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Blog Post
The Weekly Blog
- by Simon Edmondson
- •
- 20 Jan, 2019
- •
From Mark 1 Fiestas to is it OK to have failures occasionally?
Well it is back to the grind stone and the networking merry go round this week.
We started off with a select Chairman's dinner with Pro Manchester where the usual heads of the Manchester business community were in attendance the event was hosted by Eversheds. There was a fascinating presentation by Shaun Hinds the chief executive of Manchester Central. Some of the photographs he showed took me back and made you realise just how far Manchester has changed for the better over the last 30 years. Apparently I was that sad individual spotting the Mark 1 Fiestas, Renault 5's and Austin Allegro's!
There was also a contingency from Professional Liverpool and I met a very interesting business man who was on his third start up company. The last two had been built up and sold for small fortunes but he still hadn't lost his enthusiasm and could not help himself explain how his new baby works. You can't keep an entrepreneur down.
Thursday started at 6am and finished at 9pm. My usual Thursday morning meeting was followed on by my very first Altrincham and Sale Chamber of Commerce board meeting. I am very proud to have been invited to sit on the board. In 1985 I joined the Junior branch of the Chamber and was an active member for a number of years. I can't remember why I left but it is great to be now part of an organisation which is over 100 years old.
Altrincham and Sale Chamber is an independent chamber and offers businesses not only from the local area but also the whole of Greater Manchester to network and work with each other and have some great experiences though more about that a bit further down.
Networking is an important part of my business days so it was off to lunch in Wilmslow where we picked up a new connection for Premium Collections but it was great to be able to use the contacts within the room to help me with another project/client. It is not always about selling.
Thursday finished off with a Chamber Mixer at the Altrincham outlet of Bistrot Pierre where co-founder John Whitehead talked about his experiences in building this catering empire. Although highly successful they had their fair share of failures and learnt from them. Their venues are chosen very carefully and you will not seem them alongside he usual parade of other restaurants. I was talking to him about eating down in Torquay and he explained that it would not be the choice of most chain s but that particular outlets attracts clients from the surrounding community as well as the normal holiday traffic.
It was a great turnout but it always amazes me the number of people who don't take of advantage of listening to a successful business leader's experiences and learn from their knowledge. John said he would have to shoot off to catch a train but when I let around 9pm he was still talking to attendees!
Finally, it was another sad meeting at the MBBC on Friday. Mark Nicholson's funeral was literally straight afterwards, I was sorry not to be able to attend due to commitments but it was obvious as Mark will be in our hearts every Friday morning.
We started off with a select Chairman's dinner with Pro Manchester where the usual heads of the Manchester business community were in attendance the event was hosted by Eversheds. There was a fascinating presentation by Shaun Hinds the chief executive of Manchester Central. Some of the photographs he showed took me back and made you realise just how far Manchester has changed for the better over the last 30 years. Apparently I was that sad individual spotting the Mark 1 Fiestas, Renault 5's and Austin Allegro's!
There was also a contingency from Professional Liverpool and I met a very interesting business man who was on his third start up company. The last two had been built up and sold for small fortunes but he still hadn't lost his enthusiasm and could not help himself explain how his new baby works. You can't keep an entrepreneur down.
Thursday started at 6am and finished at 9pm. My usual Thursday morning meeting was followed on by my very first Altrincham and Sale Chamber of Commerce board meeting. I am very proud to have been invited to sit on the board. In 1985 I joined the Junior branch of the Chamber and was an active member for a number of years. I can't remember why I left but it is great to be now part of an organisation which is over 100 years old.
Altrincham and Sale Chamber is an independent chamber and offers businesses not only from the local area but also the whole of Greater Manchester to network and work with each other and have some great experiences though more about that a bit further down.
Networking is an important part of my business days so it was off to lunch in Wilmslow where we picked up a new connection for Premium Collections but it was great to be able to use the contacts within the room to help me with another project/client. It is not always about selling.
Thursday finished off with a Chamber Mixer at the Altrincham outlet of Bistrot Pierre where co-founder John Whitehead talked about his experiences in building this catering empire. Although highly successful they had their fair share of failures and learnt from them. Their venues are chosen very carefully and you will not seem them alongside he usual parade of other restaurants. I was talking to him about eating down in Torquay and he explained that it would not be the choice of most chain s but that particular outlets attracts clients from the surrounding community as well as the normal holiday traffic.
It was a great turnout but it always amazes me the number of people who don't take of advantage of listening to a successful business leader's experiences and learn from their knowledge. John said he would have to shoot off to catch a train but when I let around 9pm he was still talking to attendees!
Finally, it was another sad meeting at the MBBC on Friday. Mark Nicholson's funeral was literally straight afterwards, I was sorry not to be able to attend due to commitments but it was obvious as Mark will be in our hearts every Friday morning.