It was the first meeting of the year, it was a dank and dark morning but nonetheless there were 19 of us in attendance including 2 visitors one of whom, Phil Golding, made serious threatening noises about joining.
Performance League
With this week’s activities to come, Blake Hammond is third on 128 points, Scott Griffiths second with 136 points and top of the tree is Paul Corrigan with 138 points. Don’t forget to enter your final activities on the website.
Education Slot
Catherine Foley led us into the new year with the subject of New Year’s resolutions….. What else! The basic message was to ensure that you identify your goals and keep them simple. The simpler the better I suspect!
Membership Matters
Terry Maylin reported on the recent membership committee meeting where by Toby Acton and Paul Dulieu renewed and Joshua Ayettey will be returning towards the end of the month. There are others in the pipeline so we can go into the new year with some optimism.
60-Second Presentation Round
Terry Maylin won the last Oscar of 2025 and accordingly got matters underway. He was at pains to reassure landlords that despite the change in legislation regarding residential renting the old rules still apply up to the 30th April for serving notices and July for issuing proceedings. Landlords, please take note then get yourself in front of Terry ASAP.
There followed a series of contributions which represented reminders of what we all do and the sort of referrals we are looking for as we move into the new year.
Notable was Paul Corrigan with Tall Paul’s Top Tip…… insulate your pipes. His illustration was little old lady whose pipes just kept bursting and flooding. He felt it necessary to resort to basic physics, namely, when water freezes the ice expands, result, pipes burst and flooding!
Sarah Smith suggested that’s rather than making New Year’s resolutions, you should create a bucket list in relation to moving your business forward.
Scott Griffiths introduced us to ‘Dark Visitors. This is not just metaphysics; it is a way of monitoring those who visits your website so don’t be frightened…. Contact Scott for what seems like quite a valuable tool.
Jane Malyon was celebrating the Health and Wellness benefits of brewing your own tea. She sources only the most sustainable tea plantations. Her products are a must for all non-coffee drinkers.
New client of the year was attributable to Paul Booth. A plumber in Bristol had his head in the sand, HMRC were about to pounce but by producing four years of accounts saved the day. Do you know anybody who might be in such a potentially suicidal situation with their business, if so send them to Paul.
In the spirit of mutual support, it was Clara Downton who won the Oscar by using her 60 seconds in praise of Mike Skinner both as to his skill and also his patience in providing his services to her.
Meeting Secretaries Report
If the 60 second round presentations were very positive it was nothing in comparison to the meeting secretary’s report. 21 referrals emerged with £31,000 worth of business recorded. Scott also reminded us of the new BBF fitness group which will hopefully help members fulfil their resolutions about losing weight going into the new year.
10-Minute Presentation by Clara Downton
It was Clara Downton’s turn in this first meeting of the new year. She produced a very confident performance in explaining principally how she deals with enquiries, the importance of the first interview, the information that she seeks and the advice that she gives. Her competence and accordingly her suitability for referral is beyond question and getting people over to her will benefit your contact as well as Clara. A competent presentation.
Referrals and Testimonials
Lots of referrals and thanks for the money were reflective of what had been received and reported to us by the meeting secretary earlier. A very strong start for the new year.
The serious challenge of getting up on such an unpleasant morning was quickly overcome by seeing the lovely people at EBF. A great meeting as usual.
It was a genuine delight to be back in all of your company! Its easy to forget how fun and productive the meetings are when youre setting the alarm the night before.
Great presentation Clara, you and Shannon really know your stuff! And well done Catherine on the ed slot!
Great to be back at the meetings again, really good to see everyone and be a part of all of the business shared around the room.
Mirror what Catherine says completely, really struggled to get going this morning but always a joy to see your lovely faces (and some new ones!)
Excellent meeting, as usual, well done Catherine and Clara on your excellent presentations.
Sorry I missed the first meeting of 2026 but I was sat in a dentists chair! See you all next week.
The best start to 2026, I had forgotten how much I have missed everyone. Some really useful tips about resolutions from Catherine, and an interesting 10 minutes from Clara. Thank you both!
well done all of those who made it back – it was hard after a couple of weeks off and the dark wet weather!
Enjoyable meeting and great to see 2 visitors straight away!
Well done Clara on a quality presentation and thoughtful ed slot from Catherine.