Features

The very human face of banking

Traditional customer service still has an important role to play in our faceless digital age, says James Knapman, founder of Fenland Financial Planning. Whatโ€™s been the biggest single change in financial services during your career. The move online. When I started...

IGNITE 2025: fast-track your innovation to commercial reality

Is your company looking to transform an innovation from the lab to commercial reality? Do you have an idea or research project with business potential but need skills and support to make it happen? Applications are now open for Igniteโ€™s intensive,...

Ask the Legal Expert

Q: We have a new product that we want to advertise on local television. We believe that our product is much better than a similar product sold by our main competitor. Can we refer to our competitorโ€™s product in...

Accountancy firm Larking Gowen Strengthens Presence in Essex with New Partner Arrival

Dawn Lay-Flurrie has joined Larking Gowen as Partner in the firmโ€™s Colchester office with a remit to further strengthen accountancy and business advisory services on offer in the Essex region. Dawn has more than 30 yearsโ€™ experience in accountancy and...

Surprise dip in insolvencies but new hurdles await

There was a surprise fall in both the month-on-month and year-on-year corporate insolvency numbers, ahead of government plans to increase the national minimum wage and employersโ€™ national insurance contributions in April. This is according to the Eastern branch of insolvency...

Falling fortunes or success in the making for SMEs?

As 2024 fades into history, Novuna Business Finance looks back at a volatile year for small businesses Last summer suggested a resurgence in growth outlook was on the cards for small businesses in the East of England. The summer period...

Crown Estate reveals bold plans for Cambridge Business Park

The proposals could kickstart a whole innovation ecosystem in Cambridge, including over 4,000 new jobs and 250 homes. Cambridge Business Park is set to contribute to the planned ecosystem in Northeast Cambridge. The intention is to provide office and lab spaces...

Top chocolate maker reveals โ€˜belts & bracesโ€™ makeover for 2025

Fine chocolate manufacturer Gnaw, of Norfolk, started out in 2010 - the tentative next step in an entrepreneurial vision conceived at Norwich Business School by Matt Legon, who specialised in small business transformation and entrepreneurship. His visionโ€™s first incarnation started...

Repair donโ€™t replace!

Local warehouse, manufacturing, retail, e-commerce, post and parcel and 3PL industries are asked to think what machinery and equipment can be repaired instead of replaced. Logisticsย  firmย  Southgate Global,ย  of Kingโ€™s Lynn, is appealing to customers to consider repair or...

CVE hailed as one of UKโ€™s Best Workplaces

Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE) has been recognised as one of the UKโ€™s Best Workplaces in Manufacturing, Production & Transportationโ„ข 2024 by Great Place to Workยฎ UK. It has also been officially re-certified as part of the Great Place To Work...

Supply chain predictions for 2025

Southgate Global, of Kingโ€™s Lynn, share their expectations and predictions for the supply chain industry, and how organisations can best adapt in 2025. Last year saw continued significant political and economic change globally. Major shifts in power in the US...

JARROLDS LOGISTICS CELEBRATES SOLID YEAR OF GROWTH

An historic Norwich department store has made a successful move into the world of ecommerce. Jarrolds & Sons Limited stepped into the world of logistics back in November 2023, joining the UKโ€™sย largest independent parcel delivery network,ย The APC, under the banner...

Law firm in โ€˜Top 100 Best Companiesโ€™ list for 5th year running

Howes Percival is ranked in the โ€˜Best Companies to Work Forโ€™ list for the fifth year running and has also been awarded the highest level of accreditation for โ€˜world-classโ€™ levels of workplace engagement. The list celebrates excellence in workplace engagement...

CLARE MORETON STARTS NEW LEGAL JOURNEY AT FISHER JONES GREENWOOD LLP

A new partner has joined the Wills, Planning and Probate team at Fisher Jones Greenwood LLP (FJG). Clare Moreton has over two decades of experience in private client work, which will help boost the firmโ€™s capabilities in complex estate planning...

Norwich engineer scoops national graduate accolade

A Norwich engineer has been named Graduate of the Year at an awards ceremony in honour of the UKโ€™s best engineering construction talent. Toby Highstead, a mechanical engineer at Amentum, received the honour at the 12th annual ECI Training and...

Be upfront about your data protection

As data protection laws evolve, so too does the publicโ€™s awareness of privacy rights. In this article, a team of outsourced data protection officers from dpo centre explore how data protection strengthens customer trust and loyalty, as well as...

AI age checker app gets the nod

An AI age verification app now has Primary Authority approval from Peterborough & Cambridgeshire Trading Standards. AgeAI - a GDPR certified app - has achieved UK-wide compliance approval and is endorsed for use by retailers across the UK. The app โ€“...

Fibre optics breakthrough for Suffolk firm

OPT Services, of Ipswich, is celebrating the first significant innovation in fibre cable capping for 40 years. The innovation by the fibre optic installation specialist is designed and manufactured in the UK. It will reduce plastic use in fibre optic capping...

Eco data centre opens

An โ€˜eco data centreโ€™ is now up and running in Peterborough. The facility aims to meet demand for sustainable data storage and IT services, through the use of renewable energy, cutting-edge cooling technology, and environmental stewardship. The launch event for the...

Review seeks to unlock green growth

An independent review willย explore and unlock the economic opportunities of sustainability for the UKโ€™s 5.5 million small businesses, including East Anglia. Spearheaded by Small Business Britain, with backing from the UK Government, the Willow Review aims to identify and highlight the...

Virgin Money supports major new solar park

The bank has doubled support for a top renewable energy investment fund. Virgin has allocated ยฃ18m to renewable energy investment fund, Gresham House Solar Distribution LLP. The increase takes Virgin Moneyโ€™s Revolving Credit Facility with the fund to ยฃ42m and will...

ScottishPower confirms Lowestoft as long-term home for offshore win

The green energy company says its site acquisition will kickstart regeneration of PowerPark energy hub around the port. Green energy company ScottishPower Renewables has confirmed Lowestoft as the long-term home and heart of its UK offshore wind operations with the...

Renewables firm celebrates 500% revenue growth

Attleborough-based Macbrook Gas Ltd has delivered ยฃ12 million in sales for the year ending April 2024 โ€“ a fivefold increase on the previous year of 22/23.ย  Specialising in the provision of eco-friendly heating services, the company is looking to build...

Homebuilder makes history with zero bills guarantee

An East Anglia homebuilder is the first in the UK to offer a 10-year Zero Energy Bills guarantee. Hopkins Homes says it has set a new industry standard with the move, which coincides with an extension of its partnership with...

Counties partner with US city for mutual growth

The counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex are partnering with Virginia Beach, a US city with booming technology and renewables sectors, to boost transatlantic trade and cooperation through a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Virginia Beach is the largest city...

Hybrid workspaces: the future of work?

Hybrid work has its challenges. However, the underpinning benefits mean we should seek to ensure its future. And research from right here in East Anglia has unearthed some intriguing findings, says Dr Laura J Reeves, Research Associate, University of...

Phone chat is a โ€˜lost artโ€™

A recruitment firm with an office in Kingโ€™s Lynn says younger consultants need training to use the phone effectively and drum up business. The new Head of Training at Berry Recruitment Group believes talking on the phone is becoming a...

Stewart Maxwell is new skills champion for East of England

The new regional chair for the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) is Stewart Maxwell, technical director at Aquaterra Energy. The ECITB appoints Regional Chairs to ensure the needs of local employers are represented in decisions made around skills and...

National award for local apprentice

A newly qualified electrical apprentice from Kingโ€™s Lynnโ€™s is the 2024 SkillELECTRIC champion after excelling in an competitive national competition. SkillELECTRIC is the electrical industryโ€™s skills competition, celebrating the best practical and technical skills from across the UK.ย  Charlie Moore, who...

Larking Gowen welcomes new partner to Colchester office

Dawn Lay-Flurrie has joined Larking Gowen as Partner in the firm's Colchester office with a remit to further strengthen accountancy and business advisory services on offer in the Essex region. Dawn has more than 30 years' experience in accountancy and...