Chairman’s blog Thursday 6th November 2025

Sally Waters demonstrated her candle and fragrance business by way of a scents quiz, and Toby Acton educated us about sending the right (or wrong) signals.
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Several members cried off sick. Although I was pleased not to be exposed to their various complaints you miss them when they’re not there. That and holidays accounted for a turnout of 16 including one visitor.

Performance League

The three members at the top all topped 300 points. Matt Barry was the pick of them with 365. Special mention to Sally Waters, 2nd on 306 points and her first visit to a podium position. Terry Maylin was third.

Education Slot

A useful piece of advice by master metaphor maker Toby Acton. When asked, ‘how’s business?’, don’t just say that you’re very busy. It sends out the wrong signals….that you don’t want more work; you’re rushing to keep up. Make it an opportunity to open out the conversation to the sort of work that you are looking for and the sort of people that you get it from.

60-Second Presentation Round

Catherine Foley was Oscar holder, so she started proceedings with a request that she is not so busy that she isn’t looking for 16 to 25 year olds to help support their educational aspiration’s.

Scott Griffiths edged towards a festive theme by suggesting seasonal variations to websites to pick up on retail opportunities for say, Black Friday or, dare I say it, Christmas

October’s performance league winner, Matt Barry, is moving into television advertising as to what he can offer his clients, and he emphasised cost effectiveness. Mike Skinner was also promoting moving pictures aiming his pitch at companies who had regular staff turnover who would benefit from a video presentation as part of their induction process. Time saving and therefore also cost effective.

Paul Corrigan offered up his boiler servicing and linked with that cost-effective preventative measures that he can offer alongside this service. If Paul was offering home related services, so was Leann Reason. If you are looking to have your home feeling as well as looking good, book her up now. She is not so busy that she isn’t looking for new clients. Also on the home theme was Dave Roberts; make sure your home is electrically safe and secure, he does small jobs as well bigger ones such as rewiring etc.

The English Cream Tea Company offers delicious cream teas; it offers different types of tea and when you have finished your drink and eaten your food, she can offer to help you with the drying up with an English Cream Tea Company tea towel. Special offer of £5 it’s an ideal stocking filler or perhaps even something you can make a stocking out of…..?

All in all, a round of common themes with Dave Roberts coming out as the winner of the Oscar.

Meeting Secretaries Report

16 referrals amounted to an average of 1 per attendee which is a reasonable performance under the circumstances.

We also updated our “virtual forest” with this months contribution, meaning that we now have over 350 trees that we have planted. 

10-Minute Presentation by Sally Waters

As a first presentation it was as good as it gets. Sally Waters had carefully set out her candle products and she had also provided three samples for us all to sniff and identify. Some of us were better than others in the identification process but it was an interesting practical demonstration of scents.

Very effectively she dealt with the remainder of her allotted time by answering a stream of questions and in doing so educated us as to what she does and how she does it. To her credit she didn’t mention Christmas once but her products are highly attractive and should make her a useful referral as the festive season approaches. Shame more of us were not there to witness a great presentation.

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Matt Barry
Matt Barry
6 days ago

Great meeting and well done Sally on your forst 10mins

Mike Skinner
Mike Skinner
6 days ago

A quiet yet still brilliant meeting. Great Ed slot Toby, though I’m not sure you’ll be taking over Bens timekeeping job anytime soon, I think the video of Sallys 10 minutes was 23 minutes long with the questions!

That said, it was 23 minutes of fascinating details and explanations that could happily have entertained us for an hour. Sally, you clearly know your stuff incredibly well!
Great first 10 minutes

Catch you all next week!

Toby Acton
Toby Acton
Reply to  Mike Skinner
6 days ago

Yeah I forgot to time Sally!

Paul Corrigan
Paul Corrigan
6 days ago

Great meeting this morning, such a shame so many missed Sally’s first 10 mins, definitely a contender!

Thanks all 🙂

Catherine Foley
Catherine Foley
6 days ago

A small but perfectly formed meeting! Toby’s Ed slot is definitely something I need to think about more and Sally’s first 10 minutes was really excellent!

Toby Acton
Toby Acton
6 days ago

Excellent meeting with a fantastic first 10 minutes from Sally Reasonably good Ed Slot too

John Hammond
John Hammond
6 days ago

Huge congratulations to Sally Waters on a fantastic and creative first 10-minute presentation—the scents quiz was brilliant, a practical way to showcase the products! And Toby Acton’s advice in the Education Slot is invaluable; it serves as a great reminder to all of us to always be strategic with our answers.

Sarah Smith
Sarah Smith
5 days ago

Sad to miss the meeting, and all your brilliant company. Have a great week everyone.

Terry Maylin
Terry Maylin
2 days ago

Looks like i missed a great presentation by Sally, sorry to have missed it.

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Ben Golding talked to us about his career with Utility Warehouse, and Jane Malyon explained the importance of the members performance league
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