Let’s B Positive! Some Cheerful Business News for Norfolk
Grooming Captain Fawcett For Success
Supplier and manufacturer of “first-class gentlemen’s grooming requisites”, Captain Fawcett of King’s Lynn is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary.
It’s a remarkable achievement for founder Richie Finney, who began making moustache wax in his kitchen and now sells products all over the world. But how did he get his business started? Richie said: “Someone approached me to make some wax for him. I made 100 jars, and he only wanted six, so the business came about because what was I going to do with the other 94?”
Now Captain Fawcett sells a selection of wax, oil, shaving and scented products that adorn the shelves of retail outlets around the world and online.
Angling Direct Nets Bumper Sales
For a company that started life as a single fishing tackle shop in Wroxham, Angling Direct has shown how expansion and diversification can reap rich rewards.
The business, with headquarters in Norwich, is celebrating record-breaking sales over the summer, turning over £5.5 million in August alone, up 40 percent on the previous year.
The business now has retail outlets nationwide, with the latest having opened in Milton Keynes in September, and a large online operation.
Chief Executive Darren Bailey said: “The summer trading conditions have been favourable with good weather. We were delighted that both our established and new stores experienced strong footfall, which was backed up by strong like for like sales both in-store and online, delivering a record month in August.”
Sweet Awards Victory for Gnaw and Indigo Swan
Two Norfolk companies have become East of England regional winners of the prestigious British Chambers of Commerce Business Awards 2019.
Gnaw Chocolate began life in a sweet shop and now makes a delicious range of luxury chocolates, selling them globally. The Norwich-based business wins the export business of the year award for the second year running.
Director Matt Legon said: “I think many businesses will agree that the past 12 months have presented some unique challenges and that we’ve managed to work through these and keep moving forward is a testament to the brand and the team of 18 that we’ve built here at Gnaw.”
Business energy consultants Indigo Swan, also of Norwich, won the workplace wellbeing award. The firm’s MD, James Groves said: “With ‘Happiness First’ as one of our core values we must give the team a safe habitat to be themselves and to be able to be open and honest about their wellbeing daily.”
Lotus Engineering Adds to Top Team
Norfolk’s Lotus Engineering has expanded its top team with the addition of commercial director Dan Burge, who worked previously at Williams Advanced Engineering.
Dan said: “I’m delighted to be joining Lotus Engineering at such an exciting time for the whole Group Lotus business. I will be working to develop the structure further so we can commercially exploit the strong technical capabilities within Group Lotus, creating strategic relationships to support our growth.”
The news comes as Lotus’ extraordinary electric hyper-car, the Lotus Evija, continues to receive plaudits around the world. The “world’s most powerful road car” will be limited to 130 vehicles.
Work starts in Hethel next year, and you can bag one if you happen to have a spare £2 million down the back of the sofa.
Yarmouth Hotelier’s 35-Year Stay
There have been challenges, but the man who runs Great Yarmouth’s seafront Imperial Hotel has loved every minute of his 35 years in charge.
Nick Mobbs was asked to take over in 1984 and was joined by his wife Aileen in 1987. The couple has not looked back.
“Many of our team have worked with Aileen and me here for 20 or 30 years, and they all know my favourite motto, ‘If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well’, which applies to absolutely everything here at the hotel, from customer service to cooking and cleaning.”
Norse Group Wins Roads Contract
The routine maintenance of Norfolk’s roads, including potholes and gritting, will now be done by the Norse Group, with 150 staff transferring there from the county highways team.
Norse Group runs a diverse range of services, from care homes to grounds maintenance, and Norfolk County Council says moving road maintenance operations there will save £500,000 within five years.
Norse MD, Dean Wetteland said: “We are confident we can deliver efficiencies moving forward, whilst maintaining the high quality of service currently being provided for the public.”
Archant Inks Deal with Google
Archant, the Norwich-based local and national news and magazine publisher, has penned a ground-breaking “multi-million” pound deal with Google to create community news websites for areas of the country without proper journalism coverage.
Named Project Neon, the partnership is intended to find new ways of making local digital journalism viable in a world dominated by social media.
Archant’s chief content officer, Matt Kelly said: “The idea is to have the luxury to experiment and try to come up with some positive solutions to what is a serious and chronic problem, not just in the UK but further afield, which is the decline of the business model for local news.”
Let’s B Positive is compiled by Simon Young of East Anglian copywriting agency Magic Word Media. Contact simon@magicwordmedia.com
