Meeting held in December 2009

Guest Speaker: Bill Heine
Around 70 members turned out in the cold weather for our December meeting, for which, BBC Radio Oxford Presenter, Bill Heine was our highly entertaining speaker. Speaking about his life at Radio Oxford, he gave us some hints and tips on how not to network giving us an insight into how he came to write his new book "Heinstein of the Airwaves". This book is not just a story about his life so far, but gives us an insight into the lives of all the people he has interviewed and come across whilst on BBBC Radio Oxford.

Although Bill claimed he had never been to a Breakfast Club before, he was well versed with the faux pas of networking, reeling off many of his own, such as head-butting Richard Nixon and humiliating himself in front of Henry Kissinger, to name only two. As it was the run up to Christmas, Bill kindly stayed behind to sign some books and answer more questions from the members.

Meeting held in November 209

Guest Speaker: James Elles MEP
Over 75 members attended the last meeting, which was held at the Banbury Cricket Club. The speaker at the meeting was James Elles, the MEP for the South East Region, who has special responsibility for Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. James spoke about how the recent technological advances have radically changed his life as an MEP over the last 25 years, stressing the importance of the internet and blogs to businesses and parliamentarians. Further to this, James also spoke about the importance of looking forward, and acting upon trends now in order to protect British and European interests in the future. Throughout his talk, James reiterated the importance of Europe and America working together to tackle these global trends.

Meeting held in October 2009

Guest Speaker: Jenny Celerier from The Apprentice
Over 75 members attended last month's meeting which was held as a one-off at the Multi-million pound teaching block which is now open at Banbury School. The building was very impressive, completely sound proof and a good room for business conferences.

The speaker at the meeting was Jenny Celerier, who appeared in the 2008 Apprentice. If you think you know everything there is to know about The Apprentice, you'd be wrong, as Jenny illustrated at the meeting when she talked about the secrets of the Apprentice, with some shocking revelations.

Below is a few listed just to give you a taster, but there were many more: Firstly, why some of the contestants are recruited even though they may never have done a days work in their life. Secondly, how much of the filming is edited, so certain characters are portrayed in a particular light and thirdly, how the show is able to keep the winner a secret by Sir Alan filming two endings to the show and only deciding the winner the evening before it is aired.

Meeting held in September 2009

Guest Speaker: Sue Scott
Over 45 members attended last month to hear a very interesting presentation from Sue Scott, from Cranfield School of Management. Sue spoke about her research findings from Cranfield that define "Ten Steps to Profitable Business Growth". As a result of working with over 1,000 businesses that have been through the Business Growth & Development Programme (BGP) at Cranfield, they have observed ten characteristics which seem to distinguish businesses which successfully achieve consistent profitable growth. They call them the "Ten Steps".

Sue described these steps and how delegates could put them into action in their own businesses.

Meeting held in July 2009

Guest Speaker: Our very own Shaun Jardine
Over 55 members attended last month to hear our very own Shaun Jardine, who gave a very candid presentation about getting the most out of your lawyer. Shaun is a partner at Brethertons LLP one of the largest local firms of solicitors. Brethertons are at the forefront of changing the way that legal services are delivered in the UK, winning awards for innovation in its ground-breaking new web-based services.

This presentation covered: What change is happening in the legal world and why How the change will affect businesses like yours Why Tesco will be selling you legal services in the near future The future of law as a profession - who will be acting for you Brethertons continues to expand despite the current economic climate and unlike many firms in 2009 has increased staff numbers. Recognised by various authoritative legal publications, such as "Chambers Legal Directory" and "The Legal 500" Brethertons is considered one of the UK's leading firms of solicitors.

The morning raised £90.70, which was donated to Dogs for the Disabled, so thankyou very much for your generousity.

Meeting held in May 2009

Guest Speaker: Rowena Gaston
Over 55 members attended last month to hear a very fascinating and thought-provoking presentation from Rowena Gaston, the Operations Manager for Life Education Centres Thames Valley, which is charity that takes unique mobile classrooms to primary schools to teach children in an imaginative way how to make healthy choices. Rowena discussed how the charity promotes health and drug prevention education but also deals with peer pressure and bullying, equipping children with the confidence to say no and walk away from difficult situations they may face now and in the future as well as revealing some shocking stories of how much young children know about legal and illegal drugs.

The morning raised £48.41 for Life Education Centres, so thank you very much for your generosity. .

Meeting held in March 2009
Guest Speaker: Tony Baldry MP
Over 70 members attended last month to hear a very interesting presentation from Tony Baldry, Local MP. Tony gave a witty and humorous account of his job as an MP, as well as talking about more serious aspects such as helping business in recession and foreign policies. The discussion was then opened up to the floor, allowing members to ask Tony some quite gritty questions.

As Tony mentioned at the meeting, he recently said in a debate in the House of Commons that we need BERR to be a champion in Whitehall devoting all its attention to being an advocate for businesses in these particularly difficult times. In this he highlighted too many instances where the Government is saying it is doing something for businesses but where the reality is different - too many schemes which make the Government sound good without actually coming up with anything. Click here to read Tony Baldry's Speech.

The morning raised £70.18 for Banbury Young Homeless Project (BYHP) so thank you very much for your generosity.

Meeting held in January 2009
Guest Speaker: Richard Meredith
Back at the BBBC after one of his greatest-ever adventures is international travel author Richard Meredith. Driving an Aston Martin lent by the company chairman no less, Richard has recently completed the first-ever crossing of the new Asian Highway from Tokyo to London feeling, he says, like a cross between James Bond, Michael Schumacher and Bill Bryson.
So did he ding the thing and walk away unscathed like 007 - find any women lurking in foreign hotel bedrooms - meet any villains with plans to take over the world? Apparently the answer is Yes to all three (M’m, but he is an author after all - Ed). Oh, and he says he wouldn’t have driven a tractor down some of the roads, never mind a V8 Vantage. Richard, who is local and recalls a memorably lively visit to us some years ago (when he had just driven a family hatchback through Afghanistan) promises to get our New Year programme off to a roaring start.