Business
LOCAL
SPRING 2012
NNBF - Making a difference to North Norfolk’s businesses
Pathfinder Business
Support success in
the coastal community
The purpose of the Pathfinder Business Advice
project was two-fold; firstly to help businesses
manage problems arising from coastal issues
and to also focus on those at risk of commercial
blight.
NNBF’s Industry Liaison Officer Ian Groves visited
almost two hundred businesses of various sizes
operating not only in the thin coastal strip directly
affected by coastal issues, but also in the inland
hinterland where coastal blight is a very real issue.
Eighty nine of these businesses decided that they
could possibly benefit from Pathfinder assistance
which included an initial business diagnostic,
a voucher to help fund access to further
professional advice, a business plan and on-going
support and suggestions for further funding.
The Business Advice project has been a great
success and many local enterprises have been
assisted in a wide variety of ways. It clearly
identified the need for further grants and loans,
details of which can now be found in the adjacent
panel.
Thank You...........
NNBF is a business led body formed to support and promote
the region’s range of mainly micro sized or small enterprises. Its
aim is to provide a business voice to lobby and influence at local
regional and national levels on issues that affect the success
and prosperity of both employers and employees.
As a result of the Pathfinder Business Advice project, NNBF
was introduced to many businessmen and women along the
coastal strip from Sheringham to Horsey, and would like to
thank everyone for their enthusiastic support of the Pathfinder
initiative. We look forward to maintaining regular contact with
you all.
Grants and Loans Scheme
open for business
The Pathfinder Business Grants and Loans Scheme is
part of the further support available to businesses in the
Pathfinder area following the delivery of the Business Advice
project.
The Pathfinder Business Grant Scheme has been
established to assist businesses involved in the Business
Advice project in delivering their action and business plans.
It will provide support for relocation, adaptation, growth,
improved marketing and enhanced facilities infrastructure,
thus supporting continued investment in vulnerable coastal
locations.
The Loans Scheme is a gap financing measure to be
primarily used for the development and expansion of small
businesses which could not otherwise access borrowing.
It provides a fund from which coastal businesses can apply
for a loan to support investment to allow their business to
adapt in the light of coastal blight.
Both schemes are being managed on behalf of North
Norfolk Pathfinder by the Norfolk Community Foundation;
contact T: 01603 623958 or visit www.norfolkfoundation.com
East Norfolk Tourism Marketing
With cuts being made in public authority tourism
budgets the length and breadth of the country,
the East Norfolk Tourism Marketing project is
good news indeed for tourism businesses in the
Pathfinder area.
Branding, signage, PR, social media and food and
drink initiatives are all elements of this project which
NNBF is planning to implement during the 2012/13
financial year. Opportunities for matched funding
to increase the scope of this project are also being
investigated, particularly in respect of the proposed
signage and food and drink tourism initiatives.
sea palling
c l ereview
hire
Pathfinder business projectsc
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a brief
we bring the bike to you...
...and collect it afterwards too
Church Farm Barns
Sea Palling Cycle Hire
The Ship Inn
Rosemary Munday, director of Happisburgh-based
holiday cottage business Church Farm Barns,
decided to participate in the Pathfinder Business
Advice Project in order to upgrade the company’s IT
systems and seek advice for a future project.
Peter Kiernan of Sea Palling Cycle Hire joined the
Waxham
Barn,
Waxham
Business Advice
Project
to help
grow hisRoad,
cycle
Palling voucher to
hire business. He usedSea
his Pathfinder
office:
01692 598592
- mobile:
07747 483154
diversify
his services
and went
on a technical
bicycle
www.seapallingcyclehire.com
maintenance course.
As a result, he has just spent
the winter cleaning and maintaining his fleet of 63
bicycles himself, ready for the 2012 holiday season.
Peter Jones of The Ship Inn, Mundesley, has been
working with the Business Advice Project to look
at ways that the well-known pub on the village’s
seafront could be improved to bring more business
to the area.
The company used the £450 voucher with local IT
provider ‘Broadland Computers’ who have upgraded
existing hardware & software so that the website,
which the business has been using since it started
eight years ago, can be revamped. Rosemary said
“The website is particularly important because
increasing our business has a knock-on effect
on other local businesses. We already pass a lot
of trade through our guests to other local firms
including Smallsticks Barn Cafe, Hill House pub,
the Post Office and Fair Maiden fish shop, and
prospective visitors accessing our website will be
able to see what is on offer locally.”
Rosemary has planning permission for a specialist
holiday cottage, which will meet the needs of guests
with visual, hearing and mobility impairments. The
cottage will achieve the highest criteria under the
National Accessible Scheme.
Peter explained, “The focus of my business has been
to persuade people to leave their cars at home and
come on a green holiday to Norfolk. I have built up
a relationship with Catfield-based Feline Travel to
offer transport to and from arrival points in Norfolk
and I hope to welcome more families in 2012 who
choose to visit without their car. I can now cater for
people with disabilities after buying two tandems and
two tricycles and also offer tagalongs for younger
children and a dog buggy.”
Operating from his new base in Waxham Barn,
Peter delivers and picks up bikes from several local
campsites and is keen to promote the green cycle
experience. “I have benefited 100 per cent from
Pathfinder,” he concluded.
For full details of the North Norfolk Pathfinder Programme please visit:
www.northnorfolk.org/pathfinder
In particular, he decided to use his voucher to
explore possibilities for bringing four bedrooms on
the first floor of the pub back into use. Working with
local architects Stead Mutton Griggs, Peter said he
was helped to think out of the box to find a solution
which would bring modern, en suite accommodation
to this historic building. With plans drawn up, he
is now looking at the funding required to bring this
scheme to fruition.
However, his involvement with Pathfinder has
not ended there and he has been exploring the
new Grants and Loans initiative with a view to
renovating other parts of the exterior of the building.
Ultimately, Peter says, Pathfinder has been a positive
experience and he is now keen to find ways to boost
visitors to Mundesley which would benefit not just
The Ship but the whole local economy.
North Norfolk Business Forum, Merchant’s Place,
16 Church Street, Cromer NR27 9ES
T: 01263 510709 E: info@nnbf.org