Member News

Integro Languages, a highly successful Norfolk based language services company is expanding within a fast-paced, detail oriented market: insurance translations. Having secured contracts with leading insurance providers both domestically and internationally, Integro has seen an explosion in multilingual insurance claims. This is a promising market that Integro has been operating in for a long time, and where they have seen phenomenal growth in the last year.

It makes sense. With the cost of international travel falling, an insured person may often find themselves in a medical emergency abroad, and their policy is in one language while their supporting claim documents are in another. That’s where Integro comes in, with a rapid response service that makes medical translators available 24 hours a day, and an approach that is completely tailored to the needs of insurance claims handlers. As part of their expansion, Integro’s case management team is split between offices right here in Norfolk and abroad in both New Zealand and Australia. With translators also located across the globe, it’s always translation time somewhere.

Aetna Global Benefits, a valued client of Integro’s, has said, “Thanks to Integro’s services, we can communicate in any language and act promptly with confidence globally; thereby meeting our prime objective to provide a high level of service to all our clients, 24 hours a day.”

Covering such a huge range of languages, and meeting these kind of challenges is never easy, but Integro takes it in stride. With an expanding division, you need an expanding team. With a number of new hires under their wing, Integro’s claims assistance service has never been faster or more efficient. Read more about Integro’s Insurance Translation Division here.

Managing Director, Tom Bool, commented, “We made a strategic decision to rethink our processes and to really focus on the insurance industry and I’m delighted to see a massive increase in this aspect of our business as a result. I think it’s down to our clients. We’ve built great relationships with them and their endorsements and support really help our business to continually serve them better, and grow.”

(May, 2016) In a competitive move to enhance Aston Shaw’s service offering, highly experienced Finance Director, Justin Lavery, has been appointed to head up the firm’s new corporate finance department. This is a big step for Aston Shaw and signals a strategic transition towards becoming a firm that offers the complete range of financial and business services.

Justin joins Aston Shaw with 26 years experience in corporate finance, and has extensive knowledge of a wide range of both industry standard and niche finance and insurance related products. Justin’s career has seen him fill a number of Director and senior roles within the B2B funding arena, during which he amassed a proven track record for delivering quantifiable results.

Commenting on his new appointment, Justin says: “I’m thrilled to join the team at Aston Shaw. It’s a dynamic, ambitious and forward-thinking firm that’s dedicated to making a difference to its clients – no matter what their size of business. In-line with the firm’s strong ethos of client care – I take the same diligent, hands-on approach, keeping clients informed throughout the process and explaining things in simple, straightforward terms.”

Justin’s relationships with niche lenders alongside his tenacious approach towards dealing with each individual case in order to place even the most challenging finance applications, sets the Corporate Finance Team in good stead to support applications for both new start-up businesses and established businesses alike. The new services offered by the Corporate Finance Division include, but are not limited to:

• Development Funding
• Redevelopment Funding
• Re-Finance
• Bridging
• Asset Finance
• Invoice Finance
• Peer to Peer Lending
• Professional Funding

Aston Shaw would like to formally welcome Justin Lavery to the team; we wish him every success here at the firm and hope he enjoys working to further expand East Anglia’s fastest growing accountancy firm.

Integro Languages is welcoming on board a whole host of new team members, each specialising in something different and helping the business grow.

Laura Keggin, newly appointed Senior Project Manager, joined the team in March and now leads Integro’s Creative & Commercial Division. Laura specialises in international business development and is a UEA French language graduate.

Shortly after Laura, Kelsey Frick joined the team as an Audiovisual Translation Consultantfinishing heryear at UEA. She is Integro’s main liaison for video subtitling and dubbing and also works with the technical aspects of both Integro’s Insurance and Creative divisions.

Integro also welcomes two new members this summer. Shohei Yamaguchi, a Japanese native, and Natacha Partouns, a native French speaker from Belgian. Shohei, whoa Masters studentin Japanese translation, will be helping the business break into Japanese markets, developing a world leading Japanese language service. He will be a regular contributor to the Integro blog and is currently in the process of translating the website for his Master’s Thesis at UEA. Natacha will be working as a support translator and project manager after finishing her year abroad in Madrid and Peru as part of her Translation and Interpretation course at UEA. Natacha will also be involved in the current efforts to expand Integro’s existing client base in both the Belgian and Swiss markets.

Managing Director, Tom Bool, has said of the expansion, “We’re all really excited to welcome so many new faces and to see the team growing. We’ve got loads of projects planned so we’re ready to see our business grow along with our team.”

Branches of Nationwide Building Society across East Anglia will be helping children and young people with life-threatening conditions in the region as they pledge their support for EACH.

The 28 branches of Nationwide will be supporting EACH as their charity partner. They will all be organising their own fundraising activities including book sales, dress down days, sponsored activities and taking part in planned EACH events. Nationwide staff in all branches have already been busy fundraising and so far have raised an impressive £5,500!

Nationwide branches aim to raise £16,000 collectively, which is amount needed to fund one day of care and support that ​we provide across East Anglia to families at a time when they need it most.

Maxine Smith, Branch Manager at Nationwide in Sheringham, said: “We are pleased to be supporting EACH as our charity partner to help fund the work they do with families across East Anglia. We hope to raise as much money as possible so please keep an eye open in your local branch and support our fundraising in any way you can.”

James Bacon, EACH Norfolk Corporate Fundraiser, said: “I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone at Nationwide for choosing EACH as their charity partner. The teams are all so enthusiastic, which it’s great to see! Without the support from businesses such as Nationwide we would not be able to continue to deliver the vital services we provide caring for children and young people with life-threatening conditions. I look forward to working with Nationwide and hearing more about their fundraising efforts!”

If you have not yet started your Best Employers Eastern Region 2016 survey or if you are about to roll it out to your teams, we have some innovative suggestions designed to engage and motivate your teams. Here are a few techniques benefiting companies who are taking part in the 2016 survey:

1.Incentivise your teams with a charitable donation

One organisation currently taking part in the Best Employers Eastern Region Survey 2016 is making a donation to the company’s nominated charity for each employee who takes part in the survey. Charity support is really important to them and has helped drive adoption in the company, with their target being over 85% completion, now on course.

2.Lunch and learn sessions

At any stage of the survey, whether you have just started or are trying to get the final participants to a higher number, why not consider holding “lunch and Learn” sessions for your teams. Offer an hour session, with pizza or ice cream, lead by a member of the senior management team to run through why the survey is being conducted and what the outcome will mean for the company.

3.Checkpoints for numbers update

Send a weekly update on the total number of responses and celebrate with an afternoon tea, ice cream or even drinks when you achieve your target

Make sure you use all of the communication tools available

If you have a joint email, send round regular updates. If you have an intranet, post your successes regularly. If you have break-out rooms, use the Best Employers Posters. The more places that people see the posters or information about the survey, the more chance you have of people taking part.

5.Say thank you!

Avoid mandating taking part in the survey as it may have a negative influence on the overall results providing inaccurate reporting. Instead, inject some fun and provide a group incentive to thank people at the end of the process. Even a simple email to say thank you at the end of the survey goes a long way.

But make sure you follow up and communicate the result and next steps

For more information about Best Employers, please do not hesitate to contact Lucy Plumbfrom the Best Employers Eastern Region team.

In another important milestone FreeClix is proud to announce its achievement of ISO 9001:2008 certification following independent and external audits by Alcumus ISOQAR.

FreeClix’s investment during 2015 in resources and tools has underpinned the implementation of a robust quality management system governing all its business processes and operations. The team have worked since July 2015 to engage in continuous improvement on those processes and obtain training to increase customer satisfaction.

“FreeClix is all about quality products and services. Obtaining our ISO 9001:2008 certification validates our ability to continually improve our services and assure that customers continue to receive the very best. At the start of the process we set out to bring genuine value to our customers rather than focusing on the certification as a tick-box exercise. We’re particularly proud of the praise given to us by the lead auditor for our creation of a highly relevant quality management system which was produced completely in house without use of an external consultant.” – Managing Director, Peter Freeman.

ISO 9001:2008 is a quality management standard that is designed to help organisations improve business processes and provides a structure and tools for organizations who want to ensure that their products and services consistently meet customers’ expectations and continually improve.

The key principles of the ISO 9001:2008 standard include; customer focus, leadership, involvement of people, process approach to management, continual improvement, decision making and supplier relationships.

Realise Network have developed a brand new course, ‘Working with the BME Community – Strategies that Work!’

This interactive workshop will enable you to have a platform to explore issues affecting Black and minority ethnic community access and engagement in services, and some of the creative and solution-focused approaches to ensuring your service or provision is not ‘hard to reach’.

The cost is £30.00 per delegate (This includes a certificate of attendance)

For more information or to book a course call 01473 275931 or email training@realisefutures.org.

We are pleased to welcome new Associate, Mike Gennaro, who will be leading the team in our Durham office. Mike has over 15 years’ consultancy experience across a wide range of disciplines including contaminated land assessment and remediation, environmental impact assessment and environmental planning. Mike’s previously held roles at RPS, Peak Environmental Solutions and WSP Parson Brinkerhoff.

Damian Robinson, Executive Director, said “We are very pleased to have Mike join our North East team, we strive to continually attract top talent to our business, and his appointment further demonstrates our commitment to service our residential, commercial and industrial clients within the Northern Power House region. We have strategically invested in this region over the past 12 months and Mike is a key part of the jigsaw, to which there will be further pieces added in the coming months”.

Based in Lincolnshire with offices in Norwich, Delta-Simons is a globally-operatingenvironmental consultancy, committed to delivering the best advice to projects throughout the property and construction sector.

Related articles: Graduate joins Ecology team, London office welcomes Geo-environmental Senior to the team

The New Anglia Growth Hub has become the first and only organisation in the country to have secured a coveted business adviser accreditation – the equivalent of a blue flag in this sector.

The Level 7 Diploma in Professional Business and Enterprise Support is the equivalent of a Master’s degree on the qualification and credit framework scale and it means business owners across the two counties can feel safe in the knowledge that the support they are receiving has been rigorously examined and is of the highest quality available.

The award is governed by the Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI), which sets the standard for business support services and is the exemplar standard for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

John Stenhouse who fronts the New Anglia Growth Hub, which is managed by Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, explained how the fact that every single one of his business advisers had achieved Level 7 “was clear proof not only of their nine months of study and dedication, but their total commitment to always providing the best approach to advising businesses.”

“The Growth Hub will continue to have a major influence in helping our growing businesses access the right kind of financial and practical support”.

Small Business Minister Anna Soubry said: “Small businesses are the beating heart of our economy and this government continues to build the right environment for them to thrive.

“Growth Hubs have already helped thousands of businesses and, with the full network up and running, every registered business in England can access the expertise they need to succeed. The New Anglia Growth Hub’s business adviser accreditation will help entrepreneurs boost their businesses and create more jobs for people in the local area.”

SFEDI Chief Executive Ruth Lowbridge added: “The New Anglia Growth Hub are an exemplar of best practise in enterprise support. SFEDI research shows that businesses that engage in support are more resilient and more than twice as likely to experience business growth. This cannot be achieved without a quality and consistent approach to learning and skills development.”

Chris Starkie, Managing Director of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “The quantity of support offered by the New Anglia Growth Hub is there in black and white – over 20,000 hours of face to face advice to more than 5,000 businesses speaks for itself. This accreditation tells businesses in Norfolk and Suffolk they can also rely on the quality of support, and is testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire team.”

A free appointment can be booked with a local Growth Hub adviser by calling 0300 333 6536 or email: growthhub@newanglia.co.uk

The Brief

Despite being around for over 30 years, Tours for Christians had no online presence so they got in touch with the team at Tudor Lodge Consultants to help drive enquiries online through SEO (search engine optimisation).

Our task was to position the company asChristian Tourexperts and although they are based in London, to be able to reach out to all Christian communities thorughout the UK. They particularly wanted to grow their exposure for Israel tours whichremains a very popular destination for Christians as it isthe birthplace of Jesus, has countless holy and significant sites anda huge degree of natural beauty and culture tooffer.

From tours to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Galilee and beyond, there is so much that Tours for Christians are able to offer. Working with well-renowned names in the Christian Tour industry means that they are able to offer some of the finest tours of Israel for Christians to be found anywhere.

What We have Done

Tours for Christians approached us with only a limited service to Israel. However, looking to expand their reach and appeal in the Christian market has meant that we have created for them a range of content and made many changes and improvements to their site to ensure they are found for services to Christians to Israel and otherwise.

We have added bespoke content; full of information for the Christian community and easy to read guides about the historical sites and tours you can make – which will make the sitea resource in its own right. These landing pages will make it easy for users to find information about the area and lead to potential enquiries.We have also approached a number of travel and religious websites and blogs to write about the tours on offer and in doing so, we generatenatural and highly relevant linksto the website (which boosts therankings!)

As well as adding videos, we have addedmaps and images to their website. This has increased user friendliness and makes the site more engaging and also holidaymakers to plan their trips accordingly.

Increasing the visibilityof the website has been key for this project. Since the start of our work on the site, Tours for Christians have seen their search engine rankings fly up. Now found on the first 2 pages for a number of industry searches, they are improving with every day.

2016 promises to be a great year!

Visit the website:www.toursforchristians.com

While most people were making their mark in polling stations today (Thursday May 5, 2016), members of the claims department at Alan Boswell Group used the date to make a statement of their own.

They were launching the first in the company’s year of fund-raising events to raise more than £25,000 to benefit the county’s cancer patients, with a “beard-off”.

Mark Davenport, claims manager and Paul Cole, senior claims adviser, bid farewell to their beloved beards in gentlemen’s grooming barbershop Swagger and Jacks where the traditional method of cut throat shaving took about 75 minutes. Claims handler Anthony Lehman also had his head shaved at the St Benedict’s Street shop, with all tonsorial services donated by owner Mark Young.

For Mr Davenport, the loss of his distinctive carefully groomed beard is quite a talking point around the office. One sponsorship is conditional on his being clean shaven for at least six months; while at home, his 12 year old daughter is in for a surprise, when he returns home tonight …she has not seen his chin since she was two years’ old!

The idea for the event came from Anthony whose mum Elaine was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year. He saw a leaflet challenging men to shave off their hair and thought this would inspire his colleagues. Asked if his mum approved of the challenge, he said she loved fun and laughter so definitely. The family is awaiting the outcome of the early diagnosis, which comes months after her retirement from Leeway Women’s Refuge, and is optimistic for her recovery.

For Mr Cole, he is thinking winter might be a bit chilly!

Every one of the 220 employees across Boswells’ six Norfolk and Suffolk offices, has been challenged by the directors to raise at least £100 to support Big C, Norfolk’s cancer charity, who staff voted to be it’s charity of the year.

Marketing manager Lee Boswell said: “The company is a big supporter of Big C having sponsored both its ladies and gent’s golf days for the past 20 years.

“We’ll also look to raise funds though our annual 7-a-side corporate football tournament at Carrow Road, dress down days and other fund-raising challenges for the charity. This year it is slightly different. We will all be taking part. Each member of staff can chose his or her challenge and already the initiative has become a talking point in the office. The entire staff is linked by a team page on JustGiving which totals the efforts as we go and is stimulating ideas. This way we can all see how much we have made and how far off we are from the target.

“Some of the directors and staff will be participating in the Bullards Tour De Norfolk at the Norfolk showground in September, taking up the challenge of the new 35mile circuit whilst a couple of hardy souls are going the full distance and have pledged to ride 100 miles!” he said.

If you would like to donate to the Alan Boswell team effort visit www.justgiving.com/teams/ABG-BigC-2016

To find out more how you can get involved with Big C in its Challenge 35 campaign visit www.big-c.co.uk

Peerless Plastics and Coatings are one of the leading lights in applying protective hard coatings to plastics.

This brand new video gives a short and concise overview to what Peerless are able to achieve for their customers, producing a tailor-made solution to our clients problems.

Aftermarket protective and anti-glare hard coats that can be applied to nearly all types of plastic and plastic components.

For more information, please take a look at our website athttps://www.peerless-coatings.co.uk/