at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/investment-opportunities-in-africa-2019-tickets-53384032077

PestEx is the UK’s largest trade exhibition and conference for the pest control industry and attracts over 2,500 attendees over the 2 days. Abate Pest Management Services will be exhibiting and talking to pest controllers and businesses about looking at ways to either start a business in pest control or ways to grow an existing business using the franchising model.

Creating a business is not always about starting from scratch. Buying a franchise is one way to own a business and start benefiting from it quickly. With an Abate Pest Management Services franchise, the key benefits come from the complete turnkey business package which has excellent opportunities for growth throughout the UK.

Jon Blake said “we are now in our 20th year of operations and have developed into a very successful business. Last year we put the wheels in motion to build a network of franchises to offer clients a first class service throughout the UK and at the same time the opportunity for others to run their own business supported by us.”

It was also announced this week by the franchising team at Lloyds Banking Group, that they would be delighted to consider banking and financial support to prospective franchisees looking at joining the Abate Pest Management Services franchise opportunity.

PestEx is the trade show and exhibition for anyone involved in the pest control industry. From pest management business owners to pest control technicians out on the road. The exhibition runs between 20-21 March 2019 at the London ExCeL exhibition centre in London. You can find out more by visiting https://pestex.org/

The Business Basics Fund is funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and administered by Innovate UK (IUK) on behalf of BEIS, in partnership with the Innovation Growth Lab at Nesta.

The overarching Fund supports a range of projects that test innovative ways of encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to take up productivity-boosting ways of working and technology. Through this second version of the programme, IUK is funding two types of project: trials and proof of concepts.

Trial projects will test different approaches to encouraging SMEs to adopt existing technologies and/or management practices that can boost firm level productivity. Proof of concept projects cover ideas that are in early development.

Proposals must relate to the actions SMEs can take to become more productive by:

• adopting tried-and tested technologies, accountancy, CRM or HR software or payment systems;
• adopting modern business practices;
• improving their use of such tried and tested technologies and management practices already active within the business; or
• or a combination of the above.

A share of up to £2 million is available across the trial and proof of concept projects. Individual levels of support for each project vary according to the competition strand:

Business Led Trials/Non-business Led Trials: Applicants can apply for a total of up to £400,000 grant funding for a trial project in these competitions.

Proof of Concept: Applicants may apply for up to £60,000 in grant funding to run a proof of concept project.

For the Business Led Trials Competition, the lead applicant must be a UK based business of any size. They can work alone, or in collaboration with other organisations. For the Non-business Led Trials Competition, the applicant must be a UK-based public sector organisation, university or research and technology organisation (RTO), or not for profit company. For the Proof of Concept Competition, the applicant must be a UK-based public sector organisation, university or research and technology organisation (RTO), charity, not-for-profit company or business of any size.

All three competitions will open to applications on 28 January 2019 with a deadline for the receipt of applications of 17 April 2019.

Who Can Apply

To lead a project, the applicant must be a UK based business of any size. Lead applicants can work alone, or in collaboration with other organisations.

IUK welcomes projects involving diverse organisations. To be a funded collaborator, the applicant must be a UK based business, academic organisation, charity, not for profit company, public sector organisation or research and technology organisation (RTO).

The project work must be carried out in England.

Click here for more information

Last year we celebrated 40 years in business and our celebratory £40 off offer was so popular we thought we would run it again. Why not celebrate being in business for OVER 40 years!

So, if you order domestic blinds, curtains or shutters by the end of February, you can get £40 off.

We offer free measuring and fitting as standard, plus all products come with a 5-year guarantee.

Click here for more details or you can book an appointment online here.

Volunteering Matters, formerly known as CSV, is a national charity leading UK volunteering in policy and practice. The organisation has over 50 years of experience running volunteer programmes which support families, young people, disabled and vulnerable adults and isolated older people.

Funded by the Department for Education through Norwich Opportunity Area, Norwich Community Mentors help young people and their families to look beyond existing barriers and raise aspirations to achieve both educational and career goals. 

Our project staff pair volunteer mentors with young people at three key transition stages:

• Year 6 moving to secondary school
• Year 9 selecting GCSE options
• Year 11 transitioning from full-time education to employment, education or training

Volunteers receive full training, support and expenses from a dedicated project officer throughout.

For more information, get in contact with Dionne Walton: dionne.walton@volunteeringmatters.org.uk or 01603 273534

The Benjamin Foundation, a charity who supports over 2,500 young people, families and children in Norfolk and Suffolk each year, is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2019.

The charity is looking for volunteers to help make the events it has coming up as successful as possible.

Could you or your colleagues give your time, or perhaps use your allocated CSR (corporate social responsibility) policy hours, to help out at one of the following?

Winter Beer Festival Norwich

Norwich hosts the Great British Beer Festival Winter for its third and final year in 2019 and it takes place from Wednesday 19th to Saturday 23rd February at The Halls, St Andrews St, Norwich. 

Could you help The Benjamin Foundation by volunteering at this event? If you would like to help their team with bucket collections, they would love to hear from you.

There will be a rota with shifts of 2.5 hours throughout the afternoon and evening and volunteers are able to take advantage of limited free beer after their shift.

King’s Lynn GEAR 10K

The Benjamin Foundation are looking for runners who would like to take up the challenge or volunteers to help out at the 2019 GEAR 10K event in King’s Lynn. 

Each year thousands of runners take part in the Grand East Anglia Run (GEAR) 10K, attracted by a scenic route that features the pretty town centre, River Ouse pathway and The Walks. This year’s event takes place on Sunday 5th May 2019.

There are limited free charity spaces if you pledge to raise at least £150 for The Benjamin Foundation. A branded running vest is included. You will be supported with a cheer station and at the marquee in the Charity Village after the race.

The charity is also in urgent need of volunteers between 7:30am and 12 noon to help marshal their section of the race.

If you can help out with either of these events, or if you would like to register to volunteer at other events in 2019, please email events@benjaminfoundation.co.uk or telephone 01603 886932

You can also keep up to date with other exciting plans for their 25th year by signing up to The Benjamin Foundation’s newsletter here: https://benjaminfoundation.co.uk/keep-in-touch