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      It was our eighth Birthday celebration and given the absences for half-term the attendance was excellent with 24 Members and 3 Visitors, one of whom is to become a Member....

      Love was in the air

      Our Valentines Day meeting had a 60 second round suitably themed and it contained both lovers joy and lovers lament. The joy is that it was a beautiful morning and there was a good turnout, 26 members and one visitor....

      QE2 bridge closed; EBF open

      If last week was dull miserable and wet; by contrast but in equal measure this week was windy, 60mph gusts were recorded and the QE2 Bridge was closed.  No such closing for EBF, infact we had an excellent turnout of 26 members and 3 visito...
      Read the Essex Business Forum Business Networking Blog. A roundup of our weekly meetings, as recalled by our chairman Aidan Squire. We welcome any comments you have to make on any of our posts.
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    Menu
    • Home
    • View Members

      View Essex Business Forum Members

      Our membership represents the very best of local business. Our vetting process is thorough; each member must come highly recommended, and remain so by delivering continually outstanding work for members, their contacts, clients and friends.

      Have confidence. Browse our members page and feel free to contact anyone listed.


      If you own or run an outstanding local business, please join us as a guest at one of our meetings. Your first visit is free.

    • About EBF

      Member Testimonials

      Hear from Essex Business Forum members, past and present. Discover how membership has helped their business to grow.

      The EBF Mark of Excellence

      Find out more about the EBF quality assurance scheme and discover local businesses who have been reviewed, tested and are actively recommended by our panel of local experts.

      EBF Synergy Teams

      Synergy Teams are powerful sub-groups within our membership. Designed to bring together collaborative businesses and to help members do better business, together.

      The Essex Business Forum Constitution

      Created for members, by members. The rules and regulations that form the foundation of our professional association.
    • Visitor Information

      How to find our Business Networking Meeting

      Instructions on how to find our venue, and how to find the meeting room once you arrive.

      Meeting Walkthrough

      View a visual walkthrough and explanation of the various parts of our weekly meetings .

      What to bring

      Find out what you should be bringing along with you as a guest at one of our networking meetings

      Frequently Asked Questions

      Read a collection of common questions and answers that our prospective members and guests have asked us
    • Read our Blog

      Our Latest Blog Posts

      Annual Review 2018 / 2019 - our 8 year anniversary

      A review of our 8th year and announcement of the EBF member awards. What a fantastic 8 years it's been....

      Chairman’s Blog 21st Feb, Kevin Brooks just dropped in...

      It was our eighth Birthday celebration and given the absences for half-term the attendance was excellent with 24 Members and 3 Visitors, one of whom is to become a Member....

      Love was in the air

      Our Valentines Day meeting had a 60 second round suitably themed and it contained both lovers joy and lovers lament. The joy is that it was a beautiful morning and there was a good turnout, 26 members and one visitor....

      QE2 bridge closed; EBF open

      If last week was dull miserable and wet; by contrast but in equal measure this week was windy, 60mph gusts were recorded and the QE2 Bridge was closed.  No such closing for EBF, infact we had an excellent turnout of 26 members and 3 visito...
      Read the Essex Business Forum Business Networking Blog. A roundup of our weekly meetings, as recalled by our chairman Aidan Squire. We welcome any comments you have to make on any of our posts.
    • Contact Us

      Contact Essex Business Forum

      View our main contact information and use our enquiry form to get in touch with us. We'd love to hear from you.

      Register as a guest at one of our meetings

      If you'd like to attend an EBF meeting yourself please complete this form so that we know you are attending.

      Invite a Guest to Essex Business Forum

      If you can think of someone who would benefit from attending an EBF meeting then please use this form to invite them along to one of our meetings for FREE.

Whatever you do don’t get into bed with a style icon

Jan242019
Blog

David Plumley was back after his holiday break and it was very very cold, -4.5c when I scraped my windscreen at 5.30.am. EBF are however of sterner stuff and there were 21 members present and one visitor.

The Performance League

Rather surprisingly showed me in the lead.  I am afraid it won’t last but this could be my big chance.

Education Presentation

Although David Plumley was back in harness, it was Scott Griffiths who was destined to give the Ed Slot.  His subject was the anatomy of our individual entries on the EBF website.  He urged us to revisit our entries and he then gave us a check list; a useful and informative reminder.  I hope you have all gone away and checked.

  1. Check your contact information
  2. Check your company logo
  3. Have you got a “Mark Of Excellence”? If not, then go and apply for one from the link on our homepage.
  4. Check your location on your map
  5. Check that the contact form works – send yourself a test message
  6. Check your social media links
  7. Send some descriptive information to explain whatever your business does
  8. Choose and send up to 12 photos for your photo gallery
  9. Supply up to 10 of your best testimonials

The 60 Second Round

Tina Walker was adjudicating the Oscar and Stuart Smallcombe was our stand in bell man.

Consistent with her obligations to judge the Oscar award, Tina Walker was first up and appealed for businessmen who were “snowed under” to give her an opportunity to assist them and help their life balance.  Her use of the term “snowed” under might well be prophetic.

Although the School of Whimsey has been disbanded, Nick Cooke began his 60 seconds with a quotation from Jabberwocky.  His theme was clarity with what you always get with one of his structural survey reports.

Terry Maylin held himself out as an expert on the Range Rover Sports warranty, he has 4 cases at the moment and picked up another one after the meeting. Amazing!

Richard Reed was all about flexibility.  The offers he produces might be date specific as offers but, be it hotel, flight or any other aspect of the holiday, he can arrange it for the dates specific to you.

Next came the 60 seconds that would colour the meeting.  Toby Acton wanted to get into bed with various members, figuratively or metaphorically as this might have been intended, he persisted with the term “get into bed” and then listed who would be most suitable.

Next up was John Freeman who has a project refurbishing a one bedroom flat.  There you are Tony, you could even meet John at the flat; there is at least a bed!

The Mayor of Gants Hill was very much message, he started by tucking his shirt into his trousers.  This seemed to give him the idea that he was a fashion icon.  His self-description was “middle aged git at Bond Street”.  However stylish his shirt, he did well to then move on and pitch for design books that showed people showing off clothes.  All pictures that I could see had one characteristic, they all looked a lot better than our Vincent.  He test for all presenters this week was whether they were suitable to get into bed with Tony Acton.  Vincent might be relieved to learn that he did not pass this test.

In Jill Willis’s absence, the School of Logical Positivism made, at best, a stuttering start.  Saj Sreedharan was talking Valentine’s Day and roses, not only red.  His was a fairly punchy performance as was Mason Edwards who is looking for car showrooms to clean so that the shine he puts on the floor can be compared with the shine on the cars for sale.  Scott was equally to the point, email addresses should be looked at and made professional.  Keep your eyes open for contacts who do not have such an email address and refer them to Scott.

Brian Painter is always interesting as to the sort of problems that he is dealing with.  This year it was a 15-year-old with colitis. Its effect was that he went to the toilet a lot.  It is assumed that these were number “2s” but not clear.  The poor lad was losing strength and not being helped with medication he was receiving, Our Pilgrim set him straight and it now looks as if it is likely he will be suffering from constipation going forward.

And who won the Oscar; Richard Reed for his flexible approach.

This weeks statistics and points of note

  • 21 Members present
  • 1 visitor attended
  • 26 Referrals
  • £10,000.00 worth of business recorded
  • Richard Reed won the Oscar
  • John Hammond was the 10-minute presenter.
£
0
+
Business Passed Between All Members This Week
0
Referral Opportunies Passed Between Members This Week

John Hammond10-minute presentation by John Hammond

A proper use of slides was at the heart of John Hammond’s presentation about his business.  It was appropriately

Illustrative and any shortage of questions at the end of his presentation was a tribute as to how good he is in setting out what he did, where he did it and what he looked like.  Well done John

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January 24, 201919 Comments

19 Comments

  1. Tina Walker says:
    January 25, 2019 at 8:46 am

    Good morning, a great 10 minutes from John H and plus a great meeting although a few missing but we gave a good impression to our visitor Ashley and hopefully he will join. Have a great weekend see you next Thursday.

    5
     Reply
  2. Mason Edwards says:
    January 25, 2019 at 8:52 am

    As always a great meeting with lots of laughs. Brilliant 10 minute presentaion by John, I certainly learned more about what he does.

    See you all next week.

    4
     Reply
  3. Photobyannamarie - Photography by Anna Marie says:
    January 25, 2019 at 9:03 am

    Welcome back David! Sorry we didn’t order the hot weather for you.

    That’s a great Ed slot – thank you Scott, I will try to work through those!

    5
     Reply
  4. Blue Serif says:
    January 25, 2019 at 9:11 am

    great 10 minutes John – nice bed sheets Toby!

    3
     Reply
  5. Stuart says:
    January 25, 2019 at 9:18 am

    Did anyone else see the beautiful sunrise over the snow topped trees?

    6
     Reply
    • richardjreed says:
      January 25, 2019 at 9:28 am

      I sat on the wrong side unfortunately.

      2
       Reply
      • rmkinsurance says:
        January 25, 2019 at 10:09 am

        Yes I saw it and it was beautiful . The phrase “Red sky in the morning , Shepherds warning” came to mind and later in the day as I peered through the snow from my cosy office , I did just have a pang of guilt watching John & Blake out in our carpark trying to fix our gates .

        4
         Reply
  6. John Freeman says:
    January 25, 2019 at 9:24 am

    A very enjoyable meeting, excellent 10min presentation from John, super ed slot from Scott, and a great blog to boot, hope Ashley joins, and welcome back David.

    see you all next week 😎

    6
     Reply
  7. richardjreed says:
    January 25, 2019 at 9:32 am

    Another excellent meeting. Kicked off by Scott telling us how to improve our profile, humerous 60 seconds (and I won the Oscar Whoo Hoo), very informative 10mts from John AND a visitor who would be mad not to join us – Ashley I hope you’re seeing this. See you all next week.

    6
     Reply
  8. rmkinsurance says:
    January 25, 2019 at 10:17 am

    The meeting started well with a very good education slot from Scott and ended well with a very informative 10 minutes from John whose work I know first hand as they are currently upgrading our electric gates into a thing of beauty and perhaps more importantly to comply with New Health & safety regulations. John clearly fully understands his industry and I have no hesitation in recommending him. The bit in between was as usual business like and amusing.

    4
     Reply
  9. Simon Essex says:
    January 25, 2019 at 10:29 am

    Great meeting, Thanks Anna Marie for a 1-1 after. I also enjoyed the sun rise as I was facing the right way. It made everyone look heavenly on the left side of the room.

    3
     Reply
  10. terrymaylin says:
    January 25, 2019 at 10:30 am

    Great meeting and for those who sat on the “right ” side the sunrise was spectacular as was the 10 minutes from John Hammond who knows his stuff and does quality throughout, lets hope we see a few more faces at the meeting over the next few weeks!

    3
     Reply
  11. Vincent Goode says:
    January 25, 2019 at 10:30 am

    As I was attentively listening to Sparky giving his 60 seconds, my gaze was diverted to a stunning sunrise, which I photographed. It would have been stunning, but Alan Moller was in the way. Apart from that, I enjoyed the meeting and my guest did too.

    5
     Reply
  12. Nick says:
    January 25, 2019 at 10:31 am

    Excellent meeting as usual. Fun too. Good blog. A very good 10 minute presentation from John too. And a pleasure to see the sun rise and lighten up the room even if we couldn’t feel its warmth. See you all next week.

    3
     Reply
  13. jillwillis77 says:
    January 25, 2019 at 10:46 am

    Sorry to have missed your 10 minute presentation John! Looking forward to seeing you all next week.

    1
     Reply
  14. Brian Painter says:
    January 25, 2019 at 10:57 am

    A timely reminder from Scott regarding our info on the EBF website. One advantage of sitting near the coffee counter is that I do hear and see the 10 minutes presentation and John’s was excellent. Such technology, where will it end? Phones that take photos? Cars that don’t need petrol? The down side of my place is that I don’t always hear what is said at the top end of the room…………..

    2
     Reply
  15. Alan Moller says:
    January 25, 2019 at 11:11 am

    Wow, 16 comments already!, guess i should be getting some photos together for the website. Shame i didn’t get to see the sunrise but the photo looked good, have a great weekend all.

    2
     Reply
  16. Toby Acton says:
    January 25, 2019 at 2:33 pm

    Really enjoyed the meeting. Great 10 minutes from John – really made it clear what he does and who he does it for. Can we arrange fir the sunrise every week?

    1
     Reply
  17. E.Beckenham says:
    January 25, 2019 at 2:44 pm

    Great meeting as always, Johns 10 minutes really showed his company’s capabilities and his expertise. Sadly I had my back to the sunrise so will be making sure I change sides ! have a great weekend all and see you in two weeks 🙂 PS well done Richard for getting the Oscar too

    1
     Reply

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Recent Blog Posts
  • Annual Review 2018 / 2019 – our 8 year anniversary
    February 21, 2019
  • Chairman’s Blog 21st Feb, Kevin Brooks just dropped in…
    February 21, 2019
  • Love was in the air
    February 14, 2019
  • QE2 bridge closed; EBF open
    February 7, 2019
  • Ben’s addiction to BOOBS left nothing to be desired…
    January 31, 2019
Come along to and EBF meeting

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  • Weekly Business Networking Meeting on February 28, 2019 6:30 am
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About Essex Business Forum

Essex Business Forum is an association of professional business people and owners of established and reputable SMEs based in Essex which represents every trade and profession, and with the addition of an extended network of businesses in highly specialist fields.

We run weekly business networking groups every Thursday morning in Brentwood, plus other regular events and networking meetings.

We're always looking for new members to join, so if you are interested then come along to one of our meetings.

Recent Blog Posts
  • Annual Review 2018 / 2019 – our 8 year anniversary
    February 21, 2019
  • Chairman’s Blog 21st Feb, Kevin Brooks just dropped in…
    February 21, 2019
  • Love was in the air
    February 14, 2019
  • QE2 bridge closed; EBF open
    February 7, 2019
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