Chairman’s blog Thursday 17th April 2025

For those of us who arrive at 6:00 AM, yes there are indeed some of us, we were greeted with full daylight, a clear blue sky and the hope that last week’s attendance would be repeated this week. We’re not disappointed. We finished up with 27 in all and furthermore that number included last week’s guest Charlie Portway who added to the joy of the occasion by declaring at the end of the meeting that he was intending to apply and join us.

An unusual early bird arrival this week was the Mayor of Gants Hill Village. Not only was it a pleasure to have an extra early starter but those of us with a dignitary nickname were able by the end of the meeting to be assured that they would have another one joining their ranks. More of this later when all will be revealed.

And so to the meeting itself which by virtue of its numbers was busy and replete with networking opportunities.

The Performance League

After two weeks Paul Corrigan is out front with 249 points, closely followed by Podcast Paul on 232 points with Toby Acton, a little further behind but a creditable third with 130 points. Judging by the referrals passed at the end of the meeting the numbers are likely to increase substantially by next meeting.

Education Presentation

Paul Booth opened with a deceptive reference to how marketing ourselves can be expensive and as an accountant and true to type he was able to quite clearly indicate that he didn’t like spending money. This neatly led him into his theme, that the easiest way to increase all of our marketing potential was simply to get more members to join EBF. Music to my ears…… my hobby horse duly dignified by the education slot. The more members the more referrals…. simples!! Thanks Paul, a welcome reminder.

The 60 Second Round

It was Celebrant Paul Dulieu who emphasised the importance to his business of listening, which was of course something that he was intending to do in particular with regard to this 60 second round.

Best use of props this week was by Jon Foster. He showed us a top of the range 3 star lock that was anti pick, anti drill, anti snap, anti all sorts of things. His reason for showing us this was that he had this week being called upon to try and bypass such a lock that he had previously installed for a customer of his. Having shown us the upmarket lock as fitted, he was then able to demonstrate the problems that he had to go through including two broken drill bits and total destruction of the lock mechanism in order to get his client into his house.

With Easter upon us it was not surprising that there was some reference to holiday. Matt Barry’s was a reference to a branding project he was engaged on regarding holiday let’s and he was promptly followed by James Humphrey’s enthusiasm for the holiday he had just had in Cornwall. He was less enthusiastic about business cards that had been produced for him but not, as they could have been, through Vincent Goode. If you don’t get the right people to do the work you don’t get the quality. This problem was further emphasised by Dave Moore who pointed out how important preparation was when dealing with floors and how this week he had come across a badly prepared floor that required him to lift and re prime before laying his own product.

Tagline of the morning came from Mike Skinner. He was looking for event organisers and businesses with projects to enable him to exercise his video skills. He declared that he would  ‘make your business look the business’… Excellent.

Because he’s so good at it, Ben Golding’s 60 seconds tends to get a mention every week. This week I decided I would give him a miss. That was until he put on a pair of ears and declared himself the Easter Bunny, he also produced an Easter egg….. OK you win Ben!

After that it was a bit downhill, however, interesting fact of the day was from Dave Roberts. Apparently smoke alarms have an expiry date. Testing of these items should include checking that the date has not passed. Interesting admission of the day was that Howard Bullock will be 55 years of age tomorrow. He will be able to take a tax free lump sum out of his pension. He cautioned however that this should not be done for the sake of it and there should be a good reason if this is going to be done. His sensible and professional approach to this issue is not only refreshing but also won him the Oscar

If it is Howard’s birthday tomorrow, next Monday is National Tea Day. Apparently according to Jane Malyon there is a resurgence amongst the 20 to 30 year olds in the consumption of tea as opposed to coffee. She was able to confirm that caffeine is present in tea as well as coffee so that would probably explain it!

One of the benefits of of having a good turnout is I get plenty of good material for my blog. Time is inevitably against me so anybody who felt they ought to have had a mention but don’t appear in this part of the blog…. Tough

Meeting Secretaries Report

Scott Griffiths had a polite request as to how we use the chat box on the website. On the basis that you should not feel discouraged in any way whatsoever in entering up referrals and thanks for the money etc. if you want to speak to him, use the telephone! Podcast Paul was also involved at this stage with the announcement of his new podcast with Easter Bunny Ben Golding. We should all check this out.

10-minute presentation by Toby Acton

This was a Toby Acton special. No mention of mentoring, motivational mapping or magnificent metaphors. It was all far more intriguing than that. We were treated to a feast of genealogy. By way of the medium of a television screen he was able to illustrate the Actons over the centuries. They originated in Shropshire, they finished up in County Wicklow until one of them changed his name to Ball- Acton and came back to Shropshire. There was a Barony involved and all in all this entertaining frolic through his family tree was as subliminally effective as any metaphors or motivational maps. Metaphorically speaking he has made his bones  and has qualified for a dignitary nickname to be used whenever EBF members gather together joining the Mayor of Gants Hill Village to name but one. Henceforth he will be known as The Honourable Baron of High Ongar. Let us end on this high note