Members of the Great Yarmouth Chamber Council met with Brandon Lewis, MP this week, to discuss issues affecting the local economy in Great Yarmouth.
A key prospect in this region is the offshore energy sector. Businesses in Great Yarmouth and down the coast to Lowestoft have a fantastic opportunity to get involved in the development of the offshore wind industry. This sector of the energy industry could provide both jobs and prosperity in Norfolk and Suffolk for the foreseeable future, with the East Anglia Array, the largest offshore wind farm, being situated only 14km off the East Coast. However the project is being held up, due to uncertainty surrounding the Energy Bill.
The Chambers and Brandon Lewis are arranging a meeting with John Hayes, the Energy Minister to explain the situation from a business point of view and the need for a discussion on the best way forward to allow the wind farm developers to conclude their investment in the East Anglia Offshore array and help kick start the offshore opportunities for this region.
Topics also discussed with Brandon Lewis were the new business bank, the Enterprise Zone, the third river crossing and cutting red tape.
At a recent meeting of the West Norfolk Chamber Council the members were given updates from both the Leader and the Chief Executive of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council.
Nick Daubney, Leader of the Council, advised the members of the latest information on the proposed incinerator project, which has now been ‘called-in’ by the Secretary of State. Ray Harding, Chief Executive provided an update on how the Borough Council were proposing to resolve the availability of parking in and around King’s Lynn. He also advised that they were starting to work on planning the budget for 2015/2016.
As part of the economic round table discussion, Heather Garrod, President of West Norfolk Chamber highlighted that she was working to get the business community more involved with the local schools and asked for support from both the Borough Council and West Norfolk businesses. Ben Colson, M.D. of Norfolk Green and chair of the Town Centre Partnership advised that the King’s Lynn’s Business Improvement District (BID) was progressing well and gathering momentum.
Ostap Paparega, the Regeneration and Economic Development Manager for the borough council also presented the proposed King’s Lynn Enterprise and Innovation Centre project, for which the New Anglia LEP has confirmed funding of £2.5m. The project will provide 25,000 sq.ft. of business innovation, office space and business support.
Nick Daubney, together with the Mayor of West Norfolk, Cllr. Geoffrey Wareham, opened the Chamber’s Meet the Buyer event on 20th September. The event was held at the Knights Hill Hotel, King’s Lynn and was well attended. Among the buyers were Bernard Matthews, Bespak Europe Ltd, RAF Lakenheath and Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.
The attached PDF provides an update from the Highways Agency on the progress to the A11, Fiveways to Thetford improvements. More information on the scheme can be found on the Highways Agency’s website:
– Public sector net borrowing was £14.4bn in August 2012, equal to the net borrowing in August 2011
Commenting on the public sector finance figures for August 2012, David Kern, Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:
“The deficit in August was slightly smaller than the markets expected. But taking the entire period from April to August 2012 and removing the effect of one-off transactions, total borrowing so far this financial year was almost £13bn higher than in the same period in 2011. Unless present trends are reversed in the next few months, we now expect total borrowing in 2012/13 as a whole to exceed the total predicted by the OBR at the time of the Budget by more than £20bn. This situation is worrying, and is largely due to the continued stagnation in economic activity.
“To maintain credibility, the government should persevere with a realistic plan to reduce the deficit, but if persistently weak growth causes borrowing to overshoot, the UK’s credit rating may be endangered. Given these difficult circumstances, it is important to continue with spending cuts in areas such as welfare, pensions and the size of the civil service. These cuts should be supplemented with policies to boost growth such as more infrastructure spending, a reduction in NICs and support for business lending. Such measures will stimulate the productive potential of the economy and help businesses to create jobs.
“As long as the Chancellor can persuade the financial markets that he is determined to tackle the deficit, he should be able to preserve confidence and avoid threatening the UK’s credit rating.”
The vouchers worth £5,000 would be offered to businesses, and allow them to access advice to help them grow. Advice would focus on issues such as exporting, HR, access to finance, marketing, and help with the planning system. The scheme would generate activity in the domestic business services market, boosting business investment and the productivity and growth potential of small and medium-sized businesses.
Growth Vouchers would offer significant benefits not only to participating companies, but to a wide array of UK-based suppliers, particularly in the business services sector. Businesses applying for the scheme would need a demonstrable business growth plan. Vouchers could only be spent on gaining advice, rather than to boost working capital, and would have a time-limit on their use. The £100m cost of the scheme could be found from other business support programmes, for example future rounds of the Regional Growth Fund.
Advice could be focused on the following areas:
1) Legal, HR, accounting advice: As businesses expand, accounting and HR systems become more complex, and small businesses in particular can struggle to make sense of employment law and tax systems. Advice would help businesses understand these complex functions, allowing them to be more efficient, and focus on growth. 2) Access to finance advice: Smaller, younger, and high-growth businesses often have more difficulty accessing finance than more established firms, and some are unaware of the options available outside traditional debt finance. Advice could also address the problem of discouraged demand, and may result in more businesses obtaining finance to boost investment plans. 3) Marketing advice and training: Helping businesses with marketing their products and services here and importantly in overseas markets could lead to more sales, and growth opportunities for many firms. 4) Planning support: The complexity of the planning system means many businesses need to hire in external consultants at a high cost. The costs will often put firms off expansion, so offering companies free advice would help motivate businesses to grow and expand their premises. 5) Staff training: Workforce skills consistently rank among the top three concerns among Chamber members across the country. As businesses expand and develop their goods and services, increased staff training is often needed to help firms grow. 6) Export advice: Urgent action is needed to support the UK’s potential and current exporters to help rebalance the UK economy towards exports. Many businesses do not have the advice or skills they need to break into new markets. Export training and access to market intelligence and trade shows and missions, could help many businesses take the first step to exporting, and open new markets for current exporters.
Announcing the proposal, John Longworth, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:
“Businesses across the country are looking to the government to give the economy the boost it needs. A Growth Voucher scheme, targeted at those businesses with clear plans to expand, could help to increase productivity, business investment and growth. Government-led schemes have previously focused on pushing out what Whitehall thinks is the answer to businesses’ problems, rather than what businesses themselves say they need. This proposed scheme is based on evidence from our members, who tell us that help with the planning system, advice on access to finance and exporting, training staff, and marketing, HR and accounting support, would help them grow. ‘It’s time for the government to make sure support gets to the front line quickly, and prompts more companies to invest and take risk. Boosting business growth and investment through a voucher scheme would stimulate swift business investment, which in turn can lead to growth in the months and years ahead.”
The Export Control Organisation (ECO) is the UK’s regulatory ‘strategic’ export licensing authority and forms part of the UK’s Department for Business.
Recent Notices that they have issued to all Exporters, can be found below:
Notice 2012/41 A new cross-government website known as GOV.UK will be released this October. The site will be the new home for government services and information online, including export control content.
Notice 2012/42 As part of the Government’s export control Service Improvement Project (SIP), the ECO intends to improve the process of applying for OIEL’s.
Notice 2012/43 King’s College’s Centre for Science & Security Studies (CSSS) is holding two further seminars on export compliance and non-proliferation which are specifically aimed at the nuclear and electronics industry respectively. Notice 2012/44 The ECO has introduced new export licensing controls on the export to the United States of the drug propofol, which could potentially be used to execute prisoners on death row by lethal injection. Notice 2012/45 An update to the earlier released Notice 2012/41 relating to the new UK Government website. Notice 2012/46 The European Union (EU) has announced a number of revised sanctions measures against Belarus, Eritrea, Iran, Somalia and Syria. These measures were published via a number of different Council Decisions and Council Implementing Regulations on both 15 and 16 October 2012 (published in the EU Official Journal).
For general export control queries please contact the ECO Helpline on 020 7215 4594 or mailto: eco.help@bis.gsi.gov.uk
Six in ten businesses (59%) tell BCC that they would feel more confident in securing finance if Britain had a government-backed business bank or finance agency
Announcement of £1bn funding by Vince Cable an important step in journey toward a fully-fledged British Business Bank
Significant achievement for BCC campaign for creation of a business bank similar to those in other countries
Responding to the news that Vince Cable will announce a £1bn government commitment toward the creation of a business bank, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, said:
“The government has taken a decisive step toward the creation of a British Business Bank by committing real money to get it off the ground.
“We are pleased that ministers are heeding the Chamber Network’s call to create a business bank that goes well beyond a re-badging of existing schemes. The funding announced by Vince Cable is the first step in a journey toward a British Business Bank that enables new and growing companies to get access to capital in the same way that they do in Germany, South Korea, and the USA.
“Six in ten Chamber members*, including those from Norfolk, told us just last week that they would feel more confident in securing finance if Britain had a government-backed business bank. So many companies will be encouraged by today’s news.
“However, there are a number of challenges that need to be addressed to ensure the business bank can support the real economy. At least initially, the business bank will have to work through existing lenders, which could put off some companies who still do not believe that the high-street banks will help them access the capital they need to grow. We also need to better understand how taxpayers’ cash will be used to unlock additional funds for business lending from the markets. And given the fact that growing companies need access to capital for the long term, the funding announced today must be the first, not the last, sum destined to support business lending at this new institution.”
Commenting on yesterday’s announcement on the independent scrutiny of regulations affecting challenger businesses by Business and Enterprise Minister Michael Fallon, Caroline Williams, CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:
“Ensuring that innovative, growing businesses are not hampered by burdensome red tape is a step in the right direction. Independent scrutiny of outdated regulations is vital if we are to help ground-breaking companies in Norfolk thrive. The Norfolk Chamber supports the call for the role of the independent Regulatory Policy Committee to be strengthened, to ensure regulations that hamper business growth are fully analysed.
“These changes must, however, form part of a wider deregulation package that reduces the burden of red tape for all companies. Only significant deregulation, both domestically and in Europe, will give businesses the confidence to grow, innovate and create employment in the long-term.”
The economic round table discussion, at a recent meeting of the Norwich Chamber Council, highlighted that business are still finding it tough, with many business playing safe and being cautious. However there are some signs of improvement. Broom Boats advised that they have orders for two new hire boats for next year and will be re-launching their own hire boats. WLP also advised that some of their clients are becoming more optimistic, particularly those who have managed to adapt to the changeable economic conditions.
The group also heard about the proposed plans for the former RAF Coltishall from Mike Britch, Group Managing Director, NPS Property Consultants. Mr Britch highlighted that 400 acres of the 600 acre site would be returned to agricultural use. Some of the remaining 200 acres would be used for allotments, self build and community projects, whilst the rest would be for commercial use, which could include options for storage facilities, manufacturing etc. The heritage of the site would also be preserved and Mr Britch confirmed that once details had been finalised, business open days would be held to launch the site, possibly in October
The Bank of England Agents’ summary for September highlighted that spending on consumer goods and services continued to grow at a gradual pace, however promotions and sales remained essential to support demand, with households still focused on finding value for money.
Export growth continued to slow, reflecting the weakening conditions throughout the Euro area and manufacturing growth continued to slow. However turnover in the service sector was now rising a t a gradual pace. To read the full report click here.
Norfolk Chamber and other key stakeholders will be attending the Norfolk Rail Prospectus Workshop, organised by Graham Plant, Cabinet Member for Planning and Transportation and Chloe Smith Norwich North MP, in conjunction with Norfolk County Council on 4th October.
The Prospectus will build on the tremendously successful region-wide prospectus that Local Enterprise Partnerships – backed by local authorities, the rail industry, the Chambers and MPs – delivered to Westminster earlier in the summer.
We are already seeing the results of this. The recent government announcement about rail spending and overarching objectives for the next five years included positive announcements about improving the rail network at Ely, for example, which is vitally important for a number of services including Norwich to Cambridge and King’s Lynn to Cambridge.
Now that the rail industry is developing its detailed spending programmes, and government is renewing the franchises covering the county, we have to follow this up with our detailed requirements.
There will be an opportunity for the business community to reconfirm what is needed on the railways for Norfolk. There is strong backing for ‘Norwich in Ninety’ and half hourly services to King’s Lynn. The workshop will aim to find out what is important elsewhere, and in more detail, to make sure that the railways can meet the needs of Norfolk: to build our economic strengths and capitalise on what the county has to offer.
The Prospectus is for the long term, and the stakeholders seek to maintain a unified, passionate and focused campaign which best positions us at the right time.
Commenting on the MPC minutes published today by the Bank of England, David Kern, Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:
“The decision to hold interest rates at 0.5% and to maintain QE at £375bn was taken unanimously, which was unsurprising. Existing QE is still being implemented, so it is understandable that the MPC wants to wait before another increase. However, the minutes reveal that some members think further stimulus will be needed, and the financial markets are expecting a QE increase around November time.
“Recent measures by the ECB, the US Fed and the Bank of Japan will probably reinforce pressures for an increase. But we still think the MPC should be cautious and refrain from adding to QE unless the UK financial system faces new threats due to developments in the eurozone. It is important that additional QE is not used to limit falls in inflation over the next year, as a temporary fall below the 2% target would support demand.
“Although QE was helpful in the early stages of the 2008/09 financial crisis, its benefits have diminished in recent years, mainly because the scheme has focused exclusively on purchasing gilts. A recovery in business lending will only be achieved if the MPC and the government relies on tools other than conventional QE. The Funding for Lending scheme could be effective, but the MPC could help by purchasing assets other than gilts, including securitised business loans. To ensure credit is reaching new and growing companies, the government should be moving towards the early creation of a state backed business bank.”