Chamber News

On Thursday 20th April, over 65 members joined us for a Business Breakfast at the Great Yarmouth racecourse. The Victory and Trafalgar suites provided a spacious setting where delegates could network over coffee upon arrival and speak to Great Yarmouth Borough Council who had a stand promoting Beacon Park.

Philippa Bindley events manager at Norfolk Chamber kicked off proceedings by welcoming guests. Guests then went straight into some Speed Networking which is designed to get guests talking to as many other people as possible.

When guests had finished their networking they tucked into a delicious breakfast served by the racecourse. Members then heard from John Vingoe operations manager for Seajacks spoke about the plans for East Anglia One the new wind farm in the East.

After John’s presentation about their vessels and how they are used members had the chance to ask some questions back such as do they work with oil and gas companies. Members found it interesting to know that they will be placing foundations for 66 new wind turbines in the local area.

Caroline Williams MBE finished off the morning by saying a thank you and farewell for her 17 years working for the chamber.

To learn about any upcoming events, please visit: norfolkchamber.co.uk/events

Gnaw Chocolate are offering all fellow Norfolk Chamber members a Gnawfully good deal on your first corporate order!

Spend £500 and above on their delicious chocolate treats for your loyal clients and lovely staff and receive a FREE Gnawish Hamper! Quote CORPORATEGNAW when placing your first order!

Head to www.gnawchocolate.co.uk/collections/corporate-gifts for further info.

They are also offering you and your staff a 15% discount on your first online order, spread the news around the office and let everyone know to quote STAFFGNAW .

Both promotions will be running until 1st July, 2017!

For more info contact Gnaw on 01603 501546 or email connie@gnawfolkchocolate.co.uk

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched the IATA Cargo Handling Manual (ICHM) to help airlines and cargo handlers work together more effectively while improving safety and efficiency in air cargo operations across the world.

The Manual’s table of contents, and details of how it can be purchased, can be found at www.iata.org.

Developed in consultation with air carriers and cargo handlers, and based on industry best practices, the Cargo-iQ Master Operating Plan (MOP) and international regulations and standards, the ICHM is the first complete set of standards covering the operational activities of all stakeholders in the cargo handling supply chain.

Glyn Hughes, Global Head of Cargo at IATA, said: “Cargo operations are performed at thousands of airports, by hundreds of handlers. With that number of parties involved, ensuring that global standards and best practices are being observed at all times is a constant challenge.”

The ICHM is a single reference source that will help promote global consistency and harmonisation of cargo handling procedures, he went on, thereby facilitating the movement of goods safely, securely and efficiently while contributing to a reduction in air freight logistic costs.

IATA has calculated that the ICHM brings together 90% of the information that is common to individual carrier cargo handling manuals. The manual develops and completes this information, Mr Hughes explained, bringing it up to current IATA standards.

A new UK-Israel Trade Working Group aims to strengthen trade and investment between the two countries.

Announced in February following a meeting between Prime Ministers Theresa May and Benjamin Netanyahu, the forum has been established not only to promote greater trade and investment, but also to prepare the ground for a post-Brexit trade agreement.

The UK is Israel’s second largest trading partner and its top destination for investment in Europe. More than 300 Israeli companies currently operate in the UK, with 28 having either set up or expanded their businesses since April 2016.

Meanwhile, over 30 British companies operate in Israel, with hundreds more represented there. Overall, bilateral trade between the UK and Israel was worth US$7.5 billion in 2015.

The Working Group’s inaugural meeting in late March 2017 saw officials start work on what the Government described as a smooth transition to the trading relationship as the UK leaves the EU.

Ahead of the meeting, Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry, Eli Cohen, said: “As the UK is Israel’s first export destination in Europe, we see high importance in keeping and enhancing our trade relations when the UK ceases to be a member of the European Union.”

The two sides should, he added, make sure that the business communities in both countries will be able to continue trading with each other by providing them with the necessary trade platforms.

Changes to rules on food imports from non-EU countries could see Israeli farmers able to sell more fresh produce in the UK, while easing restrictions on travel and work permits could make it easier for Israelis to come to the UK.

Containers full of British goods are on their way to China after the departure of the first UK to China export train from DP World London Gateway.

The train will make the 7500 mile, three-week-long journey, from South Essex to Yiwu in the Zhejiang province in eastern China. Products on board include soft drinks, vitamins, pharmaceuticals and baby products.

Container operator OneTwoThree Logistics is overseeing the transportation and booking of cargo for the UK/China rail freight trains, in conjunction with Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment Co, which is running the service with China Railway Container.

The inaugural export train departed for Asia just under three months after the first ever import train from China arrived in the UK. The service is part of China’s One Belt, One Road programme – reviving the ancient Silk Road trading routes to the west.

The train service is cheaper and less restrictive than air freight and faster than going by sea.

Greg Hands, Minister of State in the Department for International Trade (DIT), said: “This shows the huge global demand for quality UK goods and is a great step for DP World’s £1.5 billion London Gateway Port as it also welcomes its first regular container ships from Asia.”

Xubin Feng, Chairman of Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment Co, said that this was just the start of a regular direct service between the UK and China. Expressing his faith in the UK as an export nation, he said that rail provides an excellent alternative for moving large volumes of goods over long distances faster.

It is possible that the European Commission is hoping that UK politicians take particular notice of its latest statement about trying to get trade negotiations underway with Australia.

As if offering a lesson to those who believe, such deals can be put together in a few weeks it has announced that, after nearly a year spent in preliminary discussions, the two sides are “one step closer to launching trade negotiations”.

So far, the officials concerned have been working to define areas to be covered by the substantive negotiations as well as the level of ambition for a future agreement. As a next step, the Commission will ask Member States for the authorisation to launch formal negotiations and for the specific negotiating directives.

Commission President Juncker, EU Council President Donald Tusk and the Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, first expressed their shared commitment to advance towards a trade agreement in November 2015.

The EU is Australia’s third largest trading partner with annual bilateral trade amounting to more than €45.5 billion. An agreement on mutual recognition is already in force between the two sides to facilitate trade in industrial products by reducing technical barriers, including assessment procedures.

“The EU and Australia are like-minded partners who share many common concerns in today’s international trade environment,” the Commission said, which again underlines that such deals take time, even with goodwill on both side.

All routes crossed by the Northern Distributor Road will be kept clear of closures and temporary traffic lights over the four-day Easter holiday, but traffic management will be in use again when work resumes on Tuesday (18th). This includes the closure of Reepham Road.

B1149 Holt Road – signals after closure

The B1149 Holt Road, which has been closed since Monday, is scheduled to reopen later today (Thurs 13 April) after the surfacing and tie-in of the New Drayton Lane roundabout. The road will be kept clear over the Easter holiday, but traffic lights will be used off-peak next week (18th-21st) for finishing-off work.

Reepham Road – closure

Reepham Road will close for up to three weeks from Tuesday 18 April to complete the construction and tie-in of the Drayton Lane roundabout. For traffic from the Reepham direction, the diversion will be via Fir Covert Road and the A1067. From Norwich, the diversion will be along Boundary Road (Ring Road), the A1067 Drayton High Road/Fakenham Road and Fir Covert Road.

Drayton Hall Lane and School Road, Drayton, are not suitable diversion routes. Both are traffic calmed, and School Road passes two schools and has a 7.5 tonne weight limit so cannot legally be used as a through-route by HGVs.

Salhouse Road – signals followed by closure

Two-way traffic lights will be in use from Tuesday 18 April as construction of the NDR roundabout continues. These will stay in place until the road closes on 8 May for two weeks to complete the roundabout and tie-in to the existing road.

Green Lane West (at North Walsham Road) – signals

From Wednesday (19th) to Friday (21st) next week two-way traffic lights will be in use on Green Lane West near the junction with the B1150 North Walsham Road. The lights will be manually controlled at peak hours.

Wroxham Road – signals

From Tuesday 2 May traffic lights will be in use on Wroxham Road for up to two weeks to allow Anglian Water to carry out service diversions. The lights will be manually controlled to minimise delays.

Norfolk County Council and Balfour Beatty apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Commenting on the PM’s decision to seek a General Election on June 8th, Caroline Williams, CEO of the Norfolk Chambers of Commerce said:

“The Norfolk business community will understandably be concerned that attention will inevitably shift from the economy and the intricacies of leaving the EU to a potential election campaign. Firms want to see our local MPs give reassurance that the key challenges facing the economy will be front and centre throughout any election period.”

The Planning & Local Growth Survey aims to understand business’ experience of the planning system, and the impact of planning decisions on your organisation.

At present, the fieldwork period is underway and Chamber members are already be being contacted directly by the British Chambers of Commerce for their feedback. 

Norfolk Chamber would like to hear from as many local businesses as possible.  We want you to share your thoughts on the current planning system, both positive and negative – the survey can be completed online – have your say now.

Responses must be received by close of play on Friday 28 April 2017.

Nearly one in five Norfolk businesses have fallen victim to cyber-attacks in the past year, according to the results of a survey released today (Tuesday) by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

The survey of more than 1,200 businesses across the UK, including those in Norfolk, found that 19% of Norfolk businesses had been hit by a cyber-attack in the last 12 months. 

The results indicate that businesses in our region are most reliant on IT providers (63%) to resolve issues after an attack, compared to seeking support from banks, financial institutions or police and law enforcement.

The findings also show that 13% of Norfolk businesses believe the threat of cyber-crime is preventing their company from growing.

The survey also shows:

• Less than a quarter (21%) of Norfolk businesses have cyber security accreditations in place
• Smaller businesses are far less likely to have accreditation (10% of sole traders and 15% of those with 1-4 employees) than big businesses (47% with more than 100 employees)
• Across the UK, those businesses that do have accreditations, nearly half (49%) believe it gives their business a competitive advantage over rival companies, and a third (33%) consider it important in creating a more secure environment when trading with other businesses

From May 2018, all businesses who use personal data will have to ensure they are compliant with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation.  In preparation for these regulatory changes, Norfolk Chamber of Commerce are set to deliver our own Cyber Security Conference on 18 May this year.

The new regulation will mean that businesses will have to completely re-think their data protection regimes. High standards are to be set on the accountability of how data is recorded, kept and processed. One of the biggest threats is the increase in fines from €500,000 to a maximum of €20m or 4% of global turnover.

Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber said:

“Cyber-attacks risk companies’ finances, confidence and reputation, with victims reporting not only monetary losses but costs from disruption to their business and productivity.

“The necessity of strong cybersecurity measures is self-evident and business needs to respond to this increased threat by adopting strict cybersecurity measures to ensure their continued economic growth. Our Cyber Security Conference will give Norfolk businesses the necessary tools to help protect themselves.

“A good step towards being more cyber security conscious is to become accredited.  Accreditations can help businesses assess their own IT infrastructure, defend against cyber-security breaches and mitigate the damage caused by an attack. It can also increase confidence of their online clients.”

On Monday 24 April between 10.30am – 11.30am the Chamber network will be holding a webinar discussion on the impact of Brexit on business with Lord Bridges, Under Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union

Norfolk Chamber members will have the opportunity to submit questions to Lord Bridges, and watch the discussion live. The British Chambers of Commerce, Director General, Adam Marshall will host the event.

We will share details of how to log into this debate very shortly.  In the meantime, if you have any questions that you would like to submit in advance, please email them to Jake Burns on Email: jake.burns@norfolkchamber.co.uk before close of play on Wednesday 19 April 2017.

The perils of globalisation have been well-publicised and, as the Brexit negotiations are about to begin, there are warnings about possible tariff problems, but a new academic study has revealed an entirely unexpected threat.

The University of East Anglia (UEA) has revealed for the first time the global scale of premature deaths related to air pollution from international trade.

The effects of world trade on air pollutant emissions and air quality have been investigated regionally, but this study presents for the first time a combined global assessment on health impact.

Published in the journal Nature, it estimates premature mortality linked to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution as a result of atmospheric transport and the production and consumption of goods and services in 13 regions – encompassing 228 countries – of the world.

The study focused on deaths from heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Linking four state-of-the-art global data models, the international research team estimates that of the 3.45 million global premature deaths related to PM2.5 pollution in 2007, about 12%, or 411,100, were related to air pollutants emitted in a different region of the world.

About 22%, or 762,400, were associated with goods and services produced in one region for consumption in another.

Study co-author Dabo Guan, a professor in climate change economics at UEA’s School of International Development, explained: “International trade is further globalising the issue of air pollution mortality by allowing production and consumption activities to be physically separated.”

In the global economy, he continued, the goods and services consumed in one region may entail production of large quantities of air pollution, and related mortality, in others.