The second in the current series of Chill Time, the Norfolk Chambers after hours networking event, got underway last night with a full house at Vodka Revolution with great business being done.
Ben Farrin, Managing Director of the Student Pocket Guide Ltd, shared his story with delegates, how he founded his company in his bedroom in 2005 and how that company turned into a multi-award winning business.
Attendees then took full advantage of the brand new mojito mixer, a networking icebreaker activity that got everyone talking and making new connections. The newly acquainted groups then took to the bar and learnt how to make a cocktail like pros.
A selections of photo’s have been uploaded to the Chamber’s Facebook and Google+ page, be sure to have a look to see fun and successful business networking in action.
Commenting on the deal struck by eurozone leaders in Brussels overnight, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, said:
“Norfolk businesses, and exporters in particular, say the eurozone crisis is one of the greatest source of uncertainty they currently face.
“As the political summits drag on, the sense of frustration, concern and exasperation continues to mount across the real economy. Companies across Britain and Europe are tired of false dawns. Though there is still more work to be done over the coming weeks, the deal done last night in Brussels needs to stick. Confidence is the lifeblood of the European economy, and decisive action is needed to stabilise it, and quickly.
“Meanwhile, the UK government must ensure that British companies get improved access to finance from the European Investment Bank in return for the contribution our Exchequer is making to the new all-EU growth package. Tough conditions are required to ensure that the UK, as a major shareholder in the Bank, sees a far greater share of its resulting investment. Otherwise we will have added needlessly to our national debt without any real benefit to our own recovery.”
Commenting on the announcement by the Financial Services Authority that it has found ‘serious failings’ in the sale of financial products to SMEs, John Longworth, Director General at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said.
“The ‘serious failings’ found by the FSA in the sale of interest rate swap products will only damage business’ perception of banks further. Those that feel they are victims of mis-selling must have access to an independent assessment as soon as possible, as business survival may depend on it. Clear guidance and transparent timetables on reaching a judgment should be the bare minimum of any system of redress. “Many businesses look at practices undertaken by some in the financial services industry in disbelief and horror. Relationships between institutions that provide finance and those that receive it must be based on trust. Unfortunately, the revelations of the last week will only erode confidence in the banking system, and it will be a long road back to restore it.
“Lenders will need to do everything possible to rebuild their connections with the business community, so the economy can function in an orderly way again. But trust is hard to earn and easily lost, and a fundamental change in how banks and their business customers interact will not happen overnight. For this reason, the government must do two things to get the economy moving. The first is to breed confidence that wrong-doers will be held to proper account. The second is to create a state-backed business bank that will serve as a trusted source of finance provision. Only then will we see a stable base from which businesses can drive a sustained economic recovery in the UK.”
Commenting on the speech made by the Deputy Prime Minister on youth unemployment today, Caroline Williams, CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:
“Despite a recent fall in youth unemployment, Norfolk employers remain deeply concerned about the number of young people unable to find work. Businesses want to hire young people, but economic uncertainty, combined with poor skills and a lack of experience, often makes it too risky.
“The Youth Contract is a good short-term solution to reduce these risks, but we have in the past argued for a wider reach and a bigger budget. The Deputy Prime Minister’s announcement is a good first step that will help more employers create opportunities for young people in areas worst affected by unemployment.
“The government could go further though, and remove the restrictions that prevent small firms with experience of hiring apprentices to benefit from grants that could encourage them to take on additional apprentices. There must also be a focus on creating a simpler offer for employers. Businesses are confused by the large number of employment initiatives with similar names and differing criteria, which are regularly launched by different departments, agencies and local authorities.
“Furthermore, the Department for Business and Department for Education must work together to reduce long-term structural youth unemployment. Future generations should leave formal education with the skills and experience to break into the workforce and remain in employment, making them less vulnerable in a challenging economic environment.”
In the beautiful setting of Norwich Cathedral Ruud Haket, MD Greater Anglia updated delegates on his vision for the company at the most recent Chamber Breakfast. He talked about the improvements that Greater Anglia are putting into place with regards to customer service. These included simplifying ticket bookings and improving customer facing through continuous staff training.
He talked specifically on improving the rail service in Norfolk, a key part of this being working to reduce number of weekends affected by disruptive engineering works. He also mentioned actively promoting the region, including partnerships with tourism bodies.
Rail travel being a key issue for many people in the region meant that there were a lot of questions for Ruud and delegates generally left feeling positive about the improvements that are being put in place.
As well as hearing from Ruud, five other delegates were given the chance to talk about a topic of their choice for sixty seconds which ranged from wine tasting with HarperWells to consulting with Gostling Consultancy.
The event closed with safari networking time which proved as popular as always giving local businesses the opportunity to make the right connections and do business. The next Norwich Business Breakfast will take place on 5 October and will incorporate the AGM. We also have Chill Time on 28th June which is our next networking event. To book you placeclick here.
Commenting on the speech by Ed Miliband on immigration today, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber, said:
“Ed Miliband is right to say that we cannot close Britain off from the world, and that we need a grown up debate on immigration. But for too long, UK firm including Norfolk have struggled to find the skilled workers they need locally, and in some sectors are forced to recruit from overseas. Employers are concerned about high levels of unemployment, particularly among the young, and want to help local people into work. However, they often find that domestic candidates lack the skills, experience and work ethic they need – it has nothing to do with costs.*
“The government must work together with business to identify skills gaps and to ensure the education system is responsive to the needs of the economy. It should not be about protecting UK workers from foreign competition, but instead we must ensure they are equipped with the right skills to compete with the best in the world.
“Measures to crack down on any businesses that are flouting the rules on national minimum wage are welcome, but it would be wrong to suggest this is a widespread issue. Our members tell us they hire based on skills, not on wages.”
Brandon Lewis, MP for Great Yarmouth met with members of the Great Yarmouth Chamber Council to discuss local issues. Among the topics for discussion were education, rejuvenation of the town centre, improvements to the railway station and the Enterprise Zone.
Mr Lewis advised that there was work to do to inspire ‘aspiration’ with Great Yarmouth’s young people. He was keen to work in conjunction with the education establishments and local businesses to get the message across to students and young people to ensure they understand what exciting opportunities are available to them and how to access them.
Brandon Lewis said “It was good to have the opportunity to discuss matters that were important to Great Yarmouth businesses with the Chamber Council and to work together with them to find ways to support of business growth in Great Yarmouth”.
Norton is a name synonymous with the British motorcycle industry. Founded in 1898, it came under new ownership in 2008 and, after a period of intense research and development, production started at its new home at Donnington Park in Leicestershire.
As interest grew and the order book expanded, it became clear that the production facility would have to be extended to cope with customer demand. Owner and CEO, Stuart Garner, spoke to a number of banks in 2010 to see whether they could find a solution that would fit the company’s specific requirements and circumstances.
The Export Control Organisation (ECO), part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, has issued three new Notice to Exporters which provide an important update to all exporters about republication of the Control Lists and certain specified Open General Export Licences (OGELs).
Notice to Exporters 2012/25 advises all exporters that the “UK Strategic Export Control Lists: the consolidated list of strategic military and dual-use items that require export authorisation” has now been updated as of 15 June 2012. This follows the coming into force 30 days after publication of Council Regulation (EU) No 388/2012 which amends Annex I of the EU Dual-Use Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009).
All exporters of controlled goods now need to refer to the revised list published on 15 June when determining if they need to apply for an export licence for military or dual-use items issued by the ECO.
Notice to Exporters 2012/26 advises all exporters of the republication of certain dual-use and transhipment OGELs. If you are currently registered as holding any of the specified licences, you need to ensure that you take appropriate action (such as de-registering from the licence if necessary) as explained in further detail in the body of the Notice.
Notice to Exporters 2012/27 refers to thenews that the European Union has imposed new sanctions on Syria via Council Regulation (EU) No 509/2012. The sanctions came into force on 17 June 2012.
The sanctions measures include new prohibitions on the sale, supply, transfer or export of certain dual-use items and chemicals (such as protection and detection equipment and reaction vessels). There is also a licensing requirement on the sale, supply, transfer or export of certain dual use items that might be used for internal repression.
Prohibited items to Syria also include listed luxury goods (such as caviar, truffles, cigars, wines, spirits, leather goods, table and glassware, clocks, watches and luxury vehicles). If you trade with Syria in any of the prohibited or licensable items you should take time to inform yourself of these sanctions and take steps to comply with the restrictions.
The European Parliament’s International Trade Committee has endorsed four agreements with Russia that give the EU exclusive trading benefits.
The new deals cover Russian wood exports, trade in car parts, duties on raw materials and the services market. They pave the way for Russia to join the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The four bilateral agreements, which need Parliament’s consent to enter in force, are in fact more favourable to the EU than they have to be under WTO rules. The plenary vote by the European Parliament is expected in July.
Russia should then join the WTO by the end of the summer.
The deal on tariff-rate quotas for Russian exports of wood will boost the supply from Russia, which has agreed to cut export duties from current levels and grant the EU relatively large quotas for lower-duty Russian exports. The agreement defines the rules for applying these quotas and prevents Russia from applying unpredictable increases to export duties, which have affected many EU producers in the past.
The deal on car components protects EU auto part companies hit by Russian measures that will remain in force until 2018, even after Russia joins the WTO. These measures give foreign auto manufacturers incentives to relocate to Russia, and could discriminate against Russian imports of foreign car components.
Russia has also agreed to binding export tariffs for 80% of the raw materials it exports.
The remaining 20% are materials of strategic importance for EU industries. Under the deal, Russia will consult and negotiate with the EU at least two months before it plans to increase export duties on the products listed in the agreement.
This list includes agricultural products such as wheat, sunflower seeds, tobacco, animal skins, wool and cotton and a large number of earths and minerals.
Finally, the agreement on trade in services grants new opportunities for EU maritime transport agencies seeking to set up in Russia. It gives preferential access to people working for European services companies who need to work in Russia in order to start a business there.
The EU foresees a minimum quota of 16,000 work permits per year in this context.
Concerns that the current economic situation might be encouraging countries to turn towards protectionism have been highlighted by the European Commission in its latest report on potentially trade-restricting measures.
It identifies what it describes as a staggering increase in such measures in the last 8 months, with 123 new restrictions introduced – a rise of just over 25%.
This brings the total number of restrictive measures in place to 534. The Commission argues that this represents a failure by the G20 countries and called on them to do more to prevent the introduction of new barriers to trade, and to rectify protective measures introduced since the start of the current crisis.
Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said: “Let us remind ourselves that the G20 pledged to end such practices and that protectionism benefits no-one. It sends the wrong signal to global trading partners, it sends the wrong signal to investors and it sends the wrong signal to the business community, which relies on a predictable business climate.”
Between September 2011 and 1 May 2012, the roll-back of measures slowed down: only 13 measures have been removed, compared to 40 measures between October 2010 and September 2011.
Overall, only about 17% (89) of the measures have been removed or lapsed since October 2008.
Russia deserves close scrutiny, according to the Commissioner, as one of the most frequent users of trade-restrictive measures, especially as these may not conform with its obligations as an upcoming member of the World Trade Organization.
The report covers 31 of the EU’s main trading partners, including the G20 countries: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, the USA and Vietnam.
The findings of a survey by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) show that existing regulations and problems around accessing credit are hindering export growth in the UK.
The survey of more than 8000 businesses shows that nearly two-thirds of potential exporters (63%) see access to finance issues as a reason not to trade overseas, while a quarter of companies believe that red tape, such as that associated with export licenses, is a barrier to doing so.
Furthermore, nearly three-quarters of companies that are already exporting have failed to put an export strategy in place.
With the domestic economy almost flat, however, exporting is seen as an important route to growth for companies and nearly half (44%) of respondents said they would be more likely to consider exporting if sales revenues deteriorated.
The BCC is calling for the creation of a business bank and for improvement in the service offered by existing banks to address issues around access to finance. In addition, it argued, high street banks should train front line staff to be able to explain state-backed financial products to their business customers.
It also wants to see more businesses encouraged to proactively pursue export opportunities and, to this end, would like a variable fee system to be introduced within the Overseas Market Introduction Service, which is operated by UK Trade and Investment.
If this was based on company size, the BCC suggested, it would prevent smaller firms from being crowded out.
BCC Director-General John Longworth said: “The Government can make some simple changes which will go a long way to giving firms the confidence and encouragement they need to trade overseas. Incentivising more firms to take part in trade missions would be a start to getting more companies thinking about adapting their products for the export market.”