“We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone” – so said Ronald Reagan at Exeter Business Network
Report from February’s Exeter Business Network Event
“We can’t help everyone, but everyone can someone” – so said Ronald Reagan (relayed by me!) – born on 6/2/1911 and there was a great deal of people all helping others building mutually beneficial relationships.
The event began with Hosted by Michael Green – Endorse HR – talking about Performance Management – the first of Michaels slides really set the scene (courtesy of http://www.businessballs.com)
During the seminar which focused on the icebergs and problem children there was much discussion about the culture of a business, the elements of change and the importance of leadership. The section on the upcoming changes to employment law was very informative.
During the informal networking and welcome drinks session there was all sorts of conversations, connections and collaborations being made. With my daughter Megan 2 weeks into her trip (currently in Kisiki – Uganda, cooking caramelised nuts, invigilating exams – follow her blog here). I was delighted to have Alison Jobson from Straight Marketing doing a great job in welcoming people as they arrived.
Among the 80 or so guests were new members to Exeter Business Network – Gordon and Sally Mitchell from Business Doctors Devon and Cornwall; William Hammond and Tim Wadsworth from Space; Jane MacNamara from Creme de la Creme Fun Casino – the best bit giving champagne to the members who had referred!
My introduction as Exeter Business Network Host drew on some fabulous blog posts on networking talking about being happy, looking for mutually beneficial opportunities (Stephen Covey’s win-win); looking to provide value – knowledge, contacts, successes, referrals; the art of listening to others 100% rather than just delivering; a chance to be interesting, be genuine and develop those great relationships with fellow positive people.
From 12.50 everyone had their opportunity to deliver their table presentations – the designated table hosts doing a fabulous job in directing proceedings!
Conversations, connections and collaborations
The unique Business Network SW seating plan came into it’s own during the “Table to table networking” – everyone had the opportunity to introduce themselves to someone seated at a different table. Among those who attended
More Conversations, connections and collaborations!
More photos below….
Our speaker Alex Wren Bitpod Ltd – talked about how important You Tube was to your SEO – in fact it is your VSEO – Alex’s seminar in April will develop this theme and show how people can create their own videos and content!
Some of the decision makers who attended
Vince Ware, Sean Humby, Dan Pye, Joe Norman, Dana Mulligan, Mandy Blackler, Ian Dunstan, Jim Taylor, Stephen Bateman, Chris Reader, Jane MacNamara, Guy Arnold, Clare Owen, Helena Holt, Karen Skelton, Michael Green, Dudley Hambleton, Dawn Mayo, Catherine Petherick, Les Christiansen, Andrew Price, Matthew Redman, Alex Wren, Julia Bramble, Mark Wren, Gordon Mitchell, Sally Mitchell, James Guthrie, Maggie Garrett, Mark Braithwaite, Caroline Burkie, Scott Lehnhoff, Ian Smith, Nigel Wilkinson, Robert Guest, Andy Hilton, Harriet Weeks, Paola Royal, Cathy Towers, Michelle Thomas, Annabel McCabe, Laura Parker, Tracey Pearce, Harriet Jones, Catherine Smith, Hugh Mitchell, Adam Chetnik, Martyn Perry, Derek Brunt, Chris Elliott, Malcolm Rouse, Nicky Dunn, Mark Leveridge, Steve Hartland, Adam Nicholas, Nick Haigh, Spencer B. Hodgetts, Rebecca Dorrington, Charlie Martin, Fran Long, Ashley Scott, Chris Wood, Danny Frayne, Ryan Barrett, Roger Moore, Richard Hussey, Bev Gratton, Mark Evans – Martin, Mary Jane Campbell, Brian Lee, Sam McIntyre, Simon Leek, William Hammond, Tim Wadsworth, Phil Roberts, Marissa Prince, Alison Jobson, Mark Muir, Dave Ashenden, Bev Holloway, Vicki Stewart, Belinda Newton Carley Warren Dominique Bailhache, Kate Chastey, Dave Barr,
From these businesses……
Daneswood Solutions Ltd, Devon Air Ambulance Trust, Egret Limited, Endorse HR, Exeter Golf & Country Club, Bitpod Ltd, Bramblebuzz, Mosaic Print Management, Nature’s Brilliance in Business, Old Mill Accountancy LLP, Optix Solutions Ltd, Plug and Play, Straight Marketing Limited, Stephens Scown, Veritas Legal Services Ltd, William Pollard & Co Ltd, Winning Tenders Ltd, WNW Design, WPA Healthcare, StudioEight_Architecture, Subversive, Sureways Training Limited, Tender Victory, The HR Dept, The Passage House Hotel, The Passionate PA, thebestof Exeter, Printing.com, SEO736, Fair Energy, Realistic Home Improvements Ltd, Roger Moore & Associates, RSH Copywriting, Sandy Park Conference & Banqueting Centre, Exeter Audi, Lloyds TSB Commercial, Malcolm Rouse Photography, Flybe, Gravitas Recruitment (SW) Ltd, Hartnell Chanot & Partners, High Path VAT Consultancy, Hosted Desktop UK Ltd, Identity Workwear, Juiceplus, Mango Personnel Ltd, Mark Leveridge Magic, Marla Custom Blinds, Martin Luck Group, Exeter Citizens Advice Bureau, Exeter Executive Travel, Capio Elements Limited, Cartridges Solicitors, Casino Select, Cobalt Communications, Concentric Dots – (Part of iGlimpse Limited), CR HR Consultancy, Simpkins Edwards, Somerset County Cricket Club Ltd, SouthwestCRM, Space, St Loye’s Foundation, Q Social Media Ltd, Quickprint Ltd, BreathingNLP, Business Doctors, Business Furniture Group, Exeter Mind & Body Clinic, Andrew Price & Co Limited, Auditel, Evolution, Evolution ABS Limited, Creme de la Creme Fun Casino, Exeter Racecourse & Conference Centre, Crooked Stick Ltd,
The event continued with ” It’s a Man Thing! ”
Exeter Mind and Body Clinic putting on a number of therapies – all for a good cause! (Fundraising for St Loyes’ Positive Opportunities).
Everyone who enjoyed a session gave a donation of £10 minimum to St Loye’s and in return Exeter Mind and Body Clinic gave a little bit of ease to that stiff neck and shoulders, bad back or other problem areas, along with professional guidance.
The members brought along a plethora of offers and opportunities………………………………………
Member’s offers and opportunities
Matthew Redman – auditel
01278 686956
Free review of your merchant card costs by the UK’s leading, specialist cost and purchase management consultancy.
David Collins of Baytek Voice & Data Ltd
01626 833139
Great rates for Business Network SW mates! Baytek’s telephone call and line rental services are saving local companies hundreds of pounds every month, and we would like to offer our Business Network colleagues even better savings. Just ask David for a meeting to discuss our special mate’s rates
Gordon and Sally Mitchell of Business Doctors Devon and Cornwall
Tel – 07918 075569
You are invited to invest just two hours of your time on Thursday 7th February in exchange for gaining a clear vision of how to take your business to the next level of growth in 2013. There is absolutely no charge for this event. Exeter Golf and Country Club – 7/2/13 from 8am – 10am
The seminar is aimed at small to medium sized businesses and is designed to help the key decision makers to:
- Clarify what you want, your core values and your vision
- Assess your customers, market and your competitiveness
- See the “big picture” and future-proof your business
- Understand today’s realities and tomorrow’s opportunities
- Develop your competitive advantage
- Create a sales plan and make your people profitable
At the seminar, the Business Doctors will:
- Share powerful case studies of clients who have achieved remarkable success, and how you can achieve similar results
- Give frank, honest advice and practical tools that you can apply after the workshop
- Give you a great chance to network with other like-minded business owners who are willing to take their business to the next level
To book contact sallym@businessdoctors.co.uk or call 07918 075569
Visit www.businessdoctors.co.uk/devon-and-cornwall/events-list
Vince Ware – Business Furniture Group
0845 634 2202
Do you have space problems in your office? Are your storage facilities not working for you? Does any of your staff have a back problem? Do you need to get more people into an existing space? To answer any of these questions please give the BUSINESS FURNITURE GROUP a call. We offer a free consultation for any Business Network members. Contact Vince Ware on 07974 980353 or 0845 634 2202. Clients that have benefited from this advice are: Armada Finance, Express & Echo, World First Insurance plus many smaller organisations.
Jim Taylor and Ian Dunstan of Cobalt Communications
01392 908888
As a member of Exeter Business Network Cobalt would like to make an offer to you and your Customers. For small businesses we will provide a new Telephone system for five users (including Display Handsets, installation & training) for less than £30 per month. Any business quoting the “Business Network Offer” can take up our offer & of course we will design a similar offer for larger businesses. Please give us a call for a chat
jim@cobaltcomms.co.uk www.cobaltcomms.co.uk
Chris Reader of CR HR CONSULTANCY
Tel: 01626 352216
A FREE HR audit for Business Network members
David Frumin of DAVID FRUMIN & ASSOCIATES
Tel: 01392 493394
If you haven’t done your tax return for 2011/12 it is due by 31st January. We can help – 15% off normal fee.
www.davidfrumin.co.uk enquiry@davidfrumin.co.uk
Karen Skelton of Egret Limited
01823 668623
10% discount to Business Network SW Members on electrical inspections or Portable Appliance Testing
Dudley Hambleton – Evolution
01392 410759
A healing/spiritual/psychic check over session with Dudley at half price (£25) for all Business Network members. Are you, or is someone you know feeling down, more tired than usual, more unlucky than usual, or a bit lost at the moment? There could be a psychic reason for this which you or they are not aware of but a session with Dudley will tell you if this is the cause of the problem and where required, provide the solution through his connections and abilities with psychic clearance work.
Catherine Petherick of Exeter Audi
01392 825425
May I wish you all a Prosperous 2013! We have lots of New Year Offers, Too many to list, if you are looking for a new Audi A4 or A6 speak to Catherine at Exeter Audi on 01392 825425
Andy Hilton of Exeter Executive Travel
0800 612 9618
10% off any return travel booked throughout February
www.exeterexecutivetravel.co.uk
Cathy Towers of Exeter Mind & Body Clinic
07989 564660
Three Experts on ASTHMA and other respiratory complaints are working at Exeter Mind and Body Clinic. Call Cathy on 07989 564660 if you or someone you know would be interested in a specialist information session
http://www.exetermindandbody.com
Rachel Buckley and Stuart Wright of Hartnell Chanot & Partners
Tel: 01392 421777
Whether you are struggling with a relationship breakdown or planning ahead for the future, Hartnell Chanot & Partners offer a specialist service that can help. As the South West’s leading family law specialists, our team of solicitors offer expert service across a wide range of family matters. In addition to a FREE initial appointment we are offering a 5% discount to members of BNSW Exeter and your employees.
Malcolm Rouse of Malcolm Rouse Photography
01392 437724
Free Family Portrait sitting with one 10 x 8 photograph in luxury folder
www.malcolmrousephotography.co.uk
Spencer B. Hodgetts of Nature’s Brilliance in Business
07745 652487
Imagine the Brilliance of Nature in Your Business One FREE half hour speech on Biomimicry…..Value £100
Ashley Scott of Printing.com
01392 495133
1,000 Full Colour Letterheads only £50+VAT
http://www.printing.com/uk/studio/exeter
Olly Dymond – Shopping Sherlock
07970 758196
Search with the Sherlock and save up to 50%. Free Shopping Sherlock app. Download the app for free at www.shoppingsherlock.com/olly and save money fast.
Or ask Olly Dymond at the event or email odymond@tiscali.co.uk
Susan Meldon Simply Assisting You
Tel: 01392 248247
WHY SIMPLY ASSISTING YOU?
- Cost effective – our low monthly fee means it’s affordable to small businesses
- Totally flexible – we offer a unique mix and match ‘Office Assist Package’, meeting the precise needs of your business
- Dedicated team – so we get to know your business and team personally
- Professional image – to your customers at all times
- We specialise in office tasks – you specialise on your business
- A member of the Society Of Virtual Assistants
Sign up with phil.roberts@stloyes.ac.uk to jump out of a plane (with a parachute!) or take part in the Rock Solid Race at Escot Park (March 16th)and get sponsored for St Loye’s. All money raised going to support Ex-Forces with physical or mental health conditions get back into employment. Go on – Challenge yourself and friends to do something completely different!
Linda Bennett and Dave Barr thebestof Exeter
01392 248 263
We’d love to learn more about your business and see if we might be able to help promote what you do. So – we’re extending our Expo offer for reduced price thebestof Exeter membership to you. This ‘Internet friendly’ package has been tailored to suit everyone’s budget, giving you great online results on our newly designed website.
- Your business in up to 3 categories
- Up to 4 images
- Link to your website
- Email link
- Full contact details
- Up to 400 words of SEO copy written for you about your business
- Google Map
- Free call tracking telephone number
- 24/7 customer reviews
The most important thing to us is whether you qualify as one of ‘the best’, so let’s have a chat.
exeter.csd@thebestof.co.uk www.thebestof.co.uk/exeter/blog http://www.thebestof.co.uk/exeter
Hugh Graham of The Bid Coach
01963 240555 & 07970 694814
Free review and critique of a recent presentation – with suggestions for improvements. AND/OR free session to discuss what key messages you need to communicate in a forthcoming “must win” presentation
win@thebidcoach.com www.thebidcoach.com
Belinda Newton of The HR Dept
0845 863 0653
For a free review of your Company’s Contract of Employment and Staff Handbook, contact me mentioning Business Network SW.
Preventing People Problems:
E-mail: belinda.newton@hrdept.co.uk
Dan Farrell- Wright of Webformed
01189 657511
We have recently launched a Staff and Service User Management portal designed specifically for domiciliary care agencies. If anyone in the network can recommend us to a domiciliary care agency we will waive the initial setup fee of £120
dan@webformed.co.uk www.webformed.co.uk
Ian Smith – Winning Tenders
01392 247997
Free tender-readiness check for your business if you are thinking of tendering for contracts and want to know how you stack up i.e. is your business tender ready? Could be worth thousands!
Robert Guest of WPA
01404 815276
WPA has various special offers for new joiners to all our schemes. This applies whether you have an existing scheme with another provider or want information on starting a plan.
Robert.guest@wpa.org.uk www.linkedin.com/in/robertguest1
Exeter Business Network Dates for 2013
NEXT EVENT
6/3/13 at Lord Haldon Hotel
Seminar before lunch hosted by Stuart Devlin – Digital Director at e-Strategy
Topics covered – Emerging SEO & Digital Marketing Trends will explore a range of new and emerging areas of digital marketing disciplines and platform including SEO & Content Marketing and social Sharing. (above & beyond twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. This presentation will focus on best practices for those wanting to get the most of their digital marketing and how to avoid the pitfalls
· What can I do in-house
· When and why to use a specialist agency
· What the latest Google updates (Panda & Penguin) actually means
· Content marketing and how to extend your on-line reach
The Jargon free presentation is suited to both those who are relatively new to digital marketing and to the more experienced digital marketers. Ideal for those who run a business or those who work in marketing
Followed by THE Networking Lunch
♦ Do you know people who want to generate opportunities that will enhance their business?
♦ Do you know people who want to build mutually beneficial relationships with other decision makers?
♦ Do you know people who want networking to be relaxed and comfortable?
♦ Do you know people who want the opportunity to promote their business and expertise?
♦ Do you know people who want a team of advocates and ambassadors for their business?
♦ Do you know people who want to generate an ROI on their networking?
business-networksw.org www.linkedin.com/in/businessnetworksw
@seanhumby #BNSW www.facebook.com/BusinessNetworkSW
Or they can email their details to sean@business-network.co.uk
More photos from the February event..
Bristol Business Network 
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