Member News

At Hugh J Boswell we have a strong culture of continuous learning and development.  Without out talented and competent workforce we would not be one of the longest established Insurance Brokers within the region.

As a Chartered Insurance Broker with strong links to the local community, we are not only keen in investing in our current staff but also keen to support young people enter into the world of work and get underway with developing their career within the insurance industry.

The insurance sector may not seem the most obvious choice of sectors to get into, however, with protection of assets and risk management being a constant need of not only individuals but companies big and small, it is an industry which will stand the test of time.

Over the years we have had great success in supporting Apprentices and following the achievement of our current Apprentice who is coming to the end of their programme, having successfully completed their Apprenticeship in Proving Financial Services Level 3 and attaining their Certificate in Insurance from the CII, we look to appoint another apprentice.

As an apprentice you will be based in our Account Handling teams, providing them with support and developing your skills and knowledge of the insurance broker industry as well as working alongside all other departments to gain an understanding of the wide Company.

Your key responsibilities will be:

• Provide administrative support to Account Handler departments
• Accurately prepare and issue documentation
• Take responsibility for Mid Term Adjustments including maintaining the MID database and vehicle notifications to insurers
• Producing insure cover notes
• Prepare reports and market research
• Provide support in dealing with enquiries from clients, insurers and other third parties

You will follow the Insurance Practitioner Standard Framework which will provide you with a Level 3 qualification along with your Certificate in Insurance.

If this opportunity sounds interesting to you or if you know a young person looking for an interesting career where they can solve problems, learn about different businesses and use their analytical skills, then please get in touch: HR@hughjboswell.co.uk

For more information on what it is like to work at Hugh J Boswell, please check out our Employee Prospectus and LinkedIn Company and Showcase pages.

We are delighted to announce that we are working with Bomb Petite, an exciting fashion label based in Shoreditch. The company was founded in 2014 by Jenny Liu, originally from North America who saw a gap in the market to offer designer clothing for women under 5’4″. Bomb Petite has become the first official company in the UK to offer designer dresses, wedding gowns and fashion for petite women. Although there are other companies like ASOS and BooHoo that sell these clothes, there is no website or business that every specialised in it, until now.

What Work Are We Doing For Them? Search Engine Optimisation

Getting companies higher up Google is of course our speciality. We are specifically targetting keywords relating to petite fashion, clothing and dresses. We have started by doing a big clean up of the website, which currently consists of over 500 pages. We have checked each one to ensure that all meta-titles, descriptions and headings are well optimised for search engines. Now we are using the content creatively with the homepage and products pages for specific clothing and hundreds of useful guides to target long tail keywords such as ‘clothes to make you look taller’ and ‘clothes for petite people.’

We are working hard to generate natural and clean links to the website through a PR strategy. Being in the fashion and startup environment makes the site receptive to startup magazines, websites and fashion blogs – so it is a case of leveraging the strong ones to get the right kind of links to benefit SEO. In addition, we are looking at speeding up the site to maximise user engagement and conversions.

User Experience

For any eCommerce website, the role of user experience (UX) is key. Since people are keen to browse through different dresses, products and pages, we need to review how users look at the site and the best ways to make them convert into customers. We aim to run some sufficient tests across desktop and mobile over the next few weeks, focusing on the size of images, colour of buttons, the use of a promotion and newsletter offers. Our main goal is to convert more customers, lower bounce rates and maximise time on the website. All of these factors will help the website grow as a brand and this in turn will help SEO.

The company was founded in 2014 with an initial budget of just $850. Bomb Petite will be looking for additional investment later this year.

In just under a month myself and 8 good friends are taking on the Yorkshire 3 Peaks to raise awareness and funds for the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research UK. So thats 24 miles with 5200 ft of Ascent in 12 hours. 

Last year one of my oldest friends welcomed his baby son into the world. Hugh had a pretty tough start in life, with a traumatic birth and a long stretch in NICU. When he was 5 weeks old Darren and Hugh’s mum, Jayne, got the diagnosis of Prader-Willi Syndrome. A complex genetic syndrome 60 times rarer than Downs Syndrome. It affects less than 1 in 15,000 children. The list of struggles Hugh and his family are going to have to face in the coming years is a pretty sobering read. Darren has done a much better job than me for explaining the condition and the challenges over on our just giving page. 

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/3HillsForHugh

So on a very rare night out with Darren we were all saying how useless we felt and how we wished we could help in some way. Thats when the idea for taking on the 3 peaks came about. (all the best ideas originate in the pub…. right?) I know its not a huge challenge compared to some, but you’ve seen what sort of shape I’m in so you know its not going to be a walk in the park for me. To be fair the rest of the lads are not in great shape either, but we’ve all been putting in the training miles (Personally 165miles since May) and feel more than up for the challenge. 

We’ve already hit our target of £2,000 but we’d like to get as much as we can for this charity and the amazing work they do.

The challenge is set to take place on 02 September 2017.

Freebridge announce two new directors.

Freebridge Community Housing are delighted to announce that two new directors have joined their management team.

Alex Dixon has come on board as Director of Assets and Development, whilst Birgit Lenton has joined as Director of Corporate Services and Culture.

Alex has a strong background in management and development and joins Freebridge from Bromford Housing Group in the West Midlands, where he was Director of New Homes. Alex has experience working within a team that have used innovative approaches to housing and brings that expertise to Freebridge.

Birgit has a wealth of experience in leadership and business management at a senior level. She has previously worked for the Constructions Industry Training Board in Bircham Newton, and in her new role of Director of Corporate Services and Culture will be overseeing Human Resources, Communications & Engagement and Governance.

Alex Dixon, Director of Assets and Development, said: “I am delighted to join Freebridge and looking forward to helping the team develop an increasing supply of new homes and ensuring our existing homes continue to provide great accommodation for our customers.”

Birgit Lenton, Director of Corporate Services and Culture, said: “I am pleased to have joined Freebridge Community Housing and have been overwhelmed by the warm welcome that I have received from everybody.

“I look forward to building on the good work of the past 10 years to help the organisation and its people become the best they can be, serving the people within West Norfolk.”

Tony Hall, Freebridge Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to welcome Alex and Birgit on board to further strengthen our management team. With their experience, knowledge and expertise they will make great additions to the organisation, and we look forward to working with them to continue developing homes and creating opportunities for people within West Norfolk.”

It has been a busy fortnight for Great Yarmouth-based PR and marketing agency TMS Media.

The company has just launched a major new website for a county-wide employment project and picked up three new sites for other organisations. Its busy web department is currently working on 20 new websites and database projects, including two for international clients.On Monday, TMS learned that it had won a competitive bid to project manage a major energy conference and exhibition for the next two years.

“It’s an exciting time for us,” said managing director Steve Scott. “Norwich has long been seen as the region’s creative centre, and there are some great companies there, but we’re showing that with competitive pricing, quality work and fast turn-round we can offer a real alternative in Great Yarmouth.

“The influx of work, including lots of PR for clients, has enabled us to take on two new members of staff, including a fourth journalist and a photographer who is also a film maker. The 13 talented people TMS employs are a key factor in the company’s recent successes.

“While we are winning work with bigger clients, we are also continuing to see enquiries from small companies and start-ups keen to tap into those talents.”

TMS built a website for Norfolk Community College, which helps over-25s who have been out of work for a long time to find employment. Soon after the website’s launch TMS was commissioned to create sites for a boatbuilder, a mobility supplies company and a membership organisation.

Among other projects the company is working on are a complex vendor portal for a Scandinavian client and an online mapping system for supply chain companies operating in the offshore wind industry in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Belgium.

Hard on the heels of being commissioned to design and build a new website for the East of England Energy Group, TMS won a competitive tender to project manage the organisation’s annual Southern North Sea conference and exhibition for the next two years. Planning for the next event at the Norfolk Showground on March 14th and 15th 2018 began this week.

Ends

For further information please contact Steve Scott on 01493 662929 or steve.scott@tms-media.co.uk

Pic caption: TMS Media’s managing director Steve Scott

Viewers locally are being urged to treat their re-cycling with love, thanks to TV and radio commercials created by the JMS Group. Norfolk Waste Partnership sought a creative way to explain that contaminated recycled waste is, ultimately, un-recyclable.

“It would have been easy to come up with something earnest and serious” said Senior Copywriter Tim Mountford, “but as most of us now understand the value of recycling, we thought the message might be more memorable if we delivered it with a smile”.

The result is a simple animation accompanied by a Barry White-style melody, which is also at the heart of the radio campaign, conceived and produced at JMS’ Hethersett studios,  urging viewers to ‘clean it, dry it, leave it loose’ and to ‘show some l.o.v.e’ to the people who sort it.

Sky viewers will see the commercial this Autumn. 

For your next commercial or online video contact Francesca de Lacey on 01603 811855.

Local recruitment specialists The Recruiting Office have unveiled improved branding as they embark on an exciting new strategy to continue their growth.

The refresh of their brand marks the start of their new marketing strategy to target local businesses. “We already attract many high-calibre candidates” says Neil Scarborough, Managing Director. “We simply want to reach more businesses and help them fill their roles with staff that last”.

The Recruiting Office approached a number of local marketing agencies. “Full Mix Marketing gave us the greatest confidence” says Neil. “Rather than recommending we change everything, they explained how we could improve our existing marketing to get stronger results”.

The evolution of The Recruiting Office’s brand and strapline signal a stronger emphasis on what they deliver best. “Having many long-term clients, we simply focus on doing a great job” adds Neil. “Our new brand demonstrates our professionalism and shows we understand what clients value most. Full Mix Marketing have helped us realise our five-stage vetting process goes further than our competitors and is something we need to shout about”.

Established in 2013, The Recruiting Office specialise in finding permanent and temporary staff for office, transport and manufacturing roles. With over 30 years combined experience, they’ve developed a reputation for being the go-to recruitment partner for many local businesses.

Over the coming months, Full Mix Marketing will be helping The Recruiting Office to deliver a comprehensive strategy of digital and offline marketing. “Like many professional and B2B businesses, The Recruiting Office know who their target customers are” says Sarah West, Managing Director of Full Mix Marketing. “Our role is to help them deliver the most cost-effective marketing to reach and convert them”.

Full Mix Marketing provide all the marketing businesses need to grow, including marketing plans and strategies, branding, full digital and social media marketing, as well as direct marketing campaigns and advertising.

The Recruiting Office discovered Full Mix Marketing through a Chamber event. “Yet again being members of Norfolk Chamber has been very positive for both of us” says Sarah. “It remains a strong part of the marketing mix we recommend our B2B clients”.

For more information visit www.therecruitingoffice.co.uk and www.fullmixmarketing.co.uk.

Local recruitment specialists The Recruiting Office have unveiled improved branding as they embark on an exciting new strategy to continue their growth.

The refresh of their brand marks the start of their new marketing strategy to target local businesses. “We already attract many high-calibre candidates” says Neil Scarborough, Managing Director. “We simply want to reach more businesses and help them fill their roles with staff that last”.

The Recruiting Office approached a number of local marketing agencies. “Full Mix Marketing gave us the greatest confidence” says Neil. “Rather than recommending we change everything, they explained how we could improve our existing marketing to get stronger results”.

The evolution of The Recruiting Office’s brand and strapline signal a stronger emphasis on what they deliver best. “Having many long-term clients, we simply focus on doing a great job” adds Neil. “Our new brand demonstrates our professionalism and shows we understand what clients value most. Full Mix Marketing have helped us realise our five-stage vetting process goes further than our competitors and is something we need to shout about”.

Established in 2013, The Recruiting Office specialise in finding permanent and temporary staff for office, transport and manufacturing roles. With over 30 years combined experience, they’ve developed a reputation for being the go-to recruitment partner for many local businesses.

Over the coming months, Full Mix Marketing will be helping The Recruiting Office to deliver a comprehensive strategy of digital and offline marketing. “Like many professional and B2B businesses, The Recruiting Office know who their target customers are” says Sarah West, Managing Director of Full Mix Marketing. “Our role is to help them deliver the most cost-effective marketing to reach and convert them”.

Full Mix Marketing provide all the marketing businesses need to grow, including marketing plans and strategies, branding, full digital and social media marketing, as well as direct marketing campaigns and advertising.

The Recruiting Office discovered Full Mix Marketing through a Chamber event. “Yet again being members of Norfolk Chamber has been very positive for both of us” says Sarah. “It remains a strong part of the marketing mix we recommend our B2B clients”.

For more information visit www.therecruitingoffice.co.uk and www.fullmixmarketing.co.uk.

Freebridge Community Housing Host House Swap Event

Freebridge Community Housing will be hosting a coffee morning to promote the benefits of mutual exchange on Friday 18 August at the Hillington Square Community Café from 11am – 2pm.

A mutual exchange is an easy way for two social housing tenants to swap properties and this event is a great opportunity to network and speak to others who are interested in the possibility of a switch.

The event will include free cakes, hot drinks and children’s activities, along with a prize draw where those attending have the chance to win £25 of Love2shop vouchers.

Freebridge Director of Housing, Robert Clarke, said: “We are pleased to have this opportunity to promote the benefits of mutual exchange, for those involved it can mean they can relocate to a home that is more suited to their needs.

“We are happy to facilitate these moves as much as possible, and I would encourage anyone who is interested to come down to speak to our staff and meet other tenants who have an interested in exchanging their home.”

The event is open to anyone living in social housing, not just Freebridge Community Housing tenants. If you would like to attend the event please RSVP to Lettings.Enquiries@freebridge.org.uk or call 03332 404 444.

The Brown&Co Summer property auction took place on Thursday 22nd June at The Assembly Rooms in Norwich.

In a packed auction room, there was plenty of bidding and garages, cottages, properties in need of renovation, land and larger properties all sold very well. Fifteen of the 16 lots were sold at auction, with the other lot selling immediately afterwards and in many cases the results were well in excess of the guide prices and reserves set. There were many highlights and the wide variety of property in all price ranges demonstrates activity across the board and that despite difficulties in the country, the market is buoyant in the region with plenty of demand from buyers. A key highlight of the sale was a four bedroom house in Stratford Crescent, Cringleford which sold for £100,000 over the reserve and amenity land with potential in Newton St Faith also exceeded expectations.

“We now look forward to our autumn sale with a spring in our step and as always, hope to be able to help colleagues with any suitable properties” said auctioneer Peter Hornor from the Norwich office. “Do please contact either myself or Trevor Blythe or anyone in the Norwich office if you want to know more about how auctions can work for you”, he added.

The next auction will be held at The Assembly Rooms in Norwich on Thursday 28th September 2017.

https://www.brown-co.com/pages/property-auctions

Wednesday 7th June saw the official launch of the fully merged and newly formed Brown&Co Architecture + Planning Division at an event held at Cinema City in Norwich

As Brown&Co Architecture + Planning launches, the team has more than doubled in size from that which joined the business in 2013* and now consists of 4 Chartered Architects, a Master Planner, 2 Chartered Architectural Technologists, 3 Chartered Planners and an incredibly capable and professional support team. The practice carries out a range of small and large scale housing developments, one off bespoke properties, school projects and commercial developments in addition to strong rural and conversion projects which have historically been carried out.

The wider firm sees this as a growth area for the business and the department has developed considerably over the last 3 years with specific Architecture + Planning teams in place in the Norwich and Huntingdon offices, with a future expansion planned. This ensures coverage across East Anglia, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire and beyond.

Fraser Hall, who leads the division commented “Norfolk, and Norwich in particular, has a strong architectural history and pedigree and there are many practices carrying out excellent work across the city, county and further afield. Our aspiration is to make Brown&Co Architecture and Planning a household name in the region, building on the expertise, skills and tradition we have”. ‘We are looking forward to a bright future developing this dynamic practice.’ Added Mr Hall

https://www.owenbond.co.uk/

Henry Cockerton of chartered surveyors “Cockertons” in Holt, has joined Brown&Co as a partner from 1st July 2017. Henry, together with Tim Nicholson will join the existing team of Tom Cator and Vicky Coleman in a combined office in the heart of Holt. Over the past few years Cockertons has become the foremost independent firm of Chartered Surveyors and Property Consultants in north Norfolk. Henry Cockerton commented “As this area continues to grow into one of the region’s most important and sought-after destinations for land and property we feel the support and backing of a firm of Brown & Co’s stature and reputation will enable us to continue to provide the best service to our existing clients and expand together as one of the region’s largest firms of Independent Chartered Surveyors and Property Consultants”.

Charles Whitaker, Managing Partner of Brown&Co said “We are delighted to bring Tim and Henry into the Brown&Co business and to welcome Henry as a young and highly regarded professional to the partnership. The acquisition of the Cockertons practice and merger of our existing Holt residential office with Henry’s business will create growth for us collectively in Holt and a strong, multi-disciplinary professional practice in the heart of the region.” Henry Cockerton added “In this part of the world the names Brown & Co and Cockertons have been synonymous with expert advice and unrivalled knowledge in the field of land and property advice for decades and Tim and I are delighted to be moving forward together.”

https://www.brown-co.com/articles/brown-co-announce-the-acquisition-of-cockertons-in-holt