Not only was it dark but there was moisture in the air and the threat of rain. The rain actually held off until 8.15 am when the heavens opened and for an hour or more it was torrential and all of us suffered some water damage as we tried to get to our cars as a prelude to leaving. The good news was that we were twenty members in number with a visitor, Sophie Newbold, who’s been before and who has made an application to join….. reasons to be cheerful!
The Performance League
Terry Maylin is way out in the lead with 147 points followed by Stuart Smallcombe and then myself.
Education Presentation
In Ben Golding’s absence full arrangements had been made by him for the meeting and it was Jane Malyon who gave the presentation. Her theme was EBF itself. We are not just a business networking/referral organisation. The ‘F’ could well stand for ‘friends’ or ‘fellowship’. She reminded us of the definition of fellowship; a state of enduring affection and trust and its appropriateness to our organisation. She was of course preaching to the converted. We all are appreciative of the soft benefits which is why we even contemplate getting up sometime after 5:00 am every Thursday morning.
New Member Induction & Existing Member Renewal
Terry Maylin notified us of good news, namely that Sophie Newbold had applied to join our merry band. Her application will be receiving consideration as will a member renewal which Terry refused to expand upon.
The 60 Second Round
Howard Bullock, last week’s Oscar winner, was in adjudication mode along with his blue trainers and vivid blue laces. He gave us all another reason to be cheerful, by explaining that the current economic volatility can be good for pensions.
James Humphreys believes our Prime Minister is a Norwich City fan, therefore can’t be trusted! Serious political debate aside, he is looking particularly for roofers and scaffolders in need of insurance.
Melissa Jackson is outraged. The focus of her ire is Gloria Hunniford who suggested, quite wrongly, that insolvency practitioners were not regulated. She explained this misrepresentation shortly after John Freeman had indicated that this week he has been ripping out a kitchen. The impression given by Melissa, was that she was going to rip out something of Gloria Hunniford’s. Rip off Britain will never be the same!!
Our wordsmith Paul Dulieu assured us that the collective noun for ‘Mikes’ is an array. The first of the array was Mike Skinner, who made the point that a website is frequently the first stop for any punter and keeping your website refreshed regularly with quality content is something that he can help achieve with his videos. The second of the array was Mike Rogers, who warned us to be careful out there with regard to the mortgage market. The willingness of lenders to extend the window to when your mortgage runs out, to allow a new fixed rate to be agreed might not be all it seems. Beware of payments upfront! Mike Rogers frequently indicates the length of time he has been in the business. The third of the Mikes, namely Hickson, has been in the business for 30 years. He teased us with what might be to come in his 10-minute presentation.
It was a relief to have our Pilgrim, Brian Painter, tell us more about the 11-year-old who didn’t want to go to school. Apparently, he simply didn’t like leaving his mother. When Brian first mentioned the lad last week I suggested in this blog that an aversion to school could be interpreted as a natural and healthy reaction to the said institution. this new development might be regarded as slightly more disturbing.
Jane Malyon this week wanted to rhyme with stallion….so we let her. Her Festive Tea Event has only two tables left. She invited us to help her fill what could amount to six places.
Vincent Goode glorified Speedprint with a rap complete with music, the cap worn backwards and attitude. He just about held it together. If Vince got close to reducing some of us to tears, Nick Cooke had already reduced an old lady to tears when advising her on damage to her extension. Tears of anguish turned to tears of joy when he explained that his diagnosis was not as bad as she first thought and that it was all fixable. the problem was subsidence, the application of water was the cure.
Terry Maylin had an influx of settlement agreements this week arising from four separate redundancies. It’s an ill wind………
Leann Reason is happy to tackle a single room or a whole house and John Hammond also declared that in his business it was not a question of one size fitting all.
The winner of the Oscar this week came from the array. Mike Rogers’ advice and warnings on mortgages appealed to Howard and won him the Oscar.
This weeks statistics and points of note
- Number of members present 20
- number of visitors 1
- number of referrals 18
- amount of business recorded £15K
- Oscar winner Mike Rogers
10-minute presentation by Mike Hickson
Who says IT cannot be interesting. Well actually, Mike Hickson did but then he went on to demonstrate that this is not entirely the case. He gave us a short history lesson on the development of it and in particular Microsoft 365. The development of subscription services in relation to Microsoft and then tangentially he delivered bits of information from driverless lorries, three at a time and driven remotely, to fridges that could order food for you and a smart toothbrush that could send information to your dentist. Of course ultimately we finished up in Big Brother territory.
A thoroughly entertaining 10 minute presentation that elicited several questions. Although he has recently won a good sized contract, I can testify to his organisation’s ability to deal with an emergency that I had last week promptly and efficiently. Let’s try and remember him in the pursuit of referrals.
Referrals and Testimonials Round
A third week of good numbers for referrals and this round once again reflected the level of business this week.
An excellent meeting as always.
I loved, loved, loved Mike’s 10 Minute presentation today. Well done Sir!
great meeting all round. Always enjoyable and always worth the early start! 😀
Ahhhh, thanks Auntie Jane that means a lot.
Thanks for all the flattering comments regarding my 10 minutes this morning. I’m glad you all enjoyed it.
Great 10 minutes Mike H and Auntie Jane great ed slot too. Have a great weekend everyone and see you all next Thursday.
Well done Mike, I’ve removed all the electronics in my home now just to be safe
Well done on a great 10 minutes Mike Hickson !
Great to see Sophie Back and hopfully joining us!
Great meeting all – even Vincent’s rap with a Brummie accent was fun. See you all next week!
I practiced the Speedprint rap a few times and it sounded mean, brooding and with a threat of foreboding. However the American accent wasn’t part of my plans. Well done to DJ Hicks for his 10 mins and Grand mistress Funky Jane for the Ed slot. I particularly liked Paul Booth’s shiny shirt, he was clearly on his way to a discotheque after the meeting
Well thought out ed slot by M’lady Jane (does she ever stop smiling?) What was
Mike’s presentation about? Good to have a visitor.
Anything that anyone can do to dissuade Vince from doing that accent again would be most appreciated. That aside, he did a great 60 seconds!
Great 10 minutes from Mike too.