TaxAssist Accountants once again provided its franchisees with personalised versions of the Budget 2018 material on the day to share and communicate with clients, prospects and business referral contacts.
With the added challenge of the Chancellor Philip Hammond starting his Budget statement three hours later than usual, the Support Centre team in Norwich, wrote and published a summary highlighting the announcements that will affect small businesses and the self-employed, and an e-mail newsletter for its 70,000 clients.
The latter was personalised for franchisees’ individual websites, and produced for print and e-publications, enabling franchisees to share with their clients the changes pertinent to their businesses just hours after the Chancellor delivered his Budget.
During the day, the Support Centre team also posted live updates to the @TaxAssistUK Twitter account, as well as posts on the national Facebook and LinkedIn channels. The following content was added to the website www.taxassist.co.uk for franchisees to share on their social media profiles:
James Mattam, Group Business Development Director at TaxAssist Accountants, said: “Our Support Centre staff pride themselves on producing an informative Budget commentary for the benefit of both the accountants in our network and their clients.
“This year our team faced a tighter than usual turnaround time due to the Chancellor choosing to deliver his Budget statement at 3.30pm rather than 12.30pm. Their dedication and pure hard work ensured that our network had various content to share with their clients not long after the Budget speech ended and ahead of the competition.
“The efficiency of delivering our client newsletter is thanks to the proactive centralised mailing service we offer to our network. It lets us communicate on behalf of franchisees quickly and efficiently, leaving them free to concentrate on running their practices. This and our highly regarded content are just two of the many business development services we offer our franchisees, as well as being among of the many reasons people decide to join our network.”
East Anglia’s only world-class data centre is now an approved IT supplier on the UK government’s G-Cloud 10 framework, helping public sector organisations access their approved services.
Launched in July 2018, the latest G-Cloud 10 digital marketplace gives public sector organisations access to cloud hosting, cloud software and cloud support services from approved suppliers, now including MIGSOLV.
“We’re thrilled to be a part of the latest G-10 framework” says David Manning, Managing Director for MIGSOLV. “It’s a demonstration of the quality of our services and their importance to the public sector in providing a low-cost way to transition to a cloud strategy.”
G-Cloud 10 is the tenth iteration of the government’s framework for public sector bodies, allowing them to purchase cloud-based IT services via their Digital Marketplace. The new framework boasts several improvements over the preceding G-Cloud 9, including opening up the marketplace to new and innovative suppliers, making it easier to navigate and including cyber security services.
As an accredited supplier, MIGSOLV’s services are now easily accessible to buyers through the online database which encourages participation and competition from similar small-to-medium commercial suppliers. By becoming an approved member, MIGSOLV will have a greater opportunity to help public sector organisations achieve their digital transformation objectives.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy” stated Oliver Dowden, the MP who led G-Cloud 10’s launch in July. “By bringing forward the introduction of G-Cloud 10, the government will ensure public sector IT customers have access to the latest cloud-based technologies and services. The success of G-Cloud demonstrates how we are breaking down the barriers for SMEs and helping deliver the next stage of their growth.”
MIGSOLV’s purpose built world-class Gatehouse data centre offers 24/7 housing and protection of organisation’s IT. The announcement of their inclusion in the government framework coincides with MIGSOLV launching a wider range of colocation, cloud and connectivity services, allowing public sector procurement to reduce costs and find the perfect solution for their data storage, protection and cloud migration.
For more information on MIGSOLV’s services visit www.migsolv.com or call 01603 510321.
With the health, supplement and nutrition industries growing hugely in the UK, there has been a great increase in the number of businesses selling these types of products online. This has means that the industry both online and offline have become more competitive than ever. Having been approached by the team at Missfits Nutrition, we are pleased to announce that we are working with them to get them found online, building on what is already a strong brand presence.
Missfits Nutrition sell a range of health-related, protein and dietary supplements including whey and vegan protein amongst others.
Having a brand that is known online, poses a number of challenges and our search engine optimisation (SEO), design and lead generation teams are working hard on these aspects for Missfits. With a newly designed website, we have been able to start getting Missfits on the right path to success online via Google, Bing and other search engines.
What we are doing
The Missfits Nutrition website was currently only ranking for brand terms and a few other, lower volume terms. This has been in part due to the lack of various crawling factors’ implementation across the site as well as a lack of clear targeting. We have therefore been working on the following, amongst all other factors to improve how Google and other search engines can rank the site:
Meta data – one of the first criteria that search engines assess, we have been updating and optimising their meta data. This is all based on thorough keyword research and industry analysis. This data allows the site to target what is needed with relevant pages and make sure that users are presented with the most relevant search results subject to their searches online.
Website code – the source code upon which a website is built is key to the performance and the rankings of any site. With Missfits’ website being built via a strong content management system (CMS), we have been able, along with their development team to implement a number of fixes, updates and changes to ensure the code is optimised for search engines and can be crawled effectively. This has also helped to improve the website’s overall responsiveness and speed.
Content, headings and targeting – we have been carrying out keyword and industry research to determine the best terms to target in their industry based on their targets. This has led us to begin a comprehensive audit of all of the website content. Furthermore, this ongoing keyword research means that we are consistently honing what the site is ranking for, ensuring it always remains relevant.
Online PR – a key part of SEO and online marketing is the overall reputation and PR of a site. We are working with a number of relevant websites to feature Missfits Nutrition, helping increase the degree of exposure they are likely to enjoy online, acting as a powerful trust signal for Google and other search engines.
Tracking performance – Key to monitoring and building on success, we are tracking the performance of the website from both a speed and responsiveness point of view as well as in terms of which keywords and search terms it ranks for to make sure we are on top of all happenings.
A rising-star technology firm has joined forces with East Anglia’s world-class data centre to offer businesses with increasingly expensive public cloud costs a way to seamlessly migrate to a more affordable private or hybrid solution.
Data Processing firm Spicule have partnered with MIGSOLV to launch a private cloud service which not only dramatically reduces costs but ensures a safe and seamless migration of significant data out of the public cloud.
“For many businesses, public cloud compute and storage resources are a cost-effective way to operate compared to alternatives” reports Tom Barber, Managing Director of Spicule. “However, the balance can soon tip when even modest levels of virtual servers and data begin to grow. Partnering with MIGSOLV, we’re able to give businesses a way to dramatically reduce the costs whilst benefitting from even greater protection.”
Data intensive businesses, deploying in some of the world’s major cloud providers, are finding their increasing needs are resulting in spiralling costs which are difficult to resolve without impacting their business. The two tech-innovators have come together to create a highly secure cloud solution which lowers costs whilst delivering a number of additional benefits.
The new ‘private’ cloud service will allow businesses to own their own unique fully functioning private cloud, all stored and managed by MIGSOLV and Spicule. Spicule will provide the software and expertise to seamlessly migrate and manage business’s existing data and services. Exclusive use of MIGSOLV’s data centre to house the required hardware will provide greater assurances, unfettered access and UK data sovereignty. As well as these advantages, the service will provide significant cost savings for many businesses, compared to mainstream cloud services.
“Spicule are a new and exciting company with very impressive experience and expertise” says David Manning, MIGSOLV’s Managing Director. “With their data know-how and our world-class facilities, we’re very excited to work together to deliver something unique for medium-to-large sized businesses.”
Established in the University of East Anglia’s Enterprise Centre in Norwich, Spicule have recently expanded to larger offices just outside the city. Specialising in solutions to collate and analyse large quantities of data, their software already boasts use by organisations including NASA, Netflix and the US government.
MIGSOLV’s data centre, The Gatehouse, is the East of England’s only purpose-built commercial data storage facility. The heavily guarded building houses computer servers and IT equipment for its customers, protecting them from threats including theft, extreme weather and power cuts. Hardware is installed within a temperature and humidity-controlled environment, with eight days back-up power and some of the fastest connectivity in the region.
It is anticipated the new services will be popular with medium to large businesses, as well as public sector organisations. “There is a gap in the market for truly first-class and affordable public to private cloud migration solutions for fast growing companies” concludes David Manning. “We’re very excited to be working with Spicule to deliver the type of private cloud offering usually reserved for the very largest global businesses.”
The way to donate transparently this Christmas! Your Own Network.
There is so much great stuff going on, that those of us that want to reach into our pockets to make a donation are often overwhelmed. And local businesses are no different
Your Own Network offers the solution!
Your Own Network offers the unique opportunity to give direct to a vulnerable young person setting up home for the first time.
And we’re launching our campaign in partnership with Norfolk Chamber of Commerce – they too see the benefit of #transparentgiving. They will be supporting Your Own Place to reach local businesses.
Who wouldn’t want their hard earned cash to go direct to the person benefitting rather than disappear into the company accounts? And it’s no different for local businesses who also want to make a difference at this time of year and may be feeling the squeeze.
How it works:
Young people starting out on life and moving into their own place without family to help them out need furniture and household items. We all know that a house is not a house when it’s empty. Research tells us that if our homes are not furnished and looked after, we are less likely to hold onto them and could end up homeless.
We’ve teamed up with Argos so that young people create a wishlist of furniture and smaller household items. Donors – individuals or businesses can find out a bit about the young person on the website and buy them something from their wishlist. This helps to prevent youth homelessness!
This is giving with a difference #transparentgiving #yourownnetwork
What Aaliyah says about the things she has received: “Well I really appreciate the items that I received as had some money problems. I feel so grateful that random strangers want to help out. It’s given me hope”.
A bit more about Your Own Place Your Own Place CIC is based in Norwich and Ipswich and operates across Norfolk and Suffolk. We’re a social enterprise that works with over 150 young people a year to prevent them from becoming the future homeless population. We do this as a sustainable business working with all members of the community to secure a diverse income.
Your Own Place is a member of the Future 50 group.
We were also shortlisted for the FSB Small Business Award in 2018, the Homeless Link Social Enterprise Award in 2018, the EDP Skills of Tomorrow Award in 2017 and the PwC Social Impact award in 2016.
We were founded in 2013 by Rebecca White. Rebecca has recently featured in the Natwest Wise100 women social entrepreneurs in the country.
Full Mix Marketing are delighted to announce they’ve achieved Recommended Status from The Drum (formally the Recommended Agency Register) having received a number of strong endorsements from their clients.
The Recommended Agency Register is an independent online resource on which businesses can search and compare client reviews for marketing, digital and creative agencies. It is currently undergoing a rebrand to become The Drum.
The Norwich-based agency was delighted that a number of their valued clients took time to share their experiences of working with them and provide such positive feedback.
Karen Rogers of IT experts Corbel identified the full-service agency as ‘highly knowledgeable’, ‘very professional’ and ‘clearly committed’ to Corbel’s success.
Andrew Brammer of manufacturers PSS stated ‘Sarah and here team have really helped professionalise our image and marketing. They’re a pleasure to work with and the web design, social media, print and other marketing they’ve delivered for us has been excellent, and we are seeing real and tangible benefits.’
Jane Bull from Johnston Logistics UK said ‘Everything they deliver has been to the same high standard and we’ve the confidence to let them get on with our marketing. We’ve exciting times ahead and Full Mix Marketing are a vital part of our growth. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them.’
Led by an award-winning and CIM Chartered marketer, the team focus on the effectiveness of every element of digital, offline, creative or strategic marketing they deliver. Full Mix Marketing would like to thank all their clients who’ve identifying the skills, ease and professionalism with which we deliver the results they need.
Gasway Services Ltd, a subsidiary company of Flagship Group, has strengthened its position as East Anglia’s largest heating company following the acquisition of Colchester-based Blue Flame Services.
Gasway operates across East Anglia, London and the Home Counties providing heating and hot water solutions for home owners, businesses and social housing landlords. Blueflame, which provides gas, oil, electric and renewable services in Suffolk and Essex has become a subsidiary of Gasway. Together, the two businesses will be stronger, have greater competitive scale to take advantage of more opportunities across East Anglia.
Both companies share similar values and have the same focus; the collaboration will bring together complimentary services to offer the market. The acquisition will create a total workforce of over 300 and a combined revenue c£30m.
Managing Director of Gasway Liam Betts said: “We are delighted with the acquisition which supports our growth strategy. It also firmly establishes our aim to continue to expand and grow our brand geographically. We are very much looking forward to working together with everyone at Blueflame during this next phase of growth.”
Director at Blueflame Kevin Bull said: “Although we have successfully grown over the last few years, for the business to continue to grow and achieve its full potential, becoming part of a larger group was vital.
“We are excited by the acquisition which will safeguard the futures of our staff, bringing about opportunities for individual growth and progression as well as organisational success under new ownership. As a stronger business we will be able to provide even better services for our customers.”
Larking Gowen LLP is delighted with the announcement that Norfolk ProHelp has secured significant funding, as well as new sponsorship. Norfolk ProHelp provides free professional and strategic advice to charities and community interest groups throughout Norfolk. Julie Grimmer, Partner at Larking Gowen LLP, acts as voluntary Chair for the organisation. Larking Gowen was amongst the founder members of the group in the late 1990s. They identified, along with a number of other professional businesses, a need for charities and community organisations to access pro bono, top-level professional advice, including finance, law, architecture, design and structural engineering. The Virgin Money Foundation, an independent charity, contacted Julie to encourage a grant application in order to replace existing funding which was coming to an end. The new award is worth £30,000 over three years and will cover vital back office and administrative support. In addition, the organisation has secured funding from three new corporate sponsors, Leathes Prior, Hugh J Boswell, as well as Larking Gowen.
“Norfolk ProHelp is a lean organisation,” explains Julie, “and, while I and the rest of the board are volunteers, having paid administrative support is vital in connecting the businesses on the Norfolk ProHelp panel with the charity and community sector projects most in need of these services. In future, we will be partnering with Norfolk Community Foundation to match the Not for Profit Sector groups and projects with the professional organisations who form the Norfolk ProHelp panel. The panel, includes architects, lawyers, accountants, tax and property specialists, structural engineers, insurance brokers as well as marketing, media and design specialists, all of whom generously provide their expertise for free, to the charities and community groups that contact ProHelp. Working in partnership with Norfolk Community Foundation and supported by the Virgin Money Foundation, together with the commercial sponsors, will enable us to grow the number of businesses participating and spread the word about the pro bono work on offer.” The funding announcement was made by Julie Grimmer, and Richard Walton, a representative of the Virgin Money Foundation, on Wednesday 7 November, at the annual Norfolk ProHelp breakfast show case following the annual National Pro Bono Week celebrations. The breakfast was also featured in the Eastern Daily Press. “Norfolk ProHelp provides invaluable support,” says Julie. “We see the free support we give to be effectively a form of initial seed finance which allows projects to progress.
“It is, however, often the panel members working together that makes the greatest impact. We may for example, be approached by a playgroup needing help with a building project. We can put the playgroup in touch with an architect, a planning specialist and structural engineers. However, a VAT specialist can advise the playgroup on possible VAT recovery, or developing a professional business plan which is then used to make applications for further funding,” Julie adds. “Larking Gowen has been involved in Norfolk ProHelp from the very beginning and remains an active member of the panel of firms committed to supporting the Not for Profit Sector. We are also proud to be part of the panel for Suffolk ProHelp.
“The firm’s involvement with Suffolk ProHelp is not quite as lengthy as with Norfolk but I am particularly pleased that, in my first year as Chair of Norfolk Prohelp, Larking Gowen LLP has supported a cross county project in collaboration with Suffolk ProHelp. “Larking Gowen’s long-standing support for ProHelp is part of the firm’s ethos of community and social responsibility. Continuing to appreciate and value the place the business has in the wider communities is a vital part of our vision and our business culture but there are a number of benefits to the firm and whole team. One is exposure to partnership working, whereby businesses, who would otherwise be unlikely to work together, cooperate to assist charities and projects requiring professional and strategic support. The projects are also a chance for the team to widen their professional experience.
“Aside from the clear good that Norfolk ProHelp does supporting grass-roots projects,” Julie continues, “employees of partner organisations get the opportunity to work in new sectors, and to work collaboratively with professionals from other sectors, which is both personally rewarding and helps develop skills fundamental to providing good client service.” “The funding and sponsorship announced today is fantastic news,” Julie concludes. “It allows Norfolk Prohelp to continue to provide advice and services to Norfolk charities and community groups free of charge, in turn enabling them to grow, and deliver vital services across Norfolk.”
AFI KLM E&M subsidiary is delighted to announce the addition of the Boeing 737 MAX to it’s EASA Part 145 & 147 Approval.
A European leader in the regional jets and narrow body aircraft market, and having an internationally acknowledged expertise on the Boeing 737, Embraer 170/190, BAe146/Avro RJ, Fokker 70/100 and Airbus A320 Family, KLM UK Engineering is delighted with this latest addition.
Peter van der Horst, Managing Director, said ‘KLM UK Engineering is delighted to have gained the approval for the Boeing 737 MAX. This was the natural progression for us, after delivering Boeing 737 maintenance & training for over 15 years on the Classic & recently celebrating 10 years supporting the Boeing 737NG. With significant demand for both type and practical training for this product we have already sold out of courses for the remainder of this year and have courses booked for 2019’.
The Company’s training facility recently relocated to the International Aviation Academy Norwich, which is adjacent to the main base maintenance operation. This facility has been purpose built to accommodate aviation engineering training, with a live Boeing 737 aircraft, fully equipped workshops and state of the art classrooms, to create a great learning environment. The Company has been successfully delivering maintenance for the Boeing products at its heavy maintenance facility in Norwich and through its extensive line maintenance network throughout the UK. To find out more about these products & services please visit our website.
JMS recently piloted Norwich-based financial lenders, Guarantor My Loan through their first ever national TV campaign.
With the finance sector currently facing some bad press and following the recent furore surrounding companies like Wonga, we felt it was time to re-focus on the benefits of financial assistance – and the human problems it can solve.
From past experience in financial advertising productions at JMS, we know only too well how many compliance issues such commercials must navigate through, so we had to tread a fine line between creating an informative and accurate explanatory commercial which would also appeal to viewers on an emotional level.
It may be cliché, but storytelling in advertising is key, and constructing a narrative in 30secs or less can be challenging. The audience must identify with the scenario almost instantly. A loan can be used for anything of course, so we opted for the simple life-changing scenario of dad being able to relinquish his role as the family taxi. With Guarantor My Loan he can help his daughter broaden her horizons (and also gain a lift!)
The shoot was outdoors, so as usual we were prepared for a range of challenges – even a bright, sunny day, which it turned out to be! The key shots of dad and daughter together were to be filmed through the windscreen, which sounds simple until you factor-in the intensity and constantly-changing angle of the sun, and the resulting shadows and reflections. Thankfully our Director of Photography, Emma Talmadge, is a veteran at handling sunlight, and arrived fully equipped with an elaborate selection of sunshades and nets to ensure the only highlights and sparkles came from the performers – not the windscreen!
The campaign is now running on channels throughout the UK.
Breakwater IT are delighted to be enhancing their in-house SharePoint® expertise with the addition of Andrew Carter, SharePoint Consultant, to their team.
SharePoint is fast becoming an integral part of the way many organisations now communicate and process information.
Part of the Office 365 suite, SharePoint enables users to share and manage content, knowledge and applications. It is essentially a mobile intranet through which team sites can be created for every project and discussion. Files can be shared, along-with data, news and resources, internally and externally and across locations and devices.
SharePoint is also ideally placed to transform business processes, including everything from simple tasks like notifications, holiday requests and expense claims to complex operational workflows.
More than 200,000 organisations and 190 million people have SharePoint for intranets, team sites and content management.
At Breakwater we are seeing more demand for the functionality SharePoint has to offer and we value having expert knowledge within the team to advise clients on its capabilities and to develop and install the solution.
Andrew is experienced in developing and installing SharePoint sites, having run his own SharePoint consultancy company, “I have the opportunity at Breakwater to provide guidance as to how SharePoint can be tailored to meet clients’ exact requirements. This is a hugely adaptable platform and it is important for organisations to understand how it can be both branded and developed to create the unique efficiencies they require. I very much look forward to working with clients on projects that enable time and cost-saving processes within their operation.”