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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.
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Bill Heine
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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.
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James Elles MEP
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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.
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Jenny Celerier
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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.
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Sue Scott
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Meeting held in
August 2009
Guest Speaker: Peter Gorbing - Dogs for the Disabled
A smaller turn-out of about 40 members attended last month, on a bright
sunny July morning to hear a heart felt presentation from Peter Gorbing,
the Chief Executive for Dogs for the Disabled, Banbury, a pioneering
charity that trains dogs to carry out a range of practical tasks to
assist disabled children and adults in order to achieve greater independence.
Peter discussed how the charity trains the dogs from young pups and
at around a year old, they come into their national training centre
in Banbury, Oxfordshire where we spend six to eight months giving
them all the skills they will require to help a disabled person. We
were then treated with a live demonstration by Fallon 2 years old
. We were shown how each offers practical support with tasks that
many of us take for granted for example, opening and closing doors,
helping people undress and even emptying the washing machine
The morning raised £66.40 for Dogs for the Disabled, so thank you
very much for your generosity. |
Dogs for the Disabled
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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.
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Shaun Jardine
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Meeting held in
June 2009
Guest Speaker: Jenna Johnston
Over 55 members attended last month to hear a very fascinating and
thought-provoking presentation from Jenna Johnston, a volunteer speaker
for the Cancer Research UK. Jenna talked to us about the charity,
particularly focusing on the following: What Cancer Research UK is
currently doing in the local area How the charity has developed over
the years How your fundraising helps Different fundraising ideas.
The morning raised £61.90 for Cancer Research UK, so thank you very
much for your generosity. |
Jenna Johnston
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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. .
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Rowena Gaston
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Meeting held in
April 2009
Guest Speaker: Ron Aldridge
Over 60 members attended last month to hear a very enthralling presentation
from Ron Aldridge, theatre director. Ron discussed how individuals
can develop their personal communication skills with passion, emotion,
energy and truth, enabling them to always appear confident, at ease
and in control when speaking or presenting in front of others. The
morning raised £49.95 for McMillan Nurses, so thank you very much
for your generosity.
www.ron-aldridge.co.uk
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Ron Aldridge
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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.
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Tony Baldry
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Meeting held in
February 2009
Guest Speaker: Simon Craddock - Brethertons
Over 50 members battled through the ice to attend this month's Breakfast
meeting and heard from Simon Craddock, the family partner at Brethertons.
It is a sad fact of life that many marriages end in divorce, partnerships
end in separation and then people who once upon a time loved each
other spend thousands of pounds arguing over finance, access to children
and many other things. As Simon explained it does not have to be this
way, as there are now alternatives to Courts such as Collaborative
Law. He also discussed through some very well known cases, how divorce
works, how Civil partnerships are terminated and what the courts take
into account when dividing up the matrimonial assets. |
Simon Craddock
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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.
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Richard Meredith
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Meeting held in December 08
Guest Speakers: The Bretherton's
Employment Team
Over 50 members attended this month's Christmas Breakfast meeting
and heard from Brethertons' Employment Team about the Perils of
Christmas for Employers. The talk covered the obvious shenanigans
of the Christmas party but also such issues as Secret Santa, Company
gifts, spurious sickness absences and New Year's resolutions. The
morning was very insightful as they told a number of stories about
cases involving misbehaviour surrounding the Christmas period and
how things can go wrong, which can be very expensive!
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