Newark Business Club Meeting Write-Up – 5 June 2026
Deputy chair Simon Shaw welcomed local businesspeople to Newark Business Club’s June meeting at the YMCA. The roving mic travelled around the room, giving everyone the opportunity to introduce themselves and their businesses, displaying the diversity of Newark’s vibrant business community.
Meeting Sponsor – Wrigleprint
Scott Wrigley, founder and managing director of Wrigleprint, a Newark-based garment printing and embroidery business, is proud to have worked with and supported many local businesses for more than 12 years, as well as supplying printed garments to other clients throughout the UK and worldwide.
In the sporting arena, Wrigleprint provides branded sports kits and tracksuits for sports clubs and sporting professionals, including paralympic athletes representing Great Britain and title-winning boxers.
In the education sector, Wrigleprint brands and supplies uniforms for local schools and is one of the leading suppliers of leavers’ hoodies in the UK. As a community-focused company, Wrigleprint also works with local charities and community projects, providing the branding for charities and fundraising events.
In 2020, Scott raised over £10,000 for the Children’s Bereavement Centre after taking part in 20 challenging events, including ultra marathons. Scott also raised funds for the YMCA when running the London Marathon in 2025.
The Business Card Draw
Next on the agenda was the business card draw. The winners of a write-up each were Ben Gathercole-Day of BGD Photography, a first-time visitor, and Gaz Cresswell of HiPer Business Solutions, a regular attendee.
Patron Sponsor – Gusto Group
Steff Wright, founder of Gusto Group, spoke about his company’s ongoing journey to employee ownership. After founding his business when he was 17, Steff has had an interesting entrepreneurial journey in which he has added several different businesses to the Gusto Group, including a construction company, an architects practice and a plastic moulding company. During the pandemic, Steff began to think more deeply about Gusto Group’s purpose as a company and the next chapter for the business as he approaches retirement.
In 2020, the Gusto Community Fund was created, with each staff member being given £500 to donate to a local charity or community fund of their choice. Subsequently, Gusto Group became a certified B Corporation and appointed a new group managing director. Inspired by the John Lewis group, Gusto Group has embarked on a three-year journey to becoming a 100% employee-owned company in 2027. The first phase involved giving each employee EMI growth shares, under which they will benefit from the company’s growth over the three years. Then, on EOT day in 2027, all staff and shareholders will receive payouts. At that point, the company will be 100%-owned by its employees.
This is a journey that all Gusto Group’s employees are taking together as they gradually transition from being employees only to becoming employee-owners. In future, the employee-owners will be involved in decisions on how the company’s profits will be invested and spent.
2 Minute Spotlight!
This month, Sahira Raza of The Carbon Prism, an environmental consultancy providing carbon reporting services, stood in the spotlight. The Carbon Prism’s mission is to turn messy carbon data into a competitive advantage for businesses. It transforms mandatory compliance data into a diagnostic tool that improves profit margins, helping businesses to navigate tightening environmental regulations while reducing waste and avoiding over-taxation.
Who Gives a Book?!
Simon Shaw recommended Surrounded by Idiots: The Four Types of Human Behaviour by Thomas Erikson as this month’s inspiring business book. Nigel Lamb of Xposure Creative Brand Marketing won a copy.
Events
Two business events organized by Newark & Sherwood District Council’s Economic Growth team are:
- A Wellbeing at Work Morning on 1 July at Newark Showground
- The sixth Newark & Sherwood Economic Growth Conference: Overcoming Barriers, Building Connections and Unlocking Inclusive Growth on 8 October at The Pumping House in Ollerton
For further information on these events, contact Will Parkinson: will.parkinson@newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk
Other events for businesses include:
- Gusto Fest – a summer celebration for all businesses at the Lost Village Festival site on 27 June. Enjoy live bands, street food, a bar, family entertainment, as well as a screening of England’s World Cup match at 10pm. Tickets are £25 per adult with children under 16 free. Table sponsorship packages are available for businesses.
- A Business Bootcamp: Super Solopreneurs, organised by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) on 8 July at the Pumping House in Ollerton. Book your free place at: Overview ⋮ FSB Business Bootcamp: Super Solopreneurs ⋮ The Federation of Small Businesses ⋮ Events
- Newark Dining Network’s next meeting on 8 July at Thai Sabai in Newark. Book your place on Eventbrite.
- Newark Business Club’s Action Group meeting on 30 June at 5.30 pm at the YMCA.
Events organised by local charities include:
- Beaumond Hospice’s Tea at the House on 19 June from 12.30 until 4.30 pm. Come along and enjoy delicious cakes at Beaumond House in Newark.
- A Charity Golf Day organised by Wish Upon a Star on 13 August at the Thonock Park Golf Club in Gainsborough
- The Dragon Boat Race in aid of The Children’s Bereavement Centre and Beaumond House on 13 September. Registration is still open for teams, and the organisers are looking for volunteers.
Member Spotlight – HiPer Business Solutions
Helping Local Businesses Get Back in Control My name is Gaz Creswell, and I run HiPer Business Solutions, helping small and service-based businesses improve how they work behind the scenes. When chatting with local businesses, I keep hearing how hard it is to keep everything organised. Spreadsheets need updating, job notes end up in different places, customer follow-ups get missed, and a lot still relies on people remembering what needs doing next.
Businesses are not doing anything wrong. They are busy serving customers, managing staff and keeping things moving. But when the system behind the work is unclear, it can affect the team, customer experience and the business’s reputation. That is where HiPer Command comes in. HiPer Command looks at how a business works, then turns that into clear, practical actions. One area I am especially focused on locally is Service Ops, built for businesses managing jobs, appointments, site visits, customer requests or ongoing service work. Service Ops keeps the business on the ball internally while improving how customers experience the service externally.
When jobs are tracked properly, customers are updated, issues are followed up, and feedback is requested at the right time, the reputation of the business can improve. Once the process is clear, parts can be automated, such as reminders, job updates, feedback requests, review follow-ups or simple reporting. For me, this is about giving local businesses better systems, clearer information, and a stronger reputation in the community.
To find out more, contact Gaz at gaz@go-hiper.com.
Thank you to Our Patrons & Sponsors
We are delighted to announce the following Patrons for 2025: Gusto Group|GXO in Partnership with Currys|Barcode Warehouse|PeachyEvents|Radio Newark
Next meeting
The next meeting of Newark Business Club will be on 3rd July at the YMCA, with doors opening from 6.45am. Write up by Roz Andrews of RA Writers For Hire/RA Book Editing / Photos supplied by Nicola Auckland Photography.
