January 2022 – positive vibes for the new year

The first meeting of 2022 was opened by Chairman Kevin Guthrie who welcomed members at The Everyday Champions Centre. A new year but familiar faces greeted members ready for another morning of Newark Business Club

Active 4 today

Martin Picker, Director of Development, got us all thinking about how we can get our workforce happy and healthy with a corporate membership at Active 4 Today.

Active 4 Today have centres at Newark, Southwell, Ollerton & Bilsthorpe and members can access any one of them. There are 135 classes per week and some of the centres have sauna and steam rooms plus swimming pools. Fitness sessions are tailored to the individual. As part of the membership, your company can have a free on site health assessment and each employee will receive guest passes for friends and family.

As part of the membership, your company can have a free on site health assessment and each employee will receive guest passes for friends and family

Quick on the draw

Before the round table networking, Dagmar Bryant, Motivational Speaker & Transformational Coach made it back to back draws, this time as the regular member.rom Lekan Adediran from The Jobcentre was our newbie drawn from the bowl.

Spotlight on Lekan

Lekan Adediran has been a civil servant for 25 years in the UK, spending most of his time with the Home Office together with working as a diplomat for 3 years, training and mentoring other law enforcement agencies globally. His is currently working as a Customer Service Manager at Newark jobcentre. My job role has been rewarding and seeing thousands of our customers getting back into work with our fantastic employers in Nottinghamshire district has been great.

Over the years he has consistently dealt with different customers from various walks of life and culture and has received a number of awards for his role in customer service and law enforcement. Lekan was invited by a colleague to visit the Business club for employers in Newark on the 7th January. He said he had had an awesome time listening to the speakers on the day and seeing the number of employers at the event really brings hope for career advancement for our youth. 

He hoped that Newark Job centre would be able to network with our employers within the district, encouraging employers to contact us for help in finding that right candidate for the job and accepting some of our customers with disability.

In his spare time, Lekan enjoys travelling and has been to a few countries, learning different cultures and embracing the various perceptions to life. He thanked the business club for inviting him to the meeting and hoped to make an impact to the community and schools in the East Midlands..

Vision for health improvement

Helen Ellison, Health Improvement Officer for Newark & Sherwood District Council, took to the stage to share the vision and challenges we’re facing in society and how it’s more than just diet and exercise that affects our health and wellbeing.

Good work, our surroundings, housing and transport are just some of the factors that help keep us healthy.

The county has 9 health and wellbeing priorities that link into the Newark & Sherwood health and wellbeing partnership plan. These include ensuring a good start, improving healthy lifestyles, tackling physical inactivity, addressing the needs of the ageing population, improving housing and the environment whilst recognising that mental health is a cross cutting theme in all priorities.

A small and easy tip for businesses is body MOTs – to check the blood pressure levels of employees. Although a snapshot, it’s a good talking point about health and wellbeing.

Sharing Business Knowledge

The Action Group meet on 4th Monday of the month and are always looking for others to join and share their knowledge of the town. Michael Hardy delivered an update about the rail timetable and Midlands Connect are running a survey on the Nottingham-Lincoln line which you can complete here and tell them about the service you want;

https://midlandsconnect.consultationonline.co.uk/lincoln-nottingham/

Economic Growth team at NSDC are also conducting a survey on the night time economy (after 4pm) in Newark. We have a wonderful town centre that isn’t being maximised.

The business resilience programs are still running with opportunities for businesses within the food and drink, retail, manufacturing and accommodation sectors.

Next month we have guests talking about sustainability and the steps you can take.

Duelling of the A46

Robert Jenrick provided an update to confirm that the duelling of the A46 at Winthorpe is still happening as per his last conversation with The Chancellor. Spring should see the rail timetable return to pre covid levels but he will still push for an improvement as these weren’t sufficient

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Members in their Christmas jumpers

Next Meeting – Friday 4th February

We look forward to seeing you and remember to book you ticket using the link below. If you need any more persuasion there are great breakfasts available from our friends at Cox Events.

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For sponsorship opportunities, contact chairman@newarkbusinessclub.co.uk