Club Chairman Amy Codd welcomed eighty business people to the meeting of the Newark Business Club at the Everyday Champions Centre on Friday 7th July.
It had been a busy month for Amy who was invited to the opening of the Matsuri festival hosted by Newark Ninjutsu. The festival welcomed European representatives from the Bujinkan Brian Dojo from Malta, Rotterdam, Germany, Ireland and Hungary.
David Smith took to the stage to share why Newark Beacon is more than just an office space.
The site offers a range of offices, workshops for light engineering and even a has virtual office facilities. But the team who manage the site also offer bespoke business coaching, acting as a confidential sounding board for ideas and asking challenging questions to help businesses grow.
David and the team don’t do customer retention, they want their customers to expand and fly the nest. To help business owners achieve this, the team arrange a variety of free events to help companies develop innovative ways of working.
Newark Beacon is currently developing three large rooms into nine smaller offices to accommodate one to three people each. The development is due for completion in July.
For more information about Newark Beacon and its services please visit www.newark-beacon.co.uk
Action Group Chair, James Fountain, introduced the action group activities to newer members of the club. The Action Group’s aim is to work hard on behalf of club members to improve the environment for businesses in and around Newark.
Sewage: Harewood Avenue residents recently reported problems with congestion as development works continue around Boundary Road as part of the Severn Trent work.
Rail: The Action Group has prepared a prospectus, ahead of consultation on the East Coast line which is due to take place on Tuesday 11th July. The paper will highlight key points to MPs for improved local and national services. James is due to hold a conference call with the LEP on 31st July and attend a meeting with East Midlands Trains Project Director, Andrew McDonald, on 2nd August.
Highways: James recognised the on-going problems with congestion on the A1 and A46. He is awaiting the outcomes of the recent traffic conference and will update the club once these are known. However, interim measures are being put in place to slow traffic down and hopefully reduce accidents.
Accommodation: James updated the club on the development plans for Kelham Hall, which has recently submitted planning for a 60-bed hotel and 48-bed holiday home complex.
Town Centre: St Marks shopping centre got a mention following a recent refresh to its signage. The Royal Market has introduced a deluxe diner outside town hall as part of the reorganisation of the market, giving it a more continental feel. And Newark in Bloom has well and truly taken over the town with flowers of all colours on display.
On Wednesday 6th September, the Tour of Britain will travel through and come to a close on Sconce Park in Newark. Julie Reader-Sullivan informed club members of the sponsorship and community activity opportunities available to businesses and residents of Newark and Sherwood and encouraged everyone to get involved.
Julie also heads up the Newark Tourism Action Group, which is keen to target visitors from the planning stage right through to their reviews of Newark, following their visit. She asked for the club’s support in sharing social media campaigns and future events.
Martin, Adam and Deborah from Newark Rugby Club shared the sports club’s plans for development in the coming months and years.
Phase one, which is now complete, included the installation of new changing rooms, referee and physio rooms. Phase two will involve new community meeting rooms, disabled facilities, baby changing, toilets and club shop facilities and phase three will be the building of the new club house, kitchen and bar, disabled lift and viewing area.
Newark RUFC already works with the community and local businesses, training more than 400 young people aged six to 18 and hosting events with Vodafone, Barcode Warehouse, Beaumond House and Newark Patriotic Fund.
Advertising opportunities are available to businesses including pitch-side and shirt advertising, corporate tables during league games and firework night and clubhouse naming rights.
Anyone interested in taking up sponsorship opportunities should contact the club directly via www.newarkrugby.com
The club welcomed Nathan Cumberland as the final speaker of the morning. Having lost both his legs to an IED in Afghanistan in 2009, former Lance Sergeant Cumberland has spent the last eight years using sport as his salvation.
But it was his upbeat personality which really inspired the club. Nathan set himself a number of goals following his rehabilitation, including walking down the aisle to marry his fiancée, mastering power-lifting and the shot put and competing in the Invictus Games in Florida in 2016.
Nathan is now working for a charity in Nottingham which helps homeless children aged 16 to 21. And on 6th September, he will be supporting his friend Iain Maynard as he attempted to run from Holyhead Lighthouse in Wales to the Brayford Pool in Lincoln to fundraise for Cystic Fibrosis.
Club members donated £232 to the challenge following the meeting and wish him and Iain all the best for the challenge. For more information visit www.facebook.com/challengehallerose
Want to see your name on the big screen? Please contact Simon Shaw if you would like to sponsor a meeting. For a one-off payment, you can deliver a presentation to a range of businesses in Newark and see your logo on marketing materials which are circulated by the club.
We’ll also give you a shout out on social media and share images of your presentation during the meeting before writing you up for a feature in the Newark Advertiser.
Fancy networking with likeminded business people and making better business links in Newark and the surrounding area? Then Newark Business Club is a great place to start.
The next meeting will take place at the Everyday Champions Centre in Newark on Friday 4th August, 7am-9am. Entry is £7 and includes free tea and coffee. Breakfast rolls are available to purchase during the break.
New members always welcome, just bring your business cards and we’ll make you feel right at home.
In the meantime, you can check out the club and its members via the website www.newarkbusinessclub.co.uk, follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/newarkbc or join the Facebook group. Just search for Newark Business Club.