Chamber News

The last seven months have been a busy time for Max Morris, who is our Apprentice and Membership Administrator at the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce. What does a normal working day look like for you Max? ‘Well a normal working day for me starts at 8.30am and begins with dealing with our new and current members, uploading social media and managing aspects of the website too!’ Being an apprentice has been a real learning experience for Max and has given him the chance to find out what the workplace is all about, ‘I’ve learnt twenty times more on the job than I ever imagined.’

Max’s role is not just desk based, he also is a key member of the digital media team. ‘One of the best parts of my job is when we have events, as I film, edit and prepare the videos for our social media channels. I really enjoy this part of my role as I get to talk to Business people on a personal level, and use my digital media skills too.’ Max came to us from The Hewett Academy, Norwich after studying A level Graphics, Business Studies and Law. 

In the future Max is hoping to work towards achieving his level 3 in Business Administration and hopefully secure permanent employment too.   

To find out how you can support the Apprenticeship scheme visit https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/education-and-skills-funding-agency

Or more local to Norwich visit the Norfolk Skills and Career Festival https://norfolkskills.co.uk

3aaa will also be running events during the week to talk about how Apprenticeship work https://www.3aaa.co.uk/national-apprenticeship-week/events

Norfolk Chamber today welcomed the decision by Vattenfall to opt for a cabling technology which will reduce the potential impact of the wind farm’s onshore connection between landfall and the National Grid.

Vattenfall, the energy group behind the Norfolk Vanguard offshore wind farm, made the significant design decision  to deploy High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cable technology to connect Norfolk Vanguard and its sister project Norfolk Boreas to the UK’s National Grid.

The wind farm developer said today that it has made a strategic decision to back HVDC for its Norfolk wind farms as it believes it will be cost competitive in the early 20’s with HVAC whilst being better for local people and the environment where onshore infrastructure is located.

After eight exhibitions in Norfolk and direct feedback from nearly 800 individuals and organisations, Vattenfall set out its local design decisions in an Interim Consultation Report, published today. This report shows how the views of local people and statutory consultees have influenced the latest design of the offshore wind farm and onshore electrical infrastructure.

The key design decisions include:

• Adoption of HVDC transmission connections which will avoid the need for cable relay stations near Happisburgh for Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas
• Using HVDC transmission technology means a much narrower cable corridor throughout – offshore and onshore. The 45m wide onshore cable corridor running from landfall near Happisburgh to a substation near Necton, 60km away, allows Vattenfall to avoid sensitive sites including historical heritage, like buried archaeology near St Mary’s Chapel, Kerdiston and a medieval moat north of Necton. (Vattenfall originally used a 100metre corridor in line with HVAC requirements).
• Long range horizontal direction drilling (HDD) at landfall near Happisburgh – where power transmission cables from the offshore wind farm come ashore – will avoid impact on the cliffs and mean no works are required on the beach
• Due to additional long range HDD, Vattenfall will avoid impact on all county wildlife sites and a number of important local amenity and tourism sites by adding further sections of trenchless crossing. As a result, features like Paston Way, Knapton Cutting, the Marriott’s Way and Wendling Carr will be avoided
• Near Necton, the HVDC Norfolk Vanguard substation will be quieter than the HVAC alternative as it will incorporate fewer low-frequency noise emitting components and acoustic insulation. Also, the footprint of the HVDC project substation will not change, but the structure will be enclosed in taller buildings than the HVAC alternative. Vattenfall will work with local residents and groups to minimise the substation’s impact.

Commenting on the decision, Nova Fairbank, Public affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber said:

“Vattenfall’s decision to use HVDC shows that they have truly listened to the feedback they have received from both residents and businesses alike.  The Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas offshore wind projects have the potential to deliver skills and local jobs for the future generations both onshore and offshore; together with supply chain opportunities to a diverse range sectors – all of which will help increase economic growth in Norfolk.”

Ruari Lean, Vattenfall’s Project Manager of the Norfolk Vanguard offshore wind farm development, said: “We have listened very carefully to what local people told us about our plans for Norfolk Vanguard. In combination with our strategic review of transmission technology, the concerns raised by local people have influenced our decision to adopt pioneering HVDC infrastructure for Norfolk Vanguard. By backing HVDC technology, we will minimise the impact on people and the environment whilst keeping the cost of electricity down for the British consumer.”

Ruari added: “I would like to thank all of those people and organisations who have set out their hopes and concerns in evidence based feedback about our proposals for Norfolk Vanguard. It has been enormously helpful to us.”

Vattenfall will submit final plans for Norfolk Vanguard to the Planning Inspectorate in June 2018. Norfolk Boreas, also 1.8GW, is following Norfolk Vanguard in the planning process.

According to ferry company DFDS, 2017 was a record year largely due to the “continuing positive development” in volumes on its 10 freight routes across the North Sea.

However, according to CEO and President Niels Smedegaard, transport companies are beginning to experience some shortage in drivers as trips to the UK are not as attractive as they used to be following the fall of the pound in the wake of the Brexit vote.

“This has resulted in some freight forwarders changing from using trucks with drivers to just sending unaccompanied trailers on DFDS’ freight-only ships,” he explained.

Overall, DFDS’ North Sea freight volumes grew by 7% in 2017 and, in spite of the ongoing debates over Brexit, the company notes that the UK’s economy is still growing, and it is planning for this to continue at just over 1% in 2018.

To accommodate the expected volume growth over the coming years, DFDS has ordered four new mega ships with a capacity of 475 trailers each for the North Sea routes. The ships will be delivered from 2019 and onwards from the Jinling Shipyard in China.

“In spite of the challenges Brexit may lead to over the coming years,” Mr Smedegaard continued, “we can also see opportunities for providing our customers with new, valuable, customs clearance services after Brexit, should customs clearance become necessary.”

His company is located in the ports and already has experience in dealing with these issues as a result of its UK to Norway service, he pointed out.

The first North Norfolk Business Awards were held last week hosted by Chris Sargisson, chief executive of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, with seven businesses of all sizes and sectors taking home winners’ trophies.

The victorious seven were:

• Agricultural Award -Sands Agricultural Machinery, crop-sprayer manufacturer
• Business Development and Innovation Award – Structure-flex, heavy-duty thermoplastic coated technical textiles
• Business Growth Award – PSS, steering for trucks, buses, vans and military vehicles
• Environment Award – Woodfruits, organic shiitake mushrooms
• New Business Award – Amber’s Rose,flower preservation
• Tourism and Hospitality Award – Thursford Christmas Spectacular, festive variety show
• Young People and Skills Award – Bill Cleyndert & Company, custom-made furniture

The awards were organised by North Norfolk District Council on Thursday 15 February and included a dinner at Gresham’s School.

After the event, NNDC Leader Cllr Tom FitzPatrick said: “One of the main purposes of the awards was to promote the quality and diversity of the district’s business scene.

“If you look at the list of winners it has done just that – businesses large and small; businesses which provide entertainment, specialist services, small scale environmental operations and manufacturing were all included. Many thanks to all those involved with supporting the event, entering the awards and, overall, showing that we have a great deal to celebrate here in North Norfolk in terms of business success and ambition.”

The evening also saw the unveiling of one of the Go Go Hares being supported by North Norfolk District Council for this summer’s Break Charity trails around Norwich and Norfolk. Break representatives attended the awards to speak about the charity, the trails and their gratitude for support from all around the county in setting up the event. The hare revealed, called Something for the Weekend and decorated by artist Anne Schwegmann-Fielding using white, silver and gold crockery, mirror circles and bus shelter glass, will be placed in North Walsham for the opening of the trail in June.

To view all the photos from the business award click here. 

Set to take place on Friday, July 27, Norfolk Day is an opportunity for the county’s residents and businesses to show how proud they are to live here, and day in which everyone is encouraged to get involved.

Chris Sargisson, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber is endorsing Norfolk Day, he said: “We need to change the perception of Norfolk.  We all know that it is a great place to live and work, but much of the outside world isn’t aware of this.   We have a diverse and dynamic business community and we need to do more to shout about our success and potential.

“We have a highly successful insurance and professional services sectors and we are world leaders in food science and agri-tech with the Norwich Research Park and Hethel Engineering.  We also have a strong emerging sector in digital/ICT.  

“Norfolk should be very proud of our successes to date, but must be much more vocal about what we can achieve.  I would urge all Norfolk businesses to get involved with Norfolk Day and show the rest of the world just how good we are!”

To find out more about getting involved on Norfolk Day email: norfolkday@archant.co.uk or tweet @norfolk_day or log onto the Norfolk Day Facebook Group.

The latest Bank of England Agents’ Summary of business conditions has been published.  The key highlights for February 2018 are:

• Growth in activity had held steady at a modest pace. Professional services firms had reported a pickup in growth; goods export volumes had strengthened, construction output growth had continued to slow.
• Investment intentions had remained positive, but mainly reflected investment to maintain business activity.
• Recruitment difficulties had remained at an elevated level, and pay growth had picked up.

Consumer spending growth had changed little.  Growth in retail sales values had been broadly steady, but within that there was downward pressure on sales of furniture and homewares. In addition, the market for new cars remained challenging

Manufacturing output growth had remained moderate.  Export volumes growth had increased, supported by strong global demand and the fall in sterling. The latter had led to some, albeit still limited, switching from overseas to cheaper, domestically produced goods.

Housing market activity remained subdued with transactions steady at a low level, reflecting weak supply and demand. Within that, the new-build and rental sectors were buoyant, pushing up prices and rents. Housing demand was particularly weak in London and the South East, especially for the most expensive properties. The rise in Bank Rate had little discernible impact on demand as mortgages remained cheap and readily available.

To read the full report click here.

Whether it will continue to defy expectations as this year’s Brexit negotiations progress is anyone’s guess, but trade between the UK and the continent has certainly held up well in the period since the EU referendum.

For example, ferry company DFDS has just reported another record result for 2017.

The operating profit of over £300 million was based, among other things, on what the company described as continuing positive development in volumes on its 10 freight routes across the North Sea.

According to CEO and President Niels Smedegaard, North Sea freight volumes grew by 7% in 2017.

“In spite of the Brexit issue, and the delayed Brexit agreement between the UK and EU,” he said, “we see that the UK’s economy is still growing, albeit at a slower pace. And, according to the UK Government’s official prognosis, growth is expected to continue at just over 1% in 2018.”

To accommodate the expected volume growth in North Sea traffic over the coming years, DFDS has ordered four new mega ships with a capacity of 475 trailers each. The ships will be delivered from 2019 and onwards from the Jinling Shipyard in China.

Mr Smedegaard pointed out that DFDS foresaw opportunities for providing its clients with valuable customs clearance services after Brexit, should the final agreement between the UK and the EU make this necessary.

In the last quarter of 2017, the survey results showed that whilst there were many business bright spots across Norfolk and the rest of the UK, the evidence showed that growth and confidence remain subdued overall as we entered the new year.  Labour and skills shortages also looked set to be the biggest potential drag anchor on business in 2018. 

Now we are in the first quarter of 2018 – how are businesses reacting to the current economic climate? Today (Monday 19 February) is the first day of the fieldwork period for the Q1 Quarterly Economic Survey (QES).

It is more important than ever that as many Norfolk businesses as possible complete the survey.

The QES is the largest independent business survey in the UK and is used by both the Bank of England and the Chancellor of the Exchequer to plan the future of the UK economy.  It is also closely watched by the International Monetary Fund.

You can have your say by completing the QES online NOW, which takes less than 3 minutes.  The completion deadline for this survey is midnight on Monday 12 March 2018.

Some key Norfolk findings in the Q4 2017 survey:

Norfolk Manufacturing sector:

• The balance of firms reporting increased export sales rose from +27 to +31, the lowest since Q4 2016. Export orders remained static +27 to +26. The balance of firms reporting increased domestic sales fell from +19 to +17 and domestic orders rose slightly from +21 to +23
• The percentage of manufacturers that attempted to recruit in the last three months remained static at 83%.  Of those, 73% had recruitment difficulties. Of these, skilled manual labour was the leading area of recruitment difficulties (79%).
• The percentage of manufacturers expecting their prices to increase jumped from 26% to 54%, standing near historic highs. The price of raw materials remaining the key driver, with 80% reporting it as a cause of price pressure (down slightly from the 82% in Q2 and Q3)

Norfolk Services sector:

• The balance of firms reporting improved export sales fell slightly from +12 to +8, and whilst orders rose from +2 to +6. Domestic sales rose slightly from +14 +16, and also orders from +6 to +10
• The percentage of businesses attempting to recruit remained static at 64%. Of those, the percentage of services firms reporting greater recruitment difficulties rose from 63% to 83%, the highest since records began
• The balance of services firms expecting prices to increase, rose considerably from 33% to 49%, the highest since Q3 2008

We’re thrilled to become a part of the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce – not only are we proudly locally based but we also share the vision of the CoC in inspiring others to improve business performance.

Small business owners of course already know that to stay ahead of the game, spearhead innovation, grow and increase profitability, then you must continually improve your business. Nationally, small businesses also know that staying in good shape is vital – Britain’s 5.5 million SMEs contributed £1.8 trillion to the economy during 2016.

When you set up your business, it’s likely you had a really clear set of objectives: business plan, start-up finance, marketing, premises etc. But when you’ve been trading a year or two and got used to the day-to-day expectations of running your business, you may realise that those initial goals aren’t quite in step with the way you operate now. If you’re involved in the everyday activities your enterprise requires, it can be really tough to find time to stop and work out where you should focus your energies to look for areas where you might improve.

These concerns were at the heart of our thinking when we formulated CneqtDNA – it’s a business diagnostic that helps you make the most of your business. It’s also reassuringly simple to use and takes no longer than 20 minutes out of your day, so you can continue to focus on the other vital tasks on your plate.

Designed by business consultants specifically for small and medium-sized businesses, the CneqtDNA diagnostic uses a carefully crafted question set to highlight areas in which your business could improve. When creating CneqtDNA, our team of business experts focused on the idea of breaking down business activity into the various aspects of running a business from finance and premises to marketing and future vision.

After completing the CneqtDNA diagnostic, you will receive a personal assessment providing you with an overview of every aspect of your business so you can easily see where you could make improvements.

In addition, you have the option to take a FREE 15-minute coaching session with an expert to discuss your assessment, identify the vital improvements you could make and formulate further action plans.

We’re really looking forward to working with other members of the Chamber, helping to put in place business improvements that will benefit the local, regional and national economies. We’ve come up with an exclusive offer for the Norfolk CoC, offering specially priced access to CneqtDNA for CoC members. Following the link below and using the discount code “NORFOLKCOC75”, Norfolk Chamber of Commerce members will get

£24 off the standard price (all prices plus VAT).

Like the CoC we are passionate about business improvement. Take the first step today to improve your business by completing the CneqtDNA Diagnostic https://www.cneqtdna.com/start-my-business-review

Last week, the Government briefly raised business hopes that some definitive action was imminent in the drawn-out Brexit negotiations, when it said that special meetings of the Cabinet would be held to try to arrive at an agreed position on the way ahead.

Unfortunately, the meetings came and went with the general impression being that a can had been kicked down the road and the hard decisions put off yet again.

This has spurred the Freight Transport Association (FTA) to remind the Government that there are now barely 300 working days to go until the UK leaves the EU.

Deputy CEO James Hookham said: “British businesses have heard enough talking – what’s needed now is a concrete solution to enable all those involved in moving goods and services across the UK’s borders to plan with certainty for a post-Brexit future.”

The Association, which represents more than 16,000 businesses involved in all sectors of the UK’s logistics industry, has written to Prime Minister Theresa May requesting swift agreement on the format and timescales for the UK’s future trading relationships with Europe.

It has urged the Government to take decisive steps to agree the format and parameters of Britain’s future trading relationships with its European neighbours, to ensure that the country can continue to trade efficiently after Brexit.

With the Government repeating that it is seeking the best possible deal for Britain, the FTA is insisting that these vague promises must be replaced with definitive plans.

Business needs confirmation as to the length and nature of the transition period, it pointed out, and the arrangements for trade during that time.

Companies also need to know whether the UK will continue to benefit from current EU trading agreements during the transition; the nature and scale of customs arrangements and tariffs to be used; and the status of EU workers within the UK.

With the deadline fast approaching for businesses to ensure they’re prepared for the changes to data protection, now is the time to make sure you are informed of what the GDPR regulations mean for your business and what changes you need to introduce. With 10 key changes to current data protection regulations being introduced, it is vital that businesses not only understand the principles, but are devising action plans to ensure their compliance.

Having identified that the new regulations mean a watershed moment for the way businesses store data about people, not to mention the amount of miscommunication and scaremongering taking place, Norfolk Chamber have enlisted four GDPR experts to sort the facts from fiction at our morning conference. Over 250 business members are now booked on to the conference on Tuesday 13th March at The Space, Norwich to hear from expert speakers from industries which are likely to be integral, or most affected by the changes.

Along with the opportunity to gain an overview of the steps businesses are advised to take to prepare for the May 25th deadline from the speakers’ presentations, there is also an exhibition where Norfolk businesses can share expertise and experiences to prepare for the GDPR deadline at this high profile conference. If you are interested in having an exhibition stand at the conference, click here.

In line with Norfolk Chamber’s commitment to sharing essential and valuable knowledge to local businesses, we have also created a bi-weekly newsletter that can be sent directly to your inbox. It signposts readers to useful articles, blog pieces written by our speakers, webinars and more, ensuring the transition to GDPR compliance is as simple and straightforward as possible. If you would like to receive our newsletter, please click here to subscribe.

We are also in the process of developing training courses to provide more details on the aspects covered at the conference, going further to help you create a strategy for your journey to GDPR compliance. The courses will be full day sessions aimed at providing an in-depth guide of the principles, detail the ways in which you will need to audit your systems, data and polices. They will also explain how to document your approach and ensure your employees are clued up on the key principles to ensure on-going compliance. If you would like to know more information about these training sessions click here register your interest.

If you would like to join the 250+ Norfolk business members at the GDPR conference, please click here to secure your place. 

Further details of the UK’s post-Brexit Customs Declaration Service (CDS) have been given by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

CDS is scheduled to be phased in between this August and early 2019 and will replace the existing Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system which processes declarations to facilitate the international movement of goods between the UK and non-EU countries.

From early 2019, all declarations made by businesses importing or exporting goods outside the EU will be made using the CDS.

Initially, the CDS will run alongside CHIEF, in an arrangement that HMRC anticipates will aid the transition to the new service. Importers, exporters and agents will be informed by their software provider when they need to provide the additional information required in order to start making declarations on the CDS.

That additional information will be required for declarations in order to align with the World Customs Organization (WCO) Kyoto Convention, currently being implemented in the UK through the Union Customs Code (UCC).

Businesses will have to supply: an audit trail of previous document IDs; additional party types, such as the buyer and seller; and possible additional commercial references or tracking numbers. There will also be changes between “Header” and “Item” for some data items.

To align UK customs data with international standards, there will need to be other changes, including: location of goods identification; the warehouse type code list; item tax lines; the way customs procedures are quoted and the number of items on a declaration.

For traders importing or exporting goods outside the EU, they or their agent will need to sign into the CDS on the GOV.UK website through a Government Gateway account.

HMRC says that an updated tariff manual will be available in April 2018.