Chamber News

Commenting on the triggering of Article 50 by the Prime Minister, Theresa May, Caroline Williams, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber said:

“Now that Brexit negotiations are set to begin, businesses across Norfolk and the UK and their trading partners in Europe want answers to practical questions.  A down to earth and sensible dialogue on the real-world issues, rather than verbal volleys between London and Brussels, would give Norfolk firms greater confidence over the next two years.

Mrs Williams outlined five key asks that Norfolk Chamber, in consultation with its members, would like to see as part of the Brexit negotiations:

1.       Business Voice: The Government appear to be making incorrect assumptions in some areas – there is a need to ensure that businesses have a clear input into negotiations, to explain the potential impact of Government decisions.

2.       Labour: Existing EU workers should have the right to stay in the UK.  Going forward, there should be a bureaucratic-free system for seasonal workers and key staff.  A simplified system which will help key Norfolk sectors such as tourism, food producers and agriculture continue to grow.

3.       International Trade: Tariffs need to be kept to a minimum, with simplified customs procedures to make exporting as easy as possible.  To grow our export capacity, swift trade agreements with countries should be reached and trade missions should be expanded.

4.       Standards: Product standards should be aligned and recognised by the EU, to ensure that Norfolk products remain competitive.

5.       Funding: UK funding levels for business and people development need to be maintained in Norfolk to the levels that were formally funded from the EU.

“Norfolk’s business voice needs to be loud and clear over the coming months.  If any business has particular concerns or worries, do pass them on to us.  The British Chambers of Commerce, our Westminster office, is meeting with Ministers and senior civil servants daily and need to know how you feel.”

The Norfolk Chamber events team helped coordinate another successful and lively Your Future Careers event at Flegg High on Wednesday 22nd March. The event was attended by over 300 students from years 9 and 10 who all congregated at the main school hall to engage with local businesses about the careers available in a variety of sectors. Amongst the 16 businesses and higher education providers who donated some of their type to educate the students were Barclays, East Norfolk Sixth Form, UEA and Army Careers.

As well as the careers exhibition which took place, there were also a number of workshops which allowed the students to gain a more in depth insight into careers within healthcare and engineering. Workshop providers included Ian Robertson from SeaJacks, Paul Martin an NHS ambassador and David Sedgwick from KLM.

Overall, the event provided a valuable platform for businesses to enthuse and educate students about the work they do and the career paths students could potentially aim for when they reach school leaving age. Many students displayed a keen curiosity for the work the company’s do, with businesses commenting on how many insightful questions they all had. It also incited the students to consider what they may potentially like their futures to include, whether that be becoming an offshore engineer at SeaJacks, an apprentice at the NHS or attending one of the many colleges in their local area.

If you are interested in representing your business and enthusing young people about a career in your sector, please click here to register your interest.

We have the following careers events coming up:

Thetford Academy Careers Event – Thursday, 11 May, 2017, 12:30 – 15:45

Wymondham High Careers Event – Monday, 3 July, 2017, 09:30 – 13:30

The A47 Alliance are hosting an ‘Infrastructure and Economic Growth’ business breakfast, with the right honourable Mr John Hayes, Minister of State at the Department for Transport.

Date:   Thursday 11 May 2017

Time:   8.30 am to 11.00 am

Venue:   King’s Lynn Innovation Centre, Innovation Way, King’s Lynn PE30 5BY

The A47 Alliance brings together stakeholders – including Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, the local enterprise partnerships, local authorities and other business representatives – along the entire length of the trunk road from Lowestoft to the A1 at Peterborough.

The Alliance was grateful to government for previously recognising the vital importance of the A47 in the trunk road programme from 2015 to 2020 (known as RIS1) as a nationally important strategic road, deserving of crucial funding to undertake key improvements along sections of the A47. 

Moving towards announcements for the 2020 to 2025 programme (RIS2), we are inviting key businesses along the route in Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire to a business breakfast. 

Jonathan Cage, President of the Norfolk Chamber confirmed his attendance at the breakfast and said:

“Norfolk Chamber and the A47 Alliance members want to hear first-hand business views on the A47 and how this relates to the successful economic growth in our region.”

Martin Wilby, the Chair of the A47 Alliance said:

“We will use this important opportunity to update Norfolk businesses on the RIS1 schemes’ progress and hear directly from businesses in the East on what essential infrastructure improvements they would like to see happen to secure the future success of their businesses.”

The A47 Alliance’s ultimate goal is the full dualling of the A47 with appropriate grade separation.  A fully dualled A47 will help to boost the economic prosperity of a large part of the East of England and make a significant contribution to the national economy.

The estimated cost of a fully dualled A47 is £1.4bn and through a combination of selected improvements, there could be up to 16,890 jobs created within 20 years, with an increase of £706m in economic output (GVA).  As well as over 10,500 new homes.

Spaces are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.  To reserve your place please email: A47alliance@norfolk.gov.uk

The Government’s stated target of agreeing a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU within two years is inherently ambitious, according to an influential House of Lords body.

If the UK and EU are unable to agree an FTA within the two years provided for in Article 50, then preferential terms for trade between the UK and the EU would cease, and World Trade Organization (WTO) rules would apply.

In order to avoid that outcome, the Government must try to agree a transitional arrangement with the EU members of the House of Lords External Affairs Sub-Committee.

The peers have urged the Government “to establish at the outset of negotiations a clear strategy for a future transitional agreement, with specific proposals to what form it should take”.

The report Brexit: Trade in Goods focuses in particular on the potential impact that Brexit might have on trade in six sectors: chemicals and pharmaceuticals; capital goods and machinery; food and beverages; oil and petroleum; automotive and aerospace; and defence.

Goods dominate UK trade and the EU is our largest trading partner, Committee Chairman Baroness Verma pointed out.

Trade in goods between the two is worth almost £357 billion each year, she added, and it is therefore imperative that a trade deal with the EU seeks to avoid the imposition of tariffs on trade in both directions.

Baroness Verma also pointed out that non-tariff barriers can pose as significant or even a greater barrier to trade than tariffs – and warned that they would be more difficult to resolve in an FTA.

“The Government will need to make a trade-off between mitigating barriers to trade, and the exercise of regulatory sovereignty,” she concluded.

The official publication by the European standardisation body CEN Standard of Customs Competency for Customs Representatives (EN 16992:2017) has been welcomed by leading trade bodies.

CONFIAD, the Pan European Network of Customs Brokers and Customs Representatives, and CLECAT, the European association of freight forwarders, transport and customs-related services, said that it would promote professionalism, skills and knowledge in the customs representation within the EU.

Both bodies have promoted and financed the development of the CEN Standard.

Under the management of AFNOR (the French National Standardisation Body), it was developed by CEN, taking the Customs competency framework for private sector published by the European Commission into consideration.

Jean-François Auzeau, Chairman of the Customs Institute in CLECAT, said: “Whereas investments made to develop interoperability between electronic systems for the exchange of information, single window, etc will support daily operations in customs, a high level of expertise of the customs representative to secure compliance in the supply chain will remain critical for professionalism and good service to our shipper clients.”

In line with the criteria of customs competency required by the Authorised Economic Operator – Customs (AEO(C)) status in the Union Customs Code, the new Standard will support customs representation services offered by any customs representative in an EU Member State where the customs representative is not established.

At national level, each National Standardisation Body will now need to prepare and finalise the national publication of the Standard.

Described as a landmark agreement, the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is the first deal between the EU and a country in South East Asia.

Once it enters into force, the FTA will provide greater market access and will remove customs duties and other barriers to trade. Sectors anticipated to benefit particularly include pharmaceuticals, electronics, chemicals and food products.

Despite being concluded in October 2014, the FTA has not yet entered into force as, before it can do so, it must be ratified.

The ratification process has been delayed because the EU’s Court of Justice (CJEU) has been asked to decide on the areas of competence which apply to the European Commission and the EU Member States when it comes to making bilateral trade deals.

The Court’s opinion is expected in the first half of this year. In advance of the decision, both the EU and Singapore have reaffirmed their commitment to the deal.

On a recent visit to Singapore, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said that the FTA “will open doors and create opportunities for companies big and small, help to boost economic growth and investment, and create jobs”.

Noting that Singapore and the EU are longstanding partners with a shared belief in free and open trade within a rules-based global trading system, Trade Minister Lim Hng Kiang said that the new agreement will reinforce his country’s efforts to remain open and connected while strengthening its robust economic relations with the EU.

In 2016, the EU was Singapore’s second largest trading partner, accounting for 11% of its global trade. Singapore is the EU’s largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.

On Wednesday 22nd March Norfolk Chamber held a thought provoking HR Forum that examined pay discrimination in the workplace. Over 25 members attended the topical session that was delivered by expert speakers from Howes Percival.

The afternoon encouraged stimulating discussions among HR professionals and business leaders, during a time of key changes in employment law. With new legislation coming in to effect in April 2017 requiring larger businesses to produce reports on the pay gaps between men and women in their organisations, there was plenty to talk about.

Nicola Butterworth, a solicitor at Howes Percival kicked things off with a general employment law update that covered a range of issues from changes to statutory payments to the ‘gig economy’. This led to an interesting review of recent landmark cases and an interactive Q and A session.

Howes Percival Partner, Graham Irons then went on to discuss the main feature of the session; reviewing the pay gap between genders in the workplace. Graham explained key details of the reporting requirements business will soon face and reviewed a number of fascinating pay discrimination cases.

Our next HR Forum will be held on 21st June. You can find more details about the event and book your place by clicking here.

Businesses across the Norfolk, particularly in rural areas, are still without reliable broadband connections, despite companies saying the availability of fully functional broadband is extremely important to their operations, according to the results of a survey released today (Monday) by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

All Norfolk companies surveyed (100%) say a reliable broadband connection is important, (90% say extremely so), yet one in five (20%) suffer from unreliable connections (12% not very reliable; 8% not at all reliable).

The findings also show that firms in rural areas are at least twice as likely to have unreliable connections (30%) as those in towns (15%), inner cities (13%), and suburban areas (12%).

Smaller businesses are the most likely to suffer from unreliable broadband, with nearly a quarter (24%) of sole traders and 21% of micro-businesses reporting problems.

The survey suggests that more reliable connections would allow businesses to do more. Over half of businesses (54%) say if the reliability of their broadband connection was improved it would allow them to use more applications, particularly cloud-based services (24%), transfer of large files (16%), remote server access for employees (14%).

Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager of Norfolk Chamber said:

“Norfolk’s business community report that our digital infrastructure is still not fit for purpose. Throughout the county, significant numbers of companies of every size and sector lack reliable internet connectivity – a basic requirement for businesses to operate efficiently in today’s world.

“Unreliable connections stunt productivity, causing needless delays, costs and frustration. While businesses across the county are affected, the BCC research shows that its rural areas and small businesses that are most likely to suffer. An unreliable connection acts as an obstacle to growth, and puts those firms most in need of support at a competitive disadvantage.”

Commenting on the national picture, Dr Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:

“We’ve been calling on both providers and on government for years to fund the necessary upgrades required to deliver superfast broadband to business communities. Regulators, too, must ensure that firms actually get the quality and speeds of connection they are promised. While we welcome recent ministerial announcements about investing in 5G technology and efforts to build a world-class digital infrastructure in the UK, there is still a long way to go in getting the basics right.

“The immediate focus must be on providing all companies with connections that are reliable and of sufficient speed, which would boost business confidence and encourage firms to maximise opportunities for growth, trade and investment.”

The Prime Minister, Theresa May will trigger Article 50 on Wednesday 29 March 2017.  This will start the process to take the UK from out of the European Union.

Whilst many predicted that Brexit would cause a crisis for the UK’s economy, the reality is that, apart from an initial significant slump in the Pound, and its  continued reduced value, the overall UK economy grew by 1.8% in 2016.

Norfolk’s most successful businesses recognise the need to stay positive and be able to take advantage of a whatever situation the economy finds itself in.  They understand that there are opportunities in times of uncertainty, as well as risks.

Commenting on the position of his company, in relation to Brexit, Gordon Chetwood, Managing Director of Pasta Foods Ltd said:  “Pasta Foods has seen an upward path since the UK’s Brexit vote. Most of our pasta competitors are European businesses supplying into the UK, so the devaluation of the pound makes us more competitive to UK customers, in spite of the fact that we have faced rising costs as we buy raw materials from Europe.

“In our snack business, we export snacks across the world to over 40 countries and we have seen very good sales growth in spite of raw material cost inflation and we anticipate that this will continue into the future.”

For the next edition of the Norfolk Voice magazine, we want to hear from more Chamber members about the impact of Brexit on them.  What they have been doing, as a result of Brexit, and what plans they have to take advantage of future opportunities.

Has your company taken advantage of the lower Pound and increased your exports; are you looking at new markets; or trying to source new suppliers – perhaps from within the UK?  What future opportunities do you see as a result of Brexit?

Also, what does your business need to see from the Brexit negotiations?  Just a few of the business comments we have heard so far include: the overall need for clarity; a bureaucratic-free system for EU workers; simplified regulations post Brexit and a reduction in red tape; and to keep tariffs with the EU to a minimum.

Please send your comments to Nova Fairbank.  Email: nova.fairbank@norfolkchamber.co.uk by no later than close of play on Friday 31 March 2017.

The removal of 24-hours lights from the A140 Cromer Road after the completion of major gas diversion work has provided a short respite for motorists, but signals will be in use again for the rest of this week (from Thursday 23 March).   The signals will only be in use when needed to provide a safety zone while 34 beams are lifted into place on the bridge that will carry the A140 over Norwich Northern Distributor Road. These lifts can be delayed by any wind stronger than a moderate breeze, and although the reinforced concrete beams may all be in place by Friday evening, it is possible that work will have to continue into the weekend. B1149 Holt Road 24-hour signals 

From Tuesday 28 March (corrected) 24-hour traffic lights will be in place at the roundabout construction site where Holt Road will connect with the realigned Drayton Lane, south of Horsford. These will be two-way lights, except for a period on 3-4 April when they will be four-way at the crossroads with Church Street and old Drayton Lane. The traffic lights will remain in use until the four-day closure (10-13 April) of Holt Road for the final surfacing and tie-in of the new Drayton Lane roundabout. The only access road at the southern end of Horsford will be Church Street to the A140 Cromer Road. Norfolk County Council and Balfour Beatty apologise for the disruption and inconvenience these unavoidable traffic management measures will cause to road users.

Norwich City Council have released their latest economic barometer. The report highlighted:

Locally

• Lloyds Bank Regional PMI survey showed that business activity in the East grew more quickly than the UK average.
• The weak pound continued to have an effect on costs with the average price for raw materials, salaries and fuel rising at a fast pace.
• More new companies were registered in Norfolk and Suffolk during 2016.  Those registered in Norfolk rose by 5.8%.
•  Work is underway on a new 25-acre site to extend Sweetbriar Retail Park – this should create between 60-90 new jobs.

Nationally

• UK Manufacturing sector experienced solid growth of production and new orders during February.
• UK construction companies recorded improved activity in February, which civil engineering replacing house building as the main growth driver.
• UK Service sector continued to grow, but growth had ease possible due to more cautious consumer expenditure
• The number of people on zero-hours contracts has reached a record high of 910,000 – this is an increase of 14% from 2015 to 2016.

For full details of the latest economic barometer click here.

The Chamber team spent Thursday (23 March) out of the office on a day of fun and team-building.

We started the day at Quasar Norwich by splitting into two equal teams and shooting lasers at one another. It was great fun, with the red team (Jason, Jack, Nova, Emily, Naomi, Tina and Julie) coming out victorious over the blue team (Caroline, Jake, Joe, Louise, Darcy, Philippa and Jenny) in both games.

Food was next on the agenda as the team arrived at Chamber member The Library Restaurant for a well-earned lunch.

The team finished the day with some puzzling solving in the History Mystery Escape Rooms (another Chamber member) at the Norwich Guildhall. Team A (Jack, Joe, Tina, Julie, Caroline, Louise and Jenny) completed both puzzles with time to spare earnig them a silver and a gold badge. Team ‘Chambe Detectives’ (Jason, Jake, Nova, Darcy, EMily, Naomi and Philippa) managed to come away with a silver badge after completing their second puzzle, but with over 5 minutes to spare!