Feb 2012 update

Quick Valentines Day update from myself:

Our 25% off offer expires at the end of Feb – http://www.renfrewshirechamber.com/ – so far attracted approx 20 new members

Thank you to everyone that completed our 2 surveys – 1) Member Survey and 2) Business Conditions for 2012. Results for each are linked below:

Member Survey 2012   &   Business Conditions Survey 2012

Our Burns Lunch was a well attended (70) and entertaining affair – see the pics here. Our February lunch is on the 23rd Feb 12-2pm at the David Lloyd Renfrew with Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp – aka “The Intelligiser”. Gordon will be taking about The Role of Social Media in Rapid Growth Optimisation, more info here

lots of other events coming up:

Speed Networking Wednesday 15th February 2012 Read more

Construction Forum with National Construction Skills College, Inchinnan Wednesday 22nd February 2012 Read more

Boosting your Organisation’s Performance with UWS Paisley – FREE Wednesday 14th March Read more

Raise Your Profile Without a Budget with NSDesign Tuesday 20th March 2012 Read more

HR Forum with MacRoberts – “Data Protection in the Employment Arena” – FREE
Tuesday 24th April 2012 Read more

Business Matters In Renfrewshire 2012 – Your Local B2B Event Thursday 10th May 2012 Read more

The Spring 2012 edition of Business Matters comes out end of March 2012 – themes are procurement, construction/property and the environment. For all ad and editorial please see our rate card & details here

Our latest eNews is here >> http://email.spikemedia.co.uk/t/y-B2FF03BFAF90F009

Thanks for reading

Regards,

Bob Davidson

Jan 2012…

 

Happy New Year – all but a distant memory for most by now. Whatever you did, I hope you had a great time.

 

 

As we have done for the last 2 years – we have an offer every January

25% off to new members. The offer is advertised on our own channels plus radio, bus ads and the local press.

Visit www.renfrewshirechamber.com for more info. New members also get their 1st networking lunch for free. Already a member? If you have business contacts that you think would benefit from joining – we have a referral deal as well – so you can both benefit.

We have a number of events planned at the moment

Burns lunch 26th Jan
HR Forum with MacRoberts 31st Jan – automatic pension enrolment – free members only
Doing Business in the Netherlands – 7th Feb free event, all welcome
Speed Networking 15th Feb

We have 2 surveys out as well – 1) our annual member survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZF2BLPP and 2) a business conditions survey for 2012 – http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KTJZND9

Both these will help the chamber support its members better

New Member to Member Offer Leaflet

Our new Member to Member Offer Leaflet is also out – showcasing 20 deals / promotions for members. It was issued with the Winter Business Matters and will be distributed at Chamber events / to new members and in our Business Centre. View it Online Here

Business Matters Online

The Winter 2011/12 edition of Business Matters is out – view it online here.  The Spring 2012 edition will be out end March, the deadline for ads & editorial is the 9th March. Themes will be; construction & property, procurement and the environment (editorial and ads outwith the themes can also be submitted)  Please contact Bob Grant , Membership Manager for info / 0141 847 5455. – View Rate Card

Renfrewshire Chamber Supports Local Hospice

Tom Johnston, President of Renfrewshire Chamber recently presented St Vincent’s Hospice with a cheque for £3,500. As one of the Chamber main charities of the year, the hospice received it’s share of funds raised from the Chamber’s annual business awards, The ROCCO’s. Read More

That’s all for now – thanks for reading

Bob Davidson
Chief Exec’ – Renfrewshire Chamber

Nov 2011…

It really is unbelievable that December is just around the corner – it has been an incredibly busy year.

ROCCO 2011 was another great success – feedback has been amazing. It genuinely is the best business night out there is. If you have never been – make sure you get along to ROCCO 2012.

The Winners…

ROCCO 2011 was another great success with 470 guests seeing 11 awards presented on the night and were well entertained by host Fred MacAulay and our local award winning musical charity Loud’n'Proud. Commenting on the 8th ROCCO Awards, chamber president Tom Johnston said “what a great night – to see an event so well supported shows how good this event is. 11 different winners and 11 different sponsors. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Main Sponsor Reid Kerr College and indeed all our sponsors, Premier Partners and members for all their support. The Chamber team did another great job – of the 100 events we do a year – this is by far our biggest and is viewed by many as the highlight of the year and one of the best business nights out in Scotland, if not the UK. We have raised £10,000 for local Renfrewshire charities and good causes including St Vincent’s Hospice and Street Stuff. I hope all the winners maximise the PR opportunities winning this award will bring, we recommend they share the great news with their staff, clients and colleagues.”

The ROCCO 2011 Winners are:

Excellence in Customer Service sponsored by BAA Glasgow Airport – Enchanted Forest Nurseries
Social Enterprise / Charity of the Year sponsored by the Bank of Scotland – Stepping Stones for Families
Innovation and Technology sponsored by Reid Kerr College – Meso
Most Promising New Business sponsored by Business Gateway – Jenier Teas
Excellence in Manufacturing sponsored by the Scottish Leather Group – Rolls Royce
Best Environmental Performance sponsored by The William Tracey Group – Diageo
Outstanding Performing Business in Renfrewshire <25 Employees sponsored by Renfrewshire Council – Project Management & Construction Ltd
Outstanding Performing Business in Renfrewshire >25 Employees sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland – The Scottish Leather Group
Employee of the Year sponsored by Rolls Royce – Gerry Divers, The Russell Group
Business Leader of the Year sponsored by Diageo – Amanda McMillan MD Glasgow Airport
Donald Malcolm Lifetime Achievement Award sponsored by The Malcolm Group – Bob Dallas from Campbell Dallas

Full photos – official and photocube are on our facebook page

Our October lunch was a well attended event with just under 60 members hearing Kibble CEO Graham Bell at St Mirren FC. November lunch later this week is Linn founder and chairman, Ivor Tiefenbrun. After that event I fly to London for the BCC Annual Awards at the Grand Connaught Rooms – we are up for Chamber of the Year.

The Chamber really has had an amazing year – recognised by the official BCC benchmarking survey recently released.

• No.1 in UK for member growth at >25%
• Highest penetration of any Chamber in Scotland >15%
• 2nd for member retention in Scotland at >84%
• Now process more docs than any other Chamber in Scotland – approaching 13,000
• No of Chamber events – no.1 in Scotland with 100 events in a year

The last Business Matters of 2011 come out pre Xmas with ROCCO Winners and retail as the main themes. To submit content /ads please contact Michelle Ferguson on 0141 847 5464 / mferguson@renfrewshirechamber.com

Our last two events of the year in December are our AGM on the 15th Dec at 11.30 at The Glynhill, followed by our Christmas Lunch with entertainment from Loud’n'Proud and our xmas raffle (there will not be stalls this year) – book here – http://www.renfrewshirechamber.com/all_events.asp

Thanks for reading

Bob Davidson
Chief Exec’

October 2011 update

12th October was Positive Paisley day – where 3,333 tweets helped trend #positivepaisley in twitter across the UK – more info here

Exciting news…. We have been officially shortlisted for the British Chambers of Commerce – Chamber of the Year – winner announced 24th Nov at the Grand Connaught Rooms, London.

Our award winning iPhone app is now available for Android – for free
download it here

 
Reid Kerr announced as Main Sponsor for ROCCO 2011

From Audrey Cumberford, Principal of Reid Kerr College: ‘Reid Kerr College is delighted to be the main sponsor of this year’s ROCCO Awards. These awards highlight the success stories of local businesses and the commitment of Renfrewshire Chamber in recognising their achievements. The College works closely with businesses and organisations across Renfrewshire toReid Kerr ensure our training is tailored to support their ambitions. We would like to congratulate all the shortlisted companies and wish everyone the best of luck on the night.’

Full ROCCO 2011 shortlist announced – here
A record number of entries received this year with a high standard of entry. Thank you to all that entered – to those that didn’t make it, we hope you will enter next year. For all the finalists, you can look forward to your presentation to the judging panel and your professional video shoot. For more info / to book tickets please visit – www.roccoawards.com

Our October Networking Lunch speaker is Graham Bell, Chief Exec’ of Kibble – 27th Oct St Mirren FC, to book please click here

Our September Networking Lunch was with RBS Director for Business & Commercial Banking – Scotland, Mr Nic Boyle. it was a well attended and informative event and took place at The Lynnhurst Hotel, Johnstone. See pics here

It’s a fond farewell to Finlay Allardice who has completed his year as Management Trainee with the Chamber. Finlay (pictured left below) shortly heads off to Australia for a well earned year out. Our new Recruit winning Management Trainee is Euan Keltie (pictured right) from Erskine – look out for Euan at future Chamber events.

There are always many other events coming up providing ample learning & networking opportunities – please visit our Events page to keep up to date (Ukraine & Russia event, New Members event, Manuf & Enviro forum & more).

Autumn 2011 edition of Business Matters is now out, you can view it online. Themes are ROCCO shorlist, renewables and heritage. The Winter 2011 edition comes out just before Xmas. Deadline for adverts and editorial is 2nd December 2011 – please forward all editorial and advertising requests to Michelle Ferguson, 0141 847 5464 mferguson@renfrewshirechamber.com – we now manage ads in-house. Themes are ROCCO winners and retail. Any editorial can be emailed in for consideration – 300 words max with a good quality logo and pic. Ads must be paid for – rate card is here

Regards,

Bob Davidson
Chief Exec’ Renfrewshire Chamber

Sep 2011 update

Busy, busy – lots going on

ROCCO deadline extended to 9th September. 11 categories, free to enter – open to members based anywhere and non-members based in Renfrewshire.  Please encourage any outstanding clients, partners to enter. More info http://www.roccoawards.com

two sponsorship opps remaining – pls get in touch with me direct if interested – bdavidson@renfrewshirechamber.com

Our September lunch is with Nic Boyle, Business & Commercial Banking Director – Scotland for RBS – more info here

We have lots of events coming up including:

Networking at EPM Solutions
fatbuzz @ Phoenix – facebook for business
Doing Business in Brazil
BBC Scotland tour
Networking at the TA Paisley

Finlay our recruit winning Management Trainee has finished his year at the Chamber. Finlay heads off to Australia early October for a year out – we wish him well for the future. Our new Recruit winning Management Trainee is Euan Keltie from Erskine.  More info here

Good event with Martin Stepek / SFBA at the Glynhill 31/8/11

60 guests enjoyed Dr Lena Wilson speak at our August Networking lunch at David Lloyd, Renfrew

I attended the Scottish Cycling – Circuit Race Championships in Paisley Aug 21st – great show by the Clan Stunt Team as well

The Young Enterprise Scotland – Renfrewshire Area Company programme – is launching 6th Sep at Reid Kerr – I’m on the Board and responsible for fundraising, recruiting new Business Advisers and the facebook page

Thanks for reading

Regards

Bob D.

http://www.renfrewshirechamber.com

August 2011 update

If you have had a break or been away – I hope you had a great time. I managed a couple of weeks off including a family week at Portpatrick in Dumfries & Galloway. If you haven’t been, I thoroughly recommend it – great place.

Our August Lunch is on the 25/8 at the David Lloyd Renfrew with Dr Lena Wilson the CEO of Scottish Enterprise

Click here to book

We have a number of other events released recently including:

31/8 Scottish Family Business Association – Family Guys
13/9 fatBuzz @ Phoenix – facebook for business
1/10 BBC Scotland member tour

ROCCO planning is going well – half the tickets are sold. I encourage all members to check out the award categories. We have tried to ensure there is a category that will appeal to all companies. Deadline is 2nd September – visit http://www.roccoawards.com for more info. Categories include:

Outstanding Performing Business <25 & >25 employees
Excellence in Customer Services
Best Environmental Performance
Charity / Social Enterprise / Community Group of the Year
Innovation & Technology
Excellence in Manufacturing
Most Promising New Business
Employee of the Year
Business Leader of the Year

Sponsors / partners include:

          

 

 

Autumn Edition of Business Matters comes out end Sep / early Oct – themes are renewables, heritage & ROCCO shortlist. We now manage ads ourselves. View ad ratecard here.  Editorial can be submitted for consideration – 300 words with pic / logo emailed to Michelle Ferguson – mferguson@renfrewshirechamber.com

The BCC (British Chamber of Commerce) Annual Review is out – and we have a feature in it – talking about our iPhone app – view the doc here

We have a new mentoring group starting in September with Gary Ennis of NSDesign – focusing on digital marketing (social media, SEO, blogs etc…) For more info on this excellent free opportunity,  please visit here

That’s all for now

Regards

Bob Davidson
Chief Exec’ – Renfrewshire Chamber

Get Ready to ROCCO in 2011

I am delighted to announce that Renfrewshire Chambers Annual Business Awards, The ROCCOs, are now open. You can download entry forms and book tables via www.roccoawards.com Good luck!