Norwich City Council have released their latest economic barometer. The report highlighted:
Locally
Business activity picked up sharply in May, helped by an increase in new orders and demand. However this has subsequently slowed due to political and economic uncertainty
Unite is warning that the Constructionarium Project, which gives undergraduates construction experience, is at risk of closure as a result of the Construction Industry Training Board’s plans to close its HQ at Bircham Newton
More than 200 homes could be built in Norwich City centre on part of the former Jarrold printworks site. Plans also include a 60 bedroom hotel and offices.
Nationally
Mild improvements in both the UK manufacturing sector and the construction sector according to PMI data
UK wage growth fell short of expectations – slipping to 2.8% from 2.9%, raising further doubts about whether the Bank of England will raise interest rates in the summer
Tight labour market conditions have placed upward pressure on staff wages and are causing recruitment difficulties.
Tariffs imposed by President Trump’s administration on global steel and aluminium imports could lead to yearly export losses of £125 million for the UK, but it will be by no means the hardest hit country.
According to leading trade credit insurer Euler Hermes, global export losses caused by the US decision will reach £5.57 billion with the highest losses being suffered by Canada, Brazil, Russia, China and South Korea.
Canada looks likely to be the biggest single loser, Euler Hermes has calculated, suffering a £1.5 billion loss. In Europe, Germany could be the biggest loser with £300 million in lost exports, while the EU as a whole will lose around £800 million.
Despite these figures, Ludovic Subran, Chief Economist at Euler Hermes, still believes that the risk of a fully-fledged trade war – characterised by a doubling or tripling of the average US tariffs and severe retaliation from the EU, Canada and Mexico – still seems unlikely.
However, he warned, the uncertainty caused by the latest wave of measures combined with tit-for-tat tariffs from other countries threatens the status quo of rules built up over the past 25 years.
The most frustrating aspect of the current disputes is that they are taking place in the context of reasonably healthy global trade figures.
“Encouragingly, global trade is actually doing quite well and rose by around 5% last year,” Mr Subran pointed out. “For the moment, it is outweighing the dampening effects of protectionism measures.”
The nascent Customs Declaration Service (CDS) faces significant challenges and there is a risk that it will be unable to fully replace the existing Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system by January 2019.
Indeed, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will not know whether CDS works in live service until all of its functionality has been implemented this December, the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.
In its latest report on the CDS, the NAO says that the late release of functionality and migration of users increases the risk that HMRC will not have sufficient time to resolve any issues that the last release might highlight and that some traders will therefore have to continue using the existing CHIEF system.
Although HMRC intends to migrate users to the CDS beginning in August, and aims to complete the process by January next year, the migration of all users from the current (CHIEF) to the new (CDS) system by then seems, as the NAO puts it, “unlikely”.
However, if the CDS is not ready, does not perform as planned, if traders have not migrated to it in time, or there is no deal on Brexit, then HMRC now has more robust contingency plans in place, the NAO agrees (something it welcomes given that its previous report of July 2017 criticised HMRC for a lack of planning).
For the British Chambers of Commerce, Anastassia Beliakova noted that, until the Government has decided which customs option it wishes to pursue with the EU post-Brexit, the 145,000 UK businesses that are only trading with the EU are left in the dark as to the future costs and administration they have to factor in.
The NAO report, The Customs Declaration Service: A Progress Update, can be found here.
Our flagship technology conference Talking Tech is returning to The Space, Norwich this September and now is the time to book your tickets! Our early bird tickets give you a discount of £5 off the standard ticket price. This discount rate ends on Friday 13 July – don’t let this superstitious date be unlucky for you by securing your tickets today. Talking Tech is a half-day conference bringing together local and national speakers for an interactive and inspiring event. The event is made up of keynote speakers, panel discussions, workshops, a tech themed exhibition and over 180 business attendees. Since 2017’s conference the way we do business has continued to change and adapt, ushering in new technology to improve efficiency and productivity. The focus of the conference this year is looking forward to the future of tech in business – how are things going to continue to change and how do we prepare for this? To cover such a wide topic our speaker line-up for 2018 has more than doubled, including the introduction of panel discussions which aim to bring together experts from different backgrounds to share their thoughts and answer your questions. Our three panels this year are Virtual and Augmented Reality, The Tech Skills Gap and Disrupting Industries. Other topics from our keynote speakers include Digital Marketing, Embracing Technology, Shaping the Future of Tech Innovation and more. Closer to the event we will also be releasing workshop only tickets for the first time. As we shuffle our agenda around, our knowledgeable workshops will be the key close to the event. Buying a conference ticket will give you access to the whole event, including our networking lunch and workshops. However, if you don’t fancy the whole conference, you can join us for a spot of lunch and a choice of workshops to break up your day. So what are you waiting for? Book your tickets today! Find out more about the event – click here Book early bird tickets – click here
On Thursday 5 July we were joined by Liftshare at our Norwich Business Breakfast at Sprowston Manor Hotel. Over 70 businesses joined us for the morning which including networking, a fun ice breaker activity, breakfast and of course our guest speaker.
Laura Watling is the Marketing and Membership Manager at Liftshare, which has been open for business for 20 years now. Laura told delegates how Liftshare Founder and CEO Ali Clabburn came up with the idea of Liftshare when he pinned a post-it note to a notice board asking if someone was able to give him a lift. After multiple responses to this, the idea for Liftshare was born and 20 years on they are campaigning and encouraging Norwich to become a global leader in Sharing City.
Laura said that by embracing Sharing City it will ‘put Norwich on the map’ as a global leader in the scheme. She encouraged attendees to get involved by using a scheme such as Liftshare, carpooling, using bike schemes, sharing lunches, or sharing skills, and then promoting all of this.
Why should businesses get involved? Well, Laura kindly answered that for us. By doing things such as carpooling, using sharing bikes such as Ofo, and more, it makes our daily lives more efficient and convenient. Norwich is the 5th fastest growing city in the UK meaning becoming a Sharing City would help greatly with sustainability in our area. It also aids economic growth and again, that global recognition. It also enables people of all age’s access to all of their needs; particularly when it comes to the elderly, and those that haven’t grown up with the digital skills we need to manage daily. Apps like Grabbit where you can put a call out for people to pick you things up from the shops, or ask others if they need anything, completely change the way we do things in our everyday lives.
Since Liftshare began, they have saved 500 million miles, £58 million, 116, 000 tonnes of C02 with Over 600,000 members and over 700 clients. This is proof of the ways becoming a sharing city could hugely benefit Norwich as a city, as well and those who live there.
After Laura’s insightful talk, the event ended with more networking and a great positivity towards Norwich becoming a Sharing City.
The Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO) have updated the IECEE Recognition Certificate List and more electrical products are now mandated to comply.
The new SASO IECEE Recognition Certificate requirements will become mandatory for certain products from 1st August 2018.
With the UK Government struggling to find the unity that would allow it to present a coherent plan for customs arrangements after Brexit, other organisations are filling the gap with their own suggestions.
The latest to do so is BusinessEurope, a body which “speak” for all-sized enterprises in 34 European countries whose national business federations are our direct members.
It has issued Brexit: The Customs Implications and Solutions, a report which can be found at www.businesseurope.eu.
This warns that Brexit could result in a myriad of costly customs procedures, non-tariff barriers and regulatory issues. Every degree of divergence from EU membership creates additional economic barriers, it argues.
These could entail customs duties and declarations; complex rules of origin or issues of cumulation; physical and digital bottlenecks; diverging rules and legislation; a lack of mutual recognition and the introduction of conformity assessments.
BusinessEurope calls on the two sides to maintain the closest possible economic relationship while preserving the integrity of the single market.
As other business groups have noted, it stresses that regulatory alignment between the EU and the UK is of utmost importance in preserving value chains and avoiding non-tariff barriers to trade.
“No free trade agreement to date has come close to solving the issues of regulatory divergence,” the report warns, “and this will be a challenge for both sides to address in the framework of the future relationship.”
If trade really is to stay as frictionless as possible (as the UK Government has repeated on innumerable occasions), but the UK still wants to leave the single market and customs union, then BusinessEurope points out that the two sides have to come up with simplified customs procedures.
They must also start recruiting and training staff including customs officials, veterinarians and related staff such as those involved in managing sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues.
As Britain’s heatwave continues across the county, businesses from across Norfolk, and even some from Cambridgeshire, came together for a networking breakfast at Knights Hill Hotel in King’s Lynn.
Delegates arrived early to enjoy the early morning sun and to make new connections. Not only was the room filled with Norfolk business, but our friends at Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce brought some delegates along to meet businesses across the border.
Welcomed by our West Norfolk Chamber President Michael Baldwin of Bank House Hotel, attendees started the event by taking part in our networking activity, in which they had to identify global cities by their ‘Street Map’ view. One table came close to full marks with 8 out of a possible 10.
Following this was breakfast served by Knights Hill Hotel, where delegates were able to continue conversations whilst tucking in. Once the plates were cleared we mixed the room up in our classic ‘Safari Network’ where attendees move tables to meet more businesses.
Next came our guest speakers. Elizabeth kicked things off giving an overview of how successful tourism has been in West Norfolk in recent years. This is shown by the fact that 18% of employment in West Norfolk supports tourism, and this percentage rises during peak seasons. Elizabeth also gave an overview of the new mobile apps in West Norfolk, including the ‘Visit West Norfolk‘ app which she encouraged businesses to get involved in.
After Elizabeth’s talk was Kate who kindly gave us her time despite being so close to the King’s Lynn Festival. Kate highlighted how the King’s Lynn Festival is one of the longest running art festivals in the UK. The festival takes place in venues across King’s Lynn including St.George’s Guildhall, which is the largest and best preserved medieval guildhall’s in the UK.
After some great question and answer time with businesses focusing on how they could get involved with the King’s Lynn Festival and the Council’s apps, the event drew to a close with the networking continuing.
After weeks in the planning, design stages, and several trips to various hardware shops, plus let’s not forget driving a van too! We had set up our stand at Norfolk Show for the first time in ten years, and were ready for two days of engaging action-packed business networking! With over 81 thousand visitors attending the show, it is certainly not to be missed.
Our first morning began with an informal business breakfast, and with a great cup of coffee provided by our members’ Coffee Quest, which certainly started the day in a positive manner. Our business lounge gave our visitors an opportunity to relax, and talk in a positive environment. The Chamber was delighted to have the chance to speak and engage with so many people of all different generations about how we support business. It was really positive to see so many members and non-members using the stand and space too. There were certainly a number of very constructive conversations happening.
On the stand, we had several of our campaigns running, ‘No More Not Spots’ and ‘Just Dual it’! This was a great chance to show people some of the work the Chamber is working on to improve business support structure. One of the stands’, favourites was ‘The Human Fruit Machine’ performed by our members’ Indigo Swan, which added a really fun and lively aspect to the stand.
One of our local Gin makers St. Giles Gin provided Gin O’clock on Wednesday, the cocktails Tom Collins and St. Giles French 77, were very popular and delicious too.
The Chamber wanted to say a very big thank you to all the visitors to our stand and to all our members who supported us to make our stand happen; from the donation of furniture to printing the banners to the deck chairs, to the WIFI from Rural Broadband and of course the coffee and gin too!
If you would like to get in contact following on from Norfolk Show please do drop us a line at hello@norfolkchamber.co.uk or 01603 625977
The sun is out and temperatures are rising, which can only mean one thing – Lunch on the Green!
For the first time Norfolk Chamber of Commerce are taking an exhibition stand at the coolest summer networking event in Norwich – Lunch on the Green 2018.
Mix, mingle, and soak up the sun at Clapham & Collinge’s annual summer networking and fundraising event in support of Break Charity on Wednesday 11th July. With plenty of local businesses exhibiting across all sectors, many offering special deals and delights, this fabulous fundraising event is a great opportunity to network with the Norfolk business community whilst supporting Break Charity, during their 50th anniversary.
This year’s event will feature many summer-themed activities and attractions including garden games, a selection of wines from TFW Fine Wines, delicious canapés from The Feed, summer mocktails from 7 Surrey Street, wine tasting with Eastern Financial Consultants, roulette with Kings & Queens Fun Casinos, beautiful floral displays from Libby Ferris Flowers and live music acts including Bill Downs, Lydia Lee and the Manhattan Husk Duo.
Click here to download a full list of our exhibitors.
Advanced tickets cost £10+VAT (includes a glass of wine and a buffet lunch). Click here to purchase your ticket.
British beef producers will soon be able to export their produce to China after a 20-year long ban has been lifted.
Describing China’s decision to stop its restrictions as a landmark move, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) predicted that the export opportunities could see British producers generate £250 million over the first five years of a new market access agreement.
The prohibition on imports of British beef was introduced in the aftermath of the BSE outbreak.
The decision to lift the ban was taken, Defra explains, after several years of site inspections and negotiations between British and Chinese officials.
Acknowledging the painstaking and collaborative work by representatives of both Defra and the agri-food industry, Environment Secretary Michael Gove said that the move is fantastic news for the UK’s food and farming industry.
Speaking for the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), Dr Phil Hadley also noted the efforts that had gone into securing agreement with the Chinese Government.
“We now look forward to seeing UK beef exported to [China] for the first time in over 20 years,” he said, adding that the Board will begin the work on the export protocols and approvals that will allow commercial shipments to begin.
With the ban lifted, market access negotiations are expected to take about three years.
China is currently the UK’s eighth largest export market for agri-food products. Figures show that Chinese consumers bought over £560 million worth of British food and drink in 2017.
Commenting on the publication of the NAO report on the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), Anastassia Beliakova, Head of Trade Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:
“Delivering CDS in time for March 2019 was always going to be an ambitious project, and it is perhaps unsurprising, although concerning, that it has been necessary for delivery timeframes to be moved.
“While it is reassuring that contingency plans will be in place, it is also critical that the 145,000 businesses that are only trading with the EU receive guidance now on how to submit customs declarations. Until the government has decided which customs option it wishes to pursue in its future relationship with the EU, these businesses are left in the dark as to the future costs and administration they have to factor in.
“Many companies and intermediaries will have to hire staff to process a potential 200 million new customs declarations with the EU, and it is troubling that so late in the negotiations it is still unclear whether or not they will have to do so.”