Network Plymouth – Business Club, Devon

A topical presentation from Martyn Burgess entitled “Financial Planning – why we all need to do it but…”.  We learnt the main reason people don’t get involved with financial planning for their future is time.  As Martyn pointed out an hour well spent with some one who has the knowledge we need is never going to be wasted.  Time to start planning for our futures now.

We also welcomed our latest member Andrew Coulter from Andrew Coulter Photography, which brings our membership to 25.

With calm seas and a beautiful morning, 46 of us (quite a few last minute cancellations) set sail from the Barbican to have one of our special meetings ‘at sea’

We enjoyed our bacon/sausage rolls and pastries thanks to Mark Duchesne being able to obtain sponsorship from Brakes which we really appreciated.

Richard Honey of Traumatic Cleanup gave us some valuable information about the use – and abuse – of bleach. We are all now checking our work surfaces very carefully!!

We had plenty opportunity to network – either up on deck or inside – and everyone seemed to enjoy the experience when we moored back at the Barbican around 9 am.

Quite a few people were on holiday this week and with some last minute cancellations we had the smallest meeting for some time – 16 members and 2 guests.

Sue Salsbury enlightened us all on the challenges she has had to face in setting up her new Gallery and Framing business in Plymstock.  It was amazing to see how much thought and skill has to go into framing – and we all just thought they cut glass and wood to fit around a picture!   She showed in her presentation the different styles/mounts etc – and it was obvious  from her enthusiasm that she just loves being set a challenge by her customers!  Well done Sue and keep up the good work.

Our normal Breakfast this week was in internal affair held under the Sharks in the demi tunnel area of the national marine Aquarium.

Fiona Dukes gave us a review of what has been going on behind the scenes and also some interesting statistics regarding guests and member numbers etc.

Joanne Russell of Goldsworth Wills & Probate then gave an informative and interesting presentation regarding Last Powers of Attorney, and Wills.  If anyone feels they need advice in this area please contact Joanne.  Contact details are on the website link above.

We had a lively and entertaining meeting at The Waterfront.   Bracken Vernon-Jelier of Crossway Communications and Dominick Finan of Viewhear joined forces today to enlighten us on how we could enhance our business with the use of PR and video.  They showed us several videos they had produced which highlighted the different approaches to making videos and recommended the use of interviews where the business owner was not confident at speaking to camera.  Testimonials also can be included effectively.   They explained that videos can be used on websites, on Twitter, Facebook etc. and they increase the rating of your website with google.  In fact, we could not understand why we had failed to use their services before!!

Examples of their work can be seen here: http://viewhear.com/

Please don’t forget that we are expecting to be back at our normal venue at The National Marine Aquarium for the next meeting after the refit of the Horizons Events areas.

Don’t forget that we are back at the National Marine Aquarium from now onwards.  We look forward to their excellent breakfast in the newly refurbished Horsizons event area with stunning views overlooking Sutton Harbour and right out to Plymouth Sound.

With an excellent turnout at The Waterfront we had a constructive meeting with a good vibrant buzz about it.

Colin Worden from Utility Warehouse gave us an informative presentation on how the The Utility Warehouse are making life easier, AND saving you money. In fact there appeared to be many members already using his services and he was able to sit back and let the group enthuse about the benefits of the Utility Warehouse Discount Card. If you’d like to know more then please contact Colin at one of our meetings.

Jaguar at Dartmoor Zoo

What a great meeting we had at Dartmoor Zoo on 24 March!

This was one of our special events, open to a range of guests, and resulted in 50 attendees.

After a lot of networking and breakfast, we were treated to a presentation by Ben Mee, Owner of the Zoo, and he enthralled us with his experiences of buying the zoo (a bit scary when the jaguar broke free!) and his dealings with Hollywood in the making of a film entitled ‘Ben’s Zoo’ following the publication of his book.  Those who did not have pressing appointments thoroughly enjoyed a  tour around the zoo on a beautiful sunny day, when Ben and Alex Smale introduced us to many of the animals.  Certainly a meeting with a difference – and fun!

Last weeks Big Breakfast was a massive success with 30+ people in attendance. Thank you to you all for the big effort in bringing guests and thank you also to Fiona for conducting the meeting so well. A few of the guests have booked in again for next week with a view to joining us permanently. We also have a couple of others who have contacted us via the website.

Next week we have a presentation from one of our newest members Bill Eaton of Midas Estates titled “Passive and Residential Income”.

Please let Tony Dupreez know as soon as possible whether or not you are able to attend and also if you have a guest to bring along.