Member News

Norwich-based telecoms company, Comms Supply, has enjoyed a storming start to the year. May 2013 was the company’s single busiest month in terms of sales, where an impressive £78,000 worth of new business was achieved; far exceeding the targeted £45,000. Furthermore, within the first week of June 2013 alone, sales more than doubled May’s entire month: June’s current figure stands at £175,000. Since launching in early 2012 Comms Supply has been on a constant upward trajectory in attracting new business and increasing monthly turnover. In May last year, the company’s annual turnover was £68,000; it is now £1million.

Along with a core business base within East Anglia, Comms Supply has clients across the UK, including Devon, Manchester and Yorkshire. In Norfolk, Comms Supply is proud to work with Nelson’s Journey, Air Livery, Seajacks, NWES, The Forum, East Anglian Air Ambulance and Blue Sky Leisure, and many others.

Commenting on Comms Supply’s recent performance, Karl Alderton, managing director, said: “Comms Supply has been in business for over a year now, and indicators suggest we’re well on our way to achieving our two year target of £2.5million turnover. Part of this key growth is around our new hosted solution which is works really well for businesses of all sizes and all sectors; from companies with just two users to thousands of users. Our hallmarks are straight talking, honesty and always putting the customer first – even if that means making a smaller than possible individual sale. In the long run this adds up to building a positive reputation, earning recommendations and attracting more new business. We’ll only ever recommend straightforward and effective solutions based on what the client needs, nothing unnecessary.”

In June 2013, new starter, Rhys Alderton, joined Comms Supply, bringing the staff total to six. Rhys will be working as part of the support team, training to support on technical solutions and provisioning.

Comms Supply provides a wide range of business telecoms services: from comprehensive phone, mobile and broadband packages to simple line rental; with an aim of delivering innovative and flexible communications solutions that really help businesses to thrive. To find out more or to arrange a business telecoms audit please call 0333 2020 900 or visit www.commssupply.co.uk.

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Amber Davis at Plain Speaking PR 01603 487 291amber@plainspeakingpr.co.uk

Monday 24th June 2013 – BBC Watchdog find the best UK Airport currency prices at Norwich A recent BBC Watchdog survey of currency exchanges at fourteen UK airports highlighted ICE PLC located within the terminal building at Norwich International Airport as offering the best airport rate of those surveyed.

On the day of the BBC Watchdog investigation (Monday 3rd June 2013) £500 could be exchanged for 560 Euro’s at ICE Norwich compared to the lowest offering of 510 Euro’s at another UK airport bureau.

Tom Johnson, Head of Online Business at iceplc commented “We work hard to keep our prices fair and as competitive as possible. Consumer champion Which? recently price-shopped our airport rates and found them to be consistently the best over a six week period (Which? Money report June 2013).

“Our online services are the most cost-effective for us to deliver and this is reflected in the highly competitive rates we are able to offer, which are consistently amongst the best in the UK. We were voted best online travel money provider in a Which? consumer panel this year (Which? Travel report March 2013). We know that convenience is key for customers which is why we offer a number of choices to enable travellers to buy currency at market competitive rates, when it suits them whether online in advance, in branch or last minute at the airport. Our Click & Collect voucher service offers customers discounted rates on Euros and US Dollars at some of our key branch locations when collecting in-branch, including various departure venues across the UK including Norwich International Airport.

For more information on ICE PLC please visit www.iceplc.com

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1. Whatever your mobile strategy – whether for publicity, increasing traffic to your site or as a direct push for sales- build your efforts around the mere 2-3 seconds you have to make an impact to potential customers. Tailor the balance between being clever and straight-to-the point to reach the targets you need.

2. If you know your market, find out how they like to get their information. What kind of information are they looking for and how do they prefer it to be displayed? Do customers respond to infographics and clever design or are the technical details more important? Find their preference the best you can and match your message. Not sure? Consider feedback plug-ins for your site, launching polls on your twitter and facebook pages and reviewing your website’s analytics for click-throughs and interaction.

3. Remember your market may be engaged in other activities whilst reading your message. They’re also looking at a smaller screen, so keep everything small and ready to read without the need for lots of scrolling. This definitely means not TOO much text!

4. An effective headline. Like a good email subject line, it’s crucial in grabbing the attention. Once again, keep it short, sharp and to the point. You don’t have time to waste on words that don’t hit the mark.

5. Give customers something to engage with. Getting your customer to interact with you builds loyalty. If you get them to ‘do’ something to get your special offering, then they are more likely to repeat the action another time (as long as the ‘push’ results in a win/win situation) So suggest they click or text to vote, enter a context, get a coupon, download, request info etc. Get them to flex their fingers and opt in.

6. Encourage sharing. Most apps have this feature built in. Can you offer them something to help them spread your word? What freebie, discount, or special mobile giveaway would appeal to them?

Integrating even just a few of the above points with a test, learn, refine approach to your mobile marketing, whatever your strategy, will give it great potential.

New to Norwich, Think Mobile Media makes fantastic apps, QR codes and mobile websites that grow your business. Geraldine is a partner at the firm and for full details on how we could help your business please view our site here

Energy firm Proserv, which recently took on the Great Yarmouth based subsea controls subsidiaries of Weatherford, has strengthened its global position after acquiring the engineering business Velocious.

The deal for the company, based in Perth, Australia, will see Proserv integrating more than 20 members of staff specialising in intervention, tooling, engineering innovation and project management into their business.

Established in 2006, Velocious has been involved in providing innovative solutions to some of the most demanding projects faced by oil and gas companies across the globe. The company specialises in the subsea domain with intervention on subsea production equipment being a particular area of strength.

Delivering innovative solutions to clients operating in the subsea space relies on the multi-disciplinary team of engineers at Velocious and their very significant knowledge and experience.

Velocious has a strong track record for oil & gas project management and has worked for a host of international companies.

The deal comes six months after Proserv acquired US company Total Instrumentation & Controls (TIC), taking on its 300 members of staff. In addition, Proserv also took on Weatherford’s subsea controls subsidiaries in Great Yarmouth during 2012, adding a further 300 staff to the company.

This latest deal sees Proserv increase its talent pool to in excess of 1900 employees and reinforces the company’s position as a leader in drilling and subsea innovation.

David Lamont, Proserv’s chief executive officer, said: “Velocious is a widely respected business which fits well with Proserv’s ethos of ingenuity and innovation.

“As we have shown in the past, we are always looking to invest in companies which strengthen and diversify our suite of products and services. The Velocious team bring a variety of skills and a great depth of knowledge to Proserv.”

The Velocious announcement comes days after Mr Lamont was named Ernst & Young Scotland Entrepreneur of the Year 2013. At the event, he was praised by the judging panel for moulding “a phenomenal business of a truly global nature” in overseeing a 25% year-on-year growth during his two years at the company.

Brian Matthews, director at Velocious, said: “Proserv has grown to become a leading player in the energy sector in recent years. Joining forces with Proserv will allow us to continue growing on a global scale.”

Proserv, which is headquartered in Aberdeenshire, UK, is a market-leading company specialising in exploration & production, drilling, and infrastructure technical solutions and services to the global energy industry. The company operates worldwide across several regions.

Proserv has experienced exceptional growth over the past 12 months particularly in the subsea services sector.

For more information about Proserv, visit: www.proserv.com

Remember the Norwich Elephants? This Summer the Gorillas are coming – 53 of them. The painted sculptures will be at strategic locations throughout the City of Norwich showcasing local artists, businesses and the Norfolk charity Break.

With the public backing of Jake Humphrey, the GoGoGorillas trail is set to be the biggest talking point of the summer. This is also the first trail in Norwich to interact with visitors through a custom built app and QR codes.

The app gives visitors all the GoGoGorillas trail information and takes advantage of mobile technology to include many valuable trail based features. With GPS tracking, visitors can find their way between each gorilla location, upload photos to the integrated Flikr gallery and share the app on popular social media platforms.

Think Mobile Media, a newly formed media partnership in Norwich, built the custom trail app in close liaison with Martin Green of Break. Martin wanted an interactive app, and he asked Think Mobile Media to devise a competition around the inbuilt QR scanner. Sponsors and retailers are also set to benefit from QR code coupons unlocked from within the custom trail app.

It’s the perfect way for visitors to access information on the trail, makes sure they don’t miss a thing, and encourages them to pass it on to all their friends! Martin from Break will keep in touch via the app’s messaging system to build the buzz, encourage donations and share the fun.

Download your GoGoGorillas app now.

Smart Messenger has provided businesses with an easy, cost effective email marketing solution for the last ten years. In this time the standard monthly fee has never increased – it is still just £10. The service however, has grown and developed to keep ahead of clients needs and expectations.

What better way to mark the occasion that with a big tasty cake! Cake designer Minette from Candii Clouds created a very impressive iPad cake complete with a Smart Messenger leaflet,congratulations banner andballoons all of which were edible! The cake was cut and enjoyed by visitors to the Chamber of Commerce B2B event in March.

I believe the reason Smart Messenger has stood the test of time is down to our approach. We get to know our clients and their business and provide campaign advice and guidance as part of our standard service.”

Holly Stibbon, Director.

We are pleased to annouce that a talented young Norwich DJ, Dan Benton, 19, a Business with Enterprise student at City College Norwich, has won a £1,000 grant from Nurture Financial Planning Ltd to support his new start-up, Bare Bass, which organises club nights.

Dan is the first winner of our Entrepreneurs £1000 Grant, which was open to 16 to 25 year olds in the Norfolk area with ambitions to start up their own business ventures.

The judges were impressed with the passion shown by Dan, who currently works part-time at the Wonderland night club in Norwich in addition to studying on his college course, and who is aiming to establish a career in live music and events management.

The young DJ has invested the grant in professional-level DJ decks, headphones and a carry case, giving him all of the key equipment he needs to be self-sufficient as an event organiser for local night clubs.

The first Bare Bass-organised event will be held at Twilight Norwich on Friday 21st June, from 10pm to 3am, featuring up-and-coming amateur DJs playing a mix of Drum and bass, Grime, Jungle and Dubstep.

While Dan expects to be very busy ensuring the event as a whole is a success, he hopes to celebrate the launch of Bare Bass by fitting in a set himself at some point during the night.

Dan is already looking ahead to further Bare Bass nights, which includes plans for an open mic event and collaborations with professional musicians to run live music nights.

Dan is coming to the end of his Business with Enterprise course, which is part of the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy at City College Norwich. He plans to progress on to the Foundation degree in Leisure and Events Management at the college, which he hopes will provide a valuable step toward his eventual goal of managing live music festivals.

Dan Benton said:

“After finishing my A levels I began working in clubs, starting off collecting glasses and then getting to work behind the bar and seeing more of the event management side of things.

“The Peter Jones Enterprise Academy course gives everyone the chance to work on something they really enjoy doing and that’s what led me to set up Bare Bass. Winning this grant is a huge help as it means I can be self-sufficient, with the right equipment, and use my links with musicians and clubs to start organising my own events.”

Simon Linstead, Managing Director, Nurture Financial Planning Ltd, said:

“Working with the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy students at City College Norwich has been an amazing experience. They have all impressed me with their drive and enthusiasm for the businesses they have been working on.

“It was a difficult decision for the judges to make, because of the high standard of the applications, but Dan stood out because of his determination to push through with the launch of Bare Bass and his clear passion for what he is doing. The judges felt that these qualities, aided by the start-up grant, will make a huge impact on his business.”

Corrienne Peasgood, Principal, City College Norwich, added:

“As one of the Gazelle Group of colleges, and a member of the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy network, we are seeing increasing numbers of our students, in all subject areas, getting involved in enterprise and entrepreneurship.

“Supporting student enterprise is greatly enhanced by the links we have with our local business community – and the support of Nurture Financial Planning through this grant is a great example of that partnership in action to help a young person get their business off the ground.”

To find out how your school or college students can apply for next year’s Nurture Financial Planning Ltd young enterprise grant, contact Simon Linstead on 0844 800 3370 or email grant@nurturefp.co.uk

We are delighted to announce that members of our team will be doing a sponsored skydive in June, to raise funds for our chosen local charity, Red Balloon Learner Centre.

However this is no ordinary parachute jump where you are tied to someone else who does all the work. This is the most intensive experience offered by UK Parachuting. After a short ‘ground’ training session, their first experience in the skies will be freefalling for around 50 seconds before deploying their own parachute, guiding it safely to the ground.

Red Balloon is a charity that has been set up to offer a safe environment for severely bullied children between the ages of 9 – 18 to receive a full time education. Since the charity was set up in 1996, it has grown significantly and now has 4 learner centres based throughout theUK, including one inNorwich. These centres offer individual care for children who are unable to attend school after being victims of severe bullying or have suffered a trauma such as the death of a parent, abuse, rape or some other experience that makes them particularly vulnerable. Sadly, at least half of the students who attend Red Balloon have attempted or seriously considered suicide as a result of their traumatic experiences.

Simon Linstead, Maurice Pearce, Carl Rich and Laura Hambling will all take the plunge on Tuesday 18th June 2013 and hope to raise in excess of £2,000 for this worthy cause. If you’d like to sponsor our team, who are braving great heights (and fears!) for this fantastic charity, please donate here https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/nurtureforthehighjump.

Cozens-Hardy LLP is pleased to announce that Jane Anderson has been chosen as the firm’s new Senior Partner.

Mrs Anderson takes over the role from Chris Groves who is standing down as Senior Partner, in preparation for his retirement within the next 12 months.

Mr Groves commented:

“I consider myself fortunate to have held the role of Senior Partner at Cozens-Hardy. It has not been an onerous position, because the firm is so well managed by the Managing Partner, Simon Whipp and I have enjoyed the support of my colleagues and long standing clients of the firm. I am delighted that Jane has been chosen as the new Senior Partner, as she has the leadership qualities to drive the firm forward and improve on the high levels of client satisfaction already achieved. She is also a great grand-daughter of the founder of the firm, Sydney Cozens-Hardy so it seems wholly appropriate that Jane should take over my mantle.”

Mrs Anderson, who is one of three partners in the firm’s successful Family department, said:

“Chris is going to be a very difficult act to follow. He is universally popular and despite managing a huge caseload he always has time for everyone in the office, and is unfailingly cheerful. We thought hard about the role of the Senior Partner for the future and it is a testament to Chris’ success in the role that we unanimously agreed to replace him. I am very pleased to accept the challenge and hope to maintain his enthusiasm and energy for the firm in the future.”

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For further information please contact: Clare Haylett ph: 07764 270570 and clare@clarehaylett.net

If you need your website to be more effective then setting clear and easy objectives is the key to success. However you may not know where to start or have the time to carry out in depth research into the subject.

Don’t worry our new PDF download “The Bigfork Guide to Setting Website Objectives” has been written to help businesses and organisations do this in easy steps. Clearly written and without confusing jargon the PDF shows you how to set measurable goals into your website. The end result will be a website that contributes to your business and you will be able to prove it.

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Local funeral directors Arthur Jary & Sons were once again presented with a Customer Care Award at the National Funeral Exhibition 2013 – their second Customer Care award in as many years. The awards are based on responses to a national survey of clients who purchased a funeral prepayment plan. The very high standard of customer care achieved by Arthur Jary & Sons earned them an award, one of fifty presented to firms throughout the UK, and the only Funeral Directors along the east coast of Norfolk and North Suffolk to be recognised.

The survey results showed that 82% of Arthur Jary & Sons clients were “very satisfied” with the service provided andno-one was dissatisfied. 98% of those who responded said they would recommend the plan to someone else. In the space for additional comments, one of Arthur Jary & Sons’s clients said, “Is clear and concise and good value”

“Funeral directors provide a very personal service to families and some deserve recognition for exceptional customer care,” says Graham Williams of Funeral Planning Services. “We have worked with Arthur Jary & Sons since 2000 and we are delighted that they won this award.”

Managing Director Susan Thompson said, “We are so privileged to receive this award again. Our staff work so hard and continuously go the extra mile for our families, to ensure that what can often be the most difficult time in their lives is dealt with sensitively and professionally.”

React’slatest two recruits to join them are bringing some youthful flair and enthusiasm to the family run business.

Its 15 years since React Computer Partnership, who have a branch in Beccles, began trading from the dining room table of one of the Director’s homes. Since that time the company has moved into substantial premises at Deben Mill Business Centre to accommodate their expanding team of IT professionals. Their latest two recruits to join them are bringing some youthful flair and enthusiasm to the family run business.

Ed Osborne joined the React Computer Partnership team having previously worked with an IT training organisation developing and providing training courses for their clients. Richard Pledger one of the React partners explains how his move to React came about ” Ed was keen to develop his IT networking skills and was keen to join a company offering support services in this area. With our continued growth, despite the global economy, we needed another support engineer to bolster our support department, ensuring we could maintain the excellent levels of customer service we offer. Therefore React was the perfect match for Ed.”

Alex Davies originally joined React as an Administration apprentice on a six month course. However it was soon clear his real passion and skills lay within the more technical aspect of IT systems and support. Richard says “I’m happy to say due to the increase in contracted customers over the past 12 months we were able to accommodate Alex in a new role and so he has now been taken on as a full time apprentice embarking in a certified Microsoft Apprenticeship Course.

React Computer Partnership are Norfolk and Suffolk Chamber members and are a business IT support company with offices in Woodbridge, Beccles and St Neots who have built a reputation throughout East Anglia for providing professional IT support services. They have been finalists for the past two years in the Outstanding Customer Service category of the Anglian Business Awards and this year they are finalists again in two more categories. They work with many types of business, especially on the manufacturing side, ensuring businesses have a reliable and efficient IT system to increase their productivity and speed the flow of work around their offices and warehouses using electronic document storage and management.

Richard concluded ‘We’ve had some really good feedback already about Alex and Ed from React customers and with their youthful outlook and dedicated approach we are confident we can achieve even greater customer satisfaction this year.” www.reactcp.co.uk