Chamber News

At a breakfast meeting at Norwich City Football Club, Norfolk Chamber hosted John Holland-Kaye, the CEO of London Heathrow Airport, who came to talk to local businesses about the economic benefits and the opportunities available as a result of expansion at London Heathrow.

Mr Holland-Kaye outlined that Heathrow were looking to become the best connected airport in the world, with more flights and a new runway by 2025.  The £14 billion privately funded project will open up supply chain opportunities across the UK – including here Norfolk.  He also noted that the Heathrow expansion project was not governed OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union) and that their preferred option was for a predominantly UK based supply chain.

He also advised that Heathrow was looking to take the lead in a new way to deliver large scale infrastructure projects by building their key components away from the airport and assembling them locally.  This is a method that is becoming more prevalent internationally, which the UK has not fully adopted yet.  To achieve this, they will be creating four logistic hubs – for which Great Yarmouth is one of 65 bids from across the UK.  Heathrow has already committed to one of the logistic hubs being located in Scotland, however the other three hub locations have yet to be decided.

To help develop their supply chain for the Heathrow expansion, they will be holding a series of Business Summits across the UK – the nearest one to our region is being held at Colchester on Tuesday 17 April 2018 and is free to attend.

There will be speed-networking sessions to improve networking opportunities and connectivity. Also in attendance will be Heathrow’s Commercial and Procurement teams, to answer questions about business opportunities available at the airport. To date, Heathrow have advised that an estimated £93.4 million of new deals have been won by businesses as a result of the partnerships formed at their Business Summits.

Why Attend?

• The Heathrow Business Summits each provide a great platform for SMEs to get a foot in the door and capitalise on the business opportunities available at Heathrow
• Promote your business to Heathrow’s supply chain through face-to-face appointments on the day
• Meet and network with other businesses visiting the event.
• Meet with the Department of International Trade to explore exporting opportunities
• Meet and network with exhibitor partners including the Local Councils, Chambers of Commerce, Local Enterprise Partnerships, and the Department for International Trade.
• Meet local colleges and universities to support your skills and recruitment needs.
• All exhibitors actively support and guide businesses on how to connect and build trade relations into new supply chains at Heathrow

Attendance is free – book your place now

Leaders in East Anglia are being invited to attend a major conference which will put wellbeing at the heart of leadership in the region. The ‘Leaders in Wellbeing’ event – taking place during Mental Health Awareness Week –  is aimed at chief executives, senior managers and HR directors and will showcase the latest thinking from speakers who are leading the way in wellbeing in the region.

Taking place from 9.30am – 1.30pm on Tuesday 15th May at The Space in Norwich, the free event will focus on the role of leadership in wellbeing. It will include personal stories from leaders as well as ideas about practical ways to role model wellbeing, and how to embed it within organisational culture.

Stuart Rimmer, Chief Executive of East Coast College who will be charing the event explained: “Coming together to discuss wellbeing in leadership creates space to consider innovation and better ways to run our businesses for the twenty first century.”

Also speaking at the event will be Andy Wood, Chief Executive of Adnams. He said: “We take this issue extremely seriously at Adnams.  It makes great business sense as the first line of serving our customers well is a happy and well-motivated workforce that knows if they need help in their lives the organisation is there for them”.

There will also be personal testimony from Nigel Cushion, Founder of Nelsonspirit, Ian Hacon, Founder of Yellow Brick Road, and Michelle Gant, Director of The Engaging People Company.

Aviva’s recent experience of delivering a widescale wellbeing programme will also be in the spotlight with Katherine Billingham-Mohamed and Gemma Sandwell on hand to share their knowledge and experience. Katherine said: “Wellbeing is quite a buzz word at the moment, but essentially healthy and happy employees generally result in happy customers! It’s about helping people to make small steps to change behaviour, be that in their mental, physical or any other aspect of wellbeing”.

The event has been co-organised by Tim Handley, an education consultant who heads up TEDxNorwichED. And, underlining the emerging importance of wellbeing as a leadership and workplace priority, both New Anglia LEP and Norfolk Chamber of Commerce have pledged their support. Charlotte Purves of New Anglia LEP said: “This is a really important issue to address if the East is going to stand out as the place to live and work. Wellbeing should be top of the agenda for every business and this event will provide business leaders with tools to embed this in their own organisations.”

Chris Sargisson, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber added: “Wellbeing and the culture of wellbeing starts at the top and should always, always include the valuable and influential people at the top. By doing so means organisations can genuinely lead by example in the building of brilliant, healthy, high performing places of work.”

Organisers expect places to be snapped up quickly and so interested leaders are encouraged to book early: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/leaders-in-wellbeing-tickets-43021693042  

Business leaders gathered last night to hear Vicky Pryce, Chief Economic Advisor and Board Member at the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) outline her views on the future of the UK economy.

Norfolk Chamber and Norse Commercial Services hosted the gala dinner at Langley Abbey, which was attended by a wide range of businesses from traditional engineering companies, such as KLM Engineering to Rainbird, an innovative tech firm.

Ms Pryce presented her thoughts on how the UK economy had fared since the triggering of Article 50, through to how she thought it would progress after the post-Brexit transition period.  She went on to note how interest rates and consumer spending could potentially impact on the economy and that the continued uncertainty of Brexit was impacting on business confidence.

Tension between the UK Government and the European Commission which has built up during the Brexit negotiations is hardly likely to have been eased by a demand from Brussels that the UK should pay an extra €2.7 billion.

This is nothing to do with the so-called Divorce Bill but has resulted from a dispute over customs duties going back several years.

The Commission has sent a letter of formal notice to the UK because, it argues, the Government refuses to make customs duties available to the EU budget, as required by EU law.

A 2017 report by the EU fraud office found that importers in the UK had evaded a large amount of customs duties by using fictitious and false invoices and incorrect customs value declarations at importation.

Further Commission inspections brought to light a dramatic increase of the scale of that undervaluation fraud scheme operating through the hub in the UK between 2011 and 2017.

“Despite having been informed of the risks of fraud relating to the importation of textiles and footwear originating in China since 2007, and despite having been asked to take appropriate risk control measures, the United Kingdom failed to take action to prevent the fraud,” the Commission claimed.

It calculates that the infringement of EU legislation resulted in losses to the EU budget amounting to €2.7 billion (minus collection costs) during the period November 2011 until December 2017.

In addition, the Commission argues, the UK infringed EU VAT legislation, leading to potential losses to the EU budget.

If the Commission is unhappy with the UK’s response, it may refer the case to the EU’s Court of Justice (CJEU) for a decision.

Commenting on the inflation statistics for February 2018, published today by the Office for National Statistics, Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

The drop-in price growth in February was more than expected and supports our view that inflation remains on a downward trajectory. The largest downward pressure on inflation in the month came from transport and food prices, which rose by less than a year ago.

It is increasingly likely that the UK is now past the peak of the recent spike in inflation, and price growth will ease further over the coming months as the impact of the post-EU referendum decline in sterling drops out of the calculation. However, upward pressure from rising global commodity prices could well mean that it will be some time before inflation returns to the Bank of England’s 2% target.

Nonetheless, with the latest inflation data suggesting that underlying price pressures are weakening, this should give the Bank of England sufficient scope to shift its focus a little from tackling inflation to supporting a weakening economy. While the prospect of a single rise in interest rates this year remains on the table, the probability of multiple rate hikes looks unlikely at this stage.

With economic conditions likely to become more subdued, the MPC should opt for a prolonged period of monetary stability and keep interest rates steady over the near term. More also needs to be done to boost business investment, including tackling the high upfront cost of doing business in the UK.

Commenting on the agreement of a ‘status quo’ transition period by UK and EU27 Brexit negotiators, Chris Sargisson, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber said:

“This is a milestone that many businesses across Norfolk and the UK have been waiting for. The agreement of a status quo transition period is great news for trading firms on both sides of the Channel, as it means that they will face little or no change in day-to-day business in the short term.

“While some companies would have liked to see copper-bottomed legal guarantees around the transition, the political agreement reached in Brussels is sufficient for most businesses to plan ahead with a greater degree of confidence. Many companies will now have the clarity they require to proceed with investment and hiring strategies that would otherwise have remained in question.

“In the interests of business across Europe, both sides must now do everything in their power to ensure that the transition does not become a political football later in the negotiation process.”

On citizens’ rights, Sargisson said:

“Businesses across the Norfolk will be particularly relieved that they will be able to hire and retain European nationals on similar terms over the next two years, given the significant skills gaps they continue to contend with.”

On trade agreements, he added:

“A priority for both the UK and the EU must now be to secure agreement from our shared trading partners to keeping the status quo on existing EU free trade agreements. Any loss of market access would hurt our exporters and European supply chains alike. It is excellent that the UK and the EU agree on the need for continuity in existing trade agreements; together, we must now seek confirmation from our trading partners.

“While Norfolk businesses are interested in the prospect of the UK being able to sign new trade agreements during the transition period, the top priority must be to retain market access on the same terms with existing trading partners.”

Also commenting on the future UK/EU trading relationship, Dr Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:

“Over the next few days, securing assent from the European Council must be the top priority. Over the coming weeks and months, the UK government and the European Commission must adopt a laser-like focus on the future trading relationship – and swiftly conclude a deal that minimises further adjustment costs and that answers the many practical questions that trading businesses still face.

“A zero-tariff agreement is a no-brainer for both sides. However, businesses need to see more pragmatic positions from both sides on customs and cooperation in services.”

It’s here! After months of training, Norfolk Chamber staff take on the Norwich Half Marathon this Sunday (15 April 2018) at The Royal Norfolk Showground. 

Six staff members of the Norfolk Chamber including our CEO Chris Sargisson have been spending most of our free time training for this event, even in the cold weather! This is the first time the chamber has had a team running in this event, and it’s all for a good cause too. We will be raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Please help us to reach our target, every penny helps and it is a great driving force for us to keep running. 

Do come and support us if you can on Sunday 15 April at 10.30am. Give us a cheer as we speed by, 13.1 miles is a long way!

Just in case you would like to feature on our t-shirts for the event, we are also looking for Norfolk businesses to support us by sponsoring our t-shirts which we will all be wearing on the day. Sponsorship starts at £200 and all excess funds will be donated to charity. Get in touch if you’re interested.

What a big event! With over three hundred and fifty people attending, this was one of the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce’s biggest conference so far to date. The morning was focused on the new guidelines, and changes for the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which are due to come into force on Friday 25 May 2018. This event was fantastic for the Norfolk Chamber to support the business community, as well as welcome our members and non-members to the conference. 

Chris Sargisson our Chief Executive opened the event and throughout the morning the delegates attending heard talks given by; Alex Saunders from Leathes Prior, Tom Parsley from Selesti, John Gostling, Breakwater IT and Daren Chapman from Cyber Scale. Each speaker shared their expert knowledge, business subject area, all of which helped to provide a real insight into GDPR.

Alex Saunders, from Leathes Prior Solicitors, was the first speaker to talk about GDPR. Part of Alex’s professional practice specializes in Data Protection.  He gave a really interesting and insightful talk into the current regulations, and the new changes coming into force from the legal point of view. He also covered Lawful Processing, Consent, and the action points we need to consider within all our professional and personal handling of data.

Tom Parsley, Commercial Director at Selesti, talked about the perspective of GDPR and Marketing. He highlighted how the new changes of GDPR should be seen as a positive for all our marketing campaigns. He also discussed how this change can give us all the opportunity to be a more personalized, and humanly engaged with our clients. Like Alex Saunders, Tom also covered Consent, from the marketing viewpoint and how we can increase the trust within our brand image.

John Gosling, Managing Director at Breakwater, was the third speaker who provided a real insight into; what is a breach of personal data. He also gave the audience a range of good examples of how breaches had occurred, and how we need to ensure we can prevent this happening with our own businesses in the future.

Darren Chapman Director and Principal Security Consultant of Cyber Scale was the last speaker of the morning. Darren discussed the importance of why Cyber Security matters and how the GDPR regulations work in practice with cyber security.  It was really useful to have some key action points to take away and potentially implement too.

The four speakers in a panel brought the morning to a close with questions and answers from the audience. This was an ideal opportunity to build a further awareness and answer the concerns we all had on GDPR.

It was great to hear such a diversity of speakers throughout the morning and many of our members commented on how the event had given them the confidence to implement the new regulations, as well as confirming their own knowledge on the topic. 

However, the event did not stop there! There were two further optional workshops after the main conference. One with Holly Stibbon, Director of 101 ltd on a practical marketing approach to GDPR. This was a really useful workshop focused on clear and practical advice on how to ensure your marketing is answering all the GDPR requirements. Holly also answered questions from the audience with supportive, and sound advice too.

Robert Masson, Chief Executive Officer of the DPO Centre highlighted the importance of appointing a current member of your staff with the role as Data Protection Officer within your business. This was a really valuable workshop and everyone clearly benefited from Robert’s knowledge.

As a useful follow on from the conference we have produced three great podcasts with some of our speakers on GDPR. Please click here for our conference toolkit.  

Due to the success of our 2017 Chamber training our new 2018 training programme has 30 business training courses and 20 international trade training courses.

 To see our NEW 2018 programme click here

Chamber Training delivers an in depth approach to a range of key business skills, covering subjects that are directly relevant to today’s business needs including workshops on; social media, LinkedIn, email marketing, networking, Google Adwords and International Trade training.

Norfolk Chamber has utilised the skills of their expert members to deliver these workshops with presenters from 101, Yellow Brick Road, Business Writers Ltd, DKR Training and Support and Wolf Digital Marketing.

These workshops take place in the Chamber’s well appointed board room. Working in small groups’ attendees will be able to enjoy personalised and interactive training, aimed at helping to improve knowledge and efficiency. The training courses are available in both mornings and afternoons.

To view the upcoming training workshops available to book visit: https://sandbox.norfolkchambers.co.uk/training

If you would like to receive a Training Brochure in the post just email hello@norfolkchamber.co.uk with your name and address. 

Norfolk Chamber believes that getting the A47 fully dualled is vital to the future success of Norfolk.

The A47 trunk road is managed by Highways England on behalf of the Government and runs from just past Peterborough in the west and across the breadth of Norfolk to Lowestoft in the east.

Currently just 47% of this major route is dual carriageway and while Highways England have committed to making £300 million of improvements to the road, including dualling some stretches, this will still leave substantial sections of the A47 as single carriageway with no current plans to dual them.

So we have launched the Just Dual It! campaign with Norfolk County Council and the Eastern Daily Press. The campaign is calling on the Government to…

• Fund the dualling of the Acle Straight (near Great Yarmouth) and Tilney to East Winch (near King’s Lynn) sections of the A47 in the next round of Government-funded improvements for the UK’s trunk road network, with the work carried out between 2020 and 2025
• A commitment from the Government to make funding available to dual the entire length of the A47 by 2030

We firmly believe that we have a strong case and if we can make enough noise about it, this can make all the difference.

Commenting on the need to fully dual the A47, Chris Sargisson, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber said:

“Historically, Norfolk’s infrastructure has lagged behind the rest of the UK and the county as a whole needs to come together to give voice to our infrastructure needs. 

The new campaign will highlight how vital the need for further improvements along the A47 really are.  It is already evident that poor infrastructure is restricting business growth in Norfolk.  Improvements along this significant east/west trunk road will help every sector of the business community, right across the county and will enable them to deliver greater economic growth and jobs for our region. 

“Norfolk Chamber will continue to rally the business community and lobby hard to achieve the goal of fully dualling the A47 as soon as possible.”

How can you get involved?

• Buy a copy of the Eastern Daily Press on Friday, 23 March – inserted in the paper will be a Just Dual It! freepost postcard for you to send your own message to the Government about why you think the A47 needs to be fully-dualled as soon as possible
• Also from Friday 23 March, an e-postcard will be available on the Chamber website for businesses to complete.  We will take your submission and transfer it onto the postcards
• Pick up a Just Dual It! postcard from receptions in any of the following buildings from Friday, 23 March onwards:
  • Norfolk County Council, County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich
  • The Eastern Daily Press, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich
  • Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, 9 Norwich Business Park, Whiting Road, Norwich
  • Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Town Hall, Hall Plain, Great Yarmouth, NR30 2QF
  • Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, Kings Court, Chapel Street, King’s Lynn

Please note, postcards in these locations will not be freepost, so will require a stamp. We would encourage you to fill them in at the venue and hand them back rather than take them away and post them. 

• Tweet your support for the campaign using the hashtag #justdualit. If you include your full name and location (e.g. village/town name) in the tweet, we will transfer your message onto a postcard for you

The postcards will be collated in the summer with the intention of taking them down to Westminster to evidence the strong support that exists for getting the A47 dualled.

Please help us to show the Government how important this is to Norfolk. Thank you for your support!

The other 27 Member States have been invited to agree their approach to a new partnership with the UK after it leaves the Union.

Although the six-page document restates the EUs determination to have as close as possible a partnership with the UK in the future, and agrees that such a partnership should cover trade and economic co-operation, it warns that being outside the Customs Union and the Single Market will inevitably lead to frictions.

Divergence in external tariffs and internal rules as well as absence of common institutions and a shared legal system, necessitates checks and controls to uphold the integrity of the EU Single Market as well as of the UK market, the European Council document states. This unfortunately will have negative economic consequences.

The proposal for a free trade agreement (FTA) providing zero-tariff trade in goods and covering services will be welcomed in Whitehall but linking this to continued access to UK fishing waters for EU vessels will cause problems with Leave voters and politicians.

Many will remember the sight of Nigel Farage leading a flotilla into the Thames as part of the pro-Brexit Fishing for Leave.

Available at gwpengine.netdna-ssl.com, the draft guidelines have been released ahead of a meeting of European Council leaders on 22 and 23 March, where they will be asked to agree to a 21-month transitional arrangement after the UK formally leaves the EU in March 2019.

The document includes the now familiar warning about the Single Market being a set menu.

It says: The European Council recalls that the four freedoms of the Single Market are indivisible and that there can be no cherry picking through participation based on a sector-by-sector approach that would undermine the integrity and proper functioning of the Single Market.

It also insists that the role of the EUs Court of Justice (CJEU) will be fully respected.

Commenting on the Spring Statement, delivered today (Tuesday) by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber, said:

“Norfolk businesses will be encouraged by the Chancellor’s report on the UK’s fiscal health, with lower projections for the deficit and falling national debt, as well as his solid defence of the market economy and the role of the private sector in delivering prosperity.

“Yet as deficit and debt levels improve, the Chancellor must resist calls to pour money into politically-attractive, short-term spending priorities. Any headroom the Chancellor has must be used to leave a lasting mark on our infrastructure and to attract investment – particularly with the challenges and changes of Brexit ahead.

“A far stronger push is needed to fund and fix the fundamentals here at home in the coming months, and Norfolk business wants the Chancellor to use his Autumn Budget to gear up and spend to improve digital connectivity, deliver further road and rail improvements, strengthen the UK’s energy security and build more houses. Existing plans alone are not enough.

“Given that businesses across Norfolk and the rest of the UK have long complained about constant tinkering with tax rates, the Statement’s lack of tax and spending changes is welcome – and not before time. A clear annual cycle will mean fewer rushed policies and give firms the time they need to plan for any changes that come their way.”

On business rates:

“We are pleased that the government has listened to our calls to make revaluations more frequent. Switching to a three-year-cycle will go some way to reducing the huge changes in rates bills that clobber firms across the UK, and enable them to plan their growth strategies with greater confidence.

“However, a system that responds more frequently to changing economic conditions must also be simpler for firms to navigate. The current system already generates a huge number of appeals, and if it is not made easier for companies, more frequent valuations would simply make this backlog mushroom.”

On late payment:

“Previous attempts to tackle late payment have not had the desired effect, because affected firms are often unwilling to jeopardise customer relationships by calling out bad practice. The government must use its convening power to tackle this issue in sectors where it is clear that problems exist.

“Changing payment terms mid-contract, and burying payment terms in the small print when suppliers register for business, are issues that deserve ministers’ attention. However, ultimately improving relationships between businesses is a key part in addressing the problem of late payment.”

On apprenticeships and the apprenticeship levy:

“While more funding to support small businesses seeking to employ apprentices is welcome, urgent action is needed to reform and improve the apprenticeship levy – which is currently failing both businesses and the people they want to train. The levy’s lack of flexibility and its complexity are stifling the training aspirations of businesses of all sizes.”

On the latest forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility, Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, added:

“Taken together, the OBR’s latest forecasts suggest that the UK will remain locked onto a low growth trajectory for the foreseeable future. While GDP growth for this year was upgraded slightly, their projections for 2021 and 2022 have been downgraded.

“It is encouraging that government borrowing is now projected to be lower over the next few years than in their previous forecast, and suggests that that chancellor will have some welcome fiscal headroom at the Autumn Budget later this year.

“The OBR’s latest outlook also highlights significant challenges facing the UK economy over the near term. Their projections implies that UK economic growth will remain unbalanced throughout the forecast period with business investment and trade expected to add little to overall UK growth.

“UK productivity is still expected to remain subdued over the next few years, and could weigh more on overall economic activity than the OBR’s GDP growth forecast currently suggests. Productivity continues to be hampered by the deep-rooted problems in our economy, from the skills gap to chronic underinvestment in the UK’s infrastructure.

“The OBR is right to highlight the risk of a disorderly Brexit, as a sudden departure from the EU would be likely to trigger a marked weakening in economic conditions.”

“Against this backdrop, the focus of the Autumn budget must be on delivering a fiscal consolidation plan that achieves a more sustainable balance between deficit reduction and boosting productivity and growth, including using its greater fiscal headroom to deliver urgently needed infrastructure investment.”