Chamber News

What will your business look like in five years’ time and what support do you need to get there?

Come and share your views and help form the new economic strategy for Norfolk.  Together with New Anglia LEP and the local authorities, Norfolk Chamber is working on the new Economic Strategy for Norfolk and Suffolk. 

At our roundtable events, we need to hear from local businesses of all different sizes about what is important to them.  The strategy will look at how we can build on our strengths and make the most of the opportunities in our region.

We need your input, so join us at this free event to share your ideas. You’ll also be able to hear about some of the evidence which has been gathered so far, as well as well as taking part in lively discussions on a range of topics, from global trade to skills and productivity. 

Roundtable Events will be held on the below dates – to book your free place click on the relevant link:

·         Great Yarmouth – Monday 12 June 2017  4pm – 6pm    BOOK NOW

·         King’s Lynn – Monday 19 June 2017  4pm – 6pm  BOOK NOW

·         Norwich – Tuesday 11 July 2017  3pm – 5pm  BOOK NOW

The Roundtable events are free to attend. 

The Royal Norfolk Show is the county’s biggest event of the year. It attracts tens of thousands of visitors from all over the UK.  And we’re offering two VIP tickets to the Royal Norfolk Show on Wednesday 28 June 2017 as part of a competition.

VIP Tickets include general admission, car parking pass and invitation as guests of Norfolk Chamber to enjoy a spot of Afternoon Tea in the Sponsors & Corporate Hospitality Marquee overlooking the Grand Ring.

Afternoon Tea is available from 3pm – 5pm, relax with a selection of sandwiches, savouries, homemade cakes & sweet treats.

How to enter All you have to do is head over to the official Norfolk Chamber Twitter and retweet the competition tweet.

The competition closes on Friday 2 June at 10am and a winner will be selected at random.

Member Discount Norfolk Chamber members also have an exclusive 10% discount off the price of general admission tickets, click here for more details.

In the first quarter of 2017, the national picture showed solid growth, however the local view was not as optimistic.  The impact of economic uncertainty was starting show and the rise in inflation seen since last year’s EU referendum was identified as an increasing pressure facing Norfolk businesses.

Both the manufacturing and service sector reported falling domestic and export sales and reduced employment.  But how have Norfolk businesses fared in the second quarter? 

Has your company increased its sales and orders, either at home or overseas?  Are you looking to recruit more staff, or invest in plant and machinery? 

It is more important than ever that as many Norfolk businesses as possible complete the survey, so have your say now.  Today (Monday 22 May 2017) is the first day of the fieldwork period for the Q2 Quarterly Economic Survey (QES). 

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 June 2017.

Some key Norfolk findings in the Q1 2017 survey:

• Both sectors reported falling domestic sales (Manufacturing 24% to 9% and Service 24% to 14%)
• Export sales fell in both sectors (Manufacturing 18% to 17% and Services 11% to 6%)
• Reduced employment in the last 3 months was reported by both sectors (Manufacturing 34% to 5% and Service 19% to 12%)
• The number of Norfolk manufacturers intending to increase prices remained static
• In the services sector, the balance of firms expecting prices to rise increased from +32% to +39%
• Both sectors highlighted an increase recruitment difficulties and reduced recruitment intentions

British exports through Heathrow are growing with the volume of cargo flying from the airport rising by 12% in April and with a 27% increase in Latin America and 19% in South Asia.

While traffic to these destinations is growing at least twice as fast as volumes to Europe (+11%), North America remains Britain’s most important export market from Heathrow, recording 14% growth in cargo in April.

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye reported that China’s economic powerhouse of Qingdao in Shandong is set to be connected to the UK airport later this summer after Beijing Capital Airlines confirmed it would begin services.

The route will provide nearly 4000t of new cargo space for British exports to a fast-growing market in China, he said.

“Britain’s exports outside the EU are thriving and with Heathrow expansion opening up to 40 new long-haul trading links, the scale of the opportunity across the globe is tremendous,” Mr Holland-Kaye went on.

He confirmed that Heathrow was working around the clock to deliver the new runway and “secure the country’s future as a global trading powerhouse”.

Mr Holland-Kaye said that communities across Britain are putting forward their ideas to host one of Heathrow’s four new logistics hubs.

These hubs will, he said, play a vital role in making Heathrow’s expansion programme more affordable and environmentally sustainable, as well as creating jobs across the country as the airport looks to increase off-site construction.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), in partnership with DHL, today (Friday) publishes its latest Quarterly International Trade Outlook, which shows that confidence among UK exporters, including those in Norfolk remains strong.

The number of Norfolk businesses reporting improved export sales increased in the first quarter of 2017. Businesses in both manufacturing and services are also more confident that their turnover and profitability would increase in the coming 12 months.

The BCC/DHL Trade Confidence Index, which measures the volume of trade documentation issued by accredited Chambers of Commerce, rose by 5.5% on the quarter – and is up 9.06% from the same quarter last year – standing at its second highest level on record.

The results show that businesses are continuing to trade despite political uncertainty, however currency fluctuations remain a concern. 52% of manufacturers and 25% of services firms say exchange rates are more of a concern to their business than three months ago.

To maintain momentum, and to help UK firms succeed beyond Brexit, the government should develop an expanded trade mission and fairs programme, help businesses build links with key trade partners and underpin deals, and expand funding for front-line assistance to exporters. Businesses will be looking for the next government to secure frictionless future trade arrangements with the EU, crucial to both importers and exporters, as well as to broker new relationships with emerging markets. 

Key findings from the report:

·         The BCC/DHL Trade Confidence Index, a measure of the volume of trade documentation issued nationally, rose by 5.5% on the quarter. The Index now stands at 126.55 -up 9.06% on Q1 2016 – and is the second highest level since records began in 2004

·         The balance of manufacturers reporting improved export sales rose from +16% to +26%. Looking at services, the balance of firms reporting improved export sales rose from +8% to +10%

·         The balance of manufacturers reporting improved export orders rose from +13 to +22 in Q4 2016, while in services it fell slightly from +6% to +5%

·         Looking at expectations of turnover over the next 12 months, the balance of manufacturers confident of an increase held fairly steady, rising from +43% to +44%. In services this rose by four points from +35% to +39%

·         Confidence that profitability would improve rose to +28% for services companies – up from the +21% in Q4 2016. The balance of manufacturers jumped by ten points, from +22% to +32%

Commenting on the findings, Julie Austin, International Trade Manager, Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:

“Norfolk Chamber of Commerce has seen an improvement in export confidence as there has been a marked increase in documentation processed during the 1st quarter of 2017 (+16/5%), in line with the national trend.

“While confidence among Norfolk’s exporters is high, rising costs, recruitment difficulties, and concerns around currency fluctuations could temper their growth if allowed to continue unchecked. Alleviating the burden of upfront costs and addressing the skills gap would increase productivity, investment and growth.”

Also commenting on the results, Dr Adam Marshall, BCC Director General, said:

“Confidence among exporters is strong, which is a timely reminder that businesses are doing their best to ignore the cacophony of political noise around them and focus on the success of their own operations.

“For UK exporters to succeed in the long-term, the next government must deliver not only a Brexit deal which allows for frictionless trade with Europe, but also pragmatic and practical support for businesses looking to develop lasting links with new customers and markets around the world.”

Ian Wilson, CEO DHL Express UK and Ireland, said:

“Despite the many unanswered questions about what a post-Brexit Britain will look like, this latest Quarterly International Trade Outlook demonstrates that UK exporters remain optimistic about what the future holds.

“As a facilitator of international trade, we’ve seen our customers embrace the short term benefits that came with the fall in the value of the pound. However, this report demonstrates that whilst businesses are confident, they are not complacent – with currency fluctuations a lingering concern for exporters. In these uncertain times, there is an even greater imperative to expand the portfolio of markets businesses trade with to help spread the risk across multiple currencies.”

Commenting on the Conservative Party Manifesto, Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager at Norfolk Chamber said:

“A number of the headline commitments in the Conservative Party’s manifesto will be welcomed by the Norfolk business community. If delivered, pledges to overhaul the broken business rates system, to deliver better digital and mobile connectivity, and to focus more systematically on unlocking the growth potential of our city and towns, would respond to some of the key concerns of the business communities we represent.

On fixing the business rates system, Paul McCarthy, Chamber Board member said:

“The Norfolk business community wants both a clear commitment and then action to create the best possible conditions for economic growth.  To give local businesses the confidence to drive investment and jobs growth, Chamber members want to see any future government commit to no new ‘up-front’ taxes on business for the duration of the next Parliament.  In particular business rates, the ‘fixed’ property tax in an increasingly online world, are in dire need for reform as research shows that they are a barrier to investment and the jobs that that then brings.”

On the need for more reliable mobile coverage, Neil Orford, President of Great Yarmouth Chamber Council and Partner at Lovewell Blake said:

“Nearly every Norfolk business person can give examples of the difficulties they have faced when trying to make business calls on their mobiles.  We all know of local dead spots in and around commercial and residential areas and try to plan our mobile business calls accordingly.   If we wish to be seen as a place to do business, we must continue to press for improvement in the service provided.”

On the need to provide more access to superfast broadband, Lynsey Sweales, Director of Social B said:

“A reliable broadband connection is absolutely vital for all companies, yet 20% of Norfolk companies suffer from unreliable connections. The recent BCC survey shows that firms in rural areas are at least twice as likely to have unreliable connections as those in towns. The focus of any future government must be on providing businesses with sufficient and reliable broadband connections to enable to them to do business confidently.  Having a business in a rural location shouldn’t mean you sacrifice market opportunities, businesses operating in Norfolk as well as businesses looking to invest and trade with Norfolk businesses need broadband confidence to do business”

Ms Fairbank also sounded a note of caution by saying that positive business reception to some elements of the manifesto will be tempered by proposals that would increase up-front costs, regulatory obligations and uncertainty for businesses. The Conservatives’ proposed approach to immigration, at a time when many firms are already doing everything they can to train up and employ UK workers, will worry companies of every size and sector.

If all the containers brought to Southampton on the MOL Triumph were laid end to end, they would reach from the south coast port to London, a distance of just over 76 miles.

The largest container ship in the world is 400m long, the equivalent of 27 double-decker buses, and can carry up to 20,000 containers at a time with some stacked 11 high on deck, and a similar number below.

For all its size, the vessel is eco-friendly with energy-saving technologies leading to fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions being cut by up to 30%.

The new 20,000 TEU-class container ships are equipped with various highly advanced energy-saving technologies including low-friction underwater paint, high-efficiency propellers and rudders.

TEU is an abbreviation of 20-foot equivalent, the standard measure of a container.

ABP Southampton Harbour Master Martin Phipps explained that although MOL Triumph is the largest container ship the port’s pilots have brought into Southampton, it is just one of many ships capable of carrying huge loads of this type expected to visit the port this year.

“With a vessel of this size it is important to ensure that other smaller vessels and leisure craft are keeping their distance,” he pointed out. “Our Patrol launch ensured any sight-seers were kept at the correct distance to allow MOL Triumph to continue safely.”

Under the Lisbon Treaty, the European Commission was granted new powers over negotiating trade agreements but the extent that it still had to involve the Member States before agreeing the final deal has remained unclear.

Accordingly, the Commission decided to ask the EU’s Court of Justice (CJEU) to examine the issue.

The free trade agreement (FTA) with Singapore was chosen as the test case as it is similar to several other agreements that are currently under consideration. The result is “Opinion 2/15”, as this is not a legal case and is not therefore delivered as a ruling.

Available at curia.europa.eu, the Opinion must have slightly disappointed the Commission as it makes clear that certain matters in the FTA do not fall within its exclusive competence and must, therefore, be concluded by the EU and the Member States acting together.

What will please the Commission, however, is that the CJEU makes clear for the first time the areas where it does have competence.

These are the parts of the agreement relating to: access to the EU market and the Singapore market so far as concerns goods and services (including all transport services); the fields of public procurement and energy generation from sustainable non-fossil sources.

The Commission can also deal with provisions concerning intellectual property rights, those designed to combat anti-competitive activity, those concerning sustainable development and the rules relating to exchange of information, and to obligations governing “notification, verification, co-operation, mediation, transparency and dispute settlement between the parties”.

It has already been noted in Brussels that this, in theory, makes agreeing a swift trade deal with the UK easier as the Commission could restrict such an agreement to the areas of its own competence while leaving other matters to the slower process of agreement by the 27 Member States.

Over 100 Norfolk businesses attended the Chamber’s first Cyber Security Conference at The Space, Norwich this week.  The half day conference provided top tips on how businesses can improve their cyber security measures and gave an overview of the incoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into effect in 2018 and will impact on all businesses.

The wide raging ‘Ransomware’ attack that made recent headlines by hitting the NHS and spreading to more than 150 countries sparked a number of thought-provoking discussions.

The event was hosted by Paul Maskall, Security Adviser for the Norfolk and Suffolk Cyber Crime Unit. Paul encouraged delegates to place greater value on their business’ data and ensure that they take responsibility, act proactively and implement robust security measures to protect themselves from the rising threat of data breaches.  He said: “Ransomware is not a new thing and incidents have been doubling over the last few years. Businesses can take some simple steps to protect themselves.  One step would be to ensure that they take regular backups.  On modern ransomware, restoring from a  backup is one of the very few ways in which to circumvent it.”

As well as Mr Maskall, other speakers included: Peter Freeman, Managing Director of FreeClix; Kitty Rosser of law firm, Birketts; Andy Taylor of APMG International and Rahul Colaco of PwC.

Some of the key areas the speakers suggested that businesses should focus on were:

• Training staff on cyber security and data protection.
• Creating strong passwords, update them regularly, especially when staff leave
• Consider undertaking the Cyber Essentials – a government backed accreditation scheme to help you demonstrate that you have taken essential precautions to protect your business and data from cyber threats.
• The insecurity of Public WIFI and the risk of accessing private information such as online banking details.
• Undertaking independent penetration testing to check how secure your network is.
• Creation of policies for staff use and to outline what happens in the case of a cyber attack or data protection breach.

Commenting on the recent high profile hacking, Peter Freeman, Managing Director of FreeClix said:

“Last week’s attack shows there are vulnerabilities all around and many businesses need to update their technical equipment, infrastructure and security systems, which could be more vulnerable to attacks.”

Kitty Rosser of law firm, Birketts commented on new General Data Protection Regulation, which comes into effect in May 2018. She said:

“GDPR will replace our current Data Protection Laws and will bring about huge amounts of changes.  Companies need to be proactive to make sure they are ready.”

The event drew a lot of attention from local media, with extensive coverage of the event provided by Mustard TV’s Neil Perry. The conference was the main feature of Thursday evening’s Business Extra TV programme

The event was well received by delegates and proved to be successful in highlighting the importance of cyber security. Karen McDowall, facilities manager at financial advisory firm Smith and Pinching, said: “I wanted to come to check from an IT point of view that we had everything in hand, and we do have a lot of it in place. It has boosted my confidence in a lot of things and also shown me the areas where we need to improve.”

Harry Mitchell, marketing manager at Anglia Farmers, added: “For us, as an organisation which holds thousands of members’ personal information our priority is going to be how safely that data is held. We are being proactive to make sure we keep our members’ data safe. Today was another sense check to reassure us that we are taking the right steps.”   

Ahead of the general election, Norfolk Chamber is setting out the key Norfolk business asks for any future government and is calling for more strategic infrastructure improvements.

Norfolk has a vibrant and diverse business community, but a key barrier to future economic growth for those businesses is our physical infrastructure i.e. roads and rail links. 

Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber said:

“Infrastructure on its own does not create jobs, it is the business community who do.  Norfolk Chamber wants to see that agreed transport improvements are delivered on time; further infrastructure barriers are removed; and new opportunities created, to ensure that Norfolk businesses have the levels of infrastructure needed to create new jobs and economic growth.”

The key Chamber member infrastructure asks are:

Roads

A47

Norfolk Chamber is calling for more sections of the A47 to be dualled, including the Acle Straight and the section between Tilney to East Winch, near King’s Lynn, as well as the Hardwick flyover. 

Jonathan Cage, President of Norfolk Chamber and Managing Director of Create Consulting Engineers said:

“Norfolk Chamber is working in partnership with the A47 Alliance and its members to ensure that more improvements are delivered along the length of the A47 from Peterborough in the West to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft in the East. 

“A fully dualled A47 will help to boost the economic prosperity of Norfolk and a large part of the east of England, and will make a significant contribution to the national economy.  A47 improvements could help deliver over 16,000 more jobs, over 10,000 new homes and an increase of £706m per annum in the economic output within 20 years.”

Peter Brown, Managing Director of Jack Richards & Son said:

“At present the A47 creates a bottleneck out of Norfolk towards our markets in the Midlands and the North adding significant costs for manufacturing companies based in our county. We urgently need investment to relieve this restriction and give Norfolk business’s the opportunity to flourish.”

Great Yarmouth Third River Crossing

A third river crossing would ease congestion, improve connectivity to key growth areas such as the Enterprise Zones.  The Norfolk Chamber and its members have supported the local authorities to submit the business case for £1.2m of funding to the Department of Transport in March 2017.  Norfolk Chamber is calling for a swift response from the Department of Transport by summer 2017.

Commenting on the need for a third river crossing, Neil Orford, President of Great Yarmouth Chamber Council said:

“A third river crossing in Great Yarmouth will help to improve that connectivity and create lots of new jobs.  It will improve links across the town and to the rest of the region and reduce congestion.  All of which will save businesses time and money, whilst allowing them to increase economic growth.”

Rail

Whilst the Greater Anglia rail franchise is set to deliver brand new rolling stock, improvements on the Greater Eastern Mainline between Norwich in London are urgently needed to ensure the franchise can meet its full potential.  Improvements to safety, journey times, capacity and frequency cannot be achieved unless upgrades those needed in the Ely area to signalling, junctions and a bridge; the Suffolk Haughley junction;  doubling of Norwich Trowse swing bridge;  the South Colchester loops; South Chelmsford re-signalling and level crossing closures.

Commenting on the need to improve the rail infrastructure, Simon Watson, Partner at Lovewell Blake in Norwich said:

“The improvement of rail links between Norwich and London is vitally important to both Lovewell Blake and our clients.  The continued economic growth in our region is becoming increasingly reliant on business opportunities, both nationally and internationally, needing to be accessed via the capital. We have heartily welcomed the new rail franchise and are looking forward to the delivery of new trains.  However improvements to track infrastructure between Norwich and London would greatly enhance the attraction of doing business with Norfolk businesses and would facilitate attracting the calibre of people required by employers in our region.” 

The Mexican Energy Reform is bringing about significant change and development in the electrical market. In line with these changes, Mexico’s Energy Transition Law also includes a clean energy target which states that 35% of energy generation must come from clean sources by 2024. These targets and reform are creating new opportunities for British businesses in the country.

Carbon Trust, who, through their office in Mexico, are working with the Mexican public sector to explore business opportunities related to:

• The wind power value chain (which can be anything – including maintenance services with the only exception being wind turbines)
• Smart Grids technology in general (this can include, but is not limited to: Advanced metering infrastructure; Supervisory control and data acquisition; and Protection & switching equipment)

Although the government’s definition of clean energy includes wind, solar, geothermal and biomass, it also includes hydro, nuclear and efficient cogeneration. Wind Energy is currently the most feasible resource in the country and the best positioned to contribute the most to these ambitious targets.

Despite the clear need for this source of energy, the value chain for wind is still incomplete which represents good opportunities for British service and equipment providers with the right expertise. Which includes but is not limited to asset management, balance of plant, blades, gearboxes and related services.

For more information, please click here. Any companies interested can write to Laura Atkinson briefly explaining your offer and you will be put in touch with Carbon trust. 

With the economic outlook for the EU beginning to take a turn for the better, the latest good news comes from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) which has forecast that Cyprus’ economic recovery is set to continue into 2018.

Its most recent Regional Economic Prospects report reveals that the Cypriot economy had performed well again in 2016 after a return to growth in 2015. Expansion of 2.8% last year was higher than originally forecast.

Levels of consumer confidence in Cyprus are currently higher than the EU average.

While the EBRD sees overall growth as likely to continue in 2017 and 2018 at between 2% and 2.5%, however, it also warns that significant headwinds remain, including the very high levels of indebtedness in the economy, and the large legacy of non-performing loans which still account for nearly half of all loans in the country.

Nevertheless, the Bank’s Deputy Director for Country Economics and Policy, Peter Sanfey, remains optimistic about the long-term outlook for the Cypriot economy.

“It’s a very open economy,” he said. “The people are well educated, public administration functions well and some sectors are quite robust – tourism, obviously, and accounting services too, as well as some of the other high-value service sectors, which have come through quite well.”

Looking at the region more widely, the Bank notes that, in southeastern Europe, average growth is also forecast to reach the 3% mark and even Greece is expected to return to growth as reforms advance further and business confidence gradually improves.