Chamber News

Norfolk Chambers mission is: Connecting, supporting and giving voice to every business in Norfolk.   As part of that mission, we are here to support our members goals and aims, get their voice heard and promote the ‘wow’ factors for Norfolk’s business community.

To help us achieve this we are now using our monthly columns in both EDP and the Lynn News to shout about our members successes; to hear from them on thought-leadership; to get their views on issues that impact on businesses; and to understand their thoughts and feelings on what is happening in Norfolk.

Last month saw the first of these columns be published in the EDP.  Dave Wilson, Managing Director of Tiger Eye provided a great article on ‘Change, Progress and People’.  It was a thought-provoking piece and inspired an immediate response from Alex Cosham at Image Display – who responded by writing an interesting blog pondering how change could be viewed as progressive or augmentative, from an events perspective.

Every member of Norfolk Chambers can contribute to these columns.  We will also ensure that your content appears on the Chambers website and in our social media.  You can be an individual, a big company, or a small business. You can be anywhere in Norfolk.

Now, more than ever before, Chambers is about you – the members. Because it’s you who define Norfolk, who fuel its growth and deliver its goods and services. It’s you, who create and innovate to make the county the success it is.

Let’s work together to share positive news about Norfolk.  So, if you’re a Chamber member and you want to help celebrate the success of Norfolk, this is your chance.  

We’ll collate your stories and input, and we’ll use our media columns, website and social media to share them. From here on it will be your voices. Do it!

Register your interest now by e mailing: haze.carver@norfolkchamber.co.uk

Commenting on the labour market figures for April 2019, published today by the ONS, Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:                                  

“The strong increase in employment, coupled with another fall in the number of people out of work, suggests that the UK labour market remains in good order.

“However, behind the strong headline figures a number of key challenges remain.

“Businesses are increasingly reporting that persistent hiring difficulties, cost pressures and ongoing uncertainty are dampening recruitment intentions. If this trend is sustained it could well translate into a weakening in UK jobs growth over the next year.

“Pay growth continues to comfortably outstrip price growth, and in real terms is likely to remain in positive territory for some time to come. However, the combination of a sluggish economy, weak productivity and high upfront costs for business is likely to limit the extent of pay rises.

“The record high number of job vacancies is further confirmation of the perennial skills shortages plaguing UK businesses, which continues to hold back business activity and growth. 

“To protect the long-term health of the UK labour market, businesses need answers to key questions on how firms will be able to manage their future workforce needs over the next few years. Brexit has distracted government and Westminster for too long, much more must be done at home to address the UK’s chronic skills shortage, including easing the burden of upfront business costs to help firms to hire and train staff.”

The Norfolk Chambers of Commerce are very pleased to announce the launch of Coastal Co.nnect, a dedicated monthly Chamber space in the heart of Great Yarmouth.

What is Coastal Con.nnect? Coastal Co.nnect is the name of the monthly sessions we will be running in partnership with Great Yarmouth Borough Council from the Town Hall. Whether you’re a member or non-member these are a great opportunity to come and meet us to find out how we can support your business. As we run more sessions we will also have business experts with us who can give advice and guidance on a variety of topics – we’d actually love to hear from you about what kind of expert advice your business could benefit from, please get in touch with us using the details below.

How will they look? Initially we will be running morning networking sessions, 09:30 – 11:30, from the space to encourage local businesses to connect with not only ourselves but also each other. Each week we’ll have a different guest speaker with us covering a range of topics useful to any business. There will be plenty of tea and coffee to keep everyone hydrated and we might even throw in some biscuits! The chamber team will then be available for a further two hours to allow anyone to drop in over lunchtime to say hi, asks questions, find out more about us, whatever you need. The rest of the day will then be spent visiting businesses in the area who want to explore membership further or just want to see our lovely faces.

What happens now? These really are your sessions so as we run them we’d love your feedback to make sure they’re as successful as possible, we welcome all fantastic ideas about how we can benefit our members and the wider business community in Norfolk. For all the early birds out there there’s no need to panic, our networking breakfasts are continuing as normal (we love them as much as you do) Coastal Co.nnect is just another way for us to support our lovely members in East Norfolk.

I’d love to get involved… If you’re an expert in your field and would like to volunteer some of your precious time to help fellow business-people in the Greater Yarmouth area, please get in touch. These sessions are designed to add value to the business community so anyone who’s interested in passing on their expertise in a non-salesy way will be warmly welcomed. We’d love to hear from you!

Sounds amazing, when and where are they? All sessions will be held in the Assembly Room at Great Yarmouth Town Hall, the first is Thursday 16th May. After that they will be: • Friday 14th June • Thursday 18th July • Thursday 15th August • Thursday 19th September • Thursday 10th October • Thursday 21st November • Thursday 12th December

To get involved or find out more please contact Jordan Domin, Customer Experience Team, on 01603 729707or at Jordan.domin@norfolkchamber.co.uk.

Norfolk County Council, Norfolk Chambers and Vattenfall have been successful in securing funding from New Anglia LEP’s first ever revenue fund.

£22,000 has been secured to deliver a project (overall value £59,000) to build supply chain capacity in the onshore and offshore industries for the energy sector, by seeking to alert SMEs to supply chain opportunities and get ready for them to potentially bid for these. The aim will be to support the creation 15 full time high value jobs, 47 learners and 40 apprenticeships.

Commenting on the funding award, Nova Fairbank, Head of policy for Norfolk Chambers of Commerce said: “We are delighted to be awarded the funding to start building capacity into the Norfolk supply chain.  By working in partnership with Norfolk County Council and Vattenfall, we hope to engage with a wider range of SMEs. In understanding where the barriers and gaps are in their capability to be part of the supply chain, we can work with them to improve skills and  raise their aspirations.”

Food Matters Live 2019 is pleased to unveil a bespoke, curated pavilion dedicated to showcasing the latest sustainable and nutritious food and drink innovations from around the UK.

Open to the creative and innovative food and drink start-up community, this pavilion will connect UK buyers looking to meet and do business with the UK’s most promising brands of the future.

Who can apply and how does it work? UK start-ups who are less than two years old are invited to apply for a place on this prestigious pavilion. What makes it unique is that a panel of food and drink experts, involved in the buying process, will be reviewing all the applications and selecting the participants for the Future Brands Pavilion.

The judges include Paul Hargreaves, Chief Executive, Cotswold Fayre; Wan Mak, Head of Nutrition, Sodexo; Olivier Sevenou, R&D Lead – Future-facing Health & Wellbeing, pladis Global; and Tom Elliott, Origination & Development Manager – Future Brands, Sainsbury’s.

As well as an innovative concept that meets consumer demand in health and wellbeing, the judges will be looking for proof of commercial success to date to include the number of existing customers, marketing and distribution channels and future growth strategy.

Every start-up will receive feedback on their application, which will help inform their future business development. Successful applicants will be invited to display their innovations as part of an attractive, purpose built pavilion designed by Food Matters Live

Taking matchmaking one step further

A targeted marketing campaign will promote the Pavilion and run alongside a tailored matchmaking service provided by the Food Matters Live partnerships and hosted buyer team.

Briony Mansell-Lewis, Director at Food Matters Live commented: “With SME’s now representing 97% of the food and drink businesses in the UK* we are seeing how these small, agile and creative food and drink producers are transforming categories, changing retail shelves and providing consumers with a great variety of nutritious, sustainable choices.

With the rise in the number of start-ups, we also recognise the pressure on buyers to keep ahead of the most innovative brands coming on to the market.

By taking this curated approach to creating a UK Future Brands Pavilion, we believe that we can add value to both communities – on the one hand, providing buyers with an efficient way to meet and do business with the brands of the future and on the other, helping ambitious, entrepreneurial start-ups succeed in a competitive market.”

If you are a start-up food and drink producer and would like to apply for a place on this unique Pavilion, get in touch…. Entries close 12 July 2019.

The sixth Food Matters Live will take place on 19-20 November 2019 at ExCeL London with the launch of the UK Future Brands Pavilion. This unique event brings together the food and drink industry, retailers, foodservice providers, government, and those working in nutrition and health. In addition to an extensive exhibition, Food Matters Live offers a multi-stream seminar programme and thought-provoking theatre attractions, featuring hundreds of speakers covering wide-ranging topics – from the latest food and public health policies to the future for the free-from food and drink market, latest trends in sustainable retailing, packaging design and exemplar brand strategies. 

Visit: https://www.foodmatterslive.com/

Norfolk Chambers mission is: Connecting, supporting and giving voice to every business in Norfolk.   

As part of that mission, we are here to support our members goals and aims, get their voice heard and promote the ‘wow’ factors for Norfolk’s business community.

To help us achieve this we are now using our monthly columns in both EDP and the Lynn News to shout about our members successes; to hear from them on thought-leadership; to get their views on issues that impact on businesses; and to understand their thoughts and feelings on what is happening in Norfolk.

Last week saw the first of these columns be published in the EDP.  Dave Wilson, Managing Director of Tiger Eye provided a great article on ‘Change, Progress and People’.  It was a thought-provoking piece and inspired an immediate response from Alex Cosham at Image Display – who responded by writing an interesting blog pondering how change could be viewed as progressive or augmentative, from an events perspective.

Every member of Norfolk Chambers can contribute to these columns.  We will also ensure that your content appears on the Chambers website and in our social media.  You can be an individual, a big company, or a small business. You can be anywhere in Norfolk.

Now, more than ever before, Chambers is about you – the members. Because it’s you who define Norfolk, who fuel its growth and deliver its goods and services. It’s you, who create and innovate to make the county the success it is.

Let’s work together to share positive news about Norfolk.  So, if you’re a Chamber member and you want to help celebrate the success of Norfolk, this is your chance.  

We’ll collate your stories and input, and we’ll use our media columns, website and social media to share them. From here on it will be your voices. Do it!

Register your interest now by e mailing: haze.carver@norfolkchamber.co.uk

Living and working somewhere makes it very easy to forget why it’s great and you fell in love with it to start with. Delegates at the Great Yarmouth breakfast on April 4th were treated to a rare moment where they fell in love with the area again courtesy of Siobhan McEvoy-Ridley and Graham Ridley from Retro Activewear.

Retro Activewear are the UK’s leading garment printer and have been in the business for over 30 years. Traditionally their clients were in rock and roll and they print tour t-shirts for Led Zepplin and Metallica as well as now Ariana Grande. Since moving to Great Yarmouth they’ve diversified and now have their own web-stores, work with companies further afield than they could in London, and have diversified their clients to include sportswear and small-scale designers.

They had a large site in Hackney which they had been in for a long time, unfortunately they experienced a dramatic increase in business rates, from £35,000 to £80,000 as the financial year changed over. When Graham attempted several times to contact Hackney Council in various different ways with no success they took the decision to move the business to Norfolk, following their personal move several years earlier. Their experience with Norfolk County Council and the Enterprise Zone among other agencies has been nothing but positive. They have downsized the business but are concentrating on being the best in the business as opposed to the biggest.

Graham feels the people working for them in Norfolk have a completely different and much more positive attitude to working, they have aspirations to learn a trade and want to increase their knowledge. Their customers have only perceived the move to be positive, they’re even considered to be better value for money! They even have new companies wanting to work with them because they’re not in London, it makes them more accessible and “friendlier”.

In conjunction with the move they also took the decision to invest £300,000 in new digital printing technology which has also increased their ability to diversify. Alongside their screen printing abilities which is perfect for large-scale printing, they now have the ability to print very small runs and one-offs.

It was great to hear from a company who had experienced starting up and growing in a different area and made the decision to move to Great Yarmouth, especially since they have had such a positive experience and feel supported by the local community and business organisations. The whole room left feeling enthused and positive and there was a great buzz as delegates walked out.

We also had two fantastic stands from The Benjamin Foundation, who are celebrating their 25th anniversary with butterflies, and East Norfolk Sixth Form who have over 1600 students studying over 80 A Levels and BTECs. Both looked absolutely fantastic and we were delighted to have them with us for the morning. A big thank you goes out to Chris from GGS for taking some fantastic pictures of the morning.

Every networking breakfast features a different speaker, if you’d like to be there for the next one on June 20th book now!  

Help us give a warm welcome to the newest members of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce for the month of March

Visit their business to explore what they have to offer. Click on a business name below to view the full listing in our Member Directory.

PLMR PLMR is an award winning public affairs, PR and digital marketing agency, based in Westminster at the heart of the UK’s political scene, and with more than 50 consultants working across a wide range of sectors with various specialisms, we are one of Britain’s fastest-growing communications companies.

JV Consultants JV Consultants are experienced IT managers who have spent the last 20 plus years working in both the NHS and Local Government.

The Happiness Branch My name’s Gemma Sandwell and I’m a Positive Psychology Practitioner, ICF accredited coach and Mindfulness teacher. I’ve been on a journey of personal self-discovery through these tools myself and it lead me to setting up the Happiness Branch which has helped many people and businesses flourish.

SQMS Ltd A Medical Device QMS consultancy specialising in helping start up companies establish and gain certification of their QMS.

Livelink Resource Ltd We are a multi award-winning Virtual Receptionist and Telephone Answering Service. We have been handling calls for over 8 years for some of the largest and smallest clinics in the country. Solving the callers problem at the time of the call – not passing on a message to you to deal with later.

Greyfriar’s Project Management Greyfriars Project Management has over 20 years experience in the construction and civil engineering industry. We have a strong reputation for delivery on time and to budget, working with clients on a range of exciting projects both in the public and private sector. We provide the full range of services and support for all stages of the project life cycle. 

Elysium Aesthetics We are based in a private clinic in the centre of the market town of Fakenham. The clinic is filled with natural light, is exclusive, private, warm and welcoming. Victoria has been providing aesthetic treatments since 2008 in and around Fakenham and Norwich. She initially trained in aesthetics with Dr Kate Goldie of Medics Direct. She is training to be a mentor with Northumbria university as part of the MSc in Non-surgical aesthetics.

Alpha Canine Specialists We are husband and wife team, Chris and Ruth Bond, and we launched Norwich based Alpha Canine Specialists (ACS) with one main goal in mind – to provide a professional, high quality service focused on giving customers the very best care and consideration.

C Harrison Business With a First Class Honors degree in Professional and Business Studies, along with numerous years in accounting, finance and professional roles including estate agency, Chantelle has a diverse wealth of experience along with complementary accounting and bookkeeping qualifications to help your business finances run smoothly.

Zero Taxis To get Norwich moving in safe, punctual, clean cars, using professional and courteous drivers. We charge our cars using 100% renewable energy from Zero Taxis own solar panels and storage batteries. One journey at a time, 100% electrical, zero emissions.

Independent Lives Norfolk Ltd Independent Lives (Norfolk) Ltd is a Day Service for Adults with Learning Disabilities. 16+ For Transitional Work and Short Break Schemes For Children. Our Ethos is ……. Because independence is a right, not a choice.

NXTGEN Recruitment Ltd NXTGEN is a specialist Finance, Accountancy and Executive Search recruitment consultancy.

Vision Assets Vision Assets is a multi-disciplinary consultancy specialising in Intellectual Property, Licensing, Product Development and Growth Funding.

Block Bus Building Communication in Teams & Individuals. Alpha Communication is the Commercial Element of the organisation. With a commitment to upskilling staff and building teams, we focus on the essential skills needed for your workforce to perform effectively.

Claire Carney Floral & Balloon Designs Bespoke flowers and balloons for all occasions! If you are looking for bespoke flowers and balloons, then look no further! Based near Norwich in Norfolk, I specialise in beautiful floral designs and high impact balloon decor, created to your specific requirements.

By Chris Sargisson, Chief Executive, Norfolk Chambers of Commerce and our member – Tiger Eye!

How appropriate. In last month’s EDP Chambers column, we put a call out to the business community asking for their input to turn ‘my’ column into ‘your’ column.  We wanted to hear about the amazing things that businesses are doing and to hear their ideas on thought leadership.  One of the first companies to respond was Tiger Eye.  The column was published in the EDP today (Wednesday 03 April).  So here we are in the first of our new columns (the last with my name under the headline) and the subject that’s come into focus is……change.

Dave Wilson, Managing Director of Chambers member, Tiger Eye, was among the first to respond to my previous column in which I launched the opportunity for members to express themselves, and share opinions.

As a software solutions provider Tiger Eye is constantly facing the challenge of how to provide something new; in other words to deliver the necessary change.

One of the biggest challenges in that, says Dave, is ‘teaching our peers that for tech to advance, grow and produce change, it needs to work for people. It needs to enhance the lives of those who use it – not work against them’.

Putting people first, and getting them to work together is, in Dave’s opinion, as vital in the digital age as it’s ever been. It’s all about those two key groups of people. The staff and the customers.

Dave Wilson has always admired Anita Roddick. ‘She went into business to generate income, yes, but her goal, of giving customers exactly what they wanted was admirable. And she insisted on delivering quality products. She cared about customers’.

Someone else who has inspired Dave is his own father who always advised that you should ‘treat others the way you would expect to be treated yourself’. It’s a timeless sentiment and directly applicable to business.

Dave Wilson sees his people as the beating heart of his business and describes them as being the ‘wow factor’. That’s something that only comes with putting people first.

Which squares the circle with Dave’s initial point. We have to embrace change and make it happen. When it comes to technology those  changes have to be implemented in a way that improves things for people.

There’s no need to spell out the ‘changes’ going on at the moment. We’re all familiar with them. We may not know yet what the end result will look like but if there is one thing we are sure of it’s the uncertainty that’s been generated by such significant change. New tech solutions will be needed to enable businesses to survive and perform better.

Crucially, that tech needs to be delivered in a way that’s people friendly. It needs to be designed to help and enhance the lives of the workforce. Otherwise, the change is not worth making.

It’s a fascinating point and it chimes well with the changes that we as Chambers are making. Among those changes is of course making this column perform as the voice of Chambers members. Dave Wilson has given us a spirited start. Let’s hear from more of you now, because yours are the informed and relevant voices of commerce. And they must be heard.

Make things happen. Get in touch

e mail nova.fairbank@norfolkchamber.co.uk

Commenting on the Prime Minister’s announcement she will seek to extend the Brexit deadline, Dr Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: 

 “The clock is still ticking, and avoiding a messy and disorderly exit from the EU is still the top priority for our business communities. The government must take firm action, now,  to ensure that this is not allowed to happen by default. 

 “Yet businesses need to see outcomes, not just more process. On-going uncertainty is having a real and negative impact on business confidence and investment all across the UK. Our own quarterly survey of businesses, the biggest independent survey in the UK, is concrete evidence of this – with the worst figures across the board in nearly a decade.

 “The Prime Minister may have issued a revised road map, but business communities still have little sense of the destination. It’s like being asked to follow a sat-nav to an unknown location – with the nagging worry that the directions may yet lead to a cliff.”

The British Chambers of Commerce’s quarterly economic survey – the largest private sector survey of business sentiment and leading indicator of UK GDP growth – found that key indicators of UK economic health weakened considerably in the first quarter of 2019. 

• The balance of UK services firms reporting a rise in export sales at its lowest level in a decade
• The balance of UK firms reporting improved cashflow turned negative for the first time since 2012 – in Norfolk since 2017
• Investment intentions in both Norfolk’s manufacturing and services sectors at lowest level since 2016

Against a backdrop of a slowing global economy, escalating Brexit uncertainty, and rises in business costs as the UK enters a new tax year, the latest results from the survey of over 7,000 businesses, including those in Norfolk – all collectively employing around one million people – reflect a deterioration in many gauges of the UK’s economic strength. 

In the services sector, the percentage balance of UK firms reporting an increase in export sales stood at zero, its weakest level since 2009 and the orders balance turned negative (more firms reporting that orders have decreased than those reporting an increase) for the first time in eight years. In Norfolk, the service sector balances remained weak, but with a small increase to take them out of negative territory (Export sales rose from -5 to +4 and orders from -9 to +7.   The balance of firms reporting improved domestic sales and orders also weakened significantly in the quarter.  However taking East of England as a whole, the service sector balances for both home and export sales and orders fell drastically – all into negative balances – much greater than the national balances.

Among Norfolk manufacturers, the results remained mixed.  The percentage of firms reporting an increase in domestic sales and orders rose but the results remained weaker than the previous two years of results.  Export sales fell, but orders, rose slightly but overall remained weak.  The East of England manufacturers saw both home and export orders and sales all fall considerably – to much lower levels than the national totals.

The balance of Norfolk firms reporting improved cashflow – a key indicator of business health – and which has been declining over recent years, has now gone into negative territory with the exception of Norfolk’s manufacturers, who reported a slight increase from +21 to +26. 

The lack of clarity over the UK’s future relationship with the EU is continuing to weigh on investment intentions in both the manufacturing and services sectors. The balance of Norfolk firms who looked to invest in either plant and machinery or training dropped in both sectors to their lowest level since 2016. Business confidence in profitability and turnover also deteriorated sharply in the quarter.

Norfolk Chambers has been calling for an end to the relentless uncertainty, which as the latest results from the long-standing business survey highlight, has damaged the confidence and investment plans of business communities. Westminster must ensure that a messy and disorderly exit is avoided and provide firms with certainty on future conditions to prevent further declines. To kickstart strong growth in the economy, government must return its attention and energy to removing barriers to growth in the domestic environment.

Ill-timed increases in business costs – including compliance with Making Tax Digital, higher business rates for some firms, increased employer pension contribution requirements, and more – are also raising costs pressures for companies across the UK at a time when government should be looking to reduce rather than increase burdens.

Commenting on the Norfolk results, Nova Fairbank, Head of Policy at Norfolk Chambers of Commerce said:

“The findings should serve as a clear warning that the ongoing impasse at Westminster is contributing to a sharp slowdown in the real economy across Norfolk. Business is hitting the brakes – hard.

“These are some of the weakest figures we’ve seen in nearly a decade, and that’s no coincidence. The prospect of a messy and disorderly exit from the EU is weighing heavily on our local economy, and must still be avoided. The unwanted prospect of a disorderly ‘no deal’ exit, and the serious damage and dislocation it would bring, is still just days away unless Parliament acts to avoid it.

“At the same time that firms are having to enact costly contingency plans, the cost of doing business here in the UK continues to rise. This week sees a new tax year with a number of changes adding to the upfront cost of doing business in the UK, including the introduction of Making Tax Digital and changes to auto-enrolment, leaving many firms facing more bureaucracy and new expenses. It beggars belief that ministers are piling on more and more costly obligations at a time that businesses are already having to cope with Brexit and uncertainty.

“For too long Brexit tunnel-vision has distracted government from fixing the fundamentals to support growth here in the UK. We need to see an increased focus on creating the conditions for business success here at home – including concerted efforts to plug growing labour shortages, delivering an immigration policy that works for business and speeding up physical and digital infrastructure projects.”

Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“Our latest survey suggests that UK growth nearly ground to a halt in the first quarter of 2019, with increasing anxiety over Brexit and weakening global economic conditions driving a significant deterioration in almost all the key indicators in the quarter.

“The services sector suffered the more substantial loss of momentum in the first quarter with both domestic and international activity slowing sharply in the quarter. The manufacturing sector continues to struggle amid tougher global and domestic trading conditions and rising cost pressures. The marked decline in the export indicators in both sectors suggests that net trade is likely to have been a drag on UK GDP growth in Q1. The deterioration in cash flow is concerning as it can leave firms more vulnerable to external shocks, including disruptions to supply chains.

“The forward-looking indicators are disappointingly downbeat with weakening orders, confidence and investment intentions pointing to precious little growth over the coming quarters, unless substantial action is taken.”

Key findings in the Q1 2019 survey:

Norfolk Manufacturing sector:

• The balance of firms reporting increased domestic sales rose from 0 to +26, while those reporting improved domestic orders also rose from +0 to +41
• The balance of firms reporting improved export sales fell from +43 to +31, and the balance of firms reporting improved export orders rose very slightly from +43 to +46
• The balance of firms reporting improved cashflow remained weak, but rose from +21 to +26
• The percentage of firms attempting to recruit fell from 74% to 57%, the weakest since Q4 2012. Of those, 92% reported recruitment difficulties, close to its record high
• The balance of firms increasing investment in plant/machinery rose in the quarter from +16 to +18, while investment in training fell from +42 and +23
• The balance of firms confident that turnover and profitability will increase in the next 12 months was mixed – falling from +32 to +30 for turnover and rising from +11 to +23 for profitability

Norfolk Services sector:

• The balance of firms reporting increased domestic sales fell from +21 to +9, the weakest since Q3 2016. Those reporting improved domestic orders fell from +15 to -2
• The balance of firms reporting improved export sales, whilst still weak, reported an increase from -5 to +4 and export orders rose from -9 to +7
• The balance of firms reporting improved cashflow dropped in negative territory – falling from +8 to -10
• The percentage of firms looking to recruit fell to 53%. Of those, 79% had recruitment difficulties – a little higher than the previous quarter
• The balance of firms looking to increase investment in plant and machinery fell from +9 to +6 (weakest since Q4 2016), and from +20 to +16 in training
• The balance of firms confident that turnover will improve over the next year remained static, whilst those who thought profitability would improve dropped from +24 to +14

Last night we hosted our first Wine Tasting evening with HarperWells – and what a great evening it was! 

As an almost sold out event, it gave the perfect opportunity to meet with our new members, catch up with existing ones and make new businesses connections.

The evening started with an extra dry prosecco from Italy on arrival, to the cleanse the pallet. Brian Sullivan from HarperWells gave a brief description of the wines that we were tasting; Two Whites, an Albarino from Spain (2017 Ramon Bilbao) and a French 2017 Domaine De La Guicharde. Then on the three reds, chosen by the HarperWell’s professionals, 2017 Malbec from Argetina, a 2017 Negromamaro/Primitivo from Italy,and lastly 2011 Ramon Bilbao, a Rioja from Spain! 

Whilst the group were networking, the amazing HarperWell’s staff we’re coming by pouring firstly the white wines and then followed the reds! This allowed the room to network freely, and of course, help ourselves to the beautifully presented ‘cheeses, breads, olives and oils’. 

All the wines complimented the delicious cheeses perfectly and we want to extended our gratitude to Brian and Samuel, the amazing wine experts of HarperWells, for putting together such a wonderful evening!

Our next evening event is a free to attend event with Coleman Opticians, there will be wine and cocktails, and a behind the scenes of optometry; for more information click here