The Friday Network

Wine Tasting a great success

rosiegant — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:19:42 +0000

Thank you so much to all who came to the Wine Tasting in June. The event raised a fantastic £850 for The Teenage Cancer Trust. The cheque will be handed over to Mark Carter of Tees Solicitors, a regular member of The Friday Network, to boost his already great fund-raising total.

Prize draw sponsored by Heckford Norton; Wine provided by Steve Filbey of C2C Wines.

Abington Hall enjoyed by all

rosiegant — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:11:41 +0000

The Friday Network had a successful meeting at Abington Hall last Friday 18th February. We had an excellent lunch followed by a tour of some of the conference facilities available at the hall. All attendees also received a voucher for the use of their conference facilities free for a day which is a wonderful offer. Any attendees who take this up and want to advertise their courses/training on the Friday Network site please let us know.

The Teenage Cancer Trust

rosiegant — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 10:41:43 +0000

About Teenage Cancer Trust

Every day in the UK, six young people are told they have cancer. This is a rising figure and there are already more young people than children with the disease. These young people often receive hospital treatment in inappropriate facilities catering for children or the elderly.

Teenage Cancer Trust focuses on the needs of teenagers and young adults with cancer by providing specialist teenage units in NHS hospitals designed to give teenagers and young people the very best chance of a positive outcome. As well as state-of-the-art facilities to keep patients occupied during long stays in hospital, the units provide an environment where teenagers can meet others in a similar situation.

Teenage Cancer Trust has built 17 units and plans to build a further 16 so that all young people needing hospital treatment for cancer across the UK have access to the dedicated, specialist support we provide.

For further information please visit www.teenagecancertrust.org Teenage Cancer Trust is a registered charity, no. 1062559

Friday Network Raises Funds For Teenage Cancer Trust

rosiegant — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 10:37:43 +0000

A wine tasting evening held by a monthly not-for-profit business networking group has raised funds for Teenage Cancer Trust.

The Friday Network, which meets every month at the Old Red Lion pub in Horseheath, Cambridgeshire, presented a cheque for £460 to the charity on Friday 21 January.

Friday Network Presentation to Teenage Cancer Trust

The networking group, founded by Kate Anstee from The Time Finder Agency Founder in Castle Camps; Jenni Bradnam from Travel Counsellors in Kedington near Haverhill; and Denise Lindsell from Hardcastle Burton LLP in Royston, brings together 20 business people a month. The group, which sets itself apart from other regular networking groups by not charging a membership fee and being not-for-profit, has welcomed over 40 different businesses from Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex over the past year.

The wine tasting took place at Birdbrook Community House, near Haverhill, in December. The wine was donated by Birdbrook-based C2C Wines and a light buffet by Ashdon Catering in Ashdon, Essex.
Teenage Cancer Trust has been chosen at the Friday Network’s charity for 2011 and another wine tasting event will take place in June.

Denise Lindsell from Hardcastle Burton LLP in Royston said: “We were extremely pleased with the turn out for our first fundraiser for Teenage Cancer Trust with many people from the local business community coming along to show their support and enjoying a wonderful evening tasting wines and food from local businesses. We had so much fun that we are planning another in June.

“We have chosen the Teenage Cancer Trust as our chosen charity to support this year. Almost everyone has at some time known someone affected by cancer but it is particularly distressing when young people are diagnosed. Teenagers who should be thinking about going out with their friends, studying, and looking to the future are suddenly hit with devastating news and they and their families are looked after and supported by Teenage Cancer Trust. We are delighted to be supporting this charity in its very important work.”

Helen Bearfield-Smith from Teenage Cancer Trust said: “It is fantastic that the local business community are supporting Teenage Cancer Trust. It is our third year of fundraising for the construction of the first Teenage Cancer Trust unit in East Anglia at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and I am delighted that the Friday Network has chosen to support the charity with further fundraisers this year.”

Profile of the Month: SimplyPR

rosiegant — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 17:30:39 +0000

Simply PR provides a professional, friendly and experienced PR service without the traditional agency costs.
Public Relations is all about reputation and a good reputation is not earned overnight. There are huge benefits that come from building successful and long-term relationships with journalists, customers, employees, and the community for the future prosperity of your business or organisation.

Sue Warren, PR Consultant and founder of Simply PR, is a former journalist and news editor with a wealth of experience in promoting companies and organisations. Whether you need short term or long-term support with media relations including press release writing, copywriting, a professional launch event for a service or product, or some help preparing a PR strategy, Simply PR can help.

Everyone has a story to tell. Let Simply PR tell yours.

T: 01440 705578?M: 07545 129916?E:

E: sue@simplypr.net

W: www.simplypr.net

Profile of the Month: Ash Beetson

rosiegant — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 10:21:57 +0000

Ash Beetson Bookkeeping Services is the result of over 20 years experience gained working within bookkeeping and accounting environments. Whether you are a sole trader, partnership, or small limited company, Ash can usually find a way of removing any bookkeeping and accounting headaches you may have.
Services are tailored to meet business needs and budgets. Bookkeeping work can be undertaken at your own premises, or records are collected and returned, with financial reports printed on a monthly basis as standard. In some instances business owners or their staff can be trained to use accounting software which can sometimes prove more cost effective.
Ash believes that simplicity is the key to good bookkeeping and avoids making things complicated. A full range of accounting and bookkeeping services can be provided including: VAT, payroll bureau services, construction industry scheme, management accounts and self-assessment.

Ash Beetson – honest, friendly, reliable, professional www.ashbeetsonbookkeeping.co.uk

Ash decided to set up on his own in 2008. He has spent the last 20 years in various accounting roles including accountancy for the legal profession, manufacturing and also over 4 years accountancy practice experience.
Ash is married to Sarah with two small children Hannah and Owen. When not spending time with his family he is a keen musician (although would use this term loosely), and plays bass and rhythm acoustic.
Ash can be contacted on 07886 619364

Festive Wine Tasting – good all round

rosiegant — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:56:37 +0000

Thirty local business people braved the cold of a winter night to enjoy excellent wines and food at the Friday Network Wine Tasting on 2nd December 2010.

The venue was the lovely Birdbrook Community House, pictured above and with a fascinating history available from Birdbrook website.

We tried a range of 14 (or was it 15, hic… I lost count a bit in the middle there) of lovely wines from C2C Wines with Steve able to give us personal insights into the vineyards that they came from. Ashdon Catering provided some wonderful food to accompany the wines.

A raffle for a case of wine, kindly donated by The TimeFinder Agency, and a percentage of sales on the night raised over £450 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

2011 Dates

rosiegant — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:29:55 +0000

Friday Network meetings have finished for this year but next year’s meetings are already being planned…

The dates for next year will be as follows – put them in your diary now!
21 January
18 February
18 March
April – no meeting (Easter and weddings will just make life too complicated)
20 May
17 June
15 July
August – no meeting
16 September
21 October
18 November
December – no meeting

We look forward to seeing you next year.

Profile of the Month: Tees Solicitors

rosiegant — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 21:00:03 +0000

traditional values never date ….. in the modern world they matter more than ever

Professional expertise and understanding come together at Tees, where we bring our wide ranging legal experience to bear on the needs and aspirations of our clients, whether as private individuals or as business decision makers.

There’s a great deal we can do for you in both a proactive and preventative way. Every life throws up challenges, and no-one is better prepared to help you meet them than we are.

Whether you’re buying your first home, looking after a family or running a business, our legal expertise will help you manage it more smoothly and successfully.

You’ll also find us very flexible in accommodating ourselves to your needs and preferred methods of communication.

Business
Modern Business legislation is so prolific and complex that staying abreast of it is a full time occupation in itself. Employment, Health and Safety, Taxation, Litigation, Company Law. Each area presents special challenges, and meeting them effectively calls for specialist expertise.

Which is precisely what we offer you: an experienced legal team on which you can draw to meet every business contingency from company registration and operation to flotation.

Individuals
We believe that the best legal insights are based on human understanding. That’s why we place great emphasis on getting to know our clients as people; their interests, their concerns and their ambitions. Its also why we set such store by continuity of service, through an established personal contact.

www.teeslaw.co.uk

Mark Carter

Mark Carter is a partner at our Saffron Walden office. Whilst his focus is particularly on commercial property and business law Mark also continues to assist his clients with their various other requirements. He also has a wide experience in private property, local authority, private client and charity law and is a member of The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and Solicitors for the Elderly.

Mark is married with four children and when not spending spare time with his family he likes to keep active in other ways including running, cycling, skiing and mountain hiking and is a keen football and rugby supporter.

Mark may be contacted on 01799 582789 or mcc@teeslaw.co.uk.

19th November 2010 – Banish winter chills

rosiegant — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:35:06 +0000

Fifteen attendees of The Friday Network certainly banished the chills when they attended the November meeting of the network. Chilli and curry were served by an open log fire as we enjoyed meeting old friends and new.

Sandra Johnson from SmartyBags was among several first time attenders and brought some examples of her lovely fair trade bags with her. The one minute presentations revealed among other things how Tees Solicitors came by their name (see our Company Profile of the month) and an introduction from another new attendee Ashdon Catering who will be providing the food for our Wine Tasting evening.

Rosemarie Gant gave the talk on ‘how to organise your life online’ with tips on the various online tools she uses to keep overwhelm at bay and to be able to get on with the work that really needs doing. The handout from the talk is available to download from her website at www.freshapproachweb.co.uk and from www.rosemariegant.com.

We don’t usually meet in December but we are gathering for a wine tasting at the beginning of December so we hope to see you there. If not, look out for exciting plans for the new year.