Member News

Roger uses pedal power to raise £11,000 Roger Bowen, owner of TaxAssist Accountants in Llanelli was one of three intrepid cyclists who embarked on an epic bike ride in aid of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital Charity and LATCH Welsh Children’s Cancer Charity.

Roger, along with his friends Craig Colborne, and Hefin Williams cycled from Barcelona to Llanelli as part of The Amigo Cycling Club’s support of #TeamBen. 

It took the trio nine days to cover the 1,100 miles, in the process raising more than £11,000.

Roger said: “The reason we chose Noah’s Ark and LATCH was they helped in the treatment and support of a friend’s son, Ben Cooper, who at age 11, was diagnosed with cancer and spent over six months in hospital undergoing operations and chemotherapy.

“We decided to cycle from the Nou Camp in Barcelona, one of Ben’s favourite football teams, and finish at Scarlets rugby ground, who are Ben’s favourite rugby team.”

Roger said the ride went without a hitch with many highlights, although falling off his bike at 3mph in front of 1000 competitors of the Barcelona Ironman wasn’t one of them!

The Amigos have raised £41,500 this year for various charities and in the 5 years they have been doing this they have raised over £90,000. If you would like to support The Amigos, visit www.justgiving.com/teams/Amigoscycling

On the evening of Friday 1st December the Friends of Sculthorpe Moor (FOSM) held an evening of entertainment at Fakenham Racecourse in memory of wildlife filmmaker and supporter of Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve, David Cobham and used the event to present Hawk and Owl Trust with a cheque for £18,500 towards its Sculthorpe Fen Land Purchase Appeal.

The evening was spent with Lloyd Buck, a bird trainer for wildlife documentary film-making and research, and his wife Rose, recounting fascinating anecdotes from their career raising and training birds.

The audience was delighted that many of the real avian stars were brought along, including the majestic Tilly a Golden Eagle, and Rudi, a well-known Peregrine, star of many wildlife films – although the five Starlings and Bran the Raven caused hilarity by going rather ‘off-script’.

A packed Prince of Wales stand at Fakenham racecourse was treated to a wonderful evening of warmly and entertainingly recounted tales of Lloyd and Rose Bucks life with the birds that they raise and train.

Many of the birds have had starring roles in various wildlife documentaries and a number of them were brought along.

The evening started with short films showing the process of raising a number of goslings, including having them sleep in the bed to get them imprinted on Rose so that they would follow her once they had grown.

A sequence filmed with David Attenborough was shown, featuring a flock of geese flying alongside the boat starred these geese.

The Barn Owl was the first live bird to be introduced to the audience and she happily flew amongst the audience – landing on the bar at one point! She was followed by Rudi, a very well-known Peregrine who has starred in a number of documentaries including ‘Super Fast Falcon’.

Other birds of prey were introduced and then Lloyd and Rose brought in their five trained Starlings, which all had great fun flying (and walking!) amongst the audience searching for meal worms.

In the second half Tilly the Golden Eagle, who often flies with a camera on her back and elderly Sasha the Tawny Eagle met the audience before Lloyd brought in Bran the Raven.

Bran displayed his incredible intelligence by quickly solving 3 complex problems, but then got a bit bored and disappeared behind the screen where he found a pen pot and started throwing the pens out one at a time! Having completed that he ‘mugged’ Lloyd, stealing all the food from his pouch!

During the break Dr Piers Reinhold, chairman of FOSM presented Nigel Middleton, Warden of Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve, with a cheque for £18,500 raised by FOSM through their fundraising events, towards the Sculthorpe Fen Land Purchase Appeal, which had also received a £100,000 boost earlier in the week by the local LEP Growing Places Fund and is waiting to hear this week about its HLF funding bid.

Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve is known nationally for its wildlife, sympathetic and effective management techniques and accessibility to all. The Hawk and Owl Trust, with its national headquarters based at Sculthorpe, is currently in the process of raising £850,00 as part of a £1.7m Sculthorpe Fen Appeal to purchase additional land on either side of the existing reserve and to be able to extend its wildlife management into this area, and make it fully accessible to all.

With the Launch of St Eds and Qube Learning Parnership we are looking to for Vocational Tutor positions for Transport Maintenance and Painting and Decorating

Please contact us if you know of anyone who would have an interest in joining our team and making a difference

Training to be a dentist takes time and dedication and Lovewell Blake wanted a film to showcase in a fun way just how their dedicated team of Dental Accountants understand that!

The team at Eye Film enjoyed the challenge and so now watch Simon, lead Partner of their dedicated team of Dental Accountants, as he steps into the multitude of roles in a dental surgery………..

Great fun to make and a brilliant result we think?  

Starts January 15th.

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The Maids Head Hotel is very pleased to be taking part in the Christmas Tree Festival at St Peter Mancroft Church. The event has been organised by the Rotary Club of Norwich St Edmund and runs until Monday 3 December.

Entry to the festival is free, but donations are very welcome. Proceeds will be split between Norfolk Blood Bikes and Norfolk Accident Rescue Service.

There are paper decorations next to our tree. Children are invited to colour them in and add the decorations to the tree.

East Anglian based chartered accountants, Larking Gowen, is proud to be named as national runner up for the British Chambers of Commerce Workplace Wellbeing Award. The 15th Annual Chamber Business Awards took place last night at a gala dinner at Tobacco Dock in London.

“Attitudes to workplace wellbeing are evolving rapidly. I’m proud to be seen at the forefront of that in this region,” says Jon Woolston, Managing Partner at Larking Gowen. “For us, the wellbeing of all of our team is a fundamental part of our business culture, with positive impacts right across our business.”

Since launching its wellbeing programme, the firm has seen increases in employee retention and productivity, as well as a reduction in sickness absence. The programme is being developed through engagement with employees and Wellbeing Champions and covers physical and mental wellbeing, as well as wider career, financial, social and community aspects.

“We monitor the impact of our wellbeing measures closely,” says Amanda Ninham, Head of Human Resources at Larking Gowen. “We operate in a competitive sector where we have to work hard to attract and retain people.

“To go through the British Chamber’s judging process and to know that we stand out from entries from all over the UK, is brilliant. If our employees feel happier at work and are staying with us for longer, that’s a clear indication our approach works.”

“The partners at Larking Gowen are owner-managers,” continues Managing Partner, Jon Woolston, “and this means we still have a personal interest in and can directly influence the kind of environment we want to work in.

“The nature of our business, with strict submission deadlines, results in periods of intense pressure. It’s particularly important to create a culture where all employees are as happy to discuss mental health and wellbeing as they are to talk about physical health.”

A young CNC Milling Programmer from Norwich has just won the Gold Medal at the WorldSkills UK Competitions to be named National Champion 2018, beating seven other finalists from internationally renowned engineering brands.

Jacob Wiggett competed against the UK’s top CNC Programmers in front of over 70,000 visitors at WorldSkills UK LIVE. Taking place from 15-17 November at the NEC Birmingham, WorldSkills UK LIVE is the country’s largest skills, apprenticeships and careers event.

“The competition was a fantastic experience and I have learned a lot.” Jacob said. “I was a bit nervous about working with all those people watching, but I thought I had done okay. Still, hearing my name come up as the winner came as a bit of a shock.”

Jacob finished his apprenticeship with East Coast College and Thurne-Middleby Ltd, a Norwich based engineering company specialising in design and manufacture of high speed food slicing equipment, in June and is now a full-time CNC Milling Programmer at Thurne. He said: “I’m thankful for the support everyone at Thurne has given me. I have some great mentors, and much of my success is down to them.”

Dean Folkard, Production Manager at Thurne-Middleby Ltd, who attended WorldSkills UK Live to support Jacob, was delighted about the result. “Jacob did brilliantly and we are very proud of his achievement. The standards were very high, and it’s great that all of his hard work and dedication has been rewarded.”

As a company with 77 employees, including six apprentices, Thurne-Middleby Ltd offers a great environment for apprentices to thrive in and develop their skills, enabling them to make an important contribution to Thurne’s in-house manufacturing and design capabilities.

The company’s apprentice scheme was also recently recognised by East Coast College with an award as the Apprentice Employer of the Year 2018.

About Thurne

Thurne offers a comprehensive range of slicing systems for fresh and precooked bacon, cooked and cured meats, natural products and cheese applications.

Our proven solutions are based on 50 years’ experience and are highly regarded by food processors around the world, from small family firms to multi-site corporations. 

When you’re a company with millions of customers, clear communication is absolutely essential.

Anglian Water are extremely active when it comes to public relations. After all, they need to account for every penny they collect in water bills and justify every large scale investment that they make.

There is also a need to educate customers – whether it’s encouraging people to reduce the amount of water they waste or explaining how they can prevent environmental hazards such as fatbergs.  

Throughout 2018, the JMS Group has been involved in various projects to convey these key messages.

During the spring we created a series of whiteboard videos to be used as part of Anglian Water’s 5 year business plan. These short films cover various aspects of the business and were intended to be viewed by water regulator Ofwat. The films explored how Anglian Water engage with customers, what water bills actually pay for, the importance of environmental protection, the challenges faced by population growth, the company’s efforts to become carbon neutral and numerous other topics. The animation style required hand drawn illustrations. This resulted in our Motion Graphics Designer Hugh South spending several days in our TV studio beavering away with a marker pen!

During the summer we created an online video showcasing Anglian Water’s Innovation Shop Window in Newmarket. Here they apply fresh thinking to tackle some of the toughest challenges facing the region: population growth, climate change, water quality and scarcity. Our film showcases some of the exciting new technology they have piloted as well as new efficient ways of working. The Innovation Shop Window is building the water company of the future.

Most recently we have been filming an additional video as part of the 5 year business plan. This film makes the case for one of the biggest investment programmes the region has ever seen. The ambitious plan has been shaped by thousands of conversations with customers and communities. Our director Emma Talmadge took her crew on a journey across the East of England to interview some of these customers and hear why they believe this is the right plan for the region.   

It’s always a pleasure creating content for Anglian Water – let’s hope there’s more in the pipeline!

Staff at Larking Gowen, a firm of chartered accountants, have raised almost £2000 for charity, at their Big Night Out 2018.  

The money has been donated to East Anglian Air Ambulance, whose air crews, rapid response vehicles, and paramedics were called out 2,725 times last year.

“We’re delighted to announce we have raised an incredible £1972.60 to support the work of the East Anglian Air Ambulance across the region,” says Amanda Ninham, Larking Gowen’s head of HR.

“Staff at Larking Gowen have once more proven how generous they are,” Amanda continues, “and we thank everyone who donated, as part of the fundraising for Big Night Out 2018. 

 “We are especially grateful to those who donated raffle prizes, which ranged from spa days, theatre tickets, river trips, and even a special insider tour of the EAAA headquarters.”

 “The EAAA provides vital emergency support for our community, the testimonies of people they have helped really brings that home. But it isn’t funded nationally and relies on donations like ours to keep going,” Amanda explains.

 The event was held at Norwich City Football Club on 12 October. 

TOP businesses stepped into the spotlight at the glittering trophy presentation ceremony for the Spirit of Enterprise Awards, the most prestigious annual celebration of business excellence in the Great Yarmouth borough.

Organised by enterpriseGY, Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s business support service, the popular awards aim to recognise and raise the profile of the borough’s top-performing companies, while boosting confidence in the strength of the local economy. 

The ceremony, held in the Town Hall’s grand Assembly Room on Friday, saw API Microelectronics Limited announced in front of 200 guests as Great Yarmouth’s 2018 Business of the Year, having been chosen from the winners of the other categories by overall award sponsor Noritake Itron.

Special crystal trophies were also presented to the winners of the various categories, with finalists spanning a wide diversity of sectors, including energy and manufacturing, tourism and hospitality, retail, recruitment and professional services. Each award was backed by a local organisation, with each sponsor or their representative choosing the winner in their category (see list of sponsors and winners below).

API Microelectronics Limited, which has a design and manufacturing facility at South Denes, won the Great Manufacturing/Engineering Business category and was then selected as overall winner from among the category winners by Noritake Itron.

Matt Howchin, general manager at API Microelectronics Limited, said: “We were really excited to be shortlisted in three categories, so to win the Great Manufacturing/Engineering Business category and then be named 2018 Business of the Year is such a great accolade and the whole team is thrilled to have this badge of honour.

“As one of the longest-standing employers in the borough, the business has seen significant changes in technology, market conditions and globalization. But through continued innovation and investment in people and products, together with manufacturing excellence backed by industry-leading accreditations, we have grown and prospered.

“The business is very much part of the community and these awards are important recognition by that community, as well as a reflection of the hard work and dedication of staff. The trophies will be displayed at our office, acting as a morale boost for everyone and sending a very positive message to our clients.”

Cllr Graham Plant, the council leader, who made a speech at the ceremony, said: “In addition to boosting investor confidence, the Spirit of Enterprise Awards encourages businesses to be aspirational and proud of the role they play in the local business community, which is world class.

“The awards evening is always a brilliant showcase of business excellence. This year, we’ve seen another batch of strong entries, and once again we have been hugely impressed by the many excellent businesses of different sizes and sectors, who are ambassadors for the strength of the local economy.

“I would like to congratulate all the shortlisted finalists, category winners and overall winner, as well as thank the sponsors, including overall award sponsor Noritake Itron.”

Andy Stubbings, of Noritake Itron, said: “Choosing an overall winner was tough, but we selected API Microelectronics Limited based on their submission and background research online. Key factors were their contribution to employment in Great Yarmouth, advanced product development and manufacturing technique, export market penetration, return on capital employed, bottom line profitability and sustainability compared to the other category winners.”

The media partners for this year’s awards were the Great Yarmouth Mercury and The Beach radio station, whose morning show presenter Rob Chandler compered the ceremony. Desmond MacCarthy, of Wiveton Hall, who is best known from TV documentary Normal for Norfolk, was the keynote speaker.

Categories

Sponsors

Winners

Great Manufacturing/Engineering Business

P&S Personnel

API Microelectronics Limited

Great New Business

The Go Trade Project (judged by the Mercury)

Sam Race Venue Decoration

Great Business Growth

Bateman Groundworks

Strictly Theatre

Great Business Idea

Aston Shaw

Bellyboos

Great Customer Service

GYTABIA (judged by The Beach)

Hammond Cars

Great Family Owned Business

Birketts Solicitors

Hammond Cars

Great International Growth

Pasta Foods

P&S Personnel

Great Investment in People

Norse Group

Aston Shaw

Great Community Contribution

Potters Friends Foundation

Home-Start Norfolk

Business of the Year

Noritake Itron

API Microelectronics Limited

We’re deleighted to welcome three new people to our growing team over the past month.

Jamal Hunter brings over four years of technical SEO experience to our team. Working as our new Digital Marketing Executive he will oversee our search engine optimisation campaigns as well as helping to run our growing Pay Per Click accounts.

Shane Gammage has joined us as Digital Marketing Consultant. With over seven years’ experience in Pay Per Click, Social Media and Email marketing, he has already started expanding our client base and providing strategy and campaign advice to clients.

Last but not least, Kris Coidan joins us as a full-stack web developer. Kris is a self-taught enthusiast who loves a challenge and will help us continue to produce high quality websites for our clients.

About Bigfork

We help clients grow their businesses with our expertise in website design, search engine optimisation, pay per click campaigns and social media marketing. We pride ourselves on our passion for high quality work and creating measurable results for our customers.

www.bigfork.co.uk