Network Plymouth – Business Club, Devon

Chris Janes, Assistant Director of Brewin Dolphin Stockbrokers gave an incisive talk on  ’Investment Themes for 2012′ , including invaluable tips for anyone who has investments to make. He covered the possible effects of inflation on the economy, discussed the merits of gilts, index-linked and other investments, and then looked briefly at what might happen if ‘Europe erupts’, and the changing influences from China. 

Sara Jennett of Ease’nflow Massage presented on ’The Health Benefits of Aromatherapy’, drawing on her experience as as a qualified aromatherapist.  She also introduced some of the more  popular essential oils for home use with some cautions on how to use them at home.  Some of the oils were then passed round for a ‘free sniff’, while she outlined their benefits.

All in all, an informative and varied set of morning’s presentations! 

Nigel Day of Clarihon Web Services gave many useful tips about web design and development, including how to improve your Adwords profile on Google.

Graham Standfield of Coralline Health gave a useful overview of the various kinds of health insurance on offer from WPA /Coralline Health.  There were various benefits for those who are self-employed, for instance.  WPA is a mutual company which means it operates on a ‘not for profit’ basis, keeping costs low.

There were 23 members and  3 guests attending, with plenty of chances to meet and exchange business opportunities.  At least 10 members also had positive feedback to give about other members’ services.

This meeting was a closed meeting for members only. Fiona Dukes, Chairperson, presented a review of the Club activities over the last year and  members discussed future plans.

 Alex Smale, Dartmoor Zoo, presented as a member of Network Plymouth Business Club on ‘How to build a zoo’, covering the early days of the Zoo and its construction.  His slides took us back to the very early days when the Zoo was first being dug out of the Dartmoor hillside.

Adrian Brown,PrintCopyScan, gave his first 10 minute presentation as a member of Network Plymouth Business Club. PrintCopyScan pride themselves on their after-sales service, continually investing in training their service engineers, with a track record of 99.7% ‘uptime’.  Adrian hopes to develop mutually loyal relationships with other businesses that also value quality and excellent service.

Ed Donohue, Crownhill Fort Manager, gave a presentation at our first meeting in Crownhill Fort.  His presentation included  a brief history from its first inception as part of the Palmerston south coast defences in the 1860′s, through to the 1980s when The Landmark Trust purchased the Fort.  Ed explained some of the changes needed to run the Fort as a tourist attraction and home for 18 small businesses, activities which help to maintain the Fort today.

We had two excellent presentations today.

Karen Reed of Admin Fairies explained the range of activities which her business undertakes and gave a convincing explanation of why we should pass all our admin to her and concentrate on our core business.

Steve Aspinall of Bluefin Insurance Group joined his colleague/our member Karen Goss to enlighten us on why we should use an insurance broker and why we should always look for the small print.  He suggested that we should not use internet insurance policies, instead relying on a broker to ensure that all business needs are well covered for insurance purposes.

Because of half term a number of members were unable to attend today.  Steve Henson of Francis Clarke gave an excellent presentation on what we can do to avoid getting caught out with customers who are finding it difficult to pay or who become bankrupt.  He also talked about the various methods of dealing with businesses in difficult financial situations.

Steve Mason of Citadel Accountancy and Bookkeeping gave an interesting presentation using two case studies which demonstrated how he had been able to assist clients to save substantial amounts of tax.

Geoff Ford of One Stop Electrical, and his business partner John,  explained what is involved in converting to renewable energy and how we can save money with grants from the government.

Chris Menlove-Platt, of CMP Coaching talked about the range of services he offered including NLP Training, Leadership training, Coaching and various other training related services.

On behalf of the Club, Fiona Dukes, Chairperson, presented a cheque for £1500 to Sian Harris, Area Fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support following our Macmillan breakfast on 29 September.

This meeting was a special one as it was a ‘MacMillan breakfast’ rather than coffee morning to coincide with the world’s biggest coffee morning the following day.  Macmillan is the charity which we have nominated as our own charity for this year.  We extended invitations to other business contacts and 55 people joined together for some networking.

Katie Halsey of the National Marine Aquarium who gave a fascinating talk on how some fish survive in the oceans and the lengths the staff have to go to ensure the safety and survival of the various species.

We also held a raffle, organised by Bracken Vernon-Jelier, which offered about 25 prizes of excellent value – many of which were offers of free support from businesses within the club.  Adrian Brown became auctioneer for the day to auction 5 superb prizes with the star prize being ‘Tea with Baroness Jolly (an ex member) at the House of Lords’ which raised £220. We were delighted that we were able to raise £1500 on the day for Macmillan Support.

Andrew Coulter gave an interesting presentation which included a wide range of photographs he had taken.  His special interest is ‘people’ and he showed how he can make some great shots by concentrating on the effect of light in the background.

Kelly Crane of Working Links explained how she works with employers to help unemployed people get back into the job market.  She invited anyone who has a suitable vacancy to let her have an opportunity to try to fill the vacancy for them.

We had a few ‘no-shows’ today which was disappointing and hope it was not a reflection on the speaker, Chairperson, Fiona Dukes.  She shared with us the common problems she comes across when dealing with clients on Human Resources issues.  It was amazing how some small companies fail to comply with legislation – eg lack of Statements of Terms,  non-compliance with Working Time Regulations and risking claims of discrmination in recruitment – and many others.   She demonstrated how important an HR Audit can be to identify any areas of risk on HR issues – and how helpful it can be to have an HR Manager on tap for advice at any time!

Jeremy Ward, a recent new member, gave a brief presentation on the process from generating leads to obtaining business and explained the importance of putting in a lot of effort at the early stages in order to reap the benefits later.  His business, ’Sell Your Service’ provides advice to clients on this and other sales/marketing issues.