Bradford Chamber

Birmingham, Bradford and Five Butties

A busy week for yours truly. On Wednesday I, and two of my colleagues, travelled to the Birmingham NEC to attend the Resource Management and Waste Management Solutions Expo 2013 (RWM).

As the Chamber organises the Eco-Fair, the north of England’s biggest environment event, it was an excellent opportunity to see what tips and ideas we could pick for the Eco-Fair 2014 in May.  A relatively smooth journey listening to the restful sounds of SAGA FM saw us arrive just after 10am. After a quick strategic meeting we hit the exhibition. This was my first visit to the NEC and I was suitably impressed with the size of the venue and the quality of the stands on display.  My main objectives were to a) speak to potential sponsors and exhibitors for Eco Fair and b) pick up as many freebies as possible to take back to the kids.

I am happy to report that both objectives were achieved and my children now have an ample supply of pens, post-it notes, stress balls, mints and solar-powered torch key rings (many thanks npower).  We returned home in good spirits and despite a short delay just outside Sheffield it was a day well spent.

As they say, there is no rest for the wicked or Chamber employees and so it was that the next day saw Bradford Chamber exhibiting at the Bradford Business Conference. Smaller in scale than the RWM 2013, but with just as big a heart, the conference provides a great platform for the District’s businesses to exhibit, network and debate.

As well as being one of the main sponsors of the event, Bradford Chamber was heavily involved during the day. Chamber President Paul Mackie chaired a Q&A session called the ‘The Bradford Blueprint’ and, with over 50 people in attendance, it is fair to say the session could have easily exceeded its one hour time slot.  As it was, Paul and many of the attendees at the session were keen to finish as they were all due to attend our ‘Meet the Chamber’ event.  With over 70 people joining us, our supply of sandwiches was pushed to breaking point and Chamber staff member Kiri Richardson nobly abstained from lunch. (I personally enjoyed a small nibble but perhaps, on reflection, that fifth sandwich was excessive.)

To sum it all up - the day was a great success.  The Chamber team spoke to a lot of businesses about the benefits of membership and it certainly seemed to generate a feel-good factor. Many who we saw have already let the Chamber know that they would like to become members.

And so ends another busy but very productive week.  Attending the two events has really shown the value of getting out there and speaking to people (shameless plug alert ahead). To ensure you do the same, make sure you book onto one of the upcoming Chamber events.   Click here!

Bowled over

It has been a long time since the Chamber’s sales and marketing team had been out all together. In fact, the last social get-together was the Christmas party - parts of which will live long in the memory (other parts cannot or should not be referred to ever again!) So, as a reward for all the hard work of the team we treated ourselves to a night out at the Hollywood Bowl in Bradford.

For a very reasonable rate that included two frames of bowling, burger and chips and a drink, seven of the team donned the dodgy shoes to battle it out for the prestigious and catchy title of “Bradford Chamber of Commerce Sales and Marketing and Policy and Representation (Male or Female *delete as appropriate) Bowling Champion Q2 2013”.

The match reports for the womens and gents competitions are detailed below, but before we get to the results it is worth saying that those who attended enjoyed the evening's activities.  Sometimes, it is easy to overlook the benefits of having a bit of ‘fun’ outside of the workplace. Some companies (as recently shown on an episode of TV’s The Apprentice) can spend a fortune on team bonding and away days. However, just a couple of frames of bowling and a drink afterwards can do a lot for reinforcing the team ethic and we look forward to arranging our next social event.

 

Match Report

After some discussion it was decided that there would be a female and male competition. The winner being the individual with the highest aggregate score over two legs. There was early controversy suggesting that the women’s competition should be allocated less prize money but in the end it was agreed that there would be a fifty/fifty split i.e. one bottle of wine each.

The men’s competition:

The first set proved to be a tight affair as reigning champion Mike, new boy James and yours truly, Mr Darren Precious, traded blows. Mike, with his fifty years of bowling experience, was justifying his self-awarded tag as the George Clooney of the Hollywood bowl.  He set the standards high but could not shake off the attentions of the stylish young pretender James who rallied late to tie the first leg on 111 points each with little ol’ me just 3 points behind on 108.

The second leg maintained the high standards of the first and it was Magic Mike who looked to take the game by the scruff of the neck as strike followed spare. It was unfortunate to see Mike resorting to ‘mental disintegration’ of his younger opponent James however who he accused of being ‘all style and no substance’.  Amazingly, his tactics seemed to work as James faltered, blaming greasy fingers from his beef burger.

After a shaky start, I managed to put together a hot streak in the middle of the frame and as Mike's stamina fell in the final third it meant that the game became a victory parade with me as the new Champion!  Yes, Darren ‘The Strike’ Precious posted an impressive 140 to be crowned champion!

The women’s competition

The fantastic four of Vicky, Kiri, Liz and Caroline took to lane nine to battle it out for the honour of being crowned the inaugural Women’s Champ. Pre-match favourite was Caroline who has a track record of winning pointless events. She is the current Little Germany under-40 Pancake Race Champion. It was evident early on that each competitor had their own style.  Indeed, Vicky caused concern to the Hollywood Bowl management team as she insisted on bouncing the bowl towards the pins ignoring the traditional ‘rolling’ method. After the first set, only 10 points separated the four players meaning it was all to play for in the second frame.

All four raised their game and with one throw remaining, Kiri, Liz and Caroline were all in contention to take the crown. However it was almost inevitable that Caroline added to her list of questionable glories to come through and claim victory. There were sad scenes at the end as Liz refused to shake hands, grabbing her make up bag and storming out of the building. An investigation will follow.

Posted by Darren Precious

A week in the life of an Eco-Fairy

Many people don’t realise that Eco-Fair is run by a team based at Bradford Chamber. We work with a range of external partners to organise the biggest environmental show in the North of England. That sounds like a big project – with Eco-Fair coming up next month (9th May at Leeds United) we thought we’d ask Sam, our resident ‘Eco-Fairy’ what a week in her life is like…

“It’s very busy at the moment as Eco-Fair is less than four weeks away. Eeek! There are still a few stalls for sale – some people leave booking right to the last minute. We wish they wouldn’t but there you go! Delegate bookings are pouring in – we’ve passed 500 and are going up towards 600… it’s great to watch the numbers keep climbing! It’s interesting to see which seminars people book on. We’re usually pretty good at knowing what people want, but there are always a few surprises. A technical briefing on ISO14001 currently has more seats committed than our high-profile keynote speaker. But I’m not calling which session will be most popular just yet - we expect 1,000 people to turn up, so the 50 who have chosen seminars so far are just the tip of the iceberg.

Two other things are on the boil this week – the first, a plan to try and use social media to drive local interest & get new people to notice us. We run on a not-for-profit basis and we can’t afford big banner adverts. People sharing info on Eco-Fair with friends is a good way to spread the word – so we’re going to do what we can to encourage this. Marketing campaigns which do well on facebook and twitter are often fun and quirky. So we’ve decided on a ‘where’s the eco-fairy?’ picture competition with some great eco prizes (we’re @ecofairy in Twitter). Look out for our posts! 

The second thing I’ve just signed off is a research report into the impact of Eco-Fair in 2012. Eight months after our last event, one of our partners wanted to commission a report into what changed as a result of the event. Eco-Fair is a one-day drop in event. People stop for a couple of hours. You might think that it wouldn’t change much. We’re really pleased that the research proved that this was not the case.

Time spent talking about green issues with peers, getting quotes, finding out about new products & services and hearing best practice case studies has a massive impact. Of the people who came in 2012, 66% of people said they felt more confident about tackling environmental issues. 44% said the event helped them to find a way to save money in their business – so we helped hundreds of businesses to make savings.

We live in an increasingly green world. Customers expect environmental credentials and businesses build leading brands on green foundations.

The questions isn’t if you can afford to come to Eco-Fair or not – it’s how can you afford not to!”

Delegate places are free – register for yours at www.eco-fair.co.uk/attend

Sam Saxby
Eco-Fair organiser

Weather or not?

It is said that if it wasn’t for the weather, British people would have nothing to talk about.  Just to reinforce that opinion, the subject of this much delayed (but I hope highly-anticipated) blog is the weather!

The current cold weather and the prolonged snow has been pretty awful. At work, the people I feel sorry for the most are receptionists. Every time a visitor or a member of staff enters our reception, nine times out of ten they give an update on the weather or enter into a debate on the same subject. How they maintain their enthusiasm when they have heard the phrase “It’s cold out there” for the twentieth time that morning is admirable! I now try to spark up conversations that don’t relate to the cold but the best I have come up with so far is: “I’m looking forward to some sun.” At which point, our receptionist politely smiles but I can read her mind: “Nice try, but zero points on originality…”

On a more serious note, I was speaking to a couple of members at a networking event this week and they were telling me how the snow has had a negative impact on their business with appointments cancelled and buying decisions delayed. A constant concern for small business is cash flow and this bad weather is definitely not helping.

Don’t forget that if you are experiencing any problems with your business finances, the Chamber is always here to help.  If we cannot help you directly, we will know someone who can!

For now though, I, like many of our members and all receptionists around the country, am looking forward to some sun. Hopefully my standard chat to receptionists will then be: “Oh it’s lovely and warm out there today.”  At which, they will politely smile, but I know that inside they will be thinking: “Thanks for the update, Michael Fish.”

Posted by Darren Precious

Politics or pantomime? Mike's view on the budget

Guest post from from Mike Cartwright - Bradford Chamber's Policy Representation Executive:

Wednesday’s Budget session in the House of Commons was interesting on a number of fronts.

I don't suppose many businesses were watching the Chancellor live as he spoke, as I was, but it was a very rumbustious yet disturbing affair really.  I suppose there can be a fine line between ‘lively debate’ and chaotic or unruly; some might say the ‘yah boo sucks’ on display was a pantomime, others would say disgraceful – another example of why respect for politicians is so low.  (For those who still don’t know what I’m talking about, the Speaker – that’s the chair of the debate – had to chastise and silence both sides of the Commons in order for the George Osborne then Ed Miliband to speak.  Of course, the layout of Parliament’s chambers are designed for attendees to be diametrically opposed to each other so the scene is set regardless of the subject of the day.

Osborne had his usual voice-wobble, where he ‘dried up’ and needed a long pause to wet his whistle; and the Labour leader hammed it up like a gud ‘un, mocking his Twitter account and asking who in government was on the 50p tax rate.  Pure theatre.

On the content of the Budget, we were pleasantly surprised.  Corporation tax down, NICs reduction for many small firms, house-building programme, and Heseltine recommendations affirmed – all good.  No mention of road-building and repair strategy, nor a freeze on business rates for three years, as we’d called for – disappointing.  Fiscally neutral overall (as you’d expect in the circumstances), you never going to please everyone in the Budget but there was enough in there on this occasion for us to reprieve the Chancellor.

If you would like to contact Mike to discuss the budget please click here to send an email. 

Or click here to visit our Bradford Chamber LinkedIn group and join the discussion.

 

Twelve days of Chamber anyone?

Once again my lack of blogging was raised by the marketing team and I have been given the deadline of today to write the Chamber blog. I did suggest that due to my lack of followers I could simply copy and paste last year’s festive blog, a riveting piece on work Christmas parties. However I was shown the stats and there were over 200 click-throughs on the Chamber website to the blog page! All I can say is ‘thanks mum’.

In terms of ideas I admit I was struggling. That was until I had (what I thought) the great idea of a festively themed reworking of ‘The twelve days of Christmas’. Cleverly renamed ‘The twelve days of Chamber’ it would start with:

“On the first day of Christmas my Chamber gave to me

A listing in the Chamber member’s directory…”

However, this idea was dismissed as ‘not very good’. My second idea was to change the lyrics of a popular Christmas Carol or pop song to convey a seasonal message to our members. I was thinking along the lines of ‘Away in a Chamber’ or ‘Come all ye members (to our next network event)’ or even the John Lennon classic ‘Happy Christmas (The recession is over……or is it)’.  Sadly, this was deemed a worse idea than ‘the twelve days of Chamber’.

So, all-in-all, I thought that in light of the fact that for many of our members it has been a challenging year, it was best just to simply wish our members a ‘Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year’.  We would also like to welcome members and non-members alike to complimentary drinks, canapés and crackers at Napoleons Bar and Restaurant on 11 December from 4pm to 6pm.

http://www.bradfordchamber.co.uk/Page/1-26-515.htm

Merry Christmas from all the team at Bradford Chamber!  

 

Posted by Darren Precious

Don't leave me hanging on the telephone

I recently joined in a debate on LinkedIn titled ‘Surely telemarketing is dead already’. The initial comments made by others seemed to support this claim. But I argued that quality telemarketing - when targeted and done professionally - remains a powerful tool and can benefit the recipient of said call. I used the example that I was able to save a business over 50k after receiving a well-researched telesales call. This prompted one commentator and telemarketer sceptic to say I should “thank my lucky stars I didn’t work for him” as he would have wanted to know why “some stranger on the other end of the phone had to point out I was wasting £50k”.

The reason why the call saved the business £50k was because the company making the call had introduced a new MPLS* solution reducing internet connectivity costs for multiple site connections. After researching our current wide-area network set-up the telesales caller was confident this new technology would improve the service and reduce costs.

The call was well researched and relevant. Many of us in our busy day-to-day lives don’t always have time to research new technologies and products and that is why telemarketing can provide a useful service. Sceptics might ask ‘why couldn’t they just send an email?’ But how many emails do you receive a day? And can emails interact and answer questions?

I did not reply in this length of detail to the LinkedIn commentator but just said that I will thank my lucky stars I don’t work for him!

In response to the general question ‘telemarketing is dead already’ - no-one likes receiving phone calls from companies offering irrelevant products and services from someone reading from a script, or even worse, an automated message enquiring about PPI or an injury you may have suffered in the past 2 years. However, these should not be confused with a professionally trained telemarketer. And, if telemarketing is dead, why do so many companies use this as part of their sales and marketing strategy? And why are telemarketing courses so popular at the Chamber?

So I stand firm and say that telemarketing is not dead. Combined with e-marketing, social media, and face-to-face sales, it still remains a valuable tool to grow a business.

Finally, to all the sceptics out there, I have just one question: “Have you been injured at work and it wasn’t your fault?”

Posted by Darren Precious

* Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a mechanism in high-performance telecommunications networks that directs data from one network node to the next based on short path labels rather than long network addresses, avoiding complex lookups in a routing table.  Click here for more details.

Video killed the radio star?

In the age of social media where you can only express your opinion in 140 characters I often take great comfort and solace in the radio. Whether it's Five Live in the morning or Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 over lunch, it’s good to hear a good debate. (I occasionally listen to the hit parade when my eldest daughter is in the car or, if I am feeling in a rock mood, I will slip on a Neil Diamond CD. But, I digress!)

In the spirit of debate Bradford Chamber now has its own monthly slot on BCB Radio’s ‘Business Matters’ show.  This is a lively business debate programme with special guests from leading local and national businesses. We have already had two shows go out on air and I had the pleasure of hosting our very first one.  I was more Partridge than Paxman, but, all-in-all, I think it went well. If you are reading this and kicking yourself for not tuning in, you can download the podcasts here.  Be sure you tune in to our next show - it’s going out on 24 September at 6pm.

L-R: Sandy Needham, Mike Cartwright, Steve Waud and Mary Dowson with me, Darren Precious, at the controls!

Radio is one thing but here at the Chamber we embrace all forms of media. We are very active tweeters and have a busy Linkedin Group page. I am also a big fan of video and we recently worked with Chamber member Clockwork Eye to film one of our networking events.  We are extremely happy with the results which I think will be a great asset when it comes to showcasing the type of events we run:  You can view it here.

We also recently used video to help support a tender bid using our own in-house Steven Spielberg (aka Steve Evans) and we will be looking to add video testimonials to our new website. It’s very clear that the ‘YouTube’ generation communicate in different ways and we are happy to embrace that. There is even talk of the Chamber hosting a virtual online network event using ‘Second Life’ as the platform.

It really is exciting times ahead! Speaking of which, I must dash! The Archers is coming on, the kettle has just boiled and I am gasping for a cup of herbal tea.

Posted by Darren Precious

To blog or not to blog

Another day, another request by the marketing co-ordinator to write a blog. Despite my attempts to repel these vociferous requests to type my inner-most thoughts with the promise of quality coffee and an early finish, I find myself typing once more.

As a social media ‘incomer’ (I won’t disclose my actual age BUT I don’t listen to Radio 1, I do make strange noises whilst getting in and out of my car seat and I ‘bom-de-bom’ everywhere I go) as opposed to a social media natural (i.e. someone who does listen to Radio 1 and who doesn’t make strange noises when conducting a basic physical activity such as sitting) I still remain something of a social media sceptic.

I therefore have a number of requests. Firstly, if you read this post please feel free to pass some comment as I would love to know your thoughts on the benefits of blogging, tweeting, facebooking etc.

Secondly, if you want to find out more about the benefits of having an actual social media strategy then I suggest you attend one of our free lunchtime social media training courses. I will be there! Maybe we can find the answer to the title of this blog post together?

Posted by Darren Precious

Bragging or blogging? You decide!

Having been asked (told) by the Chamber marketing coordinator that it was about time I wrote a new blog, I found myself completely out of ideas. After a bit of ‘Googling’ I found a website called ‘100 Blog Topics to write about’. The top seven 100 topic suggestions included:

1. 10 Guilty Pleasures
2. How women use social media
3. My mother is on Facebook
4. Do rock stars need social media
5. When I feel frustrated
6. Interview with a veteran
7. I want to brag a minute

 

From this shortlist of seven, option one would not be appropriate for this blog and I don’t feel I am qualified to comment on numbers two and four. For number three, I asked my mother if she used Facebook and she looked at me as if I was speaking Swahili. As for the fifth option, ironically, when I feel frustrated, I like to write a blog. Finally, I couldn’t find a veteran at short notice. That leaves me with number seven which means I want to brag a minute. So here goes!

“In the last three months we have seen more and more companies using Chamber services and maintaining their membership along with more companies joining the Chamber for the first time. The main reason for this is the hard work of our membership team making sure more businesses are aware of the help and support available to all our members. We are by no means perfect but we will continue in our efforts to support Business in Bradford whenever we can and wherever possible.”

Technically that is less than a minute but I don’t like showing off!

Posted by Darren Precious