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:

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

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

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’

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

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

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

Our June lunch was a great success with Gavin Oattes, MD with Tree of Knowledge as our speaker. Gavin gave a superb talk with an excellent mix of humour and motivation. Pics here

At the lunch the Chamber received a significant award in the Chamber community. We have successfully achieved the Chamber Excellence Model. Head of Accreditation for BCC, Nigel Rudd, flew in from the BCC HQ in London to present the award to the Chamber. This is a significant achievement for a small but ambitious Chamber – well done team & Board – and thanks to our members old & new for all their support.

There are always many other events coming up providing ample learning & networking opportunities – please visit our Events page to keep up to date. There you can also see the speakers we have arranged for the year ahead.

ROCCO 2011 is launching very soon – there are still sponsorship opp’s available – to suit all budgets. If interested please contact Bob Davidson, Chief Exec’ on 0141 847 5452 / bdavidson@renfrewshirechamber.com Keep an eye on www.roccoawards.com

Summer 2011 edition of Business Matters is now out, you can also view it online. The Autumn 2011 edition comes out end September. Deadline for adverts and editorial is 12th September 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 2011 shortlist, renewables and heritage. 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

Our free to download from iTunes iPhone app has been downloaded over 400 times. As the first Chamber app in Europe it’s a great way to keep up to date with events / news and access the members directory. More info and how to download the app is available here.

The Chamber is active on all social media fronts, if you want to engage with us online, please follow us:

www.twitter.com/RenfrewshireCoC
www.facebook.com/renfrewshirechamberofcommerce
www.youtube.com/RenfrewshireCoC
on Linkedin – here

Finally – I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a great summer – the last week has been not too bad weather wise – what ever you do – have a great time.

Regards,

Bob Davidson, Chief Exec’

Mays lunch with Bob Cleland CEO Howden was excellent – 60 members enjoyed Bob’s talk at Ingliston Country Clubs Salerno suite. Best wishes to Bob when he retires in Aug/Sep this year – kayaking in Canada will taking up a lot of his time – sounds great to me.

We had Ian Woodall, 2 time Everest summit climber – give his Tao of Everest talk to Chamber members at SNO!Zone at Xscape Braehead – what a story – and its not finished. A thought provoking, emotional and funny talk – recommended. Ian travels all over the world doing the talk – raising funds for his final Everest expedition in 2012 in his mid 50′s

Do you know a Renfrewshire business that deserves recognition for their animal welfare standards? http://t.co/jN19FmL

Still time enter this years VIBES Awards… http://www.renfrewshirechamber.com/news-HASYOURBUSINESSGOTTHEGREENVIBE.asp

Give an individual a great start – and get up to £2000 for your business – http://bit.ly/eJYTTf Employer Recruitment Incentive from SdS

ROCCO 2011 will be getting launched very soon – if you are interested in sponsoring an award please get in touch soon, 5 awards sponsored in last week. ROCCOs this year is the 11th November – with host Fred MacAulay

Chamber Awards http://t.co/jQbKtcD Deadline 24th June £50,000 up for grabs, got to be in it to win it.

Chamber Charity Golf Day Hits the Mark
The Renfrewshire Chamber Golf Challenge sponsored by NSDesign, the first Chamber golf event since 2007, took place at Mar Hall on the 7th June. The Earl of Mar Championship course proved a tough challenge for the 72 players who had the infamous Scottish weather to contend with.
The winning team on the day was Trump Developments with the Watermill Hotel 1 point adrift in 2nd. The yellow bonus ball competition was won by the Phoenix Car Company team. Bert Ferguson from the Phoenix team won the longest drive and Davy Knowles from the William Tracey Team won the Nearest the Pin.
Thanks to all the companies that donated prizes helping us raise £900 split between our two charities of the year, Erskine and Loud’n'Proud.
The Chamber will be having another golf tournament next year, more details in Spring 2012

In the picture NSDesign MD Gary Ennis (left) presents Trump Developments,
Associate Agent, Jonathon Brown (right) both from Hillington Park, with the winning trophy that has been awarded by the Chamber since 1968.

Young Enterprise – Renfrewshire area – YES Renfrewshire – ( I am a Board member) – is starting prep for the Company Programme, by having a Business Advisor info evening on the 20/6 at Paisley Grammar. If interested in learning more – please get in touch. We are also seeking sponsorship to run the programme this year. Again if interested please get in touch – sponsors typically donate between £500 – £1000.

Here is the YES Renfrewshire page, if you like the content please like the page and share with friends, thanks http://www.facebook.com/YESRenfrewshire

Well done to YES Renfrewshire school teams for scooping 4 awards at the Scottish Finals last night (15th June). Sow Good team from Mearns Castle won the SEPA award (This is a conservation award), Stefan won the best link teacher award , Morag won the best Business adviser award and Jason won the top MD award.

Davis Cup is coming to Braehead arena:

The Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is returning to Braehead Arena in Glasgow this July. Great Britain will take on Luxembourg in the Europe /Africa Zone, Group II clash from July 8-10 2011. Tickets to the match are priced from just £13 and Kids Go Free with a full paying adult. Tickets are still available by calling 0844 499 1700 or by visiting www.lta.org.uk/daviscup

The Chamber exhibited at the Business 2 Business Show at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall – a busy day with lots of interest in the Chamber – and some new members to.

Business Bites with Reid Kerr
Reid Kerr have developed a business course available via their online Moodle resource called Business Bites. The course is designed to be relevant to most members and local businesses. Have a look, and if you think this is something that could benefit you / your staff then sign up, it only costs £5. click here

Have a great summer

Bob Davidson
Chief Exec’
Renfrewshire Chamber

- 30 exhibitors involving approx 50 staff
- 15 seminars – 200 people attended across all the seminars, most also attended the exhibition
- Approx 50-100 attended the exhibition on its own (no seminars)

We are delighted with these numbers for a 1st time event of this type in the centre of Paisley.

We have 3 surveys out at the moment, gathering feedback from the event. If you have not already completed the relevant survey(s), it would be great if you could do so:

EXHIBITOR SURVEY – http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8BGYG33

ATTENDEE SURVEY (for main exhibition) – http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8PKLGRJ

ATTENDEES OF SEMINARS SURVEY – http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8HN5HS5

Over 100 pics of the event are on our Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.203378623037759.47494.127410533967902

Thanks to all the exhibitors, speakers and attendees for making the event such a success

May Networking Lunch – Speaker is Howden Chief Exec’ Bob Cleland 26/5/11, 12-2pm Ingliston Country Club, Bishopton – the 5 star venue is letting us have the lunch in the magnificent Salerno Suite, modelled on the Savoy Hotel in London, featuring some of the original decor

   Click here to book

Company Profile:
Howden designs, engineers and supplies air and gas handling equipment, including industrial fans, process gas compressors and rotary heat exchangers. Established over 150 years ago as an engineering firm, Howden has grown to become a worldwide organisation with nearly 3,800 employees and companies in 17 countries.

On the 11th May we had a Chamber / Council event at Paisley Abbey – with presentations on Paisley Town Centre Regen’ and a guided tour of the Abbey. This is the first in a series of events based in the centre of Scotlands largest town – to get businesses back into the centre and appreciate the heritage it has. This event, combined with our B2B event in the Town Hall plus later in the year we are having a networking event at Paisley Museum and Observatory

On the 10th May – we held our 1st members only Construction Forum – with 10 firms directly involved in the sector. BAM Construction were the feature of this session talking about their recent local public sector wins with Renfrewshire Council.

Over the warm weekend at the end of Easter, I completed the West Highland Way (again) raising funds for St Margarets Hospice. So far we have raised approx £4.4K.  You can still donate online http://www.justgiving.com/walkingforstmargarets

Our April Networking lunch was another success with just under 60 at the newly refurbished Watermill Hotel hearing all about the new M74 extension from the main contractor Project Director, Graeme Dickie of Balfour Beatty.

There are many other events coming up providing ample learning & networking opportunities – please visit our Events page to keep up to date. There you can also see the speakers we have arranged for the year ahead. Please note our Golf Day at Mar Hall on the 7th June, is now SOLD OUT (18 teams of 4).

27th April – we held our first Environmental Forum at William Tracey, Linwood. This member only group will next meet late summer at the Scottish Leather Group

19th April we held our Bank of England quarterly Business Panel – covering key sectors of the local business community – where senior local business leaders are invited to comments on the economy

Early April, Tom Johnston – Chamber President and Robert Marshall, Chamber Director accompanied myself the to the annual BCC Conference at Westminster. The speakers included:

Rt Hon George Osborne MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer

Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable MP
Secretary of State for Business,
Innovation and Skills

Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP
Leader of the Opposition

The Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP
Secretary of State

Plus many others – more info here – http://www.bcc-conference-2011.co.uk/Our-speakers.html

Thanks for taking the time to read the blog.

Bob Davidson
Renfrewshire Chamber Chief Exec’