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The day is finally here! 17 cars lined up at 7am this morning at the Nest in Norwich for the start of The Canaryball Rally

The teams of drivers will drive from Norwich to Milan, visiting Arnhem and Munich along the way, all in the aid of their chosen charity Community Sports Foundation and their #BuildTheNest campaign. Credo have tasked everyone to raise a total of £100,000 for the campaign.

The cities they are visiting are a nod to the teams that Norwich City Football Club played in their famous 1993/1994 UEFA Cup Run (Vitesse Arnhem; Bayern Munich; Inter Milan).

The teams were in awe as the Norwich FC legend Jeremy Goss, whose most memorable moment while playing for Norwich was when he scored the opening goal against Bayern in the 1993 UEFA Cup, turned up at the Nest to wave everyone off.

Jeremy commented “I am thrilled to be able to wave the teams off this morning for their challenge around Europe. They are raising fantastic amounts of money for the #buildthenest campaign and the route they are taking brings back great memories for me.”

Jeremy’s iconic goal helped take the Canaries on to win 2-1 and became the first and only English club to ever win at the Munich Olympic Stadium.

Please follow the teams on their 5-day journey, visiting 8 countries and covering over 2,200 miles. To donate please click here

What is your role at Credo Asset Finance? What does it involve?

I’m a business development manager so work directly with clients on a day-to-day basis. I also work with a network of introducers (professional services and supplier/manufacturers of the equipment that we fund). This allows me the flexibility to work in and out of the office. In addition, I also head up a team of seven sales and internal staff.

Do you have a specialist field in the finance industry?

I focus on business finance predominently, and have a pool of clients in the construction and haulage industries. That said, I often get involved in the catering and IT trades.

Where were you educated? High school and university degree if applicable.

I went to North Walsham High School, Paston College and then attended the University of Westminster for a year before deciding it wasn’t for me.

How many years have you been in the finance industry? Do you have any other relevant experience such as working in the motor trade, agricultural or marine industry.

Prior to this I ran a restaurant for six months – this helps me when speaking with clients, lenders and colleagues. Other than this, I came into the industry with zero experience or knowledge.

How many years have you worked at Credo Asset Finance?

I’ve been at Credo for three and a half years.

Have you held other positions at Credo?

When I joined the business with zero knowledge, I started out in sales support, processing deals for other sales members.

What do you like about your job?

I’m naturally a nosey person, so I love learning about lots of different businesses and how they make their money. This helps to keep things interesting. I also love to see clients develop their businesses and success come from what I’ve helped fund for them in the past.

Why is Credo a good business to work for?

There’s always a great atmosphere in the office. We’re a relatively young office (with exceptions) and so all love to work hard and try to develop ourselves as well as the business. Management are pretty relaxed too, often getting involved around the office.

What are your hobbies, past-times, sports?

I’m currently developing my golf-game… very much a work in progress. I’m also a keen footballer and have been for years. I play for Stalham Town.

Have you achieved anything special in your career or outside of work?

There are lots of deals that I’m happy to have been a part of, one of which was more than £1m of funding for a local bakery which was moving site. There were lots of different elements of the deal which all worked out relatively smoothly!

Tell us one unusual fact about yourself – such as a special skill or ability.

As well as playing football for Stalham Town, I am currently the club chairman… a big leap of responsibility for me!

Thank you Lewis, a good insight to what you do here at Credo! If you would like to see the rest of the team here look at our Meet the Team page

With all the uncertainty of Brexit – the if and when, deal or no deal – it’s not surprising that many people are delaying decisions on major purchases.

But while many questions remain unanswered more than three years after the referendum resulted in the UK choosing to leave the EU, and with the October 31 deadline looming, now might be a good time to buy a new car, especially if you’re considering a European-built model.

There’s still uncertainty about what will happen to interest rates but the Bank of England would like to gradually raise rates closer to their pre-recessionary norms. That is likely to be the case if the UK’s departure from the EU goes smoothly. A no-deal Brexit could see rates fall slightly to stimulate a weakened economy.

And what about prices. Well, if the already weakened pound is worth even less, then prices are set to go up making that big purchase an even bigger one.

There is also a suggestion that car prices would go up after a no-deal Brexit.

A 10.6% tariff on ‘fully-finished’ cars being imported into the UK from the EU would add around £1,500 to the price of an average family hatchback.

The UK currently has a tariff-free relationship with the European block so the extra cost would apply to all cars manufactured in mainland Europe, a very large proportion of all those sold in the UK.

So to buy, or not to buy – that is the question.

Simon Gray Director, said: “We’re here to help you get the best-value finance to suit your needs. Speak to us and we’ll do our best to give you a great deal… and a prompt decision.”

Minnie Mouse ears – check. Costume – check. Running shoes – check!

Fran Brown, our marketing manager, lived a different Disney dream when she ran a half marathon around the spectacular parks of the world-famous tourist attraction near Paris.

Fran took part in the annual Disneyland Paris Run Weekend with friends Suzanne Burt, who was celebrating her 50^th birthday, Lynsey Long and Kate Walters – each of them dressed as Minnie Mouse!

Fran took up running four years ago and has progressed from Park Runs to 10ks and, in March this year, half-marathons.

“Suzanne wanted to do this half marathon for her 50^th birthday so we all trained for it,” said Fran.

The fab four finished together in two hours 24 minutes – much slower than Fran’s PB of one hour 59 minutes.

“We chatted the whole way round,” she said.

“We started off with smiles on our faces and smiled all the way round. We saw lots of Disney characters, and had to keep stopping to have pictures taken with them, but we ran the whole way.”

Now, after the delights of Disneyland, Fran has set her sights on running the London Marathon next year for charity and applied for an entry.

The annual half marathon and weekend race series at Disneyland Paris, staged by runDisney, is held every third weekend of September.