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”.
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.
The UK’s best and worst locations for doing business effectively have been revealed by a new survey from the Forum of Private Business (FPB). Energy costs and access to effective telecommunications top the list of infrastructure issues for small firms.
The survey, “Infrastructure for Growth”, found that, overall, 74% feel their location is effective for their business needs, with the key factors being their proximity to good road networks (16%), their centrality (14%) and their footfall (9%).
As far as geographical location is concerned, 79% of business owners in the North West feel their location is effective for their company, 78% in the South West, 76% in the Midlands, 75% in Wales, 75% in the East of England, 74% in London, the North East and Yorkshire, 67% in the South East of England and 65% in Scotland.
The survey also found that 80% of respondents thought energy costs are an extremely important infrastructure issue and 80% also cite the importance of telecommunications and broadband access. Working down the list, 75% believe the reliability of the energy supply to be a key issue, 73% feel local banking services are key and 65% cite local roads. The next priorities are post office services (60%), mobile communications (59%), the motorway network (56%), the provision of skills training (46%), waste services and recycling (41%), e-communications (32%) and rail transport (23%).
When asked what infrastructure-related problems should be prioritised by the Government, most business owners identified business rates (52%), followed by measures to boost consumer and business confidence (49%), health and safety regulations (45%), utilities costs (44%), tax policies (44%), other regulations (42%), reducing employment law (40%), and late payment and debt (28%).
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.”
Norfolk Chamber Board members Jonathan Cage, Create Consulting and Peter Foster Hugh J Boswell, Caroline Williams CEO, joined Norfolk MPs, New Anglia LEP and Senior Public sector figures to unveil a blueprint for the future of the region’s rail services today. This manifesto calls for huge investment in the Norwich to London line and puts forward the case for faster trains, more track and better stations.
The manifesto highlights that due to decades of under-investment the trains in the East of England are not fit for purpose and threatens our economic future. It is to be presented to the Department for Transport with a debate on East Anglia’s rail network due to take place in parliament on Tuesday 3 July.
Measures to make the international system of patent application faster and more effective were announced today by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) with changes to the UK’s Fast Track system. These moves come as part of a wider effort by the UK and US intellectual property authorities to get more businesses to use the PCT system.
The UK’s Fast Track system, originally introduced in June 2010 with the aim of getting business’ patents granted faster and more cheaply, will now give applicants the chance to make changes to an international application, and still have the opportunity to request accelerating processing in the UK. This change removes a bureaucratic hurdle and increases the flexibility and accessibility of the patent application process.
Commenting ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision tomorrow (Thursday), David Kern, Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:
“Given the difficult economic circumstances, both in the UK and across the world, many expect the MPC to announce a £50bn increase in Quantitative Easing (QE). The argument for more QE has been strengthened by the effect of the eurozone crisis on the UK financial system, with the resulting increase in higher funding costs for UK banks harming both businesses and consumers.
“While an increase in QE may have some benefits, the effect will be marginal. Increasing QE is not risk-free, and could be counter-productive. It may limit the decline in inflation in the long term, at a time when we need falling inflation to underpin real incomes and boost demand in the UK economy.
“There are other ways to tackle the challenges faced by the UK economy – for example if the government and Bank of England are able to implement the two recently announced lending and liquidity schemes quickly, and forcefully. To support lending to businesses, the MPC must agree to purchase private sector assets, and the government must initiate moves towards the creation of a business bank.”
Commenting ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision tomorrow (Thursday), David Kern, Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:
“Given the difficult economic circumstances, both in the UK and across the world, many expect the MPC to announce a £50bn increase in Quantitative Easing (QE). The argument for more QE has been strengthened by the effect of the eurozone crisis on the UK financial system, with the resulting increase in higher funding costs for UK banks harming both businesses and consumers.
“While an increase in QE may have some benefits, the effect will be marginal. Increasing QE is not risk-free, and could be counter-productive. It may limit the decline in inflation in the long term, at a time when we need falling inflation to underpin real incomes and boost demand in the UK economy.
“There are other ways to tackle the challenges faced by the UK economy – for example if the government and Bank of England are able to implement the two recently announced lending and liquidity schemes quickly, and forcefully. To support lending to businesses, the MPC must agree to purchase private sector assets, and the government must initiate moves towards the creation of a business bank.”
New EU Regulation 389/2012 replaces current procedures on the movement of excise goods with an improved electronic one.
The new regulation In the EU, Regulation 2073/2004/EC on administrative co-operation in the field of excise duties has provided a common system whereby, in order to ensure the correct application of legislation on excise duties and to combat their evasion and ensuing distortions in the internal market, Member States assist each other and co-operate with the European Commission. It was decided in 2011 that a number of changes needed to be made to that regulation in view of experiences to date and of recent developments. Given the number of changes seen to be necessary, it was decided that the 2004 Regulation should be entirely replaced rather than amended.
Accordingly, on 8 May 2012, the Council published Regulation 389/2012/EU. This contains new rules that remove the need for manual collection of operation statistics on the movement of excise goods, replacing the current procedures with an improved electronic one.
Computerising the information exchange between Member States on the excise of products (such as alcohol, tobacco and energy products) should make it easier and faster to collect excise duties that are due and improve Member States’ controls on the revenue.
What stays the same Exchange of information in excise matters is generally necessary in order to establish a true picture of the excise affairs of certain persons, but Member States are not at liberty to engage in “fishing expeditions” nor to request information that is unlikely to be relevant to the excise affairs of a given person or ascertainable group of persons.
For the purposes of a proper co-ordination of information flow, the provisions of Regulation 2073/2004/EU are maintained as regards a single point of contact in each Member State. Since more direct contacts between the authorities and officials of the Member States might be necessary for reasons of efficiency, the provisions on delegation and the designation of competent officials are also to be kept.
For the effective monitoring of excise procedures in cross-border movement, it has also been decided to continue to provide for the possibility of simultaneous controls by Member States and for the presence of officials of one State in the territory of another, within the framework of administrative co-operation.
The exchange of information with non-EU countries has proven beneficial for the correct application of legislation on excise duties and this too should be maintained, within the EU’s laws on data protection.
What changes The new regulation, which applied from 1 July 2012, enables Member States to better co-ordinate the use of the computerised Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS), which was introduced in 2010. The EMCS monitors the movement of excise goods for which duties still have to be paid. Automated procedures replace manual procedures wherever this information is electronically available within the EMCS. This, for example, includes information on road controls or interruptions in the movement of goods. Member States will not be entitled to refuse the provision of information solely on the basis of national rules on banking secrecy.
Feedback is an appropriate means to ensure continual improvement of the quality of the information exchanged and Regulation 389/2012/EU consequently provides a framework for the Member States to report back on how the system is working.
Member States must waive all claims for the reimbursement of expenses incurred in applying this regulation, with the exception of claims in respect of fees paid to experts. Traders should be able to speedily operate the verifications necessary for movements of excise goods. They will therefore be provided with the possibility of having the validity of excise numbers confirmed electronically through a central register operated by the Commission and fed by the information contained in national databases.
Seaweed bacteria may prevent tooth decay Scientists claim the use of microbes found on seaweed to see more effective results in the fight against tooth decay rather than any of the branded toothpastes.
NHS charging and rationing ‘may be needed’ More rationing of care and charging for services in the NHS need to be considered as it faces at least a decade of austerity, experts say.
After a delicious buffet lunch at Yours Business Networks, Paul Leggett gave an insightful and honest account of the importance of investing in people. As Director of HR & Administration for Cooper Roller Bearings he understands that people are key to any business. Paul discussed the many ways that businesses can invest in people, including less direct ways such as through supporting community projects and charities.
He discussed how some employees only feel valued when they perceive that the investment is directly benefitting them, so it is important to share success with employees through newsletters, appraisals and rewards. He finished by mentioning the importance of apprenticeships and explained how Cooper Roller Bearings have an excellent apprenticeship scheme themselves.
Delegates also had the chance to hear from two ‘Sixty Second Spotlight’ speakers Paul Kunes, MTL and Gérard Spencer, Europeducation. As well as hearing from Carl Woodwards, the event sponsors Lloyds TSB. The event was hosted by Heather Garrod, President, West Norfolk Chamber Council who is passionate about West Norfolk Businesses and agreed with Paul that investment in people is vital.