Chamber News

Commenting on the government’s announcement of £300m to boost SME lending, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:

“We welcome the government’s move to increase competition in SME finance by offering £300m to co-invest alongside the private sector.

“Vince Cable is right to say that the creation of a fully-fledged business bank is a long-term project.

“However, for the business bank to be a game-changer, it urgently requires both vision and scale. To that end, we continue to urge ministers and the Bank of England to ‘think bigger’ when it comes to the bank’s investment capital, to ensure the bank can operate independently of Whitehall, and allow to it to work directly with dynamic new and growing companies as soon as possible, and for the long term.”

• Manufacturing output in February 2013: up 0.8% on the month, down 1.4% on the year
• UK trade deficit in goods and services was £3.6bn in February 2013, compared with a deficit of £2.5bn in January
• Value of UK exports fell by 1.1% between January and February 2013, while the value of imports rose by 1.7% in the same period

Commenting on the February 2013 UK trade figures, published today by the ONS, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:

“It is disappointing to see that the UK trade deficit worsened substantially in February, driven largely by falling goods exports and rising goods imports.

“However, our latest forward-looking economic survey shows near record growth in service sector export orders. This demonstrates that many of Britain’s companies are growing and expanding into new markets across the globe. What’s more, remittances from these service-sector orders may not come through into the statistics for some time.

“The Norfolk businesses that I see are ambitious and hard working, and want to take their products and services overseas – but the UK’s overall export performance is still not where it could or should be. The latest trade deficit numbers highlight the need for international trade and commerce to be at the heart of both business and government thinking. If we are to win the ‘global race’ that the Prime Minister has described on numerous occasions, we need both a more enterprise-friendly environment and a large-scale increase in the resources and attention dedicated to supporting international trade.

“This is one of the topics we will be talking through with Lord Green Minister of State for Trade & Investment when he visits Norfolk to speak at our networking lunch on 11 July”

Commenting on the UK trade and manufacturing output figures, David Kern, Chief Economist at the BCC, added:

“These economic figures send conflicting messages. The increase in manufacturing and total production output was stronger than expected, but the deterioration in the trade balance was larger than most analysts predicted. On the positive side, the output figures reinforce hopes that GDP will grow in the first quarter. But it is worrying that exports fell in February, while imports rose, and that there was a large fall in exports to non-EU countries.

“Despondency over the economy is unjustified. Although we are facing difficult circumstances, our short-term economic performance remains stronger than that of the eurozone. At the same time, the government should be more forceful in boosting exports, and do more to support companies seeking to break into new markets.”

ONS Trade statistics: https://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/uktrade/uk-trade/february-2013/stb-uk-trad…

ONS Production figures: https://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/iop/index-of-production/february-2013/stb-…

At a recent meeting of the Chamber’s Planning & Development Group, a debate was held with the Highways Agency, Norfolk County Council, Norwich International Airport and various utility companies, including BT, Anglia Water and UK Power Networks on how to unlock growth through infrastructure delivery.

The debate highlighted that whilst there was a certain amount of cooperation between each of the utilities and the public agencies, there was little or no discussion with landowners and the development industry. Most of the utilities planned their capital expenditure programmes for a 5 or 8 year period and did not take into account speculative development. This is clearly a problem when developers are often keen to try and bring forward development quicker than this timeframe, especially when the utilities only consider development as not being speculative if it has planning permission.

The meeting discussed potential ways of working around these problems, including the opportunity for new types of funding and income streams to come into the market. It was clear that it is essential for developers to talk to the utilities at the earliest stage possible. The Chamber Planning & Development Group agreed to continue their liaison with the utilities and would advise the teams of any constraints that they were made aware of that stopped growth from coming forward.

All parties agreed to work together to lobby Government in respect of rail, road and general infrastructure improvements.

Celebrating ten years of success, the Chamber Awards are considered one of the UK’s most hotly contested and prestigious business awards.

There are lots of highly successful businesses throughout Norfolk and this is their opportunity to showcase the best of Norfolk at a national level. The Awards recognise and reward business success across the UK, with a range of specialist categories to meet the needs of any organisation. Each year hundreds of businesses compete for the coveted National Chamber Awards along with the £25,000 cash prize on offer.

The following categories are now open for entry:

• Online Business of the Year
• Most Promising New Business
• Exporter of the Year
• Excellence in Innovation
• Commitment to People Development
• Marketing Campaign of the Year
• Outstanding Personal Achievement
• The Sustainability Award

Entry to the Chamber Awards is free for Norfolk Chamber members – so take the first step towards winning and enter your business today.

The closing date for entries is 28 June and the regional winners will be announced on 30th September. The winners will go through to compete in the National Final, where they will be judged by a panel of business leaders and entrepreneurs. The Chamber Awards programme will conclude with the prestigious gala awards dinner on 28th November in central London, where one business will be awarded the £25,000 prize courtesy of the RBS Group. To enter online click here.

Simon Francis (ESE Direct) said regarding the awards:“I don’t think anyone can assume they are the best, only that they are doing their best with the skills and resources they have available.

As a past winner of Chamber awards and current finalist in two National Industry awards I would recommend entering as it can help raise awareness of your business to new markets and potential customers.

Small businesses stand as much chance as big ones, we have won 10 out of 15 awards we have entered in the last five years and we are only a small bussiness.

You have nothing to lose apart from a few hours of your time to prepare your entry, and if you have a business plan and regularly measure yourself against the targets and results you are aiming for it should be relatively easy.

As they say “I’m in””

Do you know any entrepreneurs who would be interested in an opportunity to meet with other entrepreneurs from G20 countries? If so, read on!

Your national Global Entrepreneurship Week host, Youth Business International, also co-represents the UK in the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance, alongside Young Brits.

The G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (G20 YEA) is a global network of young entrepreneurs and the organisations that support them. It was established to convene each year in advance of the G20 Summit, with the aim of championing the importance of young entrepreneurs to the G20 member nations and to share best practices. More information can be found here.

To join the UK delegation to attend this year’s G20YEA Summit among your young entrepreneur networks, delegates should be active entrepreneurs aged 40 or below. The programme and application form is here.

Feel free to contact YBI for more details:

Helen Gale, Director, Strategy and Performancehelen.gale@youthbusiness.org

The Budget

Find out more about how this may have affected your business with HMRC

Simpler Income Tax – Cash Basis and Simplified Expenses

In the Budget statement on 20 March, the Government announced that two new measures – together called Simpler Income Tax – are being introduced to help small businesses to do their income tax.

For the 2013/14 tax year onwards, unincorporated businesses whose income does not exceed the VAT registration limit will be able to choose to work out their tax on the money that flows in and out of their business; this is what is meant by “cash basis”. Using this scheme will mean that these businesses will avoid the need to make year-end tax adjustments, required under current rules that were designed for more complex businesses.

In addition, all unincorporated businesses, no matter what their size, can also choose to use simpler schemes to claim some common business expenses; this is what is meant by “simplified expenses”.

Further guidance on eligibility and suitability etc will be published on the new Government website, GOV.UK, from 6 April. HMRC will also offer guidance, a webinar and a YouTube video that will help businesses understand and use the new schemes. Look out for our special editorial with next month’s Key Messages, which will have a lot more detail.

RTI (Real Time Information) starts now: are you ready?

Throughout March we published a number of Press Releases to help employers prepare for reporting PAYE in real time.

We also published an announcement on the relaxation of reporting arrangements for small businesses and the latest Employer update. Free help and advice for employers on RTI is available as HMRC starts a series of Road Shows. Please call 0845 603 2691 or book online to reserve your place.

Employers: How your employees should tell HMRC that they have changed address

If your employees change address, please ask them to let HMRC know by using the HMRC address change email template. This is the quickest and most secure way of doing it and also means that any repayment due won’t go to an old address.

VAT relief from bad debts

If you make supplies of goods or services to a customer but you are not paid, you may be able to claim relief from VAT on these bad debts. Also, you may have to repay VAT you have claimed if you have received supplies of goods or services which you have not paid for.

Read updates issued by the Export Control Organisation including details about imposition of arms embargoes, Open General Export Licence amendments or announcements about Control List changes.

Notice to Exporters 2013/09 The ECO has reviewed its guidance regarding strategic export licence applications for controlled military goods made by freight forwarders and other transport providers

Notice to Exporters 2013/10 This Order replaces Schedule 2 to the Export Control Order 2008, which lists military goods, software and technology that are subject to export controls. The Schedule has been amended in line with updates agreed during 2011 in the international export control regime known as the Wassenaar Arrangement and also consolidates previous amendments to Schedule 2.

Notice to Exporters 2013/11 Work is in hand to make the necessary technical changes to SPIRE, and to the Reports and Statistics websites, and in preparing guidance for exporters. The ECO is working with a number of exporters who will be participating in user testing to help ensure that the system is user-friendly, and they have undertaken internal (within ECO) testing of the system

Notice to Exporters 2013/12 On 11 January 2013 the ECO amended the Open General Export Licence (Military Goods) to Open General Export Licence (Military Goods, Software and Technology). To reflect the changes in this licence, a new undertaking template has been issued

Notice to Exporters 2013/13 The ECO has amended the Export Control Order 2008. This amendment consists of a replacement of Schedule 2 to the 2008 Order, which lists military goods, software and technology that are subject to export controls.

RMP Site Engineering, based on Yarmouth Road in Norwich, was established in 2007 by Rob Pinchbeck. We are currently working throughout Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex and are rapidly expanding into the rest of the UK.

RMP provides expert Site Engineering and Site Management services for a variety of Civil Engineering, Utilities and Construction Projects from pre-start to final fit-out.

Our experienced, knowledgeable and professional Site Engineers work on behalf of a main contractor. Unlike other Site Engineering Companies, our responsibilities include technical, supervisory and organisational services including:

• Site Setting Out
• Site Surveying
• Site and Project Management
• Contracting Services

We can work as part of the on-site management team to help progress and complete projects. We provide quality assurance, including the design of quality inspection test plans and take responsibility for site Health and Safety, and security. For your peace of mind we carry full Professional Indemnity, Public Liability and Employers Liability Insurance.

RMP also have an established contracting division able to offer all elements of construction, from groundworks to final fit-out.

Our mission is to create and reproduce a culture that challenges the status quo and long established mindsets-raising the standard to a higher level across the board. RMP promotes the very highest levels of Health and Safety making the Industry a much safer and happier place to work.

Our Culture is to bring Quality, Excellence, Honesty, Innovation, Dynamism, Accountability and Responsibility. We endeavour to train and develop our workforce, both those who are permanently employed by RMP and those who sub-contract to us, making sure that all our workers feel valued and well managed.

We are CHAS accredited, Achilles UVDB and Builders Profile registered & Considerate Constructors; we are also working towards Investors in People and hope to have achieved ISO9001 by the end of 2013.

www.rmpsiteengineering.co.uk

That’s the question Norfolk Chamber of Commerce is asking. Always committed to stimulating debate the Chamber is asking you if the Norfolk brand is a help or a hindrance when it comes to marketing.

Famously, Aviva scrapped its 200 year old trading name of Norwich Union with the objective of growing the brand, and helping it to compete on a global scale. The strategy was that ‘Aviva’ would appeal to an international market more than Norwich Union.

By the same token, Bernard Matthews have proudly trumpeted Norfolk as the very essence of a successful brand. Being branded ‘Colman’s of Norwich’ has kept people as keen as mustard in that international organisation’s products. But then, whilst Start-Rite have not put a foot wrong in their marketing, they’ve never added Norfolk to the branding.

Now comes the exciting news that Hoseasons have commissioned a £1 million TV advertising campaign to promote their 28,000 places to stay across the UK & Europe, and it features entirely Norfolk scenes.

Simon Altham, Managing Director of Hoseasons describes the commercial as a “marvellous showcase for Norfolk’s tourism offering”.

Hear his views on how the Norfolk brand has given Hoseasons a competitive advantage at the Great Yarmouth Business Breakfast.

Caroline Williams, Chief executive of the Norfolk Chamber said “Businesses need to understand that using the ‘Norfolk brand’ can enhance their offer. It’s a point of difference, and separates them from the generic nationals. It can make their offering entirely unique. We’ve put Norfolk at the heart of what we do. We’re the Norfolk Chamber and proud of it!” Join the debate.

Join us at – Great Yarmouth Business Breakfast. ‘Norfolk Branding – a positive or negative message?’

Thursday 2 May 2013. 7.30am to 9.30am

The first £1.1 million business-led, pan-India network of British business centres has been announced, led by the UK-India Business Council and with support from India-based British business groups.

The announcement came as Trade and Investment Minister Lord Green convened a conference of representatives of 20 overseas business networks, LEP’s and UK business organisations – Norfolk Chambers International Trade Director, Tracey Howard, was also in attendance.

UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is working with them to build stronger business-to-business support services in twenty priority markets.

By start of April 2013, the Government plans to have agreed partnerships with business groups in a quarter of the 20 markets, half by the end of April and the rest by the end of June.

Lord Green said: “Britain needs more businesses to get exporting to the fast-growing nations of the world – it’s a vital part of our plan for growth. But we need to make taking the first step into an offshore market much less challenging for small and medium-sized exporters.”

British overseas business networks have traditionally not supported exporters to anywhere near the extent that the UK’s European and other major competitors have, and this gap must be closed, he said.

The range of support offered by these networks will vary according to business need and could include mentoring, office space, familiarisation visits and market introductions.

• BCC’s Quarterly Economic Survey for Q1 2013 shows progress on a national level, with almost all major balances improving compared with Q4 2012. However Norfolk and the East of England results are not so optimistic, with the manufacturing balance in particular showing a dip in confidence.
• Norfolk businesses are resilient, but many balances are still below pre-recession levels and growth remains too low.

The British Chambers of Commerce’s Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) released today (Tuesday) shows that the economy has made progress, but there are still some mountains to climb before it is fully back on track. The new survey, made up of responses from more than 7,000 businesses, shows that nationally most key balances in both the manufacturing and service sectors strengthened in the first quarter of 2013, with Norfolk export balances in services being stronger than the national totals. Business confidence, investment and training balances are also up. Although, cashflow for Norfolk manufacturers fell into negative territory for the first time since May 2012.

Despite welcome improvements, most indicators are still below their pre-recession levels seen in 2007. It is encouraging that Norfolk employment balances strengthened overall in the first quarter.

Caroline Williams, CEO of Norfolk Chamber said “The findings suggest the economic outlook will improve gradually, and that growth will be positive but subdued this year. The results also demonstrate resilience among Norfolk businesses, many of whom are confident and looking to invest and increase exports this year. Overall, the Q1 results support the BCC and Chamber network’s view that the economy will record positive but subdued growth in 2013.”

Below outlines the Norfolk findings in the Q1 2013 BCC survey:

UK Sales & Exports The Norfolk manufacturing home sales fell by 10 points to 10%, home orders also crashed by a massive 26 points to 0%. Manufacturing exports showed better results with deliveries remaining fairly constant, however export orders dropped by 13 points from 42% to just 29%. The national results showed a different picture, with both home sales and orders and exports orders and deliveries showing small improvements on the Q4 2012 results. Norfolk home sales and orders for the service sector both showed an increase of 5 points, with sales rising +19% and orders to +14%. Service sector export deliveries and orders also showed improved results with deliveries rising by 8 points to +68% and orders by 6 points to +66%.

Recruitment Recruitment in the last 3 months has been slightly depressed for both the service and the manufacturing sectors, this was reflected across Norfolk, the East of England and at a national level. However going forwards, the Norfolk manufacturing employers appear to be more optimistic than the service sector, as 21% expected their workforce to increase over the next 3 months. This is a rise of 18 points from the previous quarter. The service sector only reported an increase of 2 points to 16% for expected recruitment over the next quarter. Both sectors in Norfolk and across the rest of the UK reported that difficulties in recruitment were still an issue for them.

Cashflow The Norfolk manufacturing results deteriorated and fell into negative territory by 12 points to -7%. This was also reflected by the East of England manufacturers, where their results fell still further from -5% to -11%. The national picture showed just a 1 point fall to +2%. Similarly, the Norfolk service sector cashflow results fell by 4 points to 0%, the East of England by 7 points to +4%, but the national results returned from a negative balance with a rise of 7 points to +6%.

Investment in Plant, Machinery & Training Despite cashflow issues, the Norfolk manufacturers invested in plant, machinery and training. Plant and machinery results showed an increase from +6% to +14% and the training results rose by 4 points to +15%. The East of England and national manufacturing results reflected those seen in Norfolk. The Norfolk service sector recorded a downturn in investment in plant and machinery with a 6 point drop to +6%, but a small increase was recorded in training which rose by 2 points.

Turnover and Profitability Both the manufacturing and service sectors in Norfolk showed improved confidence in their turnover, as both recorded increases. These were also reflected in the results for the East of England and nationally. However whilst confidence was high for turnover, the manufacturing sector in Norfolk, East of England and nationally advised that they were not expecting their profitability to improve. These results were similarly mirrored by the service sector, with the exception of the Norfolk service sector, whose results showed a 9 point increase in those companies expecting profitability to improve.

Operating at Full Capacity As a result of the reduced results for both UK sales and Exports, the Norfolk manufacturers showed a decrease in the numbers of businesses operating a full capacity.

Possible Price Increases Across both sectors in Norfolk and across the UK, there was a reduction in the number of businesses expecting to have to increase their prices. This is despite a rise in the number Norfolk and East of England manufacturers and service businesses who have advised that they expect their raw material prices to increase.

Factors of Concern The turmoil surrounding the Euro is being reflected in the increased number of both manufacturing and service employers advising of rising concerns over the exchange rates, which could have a knock-on effect on their levels of export in the next quarter.

Commenting on the national results, John Longworth, Director General of the BCC, said: “Although the progress seen in the first quarter of this year is modest, it is progress nonetheless. The government should be quick to implement the supply-side measures announced in the Budget to get growth moving, and consider new ways to support business confidence, which has continued to rise. It is clear from our survey that any growth this year will be slow and steady, and it is important that this does not veer off course. Recent welcome steps to improve business access to finance, including the commitment to create a business bank, must be followed through without bureaucratic delays. But the scale and scope of the new bank must go well beyond the government’s current plans. Although business supports the government’s plans to shift current spending towards capital investment over the next Parliament, it could go further still to boost growth in the short-term, such as through road maintenance and house building.

“We should not be satisfied with a long and tortuous road to recovery. These results provide a glimpse of the as-yet-distant sunlit uplands of recovery. Businesses up and down the country are working hard to drive the economy, create jobs and export, but they cannot accelerate this process alone. We must be proactive, bold and forthright to bolster business and foster every shred of growth as this will propel our economy forward during the months ahead.”

David Kern, BCC Chief Economist, said: “The improvement seen in most key balances in Q1 supports our view that UK output continued to grow in the early months of 2013. The survey reinforces our assessment that recent GDP figures published by the ONS have exaggerated the weakness of the UK economy and the volatility in output.

“If an announcement of negative growth in Q1 is misleadingly described as a triple-dip recession, confidence will again be damaged unnecessarily. While the results do confirm that the UK’s economic performance is inadequate, they also show areas of strength.

“The surge in the service sector’s export balances suggests that pessimism over UK exports is unjustified. However the UK is increasingly becoming a largely service sector economy, and developing the export potential of the service sector is critical to our future long-term prosperity. We need a two-pronged strategy that combines a commitment to cutting the deficit, with a relentless drive to boost growth and the economy’s productive potential.”

Trade figures recently released by HM Revenue and Customs reveal that the East of England’s export to non-EU destinations is growing at the astonishing rate of 16.4% year on year. Non-EU exports now account for 43.8% cent of the region’s trade as opposed to 36.5% cent in 2011.

The total value of exports from the region during the final three months of 2012 (October-December) was £6.7 billion. This represented a 1.6 per cent increase on the previous quarter and gave an annual total of £26.7 billion.

Exports provide an indication of how international regions are in their outlook, and how able they are to face global competition. These figures show that businesses in the East of England understand the need to explore new markets in the face of continued economic uncertainty in the eurozone area. However, exports to EU markets still account for 56.1% of all exports within the East of England and so their position as a major trading partner cannot be underestimated.

Tracey Howard, International Trade Director of Norfolk Chamber said, “It’s great to see such fantastic results for our region. Among these numbers were increasing rates year on year, for exports to some of the BRIC regions such as Brazil (19%), India (13%) and Russia (21%).

Both the EU and non-EU markets are currently full of opportunities, as highlighted in our recent Global Marketplace series of events.

We are now looking at our events programme for 2013/14 and are planning to host some workshops, to help local firms get on the starting ladder to successful exporting.”