Clarihon blog

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Since our last newsletter there have been 2 developments in the business networking arena in South East Cornwall.

We’ve started up the South East Cornwall Business Club with the help of a few business associates/colleagues.  It meets bi-monthly currently at Langmans Restaurant in Callington with meetings alternating between breakfast and lunch. For more details, please see the web site at http://www.secornwallbusinessclub.co.uk/.

The second is the demise of the Saltash Club within the Business League. Previous readers might remember my frequent support for the Business League. Now though, there are no active clubs within Cornwall and the Plymouth Central Club is the only one in SW Devon.

From the ashes of the Saltash BL club though there rises a phoenix called the Devon & Cornwall Business Club which has the strapline ‘Bridging the Tamar’.The aim is to help Devon-based businesses meet Cornish business and vice versa.

It too will be based at the China Fleet Country Club in Saltash but will meet bi-weekly for breakfast with the occasional lunch meeting thrown in. Membership costs £150 for 6 months and INCLUDES breakfast this time. No hidden/forgotten costs here. There’s still a 1 member per business sector rule. The web site will be launched in early-mid November and will provide full information. For now, you can view the holding page (http://www.devonandcornwallbusinessclub.co.uk/) for details of how to contact the Secretary to visit as a guest.

This was the fourth year of the St Mellion Business Needs & Support Exhibition and the fourth year that we have managed the show website: www.stmellionbusinesshow.co.uk.

It is one of the regions leading business shows and an important event to showcase goods and services.  This year we teamed up with Mark Lawson Design, a company that we work very closely with and many of our recent web projects have incorporated Mark’s design work.

It was a good day and a chance to renew acquaintances and hopefully initiate some others.  If you didn’t go this year, keep an eye on local advertising to put it in your diary for next year!

Networking and referrals have been our most productive sources of new clients.

With the short life of the Liskeard Club of the Business League and the dearth of business networking opportunities here in SE Cornwall I thought it was time to start something up myself.

The SE Cornwall Business Club (SECBC) had it’s first meeting over breakfast on Wednesday 8th September. 18 people booked for it and 15 made it to the meeting.

A very good and useful time was had by all and it was attended by  a good cross-section of local businesses. Everybody seemed to have enjoyed themselves and thought it worthwhile.

Thanks go to the fellow ‘Steering Group’ members Anne, Malcolm and John for their help. The next meeting is on Wednesday 6th October and involves a buffet lunch.

More details can be found at the SECBC web site: www.secornwallbusinessclub.co.uk

Well, it’s official, we’re out of recession.

I know that because I heard it from a local Lloyds TSB Manager at an event yesterday.

This event was just one of 11 networking opportunities or events I’ll have attended this month (April).

As a member of 2 Business League clubs, in Saltash and Liskeard, I’ll have attended 7 breakfast meetings. As a member of the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, The Federation of Small Business (FSB) and Callington Business Connections, I’ll have attended three more. With my connections to a couple of Lloyds TSB managers I’ve attended one more.

Mainly by attending these kind of events I’ve built up a network of over 550 business contacts, many of whom will be reading our bi-monthly newsletter.

I don’t expect to get business as a direct result of attending these events (sometimes it happens) but work is steadily building because of requests and referrals from people I meet at them.

Many Web (and IT) people don’t feel comfortable meeting lots of people in a semi-social context. That’s great because it gives people like us an advantage!

Get out there and meet people. You can only gain by meeting more people and the increased exposure for your ‘brand’ it will bring.

The third of three business networking events in just over a week was held in Callington, at Langman’s Restaurant.

The Callington Business network was started by Gail Buttery, the owner of Langman’s. Her husband Anton is the chef. If you want to combine friendly, relaxed networking with great food, this is the place!

The format is simple. Arrival and drinks with general mingling. Then we move through to the restaurant and do a 1-2 min round of introductions. This is followed by a presentation from a member or invited speaker and then finally (it seems sometimes!) we eat. To be fair, we don’t normally eat after about 8:30 and it’s worth waiting for.

The speaker at the last meeting was Deborah Morris. She gave an overview of the NLP technique and presented 3 very good examples of how it helps people work and communicate with others.

Again, another nice set of people and more good contacts made.