Youth charity, OPEN Youth Trust (OPEN), has announced the 2019 Norfolk Youth Awards are open for nominations.
Earlier this year, OPEN held their inaugural Norfolk Youth Awards, which saw 27 young people and 3 youth organisations shortlisted for an award. The decision to host the awards was described by the OPEN’s Chief Executive, John Gordon-Saker, as being “an easy choice, we have always believed in giving young people an opportunity to develop and succeed in their passions, and life in general. It was an excellent chance to celebrate these outstanding achievements and recognise how incredibly hard young people across Norfolk work in a variety of areas, and we just couldn’t pass it up.”
The inspiring ceremony saw young people from all areas of the county being awarded in categories such as volunteer, education and outstanding achievement, as well as a hero category for adults nominated by young people for their own inspirational work.
This year, OPEN hopes to raise the bar for the awards, with a larger number of nominees in each category and a wider contribution from people and organisations across the county. The 2019 awards will be hosted by Joe Crowley, Ambassador for OPEN and presenter of The One Show and Countryfile, along with influential members of the community who will announce the winners and a panel of judges including Cindee Creham, CEO of Momentum Norfolk, who will make the final decisions. Nominations for the following categories will opened on Monday 24th September:
Community – sponsored by Inspiring Learning
Sport (Individual) – sponsored by Active Norfolk
Team of the Year – sponsored by East of England Co-Op
Arts – sponsored by N W Brown
Charity – sponsored by Price Bailey
Entrepreneur – sponsored by Larking Gowen
Perseverance – sponsored by Indigo Swan
Momentum Volunteer Award – sponsored by the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Norfolk
Education – sponsored by Hugh J Boswell
Members of the public, youth groups and anyone working with young people have until Monday 31st December to submit their nominations.
Nominations can either be submitted online or by picking up a nomination form from OPEN’s café or box office, nominees must be aged between 11-19 (or up to 25 years for those with additional needs) and living in Norfolk, with the exception of the Hero Award, sponsored by Norfolk Constabulary.
Spire Solicitors are kindly sponsoring the Outstanding Achievement Award which will be announced during the ceremony on Wednesday 24th April 2019.
The main sponsors for the awards are City College Norwich, Norwich City Football Club and Norfolk County Council.
East Anglian based chartered accountants, Larking Gowen, is proud to be announced regional winner of the Workplace Wellbeing Award in the British Chambers of Commerce ‘Chamber Business Awards 2018’, it has been announced today.
“Attitudes to workplace wellbeing are rapidly evolving. 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 isn’t just a desirable ‘add on’, it’s a fundamental part of our business culture, with positive impacts right across our business.”
Since launching its wellbeing programme, which is being continually developed through engagement with employees and Wellbeing Champions and covers physical and mental wellbeing, as well as wider career, financial, social and community aspects, the firm has seen increases in employee retention and productivity, as well as a reduction in sickness absence.
“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. 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.”
Larking Gowen will now go forward to the national finals of the Chamber Business Awards. The winners will be announced at a gala dinner at Tobacco Dock in London on 29 November.
The tide of The Bodyguard has certainly caught our imagination. Over 11 million people watched the concluding episode on Sunday.
Right Angle Corporate have been offering a hugely popular Bodyguard Experience for the past three years; designed by former Scotland Yard detectives to give great authenticity. This immersive experience lasts for three hours and clients can expect this:-
Protecting The Principle – Weapons disarming (Firearms, Knives and sticks). This also supplements the healthy workforce philosophy and you don’t need to be Jackie Chan!
Sharp Shooting – Using simulated firearms (Laser weapons or air weapons). Bodyguards have to be first class shots. Clients will also be shown have weapons are concealed by Bodyguards and how they can be deployed immediately
Surveillance Exercise – Clients will be issued with covert radios and state of the art “bugging” and eavesdropping equipment. There is a threat to the principle and this has to be averted. Clients plan using special force’s briefing system. A suspect has to be followed using covert foot surveillance methods, usually the domain of the police and security services.
Scores are apportioned to each team. The winners receive some Scotland Yard branded items, marking the fact they are now Bodyguards.
Of course we could! This was one project we could really get our teeth into!
Gnaw launched in Norfolk in 2011. Now these premium chocolate bars and treats are available all across the UK and in 23 faraway countries. We devised a video to launch their new Chocolate & Granola Bars – with the focus on the delicious ingredients.
Our colourful concept involved stop motion animation. Fortunately there is a 24 hour McDonalds close to our studio as Emma & Alice found themselves working late into the evening thanks to the painstaking animation process. Basically…
Make some tiny movements, take a shot. Make some tiny movements, take a shot. Make some tiny movements, take a shot. Make some tiny movements, take a shot. Make some tiny movements, take a shot. Make some tiny movements, take a shot. Make some tiny movements, take a shot. Make some tiny movements, take a shot. Make some tiny movements, take a shot. Make some tiny movements, take a shot… you get the idea!
The shoot required a lot of precision. We even had to slice the orange segments very finely and cover the back in greaseproof paper to ensure no juice leaked on to our specially painted wood backgrounds! Meticulous. But hey the results were worth it!
Oh and Gnaw very kindly let us keep all the leftover chocolate! Yum yum!
If you are looking to promote a product or service with video content, give us a call on 01603 811855, we’d love to work with you!
MINT, the employment service for 16-25 year olds run by City College Norwich, has celebrated the achievements of the latest group of young people to complete its Hospitality Pre-Employment Project.
Eight young people recently completed the 12-week course, which combines training in core areas such as food hygiene, work experience with local employers, and support with finding and applying for jobs.
The group all came to MINT with the aim of developing their employability skills and gaining relevant experiences that can help them secure jobs in hospitality and catering.
By the end of the course all eight had greatly enhanced their job prospects through new skills, qualifications and successful work placements in a variety of restaurants and kitchens.
Four have already been successful in securing jobs in hospitality – and MINT’s Job Coaches will continue to provide help and support to those still seeking the right job opportunity.
These latest successful outcomes mean that MINT has helped 17 young people secure jobs within hospitality in the last year alone.
Local hospitality employers have been indispensable to MINT’s success in preparing young people for jobs in the sector.
Zaks, Logans, Costa Coffee (Nelson Hotel), The Norwich Castle Café, Starbucks Riverside (23-5 Degrees), The Norwich Hotel and Norse’s Ellacombe Care Home all provided the young people with invaluable work experience.
Further support for the Hospitality Pre-Employment Project has been provided by Mercure Hotel, Barnham Broom, The Broads Authority, Sprowston Manor Hotel & Country Club, Prosper Recruitment, The British Red Cross, The Millennium Library and Intu Chapelfield Shopping Centre.
Chloe Pitman, 19, from North Walsham, said: “The work experience has been helpful. I worked at Logans doing pot wash, serving food, making drinks. We’ve also done cooking competitions, we looked around the Mercure Hotel and Sprowston Manor, we’ve done mock interviews.”
Anderton Chigoneka, 21, from Norwich, commented: “I’ve really enjoyed the course. The mock interviews were the most useful part because it’s given me more confidence in doing job interviews. I’d like to get a Kitchen Porter or Commis Chef job, something in the kitchen. The MINT staff are very nice people, they’ve helped me a lot.”
Rita Allison, 24, from Norwich, added: “This course has helped me to grow my confidence in this sort of industry. It’s been really helpful and really good. MINT’s been really supportive. I’ve gained skills and confidence, a lot of things.”
The team at MINT are always keen to hear from local employers with hospitality vacancies, as well as those able to offer work experience to enthusiastic young people looking to work in the sector.
Come and join us for the second Engaging Norfolk event, following its successful launch on Norfolk Day!
At the launch event, David Macleod OBE introduced the four enablers for successful employee engagement. At this second meeting we will be focusing on ‘Strategic Narrative’, which relates to visible, empowering leadership that provides a strong strategic narrative about the organisation, where it’s come from and where it’s going.
We are incredibly lucky to have two fantastic speakers:
Faran JohnsonChief Executive, Engage for Success
Faran joined Engage for Success in May 2018 as Managing Director following the newly formed alliance with CIPD. Faran has experience of large-scale cultural transformation in the private and public sectors and in private equity. Faran has worked within multinational complex organisations undergoing significant change – HM Courts & Tribunals Service, Clear Channel Outdoor Holding Inc, Reed Elsevier plc, AXA plc and First Data Corporation.
Chris SargissonChief Executive, Norfolk Chamber of Commerce
Successful local entrepreneur, Chris Sargisson was appointed as Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce in June 2017. Chris is a disruptor with over 25 years’ experience within digital start-ups and executive coaching. Launching hugely successful businesses including; its4me plc, an online car insurance broker and House Revolution, one of the UK’s first online estate agencies.
Chris is passionate about ensuring the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce has a customer centric culture that can respond positively to changes in the external environment. Chris will share how he is ensuring his team connect to the vision of the organisation and know how the changes he is making will impact them and the part they play in the future of the organisation to ensure they are both engaged and delivering outstanding customer service.
We will also be enjoying a light breakfast giving you the opportunity to network with like-minded Norfolk businesses.
We’ve been up to all sorts over the last few weeks. Our bar is open – Adnams are kindly helping us with the finishing drinkable touches this week and Andrew and Dan are working on a small snacks menu to compliment our cocktails – and dreams … The handmade gold Cellar table in our private dining space for 12 is in and looking proud, we’ve soundproofed the chef’s table room so you can watch the chefs squirrelling away – without the language! We’ve launched spa treatments – for residents and this week for locals too as we open our dedicated beauty room. We’ve also launched a brand new website. Take a peek here … www.thedialhouse.org.uk
This month we’re ready to announce our calendar line up of new demonstration events and also launch the Dial House Christmas Hampers featuring all our local super suppliers.
The Dial House Christmas Hampers have landed! The Dial House Deluxe hamper will be on sale from October onwards and features treats from our local suppliers in a Dial House wicker hamper – the perfect local gift for loved ones.
Our Dial House Grand Hamper can be ordered this month until the last week of November and can be collected from us in a carefully packed apple crate on the mornings of 22nd or 23rd December and will feature the same treats as the Deluxe hamper plus key players for the perfect Norfolk Christmas – including a beautiful free-range turkey, local cheese, Norfolk cider, award-winning sausages and a smoked gammon for Boxing day PLUS an optional upgrade of a black winter truffle – all provided by our favourite suppliers at The Dial House and Farmyard, and including our own Christmas pudding. Keep an eye on our social media for the full list of suppliers. If you love local then you won’t want to miss this.
Get your diaries out: We’re launching a series of Dial House demo events. . .
Monday 8thOctober
Dahlia masterclass with Jo from Constance Rose florist. Half a day including coffee and biscuits and a two-course seasonal lunch. Walk away with a new found expertise and your own beautiful display in a container provided by our retail arm Objects. 10 am – 14.30. £90 a ticket.
Wednesday 17thOctober
Christmas pudding workshop with Exec Chef Andrew Jones. Half a day including coffee and biscuits and a two-course seasonal lunch. Walk away with a load of expert tips from the kitchen and your own delicious handmade pud. 10 am – 14.30. £60 a ticket.
Wednesday 21st November
Clever canapés class with Exec chef Andrew Jones. Half a day including coffee and biscuits and a two-course seasonal lunch. Walk away with party prep expertise from Andrew and your own delicious handmade canape selection. 10 am – 14.30. £60 a ticket.
Friday 7th December
Christmas wreath masterclass with Jo from Constance Rose. Half a day including coffee and biscuits and a two-course seasonal lunch. Walk away with a very cool new skill and your own huge door wreath. 10 am – 14.30. £110 a ticket.
Wednesday 6th February
The perfect date … Chocolate making masterclass with Exec Chef Andrew Jones. Half a day including coffee and biscuits and a two-course seasonal lunch. Walk away with a desirable new skill and your own box of handmade chocolates. 10 am – 14.30. £60 a ticket.
On the first Friday of every month we’d like you to stop and shop with us. We’ll be handing out a glass of prosecco between 4 and 6 pm for all those who fancy a browse of our objects for sale downstairs and also up in the Green Room boutique with Jo. Starting Friday 5th October and ongoing!
Open House Shopping event
Thursday 22nd November
5 pm onwards. To include Christmas shopping, music, Objects, Greenroom clothing boutique, wine tasting with our wine supplier Rob in the cellar, our pastry chef Zoe making festive treats in the aga room and a grand tour of our bedrooms
Our 8 boutique bedrooms now feature complimentary white company products . . .
Book a room directly with us and you’ll receive a complimentary cream tea during your stay as well as the usual handmade biscuits and whiskey or port residents nightcap. When booking dinner in advance you can also take advantage of 3 courses for £25 too. With state of the art sound systems in each room and marble bathrooms with trench showers and roll top baths, can you really afford not to visit?
FARMYARD
Introducing the Farmyard feasting Menu
LONG LIVE BEEF WELLY! We’ve launched our Christmas menu and we’re extremely pleased to say that from 27th November and through all of December we’ll be creating sharing style Beef Wellingtons. It’s been an ambition of mine for a while to feature a few impressive feasting dishes, Henry VIII style, so I’m keen to kick it off with these. ARE YOU GAME? It can’t happen yet because we’re waiting for the first frost to officially kick off game season … but when it does, I’ve got plans for a pheasant Kiev on the menu … Keep a beady eye on social media for the launch.
NEW LOOK LUNCH We’ve relaunched our lunchtime offering this month – it now features special wines by the glass and a regular steak frites appearance. Two courses for £15 and three for £19. Carafe of wine also available. Don’t forget we’re also open for theatre dining from 5.30pm with our new set menu. So, you can have a light supper and be at the Theatre Royal in time for curtain call.
Lincoln-based Terry Peachman’s team have been named one of ten runners-up awarded for their forward-thinking proactive service.
Terry, who has been operating as a TaxAssist Accountant since 2002 and looks after more than 550 clients from his two offices in Lincolnshire was thrilled to be recognised in this global contest.
“It is fantastic that our practice has been recognised on the global stage.
Our entire business now revolves around QuickBooks, having decided two years ago to embrace new technology and adopt it as our primary choice of software.
We have seen a complete transformation in our practice, which is why I decided to enter the contest.
“We have found that cloud technology has enabled us to offer enhanced business support and advice that delivers better value for money for our clients, as well as time savings and greater efficiencies in terms of staffing in the practice.
Our client numbers are consistently increasing, and by getting clients using QuickBooks as early as possible, we will ensure we are ahead of the game for the staging dates of ‘Making Tax Digital’.
“Another bonus to using QuickBooks has been the increased appeal to millennials. Not only have we seen an increase in younger clients, but the practice has benefitted when it comes to staff recruitment, helping us to attract and retain a younger workforce.”
Group Commercial Director, Daren Moore, said: “Technology is integral to the future of accountancy and, because TaxAssist Accountants is a market leading network, we have embraced and championed a comprehensive software estate, of which QuickBooks forms a key part.
“Congratulations to Terry, who has been an early adopter and exponent of all the benefits cloud technology offers, and is now, along with his clients, reaping the benefits.”
Now in its fourth year, the Firm of the Future contest invited bookkeeping, full-service accounting and tax firms in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and, for the first time, India, to showcase how they see the value of the cloud, serve as a trusted advisor to their clients, and grow their practice with modern marketing techniques.
Ariege Misherghi, global leader of Intuit’s Accountant Segment, Small Business and Self-Employed Group, said: “Each firm’s submission clearly highlighted both how they embrace new technologies and ideas, and just as important, that they recognize that this is what will drive their firm and clients forward to greater success.”
MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST BOARD MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES ATTENDING
Vertas Group Limited, and its specialist education support company Schools’ Choice, will jointly host its first education conference aimed at trustees and board members of multi-academy trusts.
Education leaders from across the region are keenly awaiting a keynote speech from Regional Schools’ Commissioner Sue Baldwin, where she will share her view on the strategic role of trustees.
The event, which takes place at Wherstead Park in Ipswich on 15th October, also sees the launch of a network for trustees, aimed at supporting strong governance, sharing best practice and assisting those new in post.
It is recognised that the role of trustees carries more responsibility than that of a governor; this conference aims to provide expert opinion to support trustees with these additional accountabilities. Delegates will hear about ethical leadership from Leora Cruddas, CEO of Freedom and Autonomy of Schools National Association, and legal responsibilities of board members, from Roger Inman, Stone King LLP.
In addition, there will be a question and answer session with a panel of experts and opportunities to attend these workshops:
Understanding your Financial Responsibilities within a MAT
Ensuring Educational and Commercial Performance
Accountability and the Scheme of Delegation
Recruiting and supporting the CEO
Setting a communications strategy
Intentional Culture Design.
The event will also showcase the total facilities management offer from Vertas, from innovative recycling and waste management to grounds design and maintenance, and allow guests to sample their catering offer with creative hospitality.
Places at the conference are limited; interested multi-academy trust board members and trustees can email communications@schoolschoice.org for more information.
Julia Dolan, Head of Schools’ Choice said:
“We are delighted to be part of the conference – the first event of its kind in the eastern region. We recognise the importance of trustees and the positive impact they can have on the children and young people within their Trusts. The conference will support their development.”
Ian Surtees, Chief Executive Officer at Vertas Group Limited, said:
“This is a first for the Vertas group and we are very much looking forward to hosting senior leaders within the education sector. We are already a significant provider of education services across the region, working with approximately 400 schools and colleges. Since School’s Choice joined the Vertas group we have strengthened the relationship we have with multi-academy trusts and been able to offer them complementary services.”
You can’t get two places much farther apart than Great Yarmouth, a small coastal town in Great Britain and Tauranga, one of the largest cities in New Zealand. When TVC received an enquiry for our ColcheK2 system from Tauranga Council, we were a little surprised but wholly delighted!
At 168 km2 to our 10.08km2, around 16 Great Yarmouth towns would fit inside Tauranga’s city limits. Despite our latitude and magnitude differences, Tauranga does have its connection to our little seaside town here in the UK. Tauranga has an oceanic climate like Great Yarmouth. Our small town, however, cannot be described as sub-tropical! Whilst our average humidity levels are in the same region – Tauranga at 85.5% and Great Yarmouth at 81% – our summer temperatures don’t come close to the stunning weather in New Zealand in the spring. With Greater Tauranga being a popular tourist destination, both places see their populations swell during the summer months as holidaymakers descend upon them. Whilst we may not have any mountains with waterfalls and lakes, we do have popular beaches and natural attractions.
The main similarity we have, however, is that all local people and holidaymakers, need to be kept safe during their day-to-day activities and at public open-air events. Tauranga City Council is responsible for around 530km of roads and approximately 700km of footpaths, cycleways and access ways and this means, along with numerous other duties, they are tasked with an incredible number of lighting columns to maintain.
Safety doesn’t happen by accident
If you have thousands of steel lighting columns and you want to check they’re safe, how do you do it? A visual inspection can give you an indication but only above ground. It’s highly likely that a lighting column will look to be in great condition above the surface, but below ground, corrosion could be affecting the foundations, and hence the stability and safety, of the lighting column. So, if you want to inspect below ground level, what are your options? You could set about digging up every column, but the costs are going to be astronomical and it’s not effective time management, not to mention the disruption it will cause to citizens and businesses.
Therefore, you need something that will be quick, accurate and portable which also minimises disruption, labour and costs. This is where TVC’s ColcheK2 system comes up winning. It’s compact and hard-wearing and designed specifically to detect corrosion in steel tubes such as lighting columns. The system is deployed from outside the column and a small internal search head detects losses in wall thickness from ground level to a 750mm depth below ground level. The critical area of any planted steel column is from ground level to approx. 200mm below ground. Water, road salt, other chlorides and oxygen from the air combine to make the area at, or just below ground level, a highly corrosive hotspot. This is the area most at risk from corrosion and is the highest stress point in the whole column. The vast majority of column failures and collapses happen in this small area. ColcheK2 easily covers this entire area accurately, giving reassurance that the column is in good condition (or otherwise) in this high failure area.
TheColcheK2 has an optional ultrasonic range finding system to accurately feedback the search head depth inside the column. This feature is unique to the ColcheK2. The operator can locate and identify the depth of an actual defect and its significance to within 20mm of the defect depth. Using the normal access door, the ColcheK2 scans this critical area and the remaining below ground section of the column, giving an instant reading of the percentage loss of wall thickness.
As the majority of TVC equipment can be bespoke-fitted with optional requirements, it is generally built-to-order so upon receiving approval from Tauranga Council, we set about manufacturing the ColcheK2 for them. The unit was delivered recently and within a week of receipt of the unit, we received an email from the council to show us exactly what they’d found.
They had this to say:
“…NDT kicked off today and we found our first faulty pole – showing 90% loss (see Image A)…Excavations validated our findings…[using] a shovel to strike the column face, firstly above ground level- no damage, then below ground, to check for the level of corrosion (see Image B).
This is good news as it clearly shows the value of this testing.”
Businesses on average will spend upto 11.4% of their total company budgets on marketing.
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Visit our Marketing Budget Calculator today and see what your current budget will potentially bring to your business, you can find our calculator on the following page https://www.netmatters.co.uk/marketing-budget-calculator