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April– June 2017 Quarter 1

Welcome

This report brings together key business, economic and labour market intelligence to provide a regular insight into the current state of the Norfolk economy. Data is correct to 30th June 2017.

0.2% 0.25% Interest Rates

(Current rate June

2017)

2.7% Consumer Price

Index

(annual % change

June 2017)

5.6% UK House Prices

(annual % change

to April 2017)

National Gross

Domestic Product

(QoQ% change Jan-

Mar 2017)

Quick Links

Source: ONS, Bank of England.

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Norfolk Economic

Snapshot

Infrastructure Business Skills Funding

East of England

Energy Zone -

The centre of the

UK’s offshore wind

industry

The East of England

Energy Zone, which

encompasses 3

specialist ports in

Great Yarmouth,

Lowestoft and Wells, puts Norfolk and

Suffolk at the heart of the UK’s offshore

wind industry.

Having played an important role in constructing, installing and servicing existing wind farms such as Scroby Sands, Gtr Gabbard, Dudgeon and Sheringham Shoal, the ports are now helping to deliver the Galloper and East Anglia One wind farms which represents over 1GW of capacity.

Looking to the future there is huge opportunity. Yarmouth and Lowestoft are the closest energy ports to the largest concentration of operational and planned

offshore wind projects in the world. This combined with increasing confidence in the market due to falling costs and the sector’s growing status means Norfolk is well poised to take a leading role in the expansion of the offshore wind sector over the next 10-15 years. To support this opportunity, the Council works to promote the sector both across the UK and internationally, including at trade shows such as the recent Offshore Wind Energy 2017 exhibition at London Excel. Peel Ports Great Yarmouth, Clarkson Port Services, Venko Offshore, SCORE, OrbisEnergy, SSCS and EEEGr all joined forces with Norfolk County Council, Great Yarmouth Borough Council and Waveney District Council to create a presence that generated over 100 enquiries and secured contracts worth an anticipated £2m. The Council also played host to a recent delegation from China who wanted to learn more about the region’s energy assets. Vice presidents from Three Gorges, China Resources and Power China visited a number of sites including Peel Ports, Great Yarmouth Outer Harbour and the Dudgeon Operations and Maintenance facility. To find out more visit www.theenergyzone.co.uk

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Employment

Source: NOMIS.

Norfolk Economic Snapshot

Source: NOMIS.

The labour market in Norfolk has maintained its healthy state, building upon its previous strong performance.

At 76.9%, the County has enjoyed its best performance for the last decade. For the first time since 2013, Norfolk has surpassed both regional (76.8%) and national (74%) levels.

Year on year comparison shows employment rates in many districts have improved, such as South Norfolk, Great Yarmouth and Norwich.

At 4%, Norfolk’s unemployment level continues to remain below the national average (4.8%), but slightly above the regional level (3.8%).

The rate of claimants for the out of work benefits (10.4%) has achieved its best result for the last 10 years, both in absolute and percentage terms.

Average House Prices The average house price in

Norfolk has increased by 35%

since April 2012, and 6% from

2016.

However this is lower than the

regional increase over the same

period of 46% but higher than

the average increase for Great

Britain of 32%.

The high rise in regional figures

is mainly influenced by the high

house prices in Cambridgeshire.

Data Source: Land Registry.

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Business

BUSINESS UPDATES

Wade also took

part in a

wellbeing

session which

helped him

improve his confidence. Wade then completed

four weeks work experience as a porter with

Serco and has since stayed on to complete

further work experience, hoping at some point to

become full time. He also has the support of a

Prince’s Trust volunteer mentor.

Wade says: “the Get into programme helped me

increase my confidence and given me the

chance to work in role I enjoyed. I would

recommend the programme to anyone else.” To

find out more visit www.princes-trust.org.uk

Business team email: info@locatenorfolk.com

Cyber Security Special Interest Group Launches in Norwich

A cyber security group has been launched

in Norfolk by David Higgins (4ITSec Cyber

Services) and Morgan Self (DoDifferent),

aiming to help the county’s businesses

become more cyber resilient.

The Norfolk Cyber Security Cluster (NCSC)

is free to join and provides support to its

members by communicating national and

international cyber security initiatives as

well as providing trade opportunities

between members in Norfolk and a platform

to share ideas and best security practice.

The cluster aims to build on the fact that

Norfolk’s businesses are based in one of

the safest areas to live in the country, but

also aspires to make Norfolk one of the

cyber safest place to run a business.

Geoff Connell, Head of Information

Management & Technology, Finance at

Norfolk County Council was a key speaker at

the event and said “Cyber security is one of

the most urgent issues of the day. Computer

networks have always been the target of

criminals, and it is likely that the danger of

cyber security breaches will only increase in

the future as these networks expand, but

there are sensible precautions that

organisations can take to minimise losses

from those who seek to do harm.

We support the Norfolk Cyber Security

Cluster in its aim of disseminating information

and providing education channels that will

help Norfolk businesses become more

secure and less vulnerable to the persistent

threats of the current connected business

world.”

To find out more visit https://www.norfolkcyber.net/

Helping young people into work

Norfolk County Council is working with The

Prince’s Trust to deliver training to young

people aged 16-25 not in work, education or

training (NEET). Two projects are being

delivered; ‘Get Started’ helps young people

to develop their skills and confidence and

‘Get Started’ offers on the job training and

experience in high growth sectors such as

health and social care, engineering and

construction.

Wade heard about The Prince’s Trust though the Job Centre. He lost his job 5 years ago and had been struggling to get back into work. Wade did training in employability skills and health and safety.

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Infrastructure

Infrastructure and Economic Growth Team supports growth and helps remove infrastructure constraints in key areas such as transport, housing and planning.

Infrastructure team email:

transportstrategy@norfolk.gov.uk

Greater Norwich Growth Board’s Local Infrastructure Fund

The Greater Norwich Growth Board’s Local Infrastructure Fund helps developers to fund the upfront delivery of onsite infrastructure. The £20m Evergreen Fund was developed as part of the Greater Norwich City Deal and offers loans to developers on a 5 year cycle for the purposes of accelerating housing and employment growth in the Greater Norwich area. The Greater Norwich Growth Board is progressing 5 loans through the Local Infrastructure Fund to date, the value for which totals £18.2m. Further interest is being sought on a smaller scale, shorter timescale to maximise the impact potential of the fund.

Growth Deal funding secured!

Between April 2016 and March 2017 Norfolk County Council spent over £4m of Growth Deal funding on transport schemes in Norfolk. Money was spent on schemes such as the Felbrigg roundabout and Westlegate which have both recently been completed.

Norfolk County Council has also secured further Growth Deal funding for schemes including the:

Further development of the Great Yarmouth Third River Crossing,

Great Yarmouth Rail Station,

Great Yarmouth sustainable transport improvements,

Roundabout junction improvements on Dereham Road in Norwich.

These improvements will all contribute to boosting economic and housing growth in Norfolk.

National Productivity Investment Fund

Two bids were submitted for government’s

National Productivity Investment Fund at the

end of June. These bids were to provide

part of the necessary transport infrastructure

required to enable housing growth. Both of

our bids were for roundabout junctions; at:

Hempnall Crossroads on the A140,

required to bring forward circa 2,000

houses at Long Stratton.

George Lane on the A146, required to

bring forward circa 200 houses at

Loddon.

We bid for £3m at Long Stratton, towards a

total project cost of £4.4m, and for £2.8m at

Loddon, towards a total cost of £4.3m. The

match funding in both cases is being met by

the developers.

We expect to hear whether we have been

successful before the summer Parliament

recess. If so, work will start on the ground in

2019.

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Skills

Employment and Skills Team comprises the Apprenticeships Team, the Skills Development Partnership and the ESF Facilitator teams. The focus is on raising skills levels within Norfolk for the benefit of both the individual and the economy.

Employment and Skills team email: skills@norfolk.gov.uk

Help prepare young people for the world of work Do you know an employer who can really inspire and motivate local young people to help them be better prepared for work?

Our Work Experience Norfolk campaign is urging local businesses to help support young people to be better prepared for work by offering work experience placements to Norfolk sixth form and college students.

If you know an employer who might be

interested in inspiring and motivating local

young people, please spread the word.

For more information visit -

www.norfolk.gov.uk/jobs-training-and-

volunteering/training/work-experience

Apprenticeship Reforms and what it

means for you

The Government have committed to changing the way in which Apprenticeships are delivered and funded between now and 2020.

For a summary of the changes visit www.apprenticeshipsnorfolk.org/reforms/

The team at Apprenticeships Norfolk can support you to think about what is the right standard and level for you.

Whether you are an employer or an individual looking for an Apprenticeship, get in contact with us at

apprenticeships@norfolk.gov.uk

or alternatively give us a call on 0344 800 8024 for more details.

The Apprenticeship Graduation 2017

The Apprenticeship Graduation 2017 was held on Wednesday 12th July at St Andrew’s Hall in Norwich. Any apprentice who had completed their apprenticeship in Norfolk between August 2016 and July 2017 was invited to attend the event. All graduating apprentices attended free of charge and were allowed to bring up to two guests with them.

Four apprentices who graduated on 12th July have been employed by Norfolk County Council. Chris Betts, Kieren Buxton, Katie Lomonossoff and Jessica Whyte have all completed a two-year apprenticeship.

Activities they undertook as part of their apprenticeship included touring schools, job centres and careers fairs and engaging with their local communities to promote the value of apprenticeships to both young people and businesses.

www.apprenticeshipsnorfolk.org/

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Funding

Economic Programmes Team provides support to the Council and other partners to access external funding, with the aim of increasing funds spent in Norfolk. It has specialist expertise in European funding.

Economic Programmes team email:

eufunding@norfolk.gov.uk

Grants for employability and skills projects in rural Norfolk and north Suffolk We have LIFT off! 60 people attended the launch of our new ESF funded £1.1m LIFT grant funding programme at the Green Britain Centre in June. LIFT is all about funding projects that will give rural residents and SME rural businesses access to the sort of employability, skills and in-work training support that is more readily available in urban areas. Applicant organisations will need to demonstrate their track record in this sort of provision and will already have good links to people and businesses in rural communities or will collaborate on a project with those that do. More details can be found at www.liftprogramme.co.uk or by emailing the LIFT team on lift@norfolk.gov.uk

New single phase application process

launched by France (Channel) England

Programme

The France (Channel) England (FCE)

programme has launched a new application

process making it quicker and simpler for you

to submit a project application.

The process has changed from a two phase

application to a single phase application

process, with an open call for projects,

meaning you can now have a project

approved in just half the time!

The Programme aims to fund cross-border

cooperation projects in the Channel border

region between France and England.

Applicants can apply for European funding

under one of the Programme’s 5 specific

objectives: 1.1 Innovation, 1.2 Social

Innovation 2.1 Low Carbon Technologies 3.1

Cultural and Natural Heritage 3.1 Coastal

and transitional water eco-systems.

To find out more about how you can apply for

funding, contact the Programme’s East of

England facilitator, Alex Larter

(alexander.larter@norfolk.gov.uk).

Registrations for the FCE Annual Event

are now open!

The Programme has opened registrations

for its Annual Event 2017 which will take

place in Saint-Malo, France on the 26th

September. The event promises to be a

fantastic opportunity to find out more about

the Programme and network with project

partners and applicants from both France

and the UK. Visit

the following link to

register: bit.ly/

AnnualEvent2017