Better Together – Strengthening Local Business Support
Sometimes running a business is about being part of something bigger; supporting local community initiatives, engaging with business owners and sharing knowledge and experience that enables collective growth.
As an Ambassador on the Norfolk Business Board, I've had the opportunity to see first-hand just how brilliant our local business community is. The ambition, innovation and potential across the region are genuinely something to be proud of.
Why Getting Involved Matters
I'll be honest, when you're running a manufacturing business, it's easy to keep your head down and focus on the immediate. Orders, production, customers, quality, there's always enough happening within the business to fill every hour of the day, and then some.
But I'm a firm believer that real growth comes from knowledge, and I've always found huge value in stepping outside my own sector and engaging with the wider business community, not just to give something back, though that matters, but because the learning goes both ways.
The conversations we have cover an incredibly broad range of topics, from bringing the high street back to life and supporting local enterprise to understanding how national policy affects businesses across our region.
Looking beyond manufacturing has challenged my thinking and encouraged me to question assumptions I didn't even realise I was making. Those discussions often give me a fresh perspective on Ecoglass that I'd struggle to gain anywhere else.
The challenges faced by a hospitality business in Norwich may be different from those we experience in manufacturing, but many of the underlying pressures are the same. Finding the right people, managing rising costs and navigating change are challenges that affect us all. There's a great deal of practical experience in the room during these conversations, and I've come away from more than a few sessions with ideas and insights that have proved genuinely valuable.
A Resource Worth Knowing About
One of the most valuable parts of my ambassador role is helping to make sure local businesses know what support is available to them because, in my experience, many simply don't.
The New Anglia Growth Hub is a case in point. Serving businesses across Norfolk and Suffolk, the Growth Hub provides fully funded business support, from one-to-one advice and coaching to training, events, funding guidance and connections to specialist expertise. Whether you're in the early stages of growing a business, looking to scale, or simply navigating a period of change, the wrap-around support available through the Growth Hub is genuinely comprehensive, and it's free at point of contact.
You can find out more at www.newangliagrowthhub.co.uk
The Bigger Picture
Norfolk is a place with far more going on than it sometimes gets credit for nationally, and the Norfolk Ambassadors Programme exists, in part, to make sure that story is told more loudly and more often.
As a business that has been rooted in Norwich since 1948, Ecoglass has always been part of this community. Taking on an ambassadorial role feels like a natural extension of that, giving something back while helping to create the conditions that allow businesses like ours, and the many different businesses around us, to grow and thrive.
If you're a Norfolk business owner or leader who hasn't yet connected with the Norfolk Business Board or the New Anglia Growth Hub, I'd genuinely encourage you to do so. The conversations are valuable, the support is there when you need it, and you'll almost certainly come away with fresh ideas, useful connections and a broader perspective.
We're better when we're working together. That's as true across a region as it is within any industry.