On an unseasonably cool morning, around 80 businesspeople arrived bright and early at the YMCA for Newark Business Club’s June meeting.
After the welcome by chairman Simon Gabbitas, the meeting kicked off with the roving mic being passed around the room.
This gave everyone the opportunity to introduce themselves and their businesses. It was great to see so many first-time visitors in the room.
Today’s meeting was sponsored by Nottingham Business School (NBS), part of Nottingham Trent University. Mick Stoves, who teaches marketing at NBS and runs his own marketing and advertising business, M4G, led a thought-provoking presentation and question and answer session on how to bring your brand to life by creating a value proposition.
Using a case study, he guided us through the process the business used to create a story that clearly differentiated their business from others in the marketplace. As a starting point, the business looked at the intersection of what they were deeply passionate about, what they could be best in the world at, and what drove their economic engine – this is a model used by management consultants, McKinsey. Armed with that information, they communicated their value proposition in marketing materials by unpicking the different aspects of their services that made them unique, communicating their business’s purpose, being open and transparent, and including relevant quotes to illustrate key points. rebrand.
Adrian Williams introduced Nottingham Business School’s new Sustainability and Inclusive Leadership Course, which is designed to give businesspeople a greater understanding of the social and environmental issues surrounding sustainability. All businesses will have to adapt to sustainability in the near future, so it’s a good idea to get ahead of your competitors by developing an action plan for your business now. This short, free course, consisting of face-to-face and online workshops, is available for employees of businesses in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire with start-dates in June, September and October. For more details, email SAIL@ntu.ac.uk
The first round of speed networking followed. Each person had one minute to present his or her business to everyone else on their table and pass their business cards around. Whilst winners of the business cards draws were Jacob Wright from Salt & Light Financial Services, a regular attendee, and Dom Clayton Digital Media, a first-time visitor.
Michael Hardy, the chairman of the Action Group, updated us on the group’s latest achievements. As a result of direct action by the group, the new East Midlands Railway timetable is now in place. Six extra trains a day on the Lincoln to Leicester line are now connecting Newark with other towns and cities in the East Midlands. An £18 million investment in improving journey times has been proposed and, if this is implemented, the speed of the trains on the line will increase from around 50 mph to 75 mph.
Farndon Cricket Club is the first beneficiary of the A46 Social Value Fund through the National Highways agency, which supports local community projects. In the area of town planning, Newark and Sherwood District Council is supportive of bringing more residential properties into the town centre, leading to increased footfall for businesses. A plethora of events in Newark town centre is planned in the rest of the year, increasing the number of visitors to the town and expanding the number of customers for local businesses..
The Action Group aims to make Newark the best place to do business. If you would like to get involved, you are welcome to attend the group’s next monthly meeting on 26th June.
In the second presentation, Will Parkinson and Victoria Cozens from the Economic Growth team at Newark and Sherwood District Council gave information on the Rural Business Investment Programme (round 1), which aims to help rural businesses to develop and grow. Capital funding of £10,000 to £50,000 is available to support a variety of projects such as the diversification of farm businesses outside of agriculture.
A 40% funding contribution is required and the closing date for applications is June 7th. The second round of funding will be announced in 2024
Salt & Light Financial Services is a Christian financial planning & coaching practice based in the Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshire area.
We’re not a traditional financial planning practice, we’re very different.
Our mission is to make financial planning affordable, accessible and simple for anyone who needs our help.
Ultimately, we help our clients understand and implement the following:
1. What money they can spend, now and in the future
2. Whether they’ll run out of money, ever
3. How they can give their money to their nearest and dearest when the time is right
Financial planning doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that.
If you want to join us on our mission, please contact us to sign up to our free financial wellbeing & coaching workshops. These workshops are designed to help both businesses and individuals improve their own financial awareness.
Alternatively, you can get an idea of where you stand with your current financial wellbeing by completing the free Financial Wellbeing Scorecard™ here: https://jacob-financialwellbeing.scoreapp.com.
The purpose of the scorecard is to help you gain awareness around the current state of your finances and what this means for your financial future. This is a completely free assessment tool that takes 2-3 minutes to complete. You will get an immediate result & report to read later.
If you want to understand how Salt & Light Financial Services are different, please click here: https://linktr.ee/saltandlightfs
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Until the end of June, I will be offering a 15% discount on my services to all who mention the Newark Business Club Newsletter as the source of their discovery.
Feel free to get in touch via my mobile at 07931 407 679, or through email at dom@domclayton.com. My showreel and other examples of my work can be found at www.domclayton.com. Contact me today to discuss your project requirements and let’s start creating exciting new visual content!
A new initiative was introduced. Each month, a business book will be selected and bought, and will be given to one attendee to read and then pass around to other members of the club. This was kicked off with a signed copy of Positive Networking by Mike Stokes, who was present at the meeting. Ashley Hallam’s business card was drawn to receive this book. If you would like to recommend a business book or podcast, email chairman@newarkbusinessclub.co.uk or visit the business club’s Facebook page.
Write up Roz Andrews, RA Writers For Hire
We are delighted to announce the following Patrons for 2023: Gusto Group|Funding Round|Reflect Recruitment|Barcode Warehouse|Motorfinity|PeachyEvents
The YMCA catering team offer a range of delicious breakfasts which are available to purchase.
Please Book your tickets online
YMCA Community and Activity Village
Lord Hawke Way
Newark
Nottinghamshire NG24 4FH
For sponsorship opportunities, contact chairman@newarkbusinessclub.co.uk