Chamber News

Get the New Year off to a great start and make the most of your Chamber membership with some valuable business networking. Meet up with other members, share business knowledge and interests, strengthen current business relationships and establish new ones.

Norfolk Chamber runs successful networking breakfasts in Norwich, Great Yarmouth and West Norfolk with guest speakers, networking activities and a delicious breakfast.

If early mornings aren’t your thing, we run fun evening networking such as our Superbowl Challenge on 26th January as well as cocktail evenings and fashion shows throughout the year.

The date for this year’s premier business to business exhibition is Thursday 12 October 2017. The B2B Exhibition takes place at Norwich City Football Club across two floors and last year had 750 visitors with over 90 stands. Early bird discount now available on stands.

We also have some special events coming up such as our annual MPs Event (3 Feb) and free international events focusing on Saudi Arabia and Japan.

More interested in content than making connections? Why not join us for some valuable business training on social media, finances or marketing. We also offer free bitesize training ‘Chamber Sessions‘ exclusively for our members.

Our social media is hugely successful, with 7,500+ follower on Twitter and our dedicated LinkedIn Group – networking doesn’t always have to be face to face.

Don’t forget to check out our member’s directory we have over 900 members in total, you can search by industry and location to find the right business to work with.

A huge congratulations to our Chief Executive, Caroline Williams for being awarded a MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for services to the Norfolk business community.

The chief executive of Norfolk’s chamber of commerce for almost 17 years has been made a Member of the British Empire. Mother-of-two Caroline Williams, who lives in Salhouse, said she was “thrilled and humbled” to receive the accolade. The 64-year-old joined the chamber in 2000, having previously worked as an international buyer and an account manager in Dereham.

At that time, she said the organisation had been “limping along” and was in a poor state financially. But over the following years, Mrs Williams, assisted by fellow members, transformed the chamber into a strong and sustainable position.

“I think one of the biggest achievements is that Norfolk’s business community is now visible in Westminster,” she said. “It understands that it can make a difference, and the chamber has worked as a good facilitator between the Government and the business community.”

The title is a among a string of accolades Mrs William has picked up this year. As well as becoming a qualified yoga teacher, she also received the EDP Outstanding Business Award. She will be stepping down from her role in April to focus on training business leaders across the county.

Read more about Norfolk Heroes recognised in the EDP here

View the full list of New Year’s Honours here

We will be closed from 12:30 December 23rd and will open again 3rd January 2017.

A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our members and we’ll see you in 2017.

Last month, the European Commission invited comments on its plans to enter into negotiations to update the EU-Mexico free trade agreement (FTA).

Now, as part of its commitment for a more transparent trade policy, it has published six initial European proposals for modernising various elements of the agreement. It has also made available a report on the round of talks that took place in Mexico between 22 and 25 November.

All these documents can be found at theEuropean Commission website.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström explained: “Sixteen years have passed since the current EU-Mexico became effective. Today we need to adapt it to a new trade reality. We’ve had some good initial talks with our Mexican counterparts but to reach a good agreement we also need constructive engagement from interested parties.”

Since the existing EU-Mexico agreement entered into force in 2000, EU-Mexico trade in goods has increased by 180% and amounted to €53 billion in 2015.

The texts presented by the EU in the latest negotiations aim to increase participation of European companies in Mexican public tenders, and vice versa, and to increase co-operation on imports requirements related to food safety, plant and animal health.

The Commission is also keen to facilitate trade in energy products and raw materials and to define more flexible rules of origin (establishing what products can benefit from lower customs tariffs).

More generally, the proposals seek to reduce unnecessary regulatory barriers to trade and to increase the part of trade benefits that go to small companies.

Whether or not a country is granted Market Economy Status (MES) by the EU sounds like a rather arcane economic argument but it can, in fact, have a huge impact on that country’s exports.

This is because MES is used to calculate anti-dumping measures when the EU decides to take action against a country, which it believes is helping exporters to sell into the EU market at unrealistically low prices.

If an exporting country is not accepted as having MES, in other words if its costs and prices are not market based, then it will face much higher anti-dumping duties as the European Commission seeks to protect European industries from unfair competition.

China has been pushing for MES from the EU for some time and its patience seems to have run out as it has now turned to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for redress.

It has opened a dispute process at the WTO with regard to both the EU and the USA, claiming that both use unfair “calculation methodologies” in anti-dumping proceedings.

When China joined the WTO, existing members were given a 15-year period during which they could treat it as a non-market economy if dumping duties had to be calculated. However, that period ran out on 11 December 2016 and China has wasted no time in demanding that it be granted MES.

It was reportedly angry that the EU had imposed anti-dumping duties on its steel products, still treating it as a non-market economy just a few weeks before the WTO’s deadline. China described this decision as protectionist.

Under WTO rules, the parties to a dispute must discuss the matter and try to find a satisfactory solution without proceeding further with litigation. Only if consultations have failed after 60 days can the complainant request adjudication by a WTO panel.

The BCC and TUC have put together a joint letter to the Prime Minister urging her to end uncertainty around the status of existing EU nationals, and give current EU employees a right to remain after Brexit.

The full letter can be viewed here.

Why Portugal?

Supported by a long tradition of harmonious trade, Portugal has more recently become recognised as a country where English is widely spoken and has proven to be a hotbed of creativity and entrepreneurialism.

What can the BPCC do for you and your local members?

As a bi-lateral Chamber our interests lie not only in promoting British exports overseas, but also supporting our Portuguese companies to identify and develop opportunities in the UK. Our local knowledge is an invaluable asset for British businesses needing in-depth research, introductions to the most appropriate service provider, translations or explanations of specific legislation. We collaborate closely with other business agencies, such as UKTI (now DoI), by providing “landing services” for visiting trade missions. Similarly, we are keen to expand our partnerships with British Chambers of Commerce to organise one-to-one meetings with your members for our visiting delegations of Portuguese missioners.

We currently have companies actively seeking to participate in joint ventures and bid for contracts relating to major infrastructure projects, especially the Northern Powerhouse. A further example is a nationwide commercial cleaning company with a desire to establish a representation for robotic cleaning equipment. These are just mere examples – the possibilities are endless.

Each year we take dozens of Portuguese exhibitors to trade shows in the UK; they are particularly strong in the food and drink sectors; construction; sustainability and renewable energies; textiles, shoes, furniture and moulds. The British fashion and home furnishing sectors regard Portugal as a very important source and we regularly introduce buyers to production facilities.

It seems a long time since George Osborne spoke of “a Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers” (it was in fact his 2011 Budget) and the latest official report suggests that the sector is still lagging behind rather than carrying the economy forward.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that manufacturing fell by 0.9% and production fell by 1.3% between September and October this year.

This was described by Lee Hopley, Chief Economist at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, as a fairly hefty contraction and she said that it was certainly not the start to the fourth quarter that the industry expected to see.

“Output falls appear fairly widespread across subsectors,” she explained, “but falls in pharmaceuticals, textiles and food were responsible for much of the drop over the month.”

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady was also disappointed by the latest figures which were, she suggested, a reminder of the challenges ahead next year, especially in the light of Brexit.

“When the manufacturing sector grows, it creates good jobs across the whole of the UK. So support for the sector should be a bigger priority for the government as part of a more comprehensive industrial strategy in 2017,” she went on.

The current Chancellor had said the right things about higher investment in the Autumn Statement, Ms O’Grady argued, but failed to back his words with a sufficiently robust investment package.

On a more positive note, Ms Hopley highlighted underlying resilience in the domestic market and a brightening outlook overseas as reasons for optimism.

Since July 2014, the EU and 16 other members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have been negotiating on an agreement to remove barriers to trade in green goods that are crucial for environmental protection and climate change mitigation.

These would include products such as carbon dioxide scrubbers, recycling machinery, heat pumps, thermostats and wind turbines.

The negotiators are building on a list of 54 products on which the member countries of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) have agreed to reduce their tariffs to 5% or less.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, the Commissioner said: “Making trade in environmentally friendly technologies cheaper is a key step on the way towards reaching the targets set in the Paris agreement on climate.”

However, a joint statement with the US Trade Representative, released after the Geneva meeting indicated that agreement has still not been reached.

While recognising that many participants engaged constructively, and brought new contributions to the table, the statement concludes that “participants will now return to capitals to consider next steps”.

Commissioner Malmström and Ambassador Froman said: “We believe a high standard EGA would enhance global access to clean technologies; advance environmental protection; and benefit workers, businesses, and consumers.”

The EU and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have co-hosted an event aiming to define practical ways to ensure sustainability in the international garment and footwear supply chains.

Representatives of industry, trade unions, civil society and international organisations met officials from the Governments of Cambodia and the main importing countries in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

They discussed how to step up the industry’s current sustainability efforts by putting into practice the OECD’sDue Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector.

This sets out how companies active in the sector can better identify, prevent and mitigate any potential harmful impacts with regard to respect of human and labour rights and protection of the environment.

The guidance has recently been made available for consultation and a draft version can be found atwww.oecd.org.

The fully free access to the market offered by the EU to the least-developed countries such as Cambodia stimulates growth of their export-oriented industries and the overall economic development.

This has contributed to the growth of an important clothing and footwear industry, generating employment and livelihood for many Cambodians, especially women.

However, in line with the EU’s current responsible trade policy strategy “Trade for all”, the Union wants to ensure that such trade-driven growth not only benefits the economy of those developing countries but also brings appropriate social and environmental practices.

Without the Scotch whisky industry’s exporting success, Britain’s trade deficit would be 11% higher. Members of Parliament, industry representatives and the media were told as a recent Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) reception in London.

The Scotch whisky industry is now the single biggest net contributor to the UK’s balance of trade in goods.

Hosting the event, Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell said: “The Scotch whisky industry is a truly global exporter which generates billions of pounds for our economy and supports thousands of jobs in Scotland and across the UK.”

Every second of the day, he continued, 34 bottles of Scotch are shipped overseas and sold to 175 countries around the world.

There is a bright future ahead for Scotland’s whisky producers, Mr Mundell concluded, stressing that the UK Government would be backing them all the way.

In response, SWA acting Chief Executive Julie Hesketh-Laird thanked the Scottish Secretary for hosting the Association’s annual celebration of Scotch whisky and recognising the industry’s importance to the entire UK economy.

She noted that the Association had met Scotland Office representatives regularly throughout the year to discuss issues of mutual interest, such as overseas trade.

“Brexit is clearly top of the agenda,” Ms Hesketh-Laird continued, “and we will be having further discussions with the UK Government on what we see as industry priorities as the UK leaves the EU.”

(Based on November 2016 data releases)

This month’s headlines:

• Q3 UK GDP growth unrevised with business investment supporting growth in the quarter
• OBR downgrades its economic and fiscal outlook for the UK
• UK job market strengthens

UK growth was unrevised in Q3 at 0.5%. Despite the slow down, growth in Q3 marked the fifteenth successive quarter of growth. In annual terms GDP was up by 2.3% in A3. UK economic output is currently 8.1% above its Q1 pre-recession peak. Overall the latest GDP figures confirm that the UK economy is growth in line with the long-term historic average.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has predicted slower growth for the UK in 2017. It has downgraded its forecast from 2.2% to 1.7%. The OBR expects 2.0% growth in 2016.

In the 3 months to September, UK employment rose by 49,000 compared with the previous quarter. The number of people unemployed fell by 37,000 over the same period. In Norfolk the recent October figure showed a slight rise in unemployment claimants from 6540 in September to 6830 in October. This is an average rise in claimants across Norfolk of 1.3%. Some of this rise can be attributed to seasonal work coming to an end.

For full details of this month’s economic review click here.