September 2017 Meeting Shorts
It was a chilly, autumnal start to the morning as Club Chairman Amy Codd welcomed seventy business people to Newark Business Club at the Everyday Champions Centre on Friday 1st September.
Newark Youth Trust
Club Treasurer, Malcolm Ellison, took to the stage to provide the presentation for this month’s club sponsor, Newark Youth Trust, for whom he is the Clerk.
Since its establishment in 1994 the trust has sought to support Newark-based youth organisations for the education, recreation and health benefit of young people in the town.
The trust is keen to offer small capital grants to groups, but would like to see more applications coming in. Malcolm asked club members to encourage applications from organisations they come into contact with that support young people.
The trust recently invested in an after-school club’s healthy eating programme, providing funding for a cooker, pots and pans and other equipment.
Other recent awards have been granted to fund an outdoor shelter for scouts; a boat for sea scouts; the refurbishment of a local skate park; a football kit and mats for use in martial arts sessions.
Anyone interested in submitting an application for funding should contact Malcolm Ellison at Tallents on 01636 671881 or email elaineellison@btinternet.com
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
James Fountain from Bazzoo and Chair of the Action Group took to the stage to update the club on all things logistics.
Trains
James set out the Action Group’s key requirements for the East Midlands Rail Franchise Consultation:
- Faster journey times with high performance trains, infrastructure improvements and alterations to service patterns.
- Increased service frequencies with two trains/hour the minimum frequency on routes connecting key cities.
- An increase in rolling stock to eliminate overcrowding.
- Comfortable trains with adequate seating to encourage people to transfer from their cars.
- A simple ticketing system that provides good value for money.
The Action Group hopes that the changes will:
- Deliver economic, financial and social benefits to the East Midlands by improving connectivity.
- Contribute to accelerated housing and job growth.
- Drive a modal shift in journeys from road to rail.
- Significantly contribute towards the Government’s objectives to improve air quality, especially in Derby, and the four Air Quality Management Areas served by the Midland a Main Line where there is a danger to health.
James advised that the reason the train barriers were recently stuck in the lowered position for four hours was due to faulty sensors at crossings. He went on to say that there was a call for all recently effected stations to be manned, so that the manual override could be actioned quickly on site. At present the problem has to be rectified by an engineer being called from Doncaster or Derby.
Automobiles
James alerted the club of the planned road closures on Wednesday 6th September due to the Tour of Britain passing through the town.
To close, James invited interested club members to the next Action Group meeting at 6pm Monday 25th September at William Saunders.
Totally Locally Fiver Fest
Jill Brown from BCR Associates took to the stage to promote Totally Locally and the third Fiver Fest.
Jill advised that more than 24,000 leaflets about Totally Locally had recently been delivered to homes across the town and surrounding villages. Jill confirmed that more than 60 businesses in Newark were now involved in Totally Locally and were running offers or discounts during the fortnight (2nd – 17th September).
The Tour of Britain Comes to Newark
On Wednesday 6th September, the Tour of Britain will travel through and come to a close on Sconce Park in Newark.
Volunteering = Better Business Leaders
Having recently returned from a two-week volunteering mission in Zambia, Kerri Saxby from Shooting Star took to the stage to encourage people to take up volunteering opportunities.
During her time away, Kerri and a team of 20 built a classroom for school children and a recreation room for girls who have been rescued from the streets.
Kerri identified an improvement in her motivation, communication and collaboration, creativity, passion and patience following her trip; all key skills of a great leader.
She explained that volunteering had offered her an opportunity to experience a new environment and culture; consider new ways of doing things; learn how to adapt to resource-scarce situations; and continue to learn new skills.
She urged club members to look for volunteering opportunities to help support their personal development and help others within their local community or further afield.
Through Your Letterbox
Representing Use Locally magazines, Mike Gulliford attended the club and had his business card pulled from the hat for a write up in the Club’s newsletter and in the Newark Advertiser.
Use Locally magazine is a free monthly publication delivered to 20,000 residents, shops and businesses in Newark and the surrounding area.
Advertisers range from retail outlets, industrial outlets, service industries and homebased businesses.
Advertising rates are flexible and generally are lower cost than newspaper, magazine and online.
For more information about Use Locally magazines, please visit: www.uselocally.co.uk
Bringing Back the Lord Nelson
The club was pleased to welcome Oli Husemeyer to talk about how she and her business partners have restored and re-opened the Lord Nelson in Winthorpe.
The Lord Nelson had been closed for six months before Oli and her team took on and worked tirelessly to restore it with care and attention to detail.
The team pride themselves on great food, reasonable prices and excellent customer service delivered by well trained staff.
As part of their commitment to the local community, the Lord Nelson team sponsor local events at Norton Disney Horse Trials and Newark Rugby Club as well as the local village school, WI and cricket club.
Oli invited businesses to use the pub for meetings, celebratory meals and presentations.
MP Question Time
Robert Jenrick, MP for Newark & Bingham, attended the meeting and shared some thoughts on the EU Withdrawal Bill. He reassured businesses that the Government would do everything it could to make the transition period as smooth as possible, but he appreciated that uncertainty was leaving people feeling less secure.
Locally, Robert was enthusiastic about the launch of the first free school in Newark, which he hopes will create an outstanding school on the Fernwood development. On the topic of schools, Robert was pleased to report significant improvements to exam results at the Magnus and Newark Academy.
On the subject of transport, Robert confirmed that the draft plan for the dualling of the A46 would be available by the end of 2018 and then consultation by the end of 2020. Robert echoed James’ concern about the problems with the train barriers in the town and surrounding villages. Robert identified the short-term solution would be to bring back manual operators who could deal with the problems more quickly.
Parish Notices
Those who want to watch the Tour of Britain on the big screen are invited to The Burgage in Southwell to watch from 10:30am or in the Co-op car park in Collingham from 1:30pm.
The Children’s Bereavement Centre in Newark invited all club members to attend the next meeting in something bright and colourful to celebrate ‘Dress Loud Day’ on 6th October, to make some noise about local charities.
Sponsorship Opportunities
Want to see your name on the big screen? Please contact Simon Shaw via the website if you would like to sponsor a meeting. For a one-off payment, you will get 10-minutes (optional) in front of a range of businesses at one of our meetings and we’ll use your logo and business details on our well circulated marketing materials.
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.
Join Our Club?
Started a new job or just moved into the area? Why not join us for our next business club? We’re a group of supportive, welcoming and approachable people representing a range of different disciplines and businesses from across Newark and the surrounding area.
The next meeting will take place at the Everyday Champions Centre in Newark on Friday 6th October, 7am-9am. Entry is £7 and includes free tea and coffee. Breakfast rolls are available to purchase during the break.
Got a question about joining us? Get in touch via social media and ask a question or read through some of our recent updates. Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/newarkbc or search for Newark Business Club on Facebook.
