Member News

Pest Control company Abate Pest Management from Morley near Wymondham, has recently passed their BPCA (British Pest Control Association) quality audit with flying colours.

In order to maintain professional standards throughout the pest control industry, full Servicing companies who are with the BPCA must meet a set of criteria.

By choosing a BPCA assessed member like Abate Pest Management you can be assured that the services you receive are from a fully trained, insured and trusted company that meets the strict membership criteria.

The criteria which companies like Abate follow are:

• A suitably trained and qualified expert, committed to Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and have been subjected to the BPCA audit and assessment process to ensure services are delivered to the highest of standards.
• Determined to adhere to the Industry Codes of Best Practice.
• Committed to providing detailed advice on pest prevention measures and provide comprehensive reporting systems covering all treatment aspects.

Jon Blake, Managing Director of Abate Pest Management said “this is a great achievement and we are very proud to retain our BPCA membership. The whole team work extremely hard to make sure everything in this very controlled environment is spot on. We win contracts and job work on many occasions based on the detailed risk assessments, treatment reports and providing the best possible advice and solution.”  

Abate continues to grow with new contract customers in various sectors but has recently seen a significant increase in housing association work, logistics and businesses within the food chain. Recently Abate has increased service operations in Essex, the Home Counties and across to Luton. 

Please visit Abate Pest Management website to find out about all their services.

• Rodent Control.
• Bird Control.
• Insect Control.
• Woodworm Control.
• Specialist Hygiene Services.

This week the team at Access Diagnostic Tests met the corporate fundraiser for the East Coast Hospice Joanna Storey and found out more about the hospice appeal and how we will be helping them this year. Everyone was very excited and is looking forward to getting involved. The appeal is the raise funds to build a hospice on the east coast of Norfolk at Gorleston near Great Yarmouth. The land has already been purchased and they are now in the process of raising the money to build and fit out the building. 

‘This is a cause close to our hearts’ company director Kate Garside said. As myself and the other founding director are both doctors, we have seen how important the work of hospices are first hand,  and believe this is a very worthy cause for us to get behind both personally, and as a medical supply company.

We are selling a stethoscope in aid of the appeal through our medical supplies website Valuemed 

East Coast Hospice Dual Head Stethoscope

Norfolk based financial planners, Loveday & Partners, have been announced as the headline sponsor for the 2018 Royal Norfolk Show Ball, which is raising funds for Norfolk and Waveney cancer charity Big C.

Mark Loveday, Director said, “We are absolutely thrilled to partner local cancer charity Big C which provides an invaluable service to those affected by cancer across the region. Very few families in our community are untouched by this dreadful disease and we are delighted to support Big C in all they do to provide families with support and care at vital times.”

This year’s Norfolk Show Ball will be held at the Norfolk Showground on Friday 22nd June and will transport guests back to the dazzling jazz era with a ‘Roaring Twenties’ theme. Tickets are now on sale for the event, please visit norfolkshow.big-c.co.uk.

Funds raised from the ball will go towards a new Big C community centre in Norwich which is scheduled to open in late 2018. The four existing Big C centres at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH), Kings Lynn, Great Yarmouth and at the Louise Hamilton Centre in Gorleston, provide emotional and practical support and information for anyone affected by cancer in the local community. Each year approximately 8,000 people are given a cancer diagnosis in Norfolk and Waveney, with over 26,000 visits made to Big C centres.

Dr Chris Bushby, CEO at Big C says, “Our grateful thanks to the team at Loveday & Partners for coming on board as key sponsor for the Norfolk Show Ball. Their support for the event and Big C, will ensure that we raise as much as possible for our new Norwich community centre, which will mean that more people are able to access support where and when they need us most.”

Loveday & Partners is a Norfolk based firm of financial planners providing bespoke investment solutions for private investors and their families, trustees and business owners.

Further corporate sponsorship opportunities are available supporting Big C at the Norfolk Show Ball. Please contact Nicky Burgis at nicky.burgis@big-c.co.uk or on 07917 800474.

To learn more about the work Big C does to improve the lives of those affected by cancer in Norfolk and Waveney, please visit www.big-c.co.uk

It was great to be back working with Town Close again and creating a new, updated school film. Our initial conversations with the team there led to the concept of ‘A Day In The Life’ whereby the film would enable prospective parents and pupils to really visualise and understand what a day can be like for a pupil at Town Close Prep School. The proximity of the school to us, being local, made it possible for us to shoot the material we needed over the course of a whole school year, capturing all that is special for the different seasons and the cycle of the academic, the arts and the sporting calendar. A flavour captured in 90 seconds and using a variety of graphics techniques to introduce the values and ethos that makes the school stand out. Contact us at www.eyefilm.co.uk.

Every Business Owns Intellectual Property, What Do You Own? is the title of a business conference taking place in Norwich on Wednesday 28th February, arranged and hosted by GENIX Business Support.

Intellectual property (IP) will account for a large part of the value of many businesses and yet often the owners haven’t given it a moment’s thought.

The conference is designed for small business owners and will cover the four main areas of intellectual property; trademarks, designs, copyright and patents and explain how to protect intellectual property rights. The interactive session will draw on examples and provide delegates with a clear understanding of what they need to consider for their business.

The keynote speaker will be, Gary Townley, from the Intellectual Property Office.

Leanne Castle from GENIX said, “We are pleased to be hosting this conference. There will be plenty of opportunity for delegates to ask questions and to network during the coffee break.”

The three-hour session costs £12 per person. For more information and to book tickets go to www.genix.org.uk or call 0800 096 3013

In a first for not only the housing sector but for businesses across the UK, Flagship Group has this month started piloting the use of a Wacom Clipboard to boost the effectiveness and efficiency of its housing teams.

The electronic clipboard is being trialled by three housing officers based in Norfolk and Suffolk allowing them to digitally record and immediately upload information for essential housing forms. The clipboard combines paper form filling with real time data captures and is connected to the housing officer’s mobile phones. It cuts out the need for scanning as handwritten signatures are captured and attached to the digital document.

The three-month trial will provide a number of important benefits to the business including:

• Reduction in printing of forms/reduced use of paper
• Less duplication of work
• Reduction in the need for storage
• Documents easily archived and accessed
• Reduced costs in the long term

Yogesh Gohil, Head of Technology at Flagship Group, said: “The use of the Wacom Clipboard is really exciting as we believe it can support and improve the way we work. We are always looking for better ways to deliver our services which includes being innovative and cost effective at the same time. “This digital solution will hopefully make a huge difference to our business as we’ll be able to provide a quicker and more efficient service for our customers.”

Marie-Claire Delbrouque, Director of Housing & Customer Insight at Flagship Group, said: “We’re really pleased to be trialling the clipboard and intend to roll it out more widely if a success. “One of the key purposes of the Wacom clipboards is to free up the time of our housing officers so they can work more efficiently and ultimately help more of our customers.”

Attleborough based ground and air source heat pump installer Finn Geotherm, has won a highly prestigious industry trophy at the National ACR & Heat Pump Awards 2018. The company was also highly commended for a second award.

Finn Geotherm was awarded the Domestic Air Source Project of the Year Award for its installation at a detached home in Breckland, Norfolk. The project for homeowners Mike and Ellie was the second installation completed by Finn Geotherm for them, having already installed an air source unit in their old house. Mike and Ellie were so impressed with Finn Geotherm and the first air source heat pump they had, that they chose them again when they moved into a new home.

Finn Geotherm was also highly commended within the Non-Domestic Ground Source Project category for its district heating installation undertaken at 30 flats in Orchard Close, Watton for housing association Flagship Group.

The sought-after National ACR & Heat Pump Awards celebrate excellence in innovation, projects, installations and environmental successes in the air conditioning and refrigeration and heat pump industries. They bring together manufacturers, end users, distributors, heating engineers, ACR contractors and consultants from across the country.

Guy Ransom, commercial director of Finn Geotherm, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won a National ACR & Heat Pump Award and to be highly commended for a second. We undertake every single installation with the utmost care and attention to detail to ensure that we deliver the best possible heating and hot water system – it’s the way we have always run Finn Geotherm. To win an award for a project which is the second installation we have completed for a customer is testament to the fantastic customer service, dedication and expertise of the entire Finn Geotherm team.”

For more details on Mike and Ellie’s installation and Orchard Close, see https://finn-geotherm.co.uk/case-studies/. For information on ground and air source heat pumps and Finn Geotherm, visit www.finn-geotherm.co.uk.

A workshop designed to equip managers to support employee mental wellbeing in the workplace is set to take place this April.

The ‘Mental Health for Managers’ course, run by The Engaging People Company and Bamboo Mental Health, will take place on Thursday 19th April at Open in Norwich.

Through the workshop, which builds on the success of an earlier session in 2016, attendees will be able to identify and recognise the signs of poor mental health, and understand the impact of mental wellbeing within the work environment.

 Michelle Gant, Director of The Engaging People Company said:

 “Managers have an absolutely critical role in supporting and promoting wellbeing within the workplace but conversations about mental health can be daunting.

 “By the end of this course, attendees will feel confident to have better conversations with their direct reports, leading to improved manager-employee relationships, better wellbeing and, ultimately, increased engagement and satisfaction.”

Attendees will also be empowered to have safe and effective conversations around mental health, and identify the support they can offer. The session will also look at legislation, and how to build a practical wellbeing support plan.

Tom Oxley, Director of Bamboo Mental Health said: “Companies who want to make a difference will train their managers. It’s an effective way of putting support through the organisation and reaching those who need it. Managers who leave the course will be confident to take on those complex conversations – to help their team and the employer.”

 The course is suitable for small and large employers from all sectors and feedback from the previous session included: ‘The workshop was excellent, and I came away feeling empowered.’

 Visit here to find out more or contact Michelle Gant on 07834 578872.

Now in its 12th year, the annual tourism and leisure business survey asks all business from the tourism, hospitality and leisure sector to join forces and take part.

The tourism and leisure business survey was launched today by chartered accountants and business advisers, Larking Gowen and is supported by organisations such as Visit East Anglia, Visit Norfolk and Visit Suffolk.

All businesses in the tourism, hospitality and leisure sector including restaurants, hotels, tourist attractions as well as retailers in the tourism hotspots are being encouraged to participate in the independent survey.

To take part in the survey click here: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/2018survey/

The sector is the largest in East Anglia and one of the biggest employers and estimated to be worth around £10BM to the East Anglian economy.  Participants have the opportunity to fill in the questionnaire and gauge their achievements, they can also receive a tailored report which analyses their yearly performance and gives them a valuable benchmarking planning tool.

Those who fill in the 15 minute survey remain anonymous in the published report which provides an annual snapshot of the sector across East Anglia.  The survey includes questions about the short and long term impact of things like Brexit, the National Living Wage (NLW), the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and delves into questions around, wellbeing, profit margins and more generally how businesses have performed in the last year.

The survey is published as an annual brochure and includes features and news stories about participating businesses who have chosen to publicise their successes.

The Larking Gowen summer snapshot survey indicated that the vast majority of businesses had performed better over the summer of 2017 than during the same period in 2016. This was great news as it highlighted that visitors to our region are not so worried about the weather. We also know in recent publicity that the last quarter of 2017 many tourism, hospitality and leisure businesses reported growth in the shoulder months of September through to December, with 2017 ending strong for many, as families were keen to escape the stress of the festivities and opt to holiday within East Anglia with increased of 28% on the previous year for some businesses.

Many of the businesses that provide services to this sector fully support the annual survey and this year the survey is sponsored by Adnams, Camplings, Howes Percival and Hugh J Boswell.

Ambassadors of the survey include; Martin Dupee, Chairman Norfolk and Suffolk Tourism Attractions Association; Greg Munford Chairman of Boards Tourism; Tarnia Robertson, Managing Director Ufford Park; 

Suffolk-based cloud-IT and workplace recovery experts Corbel have chosen fellow Future50 business Full Mix Marketing to help realise their growth ambitions for 2018.

Following a rigorous selection process, the specialists in ensuring business continuity picked Full Mix Marketing from a shortlist of agencies to develop and deliver a new strategic marketing plan.

“We’re excited to be working with a fellow Future50 business” states Paul Lough, Managing Director of Corbel. “We have a service that can provide so many businesses with peace-of-mind. After consultation with several companies, we felt Full Mix Marketing really understood our company, where we want to be and how to help us get there.”

Corbel are a leading provider of IT and telephone services, specialising in cloud hosting, data back-up and disaster recovery. 2017 saw them open their third workspace recovery office suite in which businesses can continue to work should their premises be compromised by unforeseen circumstances or threats.

“We’re delighted to have been chosen by Corbel over some tough competition” says Sarah West, Managing Director of Norwich marketing agency, Full Mix Marketing. “Like us, they’re ambitious, innovative and deliver something which businesses really value. We’re keen to help them become the go-to name for reliable IT and ensuring its business-as-usual for their clients, whatever happens.”

Full Mix Marketing provide all the strategic, digital and offline marketing businesses need to grow, ranging from single elements like advertising and social media, through to becoming a company’s fully outsourced marketing department.

“Marketing is such a fundamental part of any business these days” adds Paul Lough. “With brand, digital, design, print, events and social media, it’s vital to get it all right. We’re looking forward to Full Mix Marketing delivering the excellently thought-out and targeted strategy they’ve created us.”

In December, both businesses were chosen by publishers Archant, and sponsors including Barclays, Lovewell Blake and Birketts, as members of Future50. The list recognises the boldest and most exciting businesses across all sectors in Norfolk and Suffolk. It is hoped by organisers that those chosen will share expertise and forge working relationships that contribute to mutual growth.

“Being picked for Future50 was an honour for us, a number of our clients and Corbel” concludes Sarah West. “It simply demonstrates the drive everyone has to innovate and succeed. We intend to let Corbel focus on the excellent service they provide, whilst our marketing delivers the opportunities they deserve.”

More info can be found at www.corbel.co.uk or by calling 01473 241515. For more information about Full Mix Marketing visit www.fullmixmarketing.co.uk or call 01603 446227.

Norfolk data centre experts MIGSOLV have chosen East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) as their featured charity for 2018.

MIGSOLV, who deliver the world-class Gatehouse centre in Norwich, aim to help EACH raise their profile and funds towards their Nook Appeal.

‘We all hope we never need a charity like EACH. But for critically ill children and their families, it’s impossible to overestimate the importance of what they do’ says David Manning, Managing Director of MIGSOLV. ‘As many of the MIGSOLV staff are parents, it was a unanimous decision to support them however we can.’

EACH supports children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex. They deliver care both in the family home and in EACH’s hospices in Milton in Cambridgeshire, The Treehouse in Ipswich and Quidenham in Norfolk.

The hospices are friendly and welcoming places, supporting children and families at a very difficult and anxious time. The staff don’t wear uniforms and everyone is encouraged to regard the hospice as their home-from-home.

EACH’s Nook appeal is currently looking to raise £10 million for a new facility in the heart of Norfolk to replace the aging Quidenham hospice. EACH have many fund-raising activities planned in 2018, including their annual ‘Ride-for-life’ 200-mile sponsored cycle ride in July.

‘In our small way, hopefully we can increase awareness and funding for this very important local charity’ concludes David. ‘I’d recommend other businesses become involved too, as it’s an easy and rewarding way to help the charity raise its profile and money.’

MIGSOLV’s Gatehouse data centre in Norwich is the region’s only purpose-built commercial data centre, providing space, power, cooling and physical security for organisation’s computer servers and IT equipment. Renovated at a cost of £12 million in 2012, it helps businesses increase their resilience by protecting their data against threats including terrorism, power failure and extreme weather.

More details of EACH can be found at www.each.org.uk. More details of MIGSOLV can be found at www.migsolv.com.

Norwich Airport has unveiled one of its busiest ever schedules with publication of the latest edition of its Norwich Connects Magazine. With more than 30 destinations of offer this year, the magazine includes full listings of all the airport’s scheduled services, charters and seasonal specials available in 2018. Highlights include a range of new short breaks to destinations such as Iceland, Malta and Gibraltar, a weekly summer service to Crete and the welcome return of flights to Dalaman in Turkey. The magazine was unveiled at the airport’s annual Travel Show at the weekend, which is now in its ninth year and featured 20 trade stands in the terminal building. Richard Pace, Managing Director of Norwich Airport, said: “We’re unveiling one of our busiest ever schedules for 2018 and we’re delighted to be offering people so much choice from their local airport. “In additional to our well established scheduled and package holiday offerings we have a new series of fantastic short breaks, year-round sunshine destinations, and of course even more onward connections via Manchester and Amsterdam. “This year’s Travel Show was one of our best ever and we had our highest number of bookings since 2012. People are surprised at just where flying from Norwich Airport can take you – the world really is accessible from your doorstep.” Copies of Norwich Connects magazine, which includes a handy destination guide so people can see at a glance the range of options on offer, are available from the airport, or can be downloaded here. Norwich Airport is part of Regional & City Airports, the airports management division of Rigby Group plc.