Chairman’s Business Networking Blog, Thursday 20th October 2016.
19 Members present and 1 visitor, Stephanie Sallows an Employment Coordinator.
As we all know David Plumley is in Chile. His organisation skills did not desert him however before he left and he had made full preparation for others to deal with the Education Slot in his absence.
This week it was Paul Booth and we were in for a treat!!! He told us all about uberisation and then proceeded to explain how easy it was. We were then further treated to a baffling check list of things to do in relation to hailing a taxi that would ultimately turn out to be cheaper and more efficient than yer average black cab. Basically his message was that things change and we should be able to change with them. Whether Uber itself will survive a court judgement as to whether it employs or doesn’t employ it’sdrivers remains to be seen. What I feel I can do in this Blog however is add to your understanding of uberisation. It has reached India. An uber-like smart phone app has been launched in India aiming at making it easier for farmers to hire tractors. Apparently hourly rental can be obtained for between 400 and 700 Rupees…..a fiver to you. You heard it here first!!
What of the 60 second round:
One theme was people being busy. Mike Rogers was busy, Michael Adelizzi was busy, Kim had been busy all week and Kevin Brooks had hoped not to be busy but had got another job in Walthamstow and already feels in the need of a holiday. Alan Moller was definitely busy with 20 jobs backed up. He came out with the revelation that he has a white board indoors, which caused me (perhaps unfairly) to enquire whether he was a nobo fetishist. He had to leave early, which was perhaps just as well, as the referrals round had him receiving at least 5 new referrals.
Donna Evans has been busy all week matching Poles. Whether she will be able to continue doing this post brexit remains to be seen.
Nick Cooke was absent but the School of Whimsy was well represented. Brian Painter, fresh from the black sands of Tenerife,painted a wonderful picture of himself in speedos sitting on a beach sipping a Pina Colada. What should come along but errant cigarette smoke from a lady several yards down the beach. He apparently could not see the smoke but he smelt it. 80% of cigarette smoke is apparently invisible. I am pleased to report however that he made it back safely. A contender for the School of Whimsy this week was Jo Jones because unusually she was selling a drum kit rather than any fitness aids. Alan Shaw, on the other hand apparently, had a week when everything was going well for him until 5 pm last night when he had a telephone call from a Planning Officer indicating that a scheme for one of his clients had been kicked out by the Environmental Agency. One of the things I found hard to believe about this scenario was that a Planning Officer was still in the office at 5pm to give him the telephone call.
The Naughty Table was subdued. This can normally be put down to the absence of Howard Bullock and today was no exception. Somehow the others just do not function (in a naughty way) without his presence.
This week was my chance to get back at everyone else, because I was awarding the Oscar. It was awarded without hesitation to Richard Reed who not only emphasised what he did but also the personal nature of his service as the reason why we should use him…that and the fact that he bombards us with holidays offers.
Brian Painter was standing in for David Plumley this week and introduced our 10 minute speaker, Terry Maylin. He produced a very precise and clear explanation of how TM Law can help clients who are either landlords or tenants in dealing with residential or commercial property. Some of the pit falls that he explained were not entirely legal, for instance the use of a Taser on a tenant by a landlord. It was certainly one stage up from the mugging that he tries to give any one on the other side that he is dealing with.
He was promptly followed by the referrals round which, given our relatively low numbers this week, was excellent. There were 24 referrals and in excess of £11,000 worth of business written.
There was a committee meeting after the meeting closed in relation to the exhibition on Wednesday 2nd November 2016 in which EBF are partaking. There are plans afoot that are being currently co-ordinated by Jill Willis and Scott Griffiths. Please look out for emails and deal with them promptly.
As always I look forward to next week’s meeting.
Good meeting, although i thought the star of the show was the toaster, clearly more complicated than we expected. Perhaps EBF needs a Toastmaster!!
Another example of uberisation and radically changing a traditional business is in the car rental business. I forget the names of the companies but if you go on holiday and drive to the airport to the park, you still drive to the car park and then lend it to a car rental company to rent out while you are away. You get no car parking charges, a valeted car on your return and often a small commission. For the car rental company, they do not have the capital costs of purchasing the vehicles – a win win situation.
Great meeting and see you next week.
By the way, it’s the last week before Halloween so we were planning to do Halloween related/scary 60 seconds.
I apologise for my absence. I have it on good authority that normal service shall resume next week!
It felt as if I’d never been away! Wonderful how Rottweiler Terry can change from metaphorical gamekeeper to poacher in the blink of an eye. I always read the Blog, it lets me know what I’ve said!
super 10 minutes Terry, you really know your stuff and thanks for all the continued help you give to our landlords. you are uber and above anyone else. note to self for next week….must be more naughty on the naughty table. Funnily enough talking of naughty, I saw Howard yesterday as we both pulled up to a mini roundabout, i had to give way to him and he stopped to give way to someone else, it was like a game of chess. in the end he didn’t have enough power so I got out and pushed him around the roundabout
Great lively meeting and i was delighted to get the door prize only to have it taken away (twice) oh well there is always next week….
Another excellent Ed Slot, the bar has definately been raised – David take note!!
Terry demonstrated in his 10 mts why it is oh so important to “get it right first time” – can save you a fortune in the long run.
Well, what do you know, I won the oscar (think it’s the first time) 🙂
Great meeting again folks, have a good ‘un, I’m off to the Velodrome this afternoon to see how high I can get it so wish me luck .
Great meeting as always! Just a reminder to all fill in your doodle surveys please. J