Newsdesk Article

newsdesk
CMI IBC Joint
Family Day
The newsletter of the Birmingham, Hereford
& Worcester and Wolverhampton Branches
autumn 2009
• Inside the Minds of Top
Achievers
• Young Workers for Old?
• Backing Young Britain
• Black Country Adviser is the best
• Chartered Manager Update
Autumn 2010
• Jerry Blackett on LEPs...
• The World of Social Networking
• Confessions of a Consultant
• Creativity and how to encourage it
• Nurturing Future Leaders

Our family day out each Summer is growing in
popularity and this year at Ironbridge was no exception.
We negotiated with the friendly and efficient events
team at Ironbridge to provide us with a great itinerary
(covering two sites), a fabulous meeting room for the
annual general regional and local branch update, a
wonderful talk from one of the operational managers
and a tasty buffet with refreshments. Local branches
subsidised the event so that it could be offered free to
members and their families which represented terrific
value. This meant places were limited to 100 and they
were snapped up within a couple of days leaving us with
a reserve list.
People arrived promptly at 10am for check in at
Coalbrookdale for a self-guided tour of the Museum and
Old Furnace where people were free to explore the site
and remains of the water powered blast furnace where
Abraham Darby I perfected the smelting of iron with coke
instead of charcoal. It was the secret that helped make
iron the essential material of the Industrial Revolution.
At 11.30, some forty people, attended the meeting in
the Glass Classroom – a fabulous venue – to receive an
update from Eric Hogg, West Midlands Regional Forum
Chair, CMI regarding new strategic developments in the
CMI incorporating a greater focus on members.
He also reminded everyone of the significant benefits
of membership (which many of us tend to forget) and
urged us to log on to the web site and start benefitting
more from specific services such as the latest research
on the latest ‘hot’ management issues, provision of a
vast array of useful information through the online
management information centre as well as consultancy
services and career information. Gerywn Jones,
Branch Chair Wolverhampton, talked us through
events, past and planned, and how well the combined
Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Hereford &
Worcester is operating and providing practical benefits.
Faye Field, Branch Chair Hereford & Worcester shared
her aspirations for the combined branch programme of
events and appealed for more volunteers to join the
CMI IBC Joint Family Day
Ironbridge Gorge Museum, Shropshire, Telford TF8 7JP
Saturday 11th July 2009
newsdesk
The 3 Chairs…Faye Field, Gerwyn Jones and Eric Hogg (inset: Treasurer, John Wells)
02
a reserve list.
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02
a reserve list.
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02
It was Bill Clinton who famously had a sign made for
his desk that read “It’s the economy, stupid”. Clinton
recognized that, irrespective of anything else he did,
his political ratings ebbed and flowed in direct
proportion to how people were feeling about jobs
and prosperity.
It’s my guess that the analysis not only holds good
today but that the alignment is even stronger.
Following the collapse of the banking system and
the recession that followed, the old order is gone
forever. The remorseless rise in the new economies
of China, India, Russia and South America contrasts
harshly with the stuttering recoveries of the
established behemoths of the USA and Europe.
What of the future? I think we will see a continued
blurring of international boundaries as companies
compete globally. Ownership of businesses will
become increasingly irrelevant. We need to get
comfortable with more national icons becoming part
of international groups.
It really does not matter who owns Jaguar, and
Rover and Cadbury. What matters is making where
we live the easiest place in Europe to set up and run
a business. In the case of the West Midlands this
means seizing the opportunity that is in the
Birmingham name. If we do all this, we will attract
businesses of all shapes and sizes from all over
the world.
The speed of change in regional governance is
breathtaking. Within a very short period, regional
functions such as Advantage West Midlands,
Business Link West Midlands and Government
Office will have ceased being effective. There is now
a scramble to design new “bottom-up” local
replacements driven by the creation of Local
Enterprise Partnerships.
LEP’s are 50:50 partnerships between businesses
and local authorities with an independent Chair from
the business community. Their brief is to set the
economic priorities for their geographies.
LEPs & Regional Governance
Jerry Blackett - Chief Executive Officer - Birmingham Chamber Group

friendly and effective joint committee.
We then enjoyed a treat of a presentation from John
Challen, Operations Manager, Blists Hill. We weren’t
left in any doubt as to what John’s passion is:
BRIDGES. This well researched and interesting talk
included some vintage footage of bridges from around
the world, including some that were doomed to failure,
and brilliantly linked back to the start of the Industrial
Revolution which is at the historical heart of the
Ironbridge Gorge Museum. John certainly knows how
to make bridges interesting – you could have heard a
pin drop.
Everyone then regrouped to enjoy a buffet lunch and
refreshments before departing for Blists Hill.
Our group was free to enjoy Blists Hill Victorian Town at
their own pace. With working factories, shops and
cottages set in 50 acres of beautiful woodland where
life is lived and demonstrated as it was in Victorian
times, there was plenty to see and experience. Some
exhibits are static and others are staffed by
knowledgeable demonstrators (oh that Headteacher
was strict and he did shout loud) who were happy to
explain more of their particular role.
The Post Office was a particular favourite of mine with
‘security’ no more than a chair in the gap between the
shop and behind the counter, the postmaster explained
how the post office formed the heart of the community
providing crucial services for those who could not read
and write through postal reading services (sometimes
very tricky if it was something the recipient didn’t want to
hear) and writing letters for those who couldn’t and
parcels all wrapped up with string and a wax seal.
Fascinating!
Feedback from those who attended on the day was
very good which was rewarding as the planning for next
year has already started.
Sue Crabtree
Lucas Field browsing the latest edition of NewsDesk Jeff Elmore CMI Birmingham with Rachel Mallett of
Ironbridge Gorge Museum’s very helpful events team
03
pin drop.
Fascinating!
Sue Crabtree
03
The dash to localism is a double-edged sword for
our region. Local pride and identities in Birmingham,
Black Country and Coventry have been unleashed.
The upside has been to re-energise working
relationships between business and local
authorities. There is a lot of optimism around these
new partnerships and for the potential in having
business lead the economic agenda.
However, local pride can look parochial and self-
serving when seen through the telescope of
international markets. The ingredients for success
that are emerging need City Regions like ours to
develop reputations for world-class innovation and
design; for diversity of markets; for attracting the
brightest talent; for being a great place to live with
a rich cultural offer. Importantly, for doing whatever
it takes to help private sector enterprise flourish.
In this competitive, global context it is certain that
LEP’s that are too small won’t perform well.
Even larger LEP’s, like the Birmingham and Solihull
with East Staffordshire and Lichfield and Tamworth
LEP, will need to collaborate on strategic matters
(such as sector excellence) with other neighboring
geographies if we are to really punch our combined
weight and to be seen as a credible global player.
There may never be a new order because the pace
of change in the world is now so fast that there is no
time for anything to assume predictability/certainty.
In the West Midlands we need to exploit the new
opportunities of localism whilst at the same time
turning our collective efforts into making our City
Region the easiest place in Europe in which to set
up and run a business.
We have a great story to tell the world’s businesses
and every reason to be hugely confident in our
ability to compete and win.
Jerry Blackett - CEO
Birmingham Chamber Group
0121 454 6171
More national icons will become internationally-owned The easiest place in Europe to set up a business?
Autumn 2010

Circa 25 CMI and IBC members and guests enjoyed
some networking, refreshments and a tasty buffet before
David was introduced by John Wells.
Every now and again, you encounter an individual that
invites/challenges you to examine the way you do things
(however successfully) in more detail, perhaps from an
unusual perspective or in direct opposition to how we are
taught. It’s a little uncomfortable and takes some honest
thought but it can prompt you to uncover some potentially
limiting values and beliefs. If you understand these
properly you are then on route to adopting a different
approach and achieving so much more. David Hyner is
one such individual.
Firstly, David introduced himself, highlighting his journey
from building a reputable catering and event
management business for 15 years through 12 years of
research into how top achievers realise their goals to his
current role delivering high energy talks, worldwide,
establishing himself as one of the top inspirational
speakers in the UK. He then led an interesting
discussion about assumptions; how we all make
assumptions about others and what we will or will not do
in our everyday lives. Interestingly, David’s research has
shown that top achievers make fewer assumptions –
preferring to deal more in facts.
We then went on to demonstrate how assumptions can
fashion our conclusions as we shared three things about
ourselves – two true and one false – to see if our
neighbour in the audience could correctly predict the
false one. Clearly, we make a raft of assumptions about
this person that we barely know, to arrive at our answers.
It’s quite useful to carry out an occasional health check on
what leads you to make such assumptions.
Next step was to talk us through goal setting and how
what all top achievers have in common is ‘massive’
goals and we discussed how that compares to the more
common mantra of goals being ‘realistic and
achievable’. David then took the goal of one attendee
and demonstrated how, through use of the pyramid, it
can be broken down into blocks on several levels until
the very top where the goal to be achieved is stated.
Sound easy and somewhat familiar? Yes, but David
talked us through the most important elements to be
included in the foundation row – leading with the most
important: why? In addition, we were reminded how
important it is to capture what we know and what we
need to know and galvanise ourselves into action to find
out the answers.
David’s energy and enthusiasm for his subject was
exceptional and it was transferred to the audience
during this participative session as the contribution from
all was very good. On behalf of everyone present, John
Wells thanked David for a stimulating, interactive and
fun session.
Session feedback forms were completed by all (very
positive) and David then drew three lucky winners for a
copy of David’s motivational CD ‘The MASSIVE Goal
Principle’ (retails £10) and a box of chocs.
For further information contact David at:
info@stretchdevelopment.com
Inside the Minds of
Top Achievers
Presenter: David Hyner, Director,
STRETCH Developments Ltd
Wednesday 5th August 2009 at the
Manor Hotel, Meriden, West Midlands
newsdesk
...energy and enthusiasm from David Hyner.
04
out the answers.
fun session.
Inside the Minds of
Top Achievers
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04
out the answers.
fun session.
Inside the Minds of
Top Achievers
newsdesk
04
The concept of online social networking is not a new
one but it has really only been in the last five years
or so that has seen any real developments within
this field.
Today, literally BILLIONS of people access some
kind of social network each and every day. For many
it is the single biggest internet draw there is. So what
does social networking actually mean?
Well, this may seem a tad obvious but the whole
crux of social networking is its emphasis on the
social; Facebook, Myspace, Twitter et al is all about
people. What they are doing, what they are thinking,
where they have been and why. The so-called web
1.0 which exploded in the 1990s was all about
(mainly) static pages of reference material; a
webmaster oversaw the content of any given site
and internet users visited these sites to merely
consume what they found there.
Conversely social networking is at the heart of web
2.0. Now users CONTRIBUTE to their online
experience like never before. Yes, there were
interactive sites like message boards in the 90s,
but there was nothing like we have now in the 21st
century. A new type of site began to emerge in the
first half of the 2000s, the most famous of which
amongst non social networking obsessives (of
which there is an ever dwindling amount) is
undoubtedly Youtube.
This was a site built around the concept of UGC or
User Generated Content; no more was the
webmaster the sole driving force behind the content
of a site. Now, tech-savvy web users started to take
the lead and use sites like this as platforms for their
own content – wedding & party videos, fan-made
alternatives to official pop videos, instructional
recordings and ‘memes’ began to flood the internet
and really make it start to feel like a social
experience rather than the solitary pastime it had
been before.
The rise of web 2.0 and UGC sites owes its
existence in no small part to technological leaps
made in the last 10-15 years. Ever faster broadband
and increased competition amongst ISPs
allowed users to upload files of ever increasing size.
In short, if we were still living in the dial-up internet
generation Youtube would never have been
launched in the form that we have now and it would
very likely have gone pop in the first internet mass
extinction of the late 1990s.
As people became used to the idea, and then
OBSESSED with the idea of sharing the minutiae of
their lives with the online community a new breed of
website emerged; spearheaded by Friendster and
shortly thereafter Myspace the age of the social
web, and specifically social networking, heralded
the arrival of Web 2.0.
New sites sprang up frequently, many of which fell
by the wayside as had much of the first wave of
internet entrepreneurs. Some, however, quickly
rose up through the (page)ranks to become
internet behemoths, making a new generation of
twenty something billionaires along the way.
An Introduction To
The World Of
Social Networking
Billions of us social network every day...

...saying “no”... is one of the most liberating of choices
05
It’s probably a cliché but nevertheless a fact, that our
lives are governed by the choices we make. At the most
basic level we can choose to ‘go with the flow’ – let life
‘happen’ to us and complain about the consequences.
It’s a bit like being on a river in a boat with no oars.
Sometimes we move along quickly and smoothly, other
times we hit rapids and have a rough ride; we can enter
backwaters that take us nowhere and we may even end
our journey at a waterfall. Whatever happens, the one
common factor is that we are not in control.
I see many examples of this in the work I do in career
transition. Quite often I work with people who have
chosen to ignore what is happening around them and
just hope things get better (or at least, no worse). For
some, work has been a living nightmare but they stuck
with it in the vain hope that whatever was causing the
unhappiness would somehow magically disappear and
all would be better. In my experience, this rarely, if ever,
happens and the sensible course of action is to seek an
alternative.
But the first step is to recognise that we have the choice
to ‘let things happen to us’ or ‘make things happen for
us’. There are always choices but often we choose not
to see them. A key factor preventing us from seeing and
exercising choice is that it takes us way out of our
Choices?
comfort zone or represents too high a perceived risk.
However, for the purposes of this article let us assume
you have chosen to exercise more control over your life.
Congratulations – you’ve just found the oars that will
enable you to steer and drive the boat in the direction
you wish to go, rather than simply ‘going with the flow’.
So, where from here? Whilst tempted to say ‘the choice
is yours’, one of the most liberating of choices is to
choose to say ‘no’. As managers we are all under a
great deal of pressure and have constant demands on
our time. In our efforts to demonstrate our ability to cope
we are often tempted to say ‘yes’ to things when we
know we should be saying ‘no’. Saying ‘yes’ may be the
easy choice but often it simply adds to our burden and
makes us feel even more ‘out of control’. How many
times have you found yourself saying ‘yes’ knowing full
well that there is little or no chance of fulfilling the
request. How much better would it be to say ‘no’ and
then offer an alternative i.e. another choice, one which
you know you can deliver.
Can you choose your ‘mood’? A pet hate of mine is
managers who are moody and unpredictable and bring
their personal angst and problems with them into the
workplace. Sure I recognise that as managers we are
first and foremost human beings, but does that give us
the right to impose our bad temper on those we work
with? As professionals we should leave whatever
personal issues we have behind us and choose to put
ourselves in a positive mood at work. Personally I use
my journey to work to put myself into a positive frame of
mind. Equally I use the journey home to put away the
frustrations I have experienced at work and reach home
without any of the baggage we all carry round from time
to time. Sometimes music works for me and at other
times I abandon my motorway journey in favour of the
slower but prettier option of the country lanes and
scenery. It’s a matter of experimenting until you find
what choice works for you.
In this short article I’ve tried to give some simple
examples of how the choices we make affect our lives
and I hope you will start to think more carefully about the
choices you make. As managers however there is one
choice I would strongly commend to you, and that is to
‘choose to catch people doing things right rather than
catch them doing things wrong’. Making that simple
choice and saying ‘thank you’ more often will make life
so much easier both for you and your colleagues.
Eric Hogg
Email Eric at eh@exec-dynamics.com
‘TheFacebook.Com’ was designed and built by the
then 20-year old Mark Zuckerberg and was launched
for the exclusive benefit of Harvard students in
February 2004. And then it began to spread like the
proverbial wildfire. Within months it was rolled out to
other big American colleges, and then a year later
American high school students were invited to join
the party. Finally anyone, anywhere (over the age
of 13) became eligible to join in September 2006.
Now, just four years later Facebook has just
recruited its 500 millionth unique user and
Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in the world.
As internet success stories Facebook is
the biggest.
Controversy?
Take your pick: firstly Zuckerberg ALLEGEDLY paid
disgruntled fellow Harvard alumni Divya Narendra
and Tyler & Cameron Winkelvoss $65 million
dollars (in cash and shares) when they sued him
for stealing the Facebook idea from them, and then
there have been any number of privacy issues
relating to the extent to which users’ data is shared
both on Facebook and in the greater online world.
As they say in Hollywood ‘where there’s a hit there’s
a writ’ and the hits don’t come much bigger than
Facebook. And no doubt soon we’ll be seeing
lawsuits as a result of the Fincher/Sorkin Facebook
movie due out later this year.
The future
World domination, or a spectacular fall from
grace – it really is a toss up which but the smart
money has to be on the former rather than
the latter.
Twitter
The past and present
Twitter is an unusual beast amongst social
networks. You can’t upload hundreds of pictures
into albums, you can’t stream music, you can’t play
games – all you can do is blog. Or, more
specifically, micro-blog.
Launched in the summer of 2006 it now boasts
almost 200 million regular users who share ‘tweets’
of 140 characters or less with their ‘followers’.
And ‘right now’ really is the way you have to look
at it; internet fads come and go and surprisingly
quickly. Even if you’re number 1 today you may be
number 200 tomorrow – if you’re lucky!! Not too long
ago Myspace blew Friends Reunited (which was a
seriously big fish at the time) out of the virtual water.
That a similar fate would befall Myspace was then
unthinkable. Now it is a matter of history.
Everything online has the ability to change in a
heartbeat. Today’s must-have social profile is
tomorrow’s abandoned and forgotten logon. Times
change, fashions change and people change online
just as much as off.
So, for now, let’s look at the four biggest movers and
shakers in the social networking world right now:
Facebook
By no means the first it is definitely the biggest,
most famous and most controversial of the
social networks.
The Biggest Players
Right Now:
The biggest players right now...
Autumn 2010

newsdesk
06
Young person receiving help from a Jobcentre Plus adviser
Backing Young Britain
Supporting Young Unemployed People in the
West Midlands
There’s no doubt that the West Midlands has suffered
significantly in the recent adverse economic conditions
and young people have been amongst those hardest
hit. There are around 55,500 people aged 18-24 in the
West Midlands Region currently claiming Jobseeker’s
Allowance.
This is a dreadful waste of talent and potential - and in
order to enlist employers in addressing this, Prime
Minister Gordon Brown launched the “Backing Young
Britain” campaign in Birmingham on 2nd September.
The role of employers across the UK in supporting
young people cannot be overstated. BYB is a national
campaign that seeks to engage employers of all
“shapes and sizes” to do everything possible to give
young people the help they need to find a job, training
or work skills and experience.
This support by employers is vital in providing
opportunities of work and work experience for young
people.
The government is seeking commitment and action
from employers around any or all of the following ways
in which young people can be helped…Employers are
being urged to:
• Offer volunteer places or become a volunteer
mentor for school or university leavers.
• Provide work experience opportunities.
• Offer internships to graduates and non-graduates.
• Consider a young person for a job through a work
trial.
• Provide apprenticeship opportunities for 16-24 year
olds.
• Apply to provide jobs through the Future Jobs Fund
(see below)
• Engage in a Local Employment Partnership (LEP)
with Jobcentre Plus
Visit
http://interactive.bis.gov.uk/backingyoungbritain to
find out more...
Alternatively you can contact Jobcentre Plus on any of
the following numbers for further details of local
initiatives:
Birmingham and Solihull - 0121 255 8351
Black Country - 01902 435163
Coventry and Warwickshire - 02476 232598
Staffordshire - 01782 382164
Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire -
01562 623661
Future Jobs Fund (FJF)
Delivered by the Department of Work and Pensions
(DWP) this fund aims to create 150,000 additional jobs
that will provide both work experience and training
primarily to 18-24 year olds who have been out of work
for nearly a year with the aim of delivering real benefits
to communities. The jobs must be jobs which the
employer would not ordinarily have recruited for.
The jobs created must provide work for at least 25
hours a week for 6 months and be paid at a salaried
wage, (at least the statutory National Minimum Wage).
DWP are accepting applications on a monthly basis
from organisations keen to play a part in supporting it.
Employers interested in applying are invited to visit
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/campaigns/futurejobsfund
where full details of the programme and application
forms can be found.
newsdesk
06
Young person receiving help from a Jobcentre Plus adviser
Backing Young Britain
Supporting Young Unemployed People in the
West Midlands
There’s no doubt that the West Midlands has suffered
significantly in the recent adverse economic conditions
and young people have been amongst those hardest
hit. There are around 55,500 people aged 18-24 in the
West Midlands Region currently claiming Jobseeker’s
Allowance.
This is a dreadful waste of talent and potential - and in
order to enlist employers in addressing this, Prime
Minister Gordon Brown launched the “Backing Young
Britain” campaign in Birmingham on 2nd September.
The role of employers across the UK in supporting
young people cannot be overstated. BYB is a national
campaign that seeks to engage employers of all
“shapes and sizes” to do everything possible to give
young people the help they need to find a job, training
or work skills and experience.
This support by employers is vital in providing
opportunities of work and work experience for young
people.
The government is seeking commitment and action
from employers around any or all of the following ways
in which young people can be helped…Employers are
being urged to:
• Offer volunteer places or become a volunteer
mentor for school or university leavers.
• Provide work experience opportunities.
• Offer internships to graduates and non-graduates.
• Consider a young person for a job through a work
trial.
• Provide apprenticeship opportunities for 16-24 year
olds.
• Apply to provide jobs through the Future Jobs Fund
(see below)
• Engage in a Local Employment Partnership (LEP)
with Jobcentre Plus
Visit
http://interactive.bis.gov.uk/backingyoungbritain to
find out more...
Alternatively you can contact Jobcentre Plus on any of
the following numbers for further details of local
initiatives:
Birmingham and Solihull - 0121 255 8351
Black Country - 01902 435163
Coventry and Warwickshire - 02476 232598
Staffordshire - 01782 382164
Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire -
01562 623661
Future Jobs Fund (FJF)
Delivered by the Department of Work and Pensions
(DWP) this fund aims to create 150,000 additional jobs
that will provide both work experience and training
primarily to 18-24 year olds who have been out of work
for nearly a year with the aim of delivering real benefits
to communities. The jobs must be jobs which the
employer would not ordinarily have recruited for.
The jobs created must provide work for at least 25
hours a week for 6 months and be paid at a salaried
wage, (at least the statutory National Minimum Wage).
DWP are accepting applications on a monthly basis
from organisations keen to play a part in supporting it.
Employers interested in applying are invited to visit
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/campaigns/futurejobsfund
where full details of the programme and application
forms can be found.
Sure, it may not have the functionality of Facebook
or come anywhere near Facebook’s number of
registered users but there is something very quant
and yet very cutting-edge about Twitter. Factor in
the fact that it is only now beginning to explore
third-party advertising as a revenue stream and
anyone must surely be able to see that Twitter is
only going to get bigger and bigger.
LinkedIn
Linkedin is the grownup social network. Here you
will not find any virtual farms, no one will ‘poke’ you
and you won’t be bombarded with the minutiae of
your friends’ lives. This is not a social network in the
traditional sense of the term; it is a
business network.
Launched in May 2003 by a former Yahoo!
executive it now boasts 75 million registered users.
These users create a profile much as they would
on Facebook but whereas that network is all about
making and communicating with friends the focus of
Linkedin is on building networks of business
contacts. These contacts lead users to other
contacts (so-called ‘second-degree connections’)
with whom they have a mutual ‘friend’. And on it
goes. These contacts can then be utilised for job
hunting, building customer bases, finding new
suppliers and markets... literally every aspect of
business building can be done from this one
simple site!
Controversy
Thanks to its position as the mature network there
really is very little in the way of controversy linked to
Linkedin. The only real problem for users, and more
specifically their employers, relates to
data security.
A list of a company’s clients and suppliers would be
of incredible value to a competitor and, if users do
not protect their data by hiding their Linkedin
contacts list unscrupulous competitors may end up
with access to a one-stop-shop of that business’s
greatest assets. After all if you were keeping tabs
on the MD of a rival manufacturing company and
you suddenly notice that he has started adding
people from a Chinese manufacturing concern to
his connections it could well give you an insight into
their next project, months or even YEARS ahead
of release.
The length of tweets and the overall simplicity of
the site is no coincidence; its founders envisaged a
website powered by and updated by text message
from its users who could be anywhere in the world
and not tied to a computer. What could be simpler?
Cue a small cash injection, legions of naysayers
saying it’ll never catch on and you’ve got all the
ingredients for an internet smash hit, which Twitter
clearly is.
Controversy?
Not so much. One of the things that twitter has
going for it is the small amount of information it
solicits from its users. Besides your username, a
vague description of your location, a link to your
website (should you have one) and the briefest of
bios all that ever appears on your profile will be your
mini missives. And all of that can be rendered
completely private to anyone but your followers in
one fell swoop. Facebook cannot say this and
clearly pays the price in terms of user backlash.
The future
Like Facebook this is a site that is going to continue
to reach new heights of success.
Everybody’s doing it....including brands and businesses
out the answers.
fun session.
Inside the Minds of
Top Achievers
newsdesk
04

...saying “no”... is one of the most liberating of choices
05
It’s probably a cliché but nevertheless a fact, that our
lives are governed by the choices we make. At the most
basic level we can choose to ‘go with the flow’ – let life
‘happen’ to us and complain about the consequences.
It’s a bit like being on a river in a boat with no oars.
Sometimes we move along quickly and smoothly, other
times we hit rapids and have a rough ride; we can enter
backwaters that take us nowhere and we may even end
our journey at a waterfall. Whatever happens, the one
common factor is that we are not in control.
I see many examples of this in the work I do in career
transition. Quite often I work with people who have
chosen to ignore what is happening around them and
just hope things get better (or at least, no worse). For
some, work has been a living nightmare but they stuck
with it in the vain hope that whatever was causing the
unhappiness would somehow magically disappear and
all would be better. In my experience, this rarely, if ever,
happens and the sensible course of action is to seek an
alternative.
But the first step is to recognise that we have the choice
to ‘let things happen to us’ or ‘make things happen for
us’. There are always choices but often we choose not
to see them. A key factor preventing us from seeing and
exercising choice is that it takes us way out of our
Choices?
comfort zone or represents too high a perceived risk.
However, for the purposes of this article let us assume
you have chosen to exercise more control over your life.
Congratulations – you’ve just found the oars that will
enable you to steer and drive the boat in the direction
you wish to go, rather than simply ‘going with the flow’.
So, where from here? Whilst tempted to say ‘the choice
is yours’, one of the most liberating of choices is to
choose to say ‘no’. As managers we are all under a
great deal of pressure and have constant demands on
our time. In our efforts to demonstrate our ability to cope
we are often tempted to say ‘yes’ to things when we
know we should be saying ‘no’. Saying ‘yes’ may be the
easy choice but often it simply adds to our burden and
makes us feel even more ‘out of control’. How many
times have you found yourself saying ‘yes’ knowing full
well that there is little or no chance of fulfilling the
request. How much better would it be to say ‘no’ and
then offer an alternative i.e. another choice, one which
you know you can deliver.
Can you choose your ‘mood’? A pet hate of mine is
managers who are moody and unpredictable and bring
their personal angst and problems with them into the
workplace. Sure I recognise that as managers we are
first and foremost human beings, but does that give us
the right to impose our bad temper on those we work
with? As professionals we should leave whatever
personal issues we have behind us and choose to put
ourselves in a positive mood at work. Personally I use
my journey to work to put myself into a positive frame of
mind. Equally I use the journey home to put away the
frustrations I have experienced at work and reach home
without any of the baggage we all carry round from time
to time. Sometimes music works for me and at other
times I abandon my motorway journey in favour of the
slower but prettier option of the country lanes and
scenery. It’s a matter of experimenting until you find
what choice works for you.
In this short article I’ve tried to give some simple
examples of how the choices we make affect our lives
and I hope you will start to think more carefully about the
choices you make. As managers however there is one
choice I would strongly commend to you, and that is to
‘choose to catch people doing things right rather than
catch them doing things wrong’. Making that simple
choice and saying ‘thank you’ more often will make life
so much easier both for you and your colleagues.
Eric Hogg
Email Eric at eh@exec-dynamics.com
07
The future
Personal safety concerns aside the only real threat
to Foursquare is Facebook Places. Launched in
August 2010 Facebook Places is eerily similar to
Foursquare, even down to Zuckerberg’s choice of
in-game icons (indeed, the sincerest form of flattery
and all that…). Initial reaction to Places has been
decidedly unfavourable, mostly due to the
increasingly dim view that ‘net denizens have of
Facebook on the whole but you can’t help but think
that the Foursquare owners must be more than a
little concerned on the impact Places may have on
their business.
Conclusion
The number 1 social network in the world is
CURRENTLY Facebook. By a country mile.
They have 500 million users, they make untold
riches from advertising (and from, ahem, other
revenue streams relating to the data it holds on the
aforementioned half billion users) and their growth
both in terms of functionality and user base shows
no sign of declining.
However five years ago Myspace was in an
unassailable position, and look what
happened there.
And 10 years ago FriendsReunited was the
unstoppable internet leviathan and yet that
poisoned chalice (to mix metaphors) ended up
losing its owners ITV over £100 million when it
decided to cut the proto-social network free
in 2009.
In short, the world of social networking is as
uncertain, if not massively MORE uncertain, than
any other area of on- or offline business. Today’s
heroes may well be zeroes if not by tomorrow then
certainly by the end of the financial year. The only
constant on the social web, it would seem,
is change.
For help and enlightenment call Perceptis Ltd
01543 416060
It must be stressed however that Linkedin is in no
way to blame for this. It is up to users to protect
their own data. For too long people have had a
blasé attitude to electronic data of this type. But ask
yourself this; would you allow your competitors to
go through your diary? And would you give them a
copy of all the names and numbers stored in your
mobile phone? Nope, I didn’t think so.
Foursquare
A relative minnow amongst the social networking
fraternity owing to its meagre 3 million regular users,
Foursquare distinguishes itself (if that is indeed the
right word) by its unique take on the social web.
Unlike the aforementioned networks Foursquare is
more like a game than a traditional network.
Users ‘check-in’ to locations via GPS-enabled
mobile device or web application. They can (and
usually do) then share their check-in data with their
Twitter and/or Facebook followers and friends.
Checking in to specific locations earns players
in-game badges while consistently checking in to a
specific location at regular intervals can earn you
the title of ‘mayor’ for that place.
Controversy
The principal concern with Foursquare, and a
limitless supply of ammunition to its detractors, is
the technology at the heart of the
Foursquare experience.
By sharing, in REAL TIME, their whereabouts with
other web users players of the Foursquare game are
voluntarily and willingly compromising their privacy.
Anecdotes abound of people being approached in
restaurants by strangers who have used Facebook
profiles and Foursquare data to locate and
identify them.
This problem was cleverly and famously highlighted
by the brains behind ‘Please Rob Me’. A logical use
of the Foursquare service (from a criminal point
of view at least) Please Rob Me publishes lists of
Foursquare users who are not currently at home
thus creating a list of properties ripe for the burgling.
Its creators do not advocate burglary of course and
they claim that they are merely trying to draw to
people’s attention the dangers of sharing real-time
location data.
Autumn 2010

IBC Special Feature
08
One of the Black Country’s leading figures on enterprise
was recognised for his achievements on 18th June
when the region’s first ever Business Support
Professional Awards came to a finale.
The competition, which was sponsored by Advantage
West Midlands’ Enterprise Board and organised by
Business Enterprise Support (BES), celebrated the
achievement of seven leading support professionals,
who between them had helped 10,000 companies get
off the ground and played a role in creating more than
15,000 jobs.
Kulwant Chahal, who works for Black Country
Enterprise, walked off with one of the main awards after
beating off strong competition to secure the title of
Business Consulting Professional 2009.
It marks what has been an impressive year for the
former entrepreneur, who has worked tirelessly to boost
start-up rates in Sandwell and build a support network
of public and private sector partners.
“I’m extremely honoured to be recognised by my peers
and the people I’ve tried to assist,” explained Kulwant,
who advises more than 15 businesses every week.
“With the current downturn having a major effect on the
Black Country economy, it is more important than ever
to support new start-ups and encourage young
businesses to grow and create jobs.”
The Institute of Business Consulting sponsored the
award and its Chair John Wells was delighted with the
outcome. “Kulwant is a model professional with a real
passion for helping entrepreneurs, a passion that
extends way beyond the 9-5 working hours.”
Black Country adviser is
named best in the business
Winning Adviser Kulwant Chahal (L) pictured with John
Wells
John W Wells - IBC West Midlands Regional Chair
Director Abio Ltd - 08704 111 101
IBC members and guests at Beacon Energy Farm
Electric Beacon!
Members and guests of the Institute of Business
Consulting visited Beacon Energy Farm
Loughborough, often described as one of the world’s
best examples of sustainable energy utilisation, to
see first hand the benefits of renewable energy.
During a remarkable and truly enlightening three
hour guided tour our passionate host, Professor
Tony Marmount, talked about his work and aims of
increasing public awareness about climate change
and the things we can all do to address it.
To be able to see first hand what Tony and his staff
have achieved since the formation of the farm in
1992 was remarkable. The creation of an artificial
lake and stream had not only transformed the
landscape and wild life habitation but it is being
used along with hydro pumps etc. to re-circulate the
water and create electricity.
Twenty-five year old wind turbines, manufactured
by one of Tony’s previous companies, were still
working effectively to create and store electricity; as
do hydro pumps and solar panels. Hydrogen gas is
produced and stored on the farm. Roof water is
collected, filtered and used whilst Tony’s own home
has been further insulated by building a four-foot
straw bale wall outside of the original stone wall.
This has then been covered and rendered to form
an outer wall. All of these inventions and
experiments ensure the farm remains independent
from the National Electricity Grid with overall
energy consumption less than half that of the
average UK office. These state-of-the art
technologies also provide research opportunities
for the renewable energy centres at Loughborough,
DeMontfort and Nottingham Universities.
At the end of our visit, Tony showed us his
helicopter and talked about his passion for flying.
Perhaps that’s why he is working on Air Fuel
Synthesis (AFS) a method of making fuels, ranging
from petrol to diesel and Jet-A, using renewable
energy with raw materials of water and carbon
dioxide from the air.
The innovation and experimentation shown in the
creation of renewable energy was not only
eye-opening but made us realise how lucky “UK
Plc” is to have exceptionally capable and talented
people like Tony and those who work with him.
In appreciation of a wonderful afternoon the
Institute of Business Consulting donated £200 to
the Air Ambulance.

Corporate Governance and Investors in People – the
New Approach, were the topics discussed at our June
members meeting in Meriden.
Chris Trigg started with a quote from Lord Goldsmith “We
should remind ourselves that being a company director is
a wonderful thing for the person who is a company
director. But it is a position of great responsibility which
involves running the affairs of a company for the benefit
of other people. It is a heavy responsibility we should not
water down”.
By the end of the session, which covered various editions
of the Companies Act delivered in a simplistic and easy
to understand way, all delegates had a very good
understanding and overview of directors’ responsibilities.
It was recommended, as directors, we all:
• Review Memorandum and Articles of Association.
• Review company policies, procedures and practices
to ensure compliance with current legislation.
• Regularly review management accounts in order to
meet the requirement to exercise an acceptable
degree of care. Ignorance is not a defence.
• Consider personal duties, responsibilities and
liabilities under Companies Act 2006 and current
legislation.
• Ensure the company takes out directors’ and officers’
liability insurance (to pay for legal expenses if sued
for negligence or breach of duty).
Want more information? Contact Chris Trigg email:
cjt@crucis-cosultants.co.uk
Carole Fox, of the West Midlands Quality Centre, gave
an overview of the Investors in People Standard (IIP)
against which over 70,000 UK companies are already
working involving UK nearly 40% of employees. The
Standard which is appropriate for any size and type of
organisation consists of:
• Plan – developing strategies to improve
• Do – taking action to improve, and
• Review – evaluating the impact of on the
performance of the organisation
The results of a 2008 CBI Survey indicated - 71% said IIP
had a positive impact on their business, whilst 52%
reported an improvement in staff morale. It also stated,
IIP helps all employees contribute more effectively to
shared goals and it deliveries “bottom line” benefits;
Increasing small companies’ annual profits by £303 per
employee; medium companies by £602 per employee
and large companies by £41 per employee.
The new approach and additional recognition introduced
in 2009 is an extended version of the 39 step evidenced
Standard, whereby:
• Organisations can ‘tailor-make’ a broader framework
aligned to their own key business priorities.
• Includes additional elements:
- Leadership and Management
- Work-Life Balance
- Recruitment and Selection
- Social Responsibility
• Offers opportunities for a more extensive
assessment process.
• Can be used at a first assessment or at review.
The new approach is based on bronze, silver and gold
where the total evidenced requirements are: 65 (39
original + 26 additional), 115 (39 + 76) and 165 (39 + 126)
respectively. Want to know more go to www.wmqc.co.uk
By: John W Wells, West Midlands Regional Chair.
Director abio ltd
Carole Fox of the West Midlands Quality Centre
09
IBC Special Feature
June Members’ Meeting
In a recent presentation I gave I explained how in
my consulting career path (from academic to
management trainer to Internet Marketing
consultant and coach), I had learned a lot – some of
it more confessional than the rest since much came
by way of mistakes I’d made.
Mistakes such as not finding a discrete niche
quickly enough, choosing the wrong clients, and
being tempted to say “yes” to just about anything,
were among the many early mistakes I made.
These are mistakes I see many new consultants
make (and a few not-so-new ones too!). And – not
setting out a proper payment schedule with your
client so that you get paid the right amount - on time!
Even with this I’ve had numerous clients default on
payment because of the economic difficulties we
are still experiencing.
On the more positive side – getting to decision
makers, providing clarity, asking questions,
bringing enthusiasm, building rapport and listening,
listening, listening, are among the things I feel are
important to get right as often as possible. I’ve had
more business from people who felt I understood
them and was enthusiastic about working with them
than anything else. I’ve never had to negotiate on
price. Resist the temptation to lower your prices
– even in a recession. Rather communicate your
USP – with energy! And demonstrate the value for
money.
Whatever consulting business we’re in, the
importance of emphasizing the benefits of our
service to a client rather than the features and the
importance of being aware of the difference are
critical components. Also to use the language of
‘investment’ rather than ‘cost’ is to indicate to a
client that they stand only to gain from
your intervention.
Some my talk covered the possibilities for
consultants, trainers and coaches in taking the
internet much more seriously than they usually do
and on how I now provide consultancy on this.
Confessions Of A
Consultant –
Learning Lessons
Use the language of “investment” rather than “cost...”
The possibilities are endless online - offering
consultants trainers and coaches the opportunity to
scale up their businesses rather than just operating
a time for money model or just build a much bigger
client base.
Learning about getting people to your site,
converting those visits to quality leads and
converting those to sales is a challenge but can
be easily done with the right tools, techniques and
knowledge. I also challenged the group to consider
packaging their consulting and expert knowledge to
sell in a more scalable way – through online
seminars and webinars. Why sell your knowledge to
one when you can sell to many all at the same time
- and NO this doesn’t mean they won’t buy more
consultancy from you! Be cautious though - don’t
think that your web-designer can do this for you –
most of them are brilliant designers and technicians
but they’re not all marketers and that’s the key.
Finally, I’m a huge fan of formal learning too - going
to workshops or eminars to improve my knowledge.
I attend these far more frequently than I used to.
My excuse used to be that ‘I couldn’t afford it’ or
‘I didn’t have the time’. Which I’ve since learned
is tantamount to saying I’m prepared to spend time
and money in my business but not on it! Now that
was a mistake. Mindset, business development,
networking, internet techniques… it’s all important
stuff and the smallest nugget can mean the biggest
gold-mines.
Michael Anderson - Internet Marketing Consultant
www.sellmyknowledgeonline.com

IBC Special Feature
08
One of the Black Country’s leading figures on enterprise
was recognised for his achievements on 18th June
when the region’s first ever Business Support
Professional Awards came to a finale.
The competition, which was sponsored by Advantage
West Midlands’ Enterprise Board and organised by
Business Enterprise Support (BES), celebrated the
achievement of seven leading support professionals,
who between them had helped 10,000 companies get
off the ground and played a role in creating more than
15,000 jobs.
Kulwant Chahal, who works for Black Country
Enterprise, walked off with one of the main awards after
beating off strong competition to secure the title of
Business Consulting Professional 2009.
It marks what has been an impressive year for the
former entrepreneur, who has worked tirelessly to boost
start-up rates in Sandwell and build a support network
of public and private sector partners.
“I’m extremely honoured to be recognised by my peers
and the people I’ve tried to assist,” explained Kulwant,
who advises more than 15 businesses every week.
“With the current downturn having a major effect on the
Black Country economy, it is more important than ever
to support new start-ups and encourage young
businesses to grow and create jobs.”
The Institute of Business Consulting sponsored the
award and its Chair John Wells was delighted with the
outcome. “Kulwant is a model professional with a real
passion for helping entrepreneurs, a passion that
extends way beyond the 9-5 working hours.”
Black Country adviser is
named best in the business
Winning Adviser Kulwant Chahal (L) pictured with John
Wells
Financial
Awareness is Key
When Coming Out
Of A Recession
They key advice from UKBA is not to ignore the
situation, and if necessary get external specialist
advice.
Consider all the options before committing more of
your own cash or borrowings. Borrow and use other
people’s money when possible, but do it wisely.
Look inside your own business for resources. And
ultimately if it really is game over, don’t despair, get
help, deal with it, and get on with your life.
Ralph Myers, a financial specialist within UKBA
advises, “Historically, coming out of recession is
very difficult for companies. Recognising the
situation and planning a way through, is one of the
key factors that divides those that make it
successfully to a brighter future and those that
don’t. Do ask for expert help, it will cost a little, but
can make all the difference”.
Ralph Myers at UKBA
www.ukba.co.uk
Coming out of a recession is a financially risky time
for many SME’s; according to UKBA (UK Business
Advisors) who are currently helping many
companies struggling with finances. Signs of the
end of the recession can actually increase company
financial pressures.
Orders can increase, but often in lower quantities
(for the same sale price) with shorter lead times
demanded. Supply chains have often emptied out
producing shortages. Companies may need to
increase people and other resources having cut
back during the downturn. All of these are likely to
increase costs, and just as importantly, negatively
affect cash flow.
Compounding the problems is tighter credit from the
banks and suppliers demanding quicker payments.
Consider all the options before committing more of your own cash or borrowings.
10

Corporate Governance and Investors in People – the
New Approach, were the topics discussed at our June
members meeting in Meriden.
Chris Trigg started with a quote from Lord Goldsmith “We
should remind ourselves that being a company director is
a wonderful thing for the person who is a company
director. But it is a position of great responsibility which
involves running the affairs of a company for the benefit
of other people. It is a heavy responsibility we should not
water down”.
By the end of the session, which covered various editions
of the Companies Act delivered in a simplistic and easy
to understand way, all delegates had a very good
understanding and overview of directors’ responsibilities.
It was recommended, as directors, we all:
• Review Memorandum and Articles of Association.
• Review company policies, procedures and practices
to ensure compliance with current legislation.
• Regularly review management accounts in order to
meet the requirement to exercise an acceptable
degree of care. Ignorance is not a defence.
• Consider personal duties, responsibilities and
liabilities under Companies Act 2006 and current
legislation.
• Ensure the company takes out directors’ and officers’
liability insurance (to pay for legal expenses if sued
for negligence or breach of duty).
Want more information? Contact Chris Trigg email:
cjt@crucis-cosultants.co.uk
Carole Fox, of the West Midlands Quality Centre, gave
an overview of the Investors in People Standard (IIP)
against which over 70,000 UK companies are already
working involving UK nearly 40% of employees. The
Standard which is appropriate for any size and type of
organisation consists of:
• Plan – developing strategies to improve
• Do – taking action to improve, and
• Review – evaluating the impact of on the
performance of the organisation
The results of a 2008 CBI Survey indicated - 71% said IIP
had a positive impact on their business, whilst 52%
reported an improvement in staff morale. It also stated,
IIP helps all employees contribute more effectively to
shared goals and it deliveries “bottom line” benefits;
Increasing small companies’ annual profits by £303 per
employee; medium companies by £602 per employee
and large companies by £41 per employee.
The new approach and additional recognition introduced
in 2009 is an extended version of the 39 step evidenced
Standard, whereby:
• Organisations can ‘tailor-make’ a broader framework
aligned to their own key business priorities.
• Includes additional elements:
- Leadership and Management
- Work-Life Balance
- Recruitment and Selection
- Social Responsibility
• Offers opportunities for a more extensive
assessment process.
• Can be used at a first assessment or at review.
The new approach is based on bronze, silver and gold
where the total evidenced requirements are: 65 (39
original + 26 additional), 115 (39 + 76) and 165 (39 + 126)
respectively. Want to know more go to www.wmqc.co.uk
By: John W Wells, West Midlands Regional Chair.
Director abio ltd
Carole Fox of the West Midlands Quality Centre
09
IBC Special Feature
June Members’ Meeting
Time management is one of those skills no one
teaches you in school but you have to learn. It
doesn’t matter how smart you are if you can’t
organize information well enough to take it in and it
doesn’t matter how skilled you are if procrastination
keeps you from getting your work done.
In today’s workplace, you can differentiate yourself
by your ability to handle information and manage
your time. “Careers are made or broken by the soft
skills that make you able to hand a very large
workload,” says Merlin Mann, editor of the
productivity blog 43 Folders.
So here are 10 tips to make you better at managing
your work:
1. Don’t leave email sitting in your in box.
“The ability to quickly process and synthesize
information and turn it into actions is one of the most
emergent skills of the professional world today,”
says Mann. Organize email in file folders. If the
message needs more thought, move it to your to-do
list. If it’s for reference, print it out. If it’s a meeting,
move it to your calendar.
2. Admit multitasking is bad.
For people who didn’t grow up watching TV, typing
out instant messages and doing homework all at the
same time, multitasking is deadly. But it decreases
everyone’s productivity, no matter who they are.
3. Do the most important thing first.
When you sit down to work in the morning, before
checking any email, spend an hour on the most
important thing on your to-do list. This is a great idea
because even if you can’t get the whole thing done
in an hour, you’ll be much more likely to go back to it
once you’ve gotten it started. This dash works best
if you organize the night before so when you
Ten Tips For Time
Management In A
Multitasking World:
sit down to work you already know what your most
important task of the day is.
4. Check your email on a schedule.
It’s not effective to read and answer every email as
it arrives. Just because someone can contact you
immediately does not mean that you have to
respond to them immediately. People want a
predictable response, not an immediate response.
So as long as people know how long to expect an
answer to take and they know how to reach you in
an emergency, you can answer most types of email
just a few times a day.
5. Keep web site addresses organized.
Use book marking services like delicious to keep
track of web sites. Instead of having random notes
about places you want to check out, places you
want to keep as a reference etc. you can save them
all in one place, and you can search and share list
easily.
6. Know when you work best.
Try to schedule things to do when you are the most
productive. Each person has a best time. You can
discover yours by monitoring your productivity over
a period of time. Then you need to manage your
schedule to keep your best time free for your most
important work.
Do The Most Important Thing First
11

7. Think about keystrokes.
If you’re on a computer all day, keystrokes matter
because efficiency matters. On any given day, an
information worker will do a dozen Google
searches thus by finding ways to reduce keystrokes
you save considerable time.
8. Make it easy to get started.
We don’t have problems finishing projects, we have
problems starting them,” says Mann.
He recommends you “make a shallow on-ramp.”
He breaks his projects into chunks, so he does not
get overwhelmed by them.”
9. Organize your to-do list every day.
If you don’t know what you should be doing, how
can you manage your time to do it? Some people
12
Sixth form pupils from Waseley Hills High School
who are part of The Career Academy Programme
are always doing something that will help them to
understand the world of business. This September
the new recruits to the programme got their business
wear on and went into Birmingham City Centre on a
cold calling activity. Armed with business cards that
they had created and letters they had written, they
were ready for the task in hand. The purpose was
to have their first taste of the business world and to
try and engage employers who may consider ways
of working with them to help them to understand
the business environment. They returned back to
school with a number of contacts and a air of
excitement that business organisations had actually
taken them seriously and taken a great deal of
interest in the course they were studying.
The Career Academy Programme at the school is
for 16-18 year old pupils who are studying for two
years and one of the subjects the pupils qualify for
is the BTEC in Personal and Business Finance. This
teaches them the role the financial services industry
has in the market and goes into depth about the
relevance of finance and the regulation and
Future Leaders
Begin Their Careers
Can you help develop tomorrow’s business leaders?
like writing this list out by hand because it shows
commitment to each item if you are willing to
rewrite it each day until it gets done. Other people
like software that can slice and dice their to-do list
into manageable, relevant chunks.
10. Dare to be slow.
Remember that a good time manager actually
responds to some things more slowly than a bad
time manager would. For example, someone who is
doing the highest priority task is probably not
answering incoming email while they’re doing it.
Obviously there are more important tasks than
processing email.
Intuitively, we all know this. What we need to do now
is recognize that processing one’s work (evaluating
what’s come in and how to handle it) and planning
one’s work are also mission-critical tasks.”
and ethics that are involved.
As a Business and Enterprise School, we firmly
believe that our pupils should engage with the
business world as soon as they can and this
programme allows them to develop their skills from
school right into the workplace. It is evident by the
growth that our pupils have from when they start in
year 12 until they finish in year 13. If you are
interested in what we offer and would want to
engage with our pupils, below is a range of ways
and one of those may be suitable to you.
a reserve list.
newsdesk
02
out the answers.
fun session.
Inside the Minds of
Top Achievers
newsdesk
04

a reserve list.
newsdesk
02
Partner in Business Each pupil has a partner from a
business who guides them throughout their two year
programme. (We can do your CRB check – free!)
Guru Lecturer - Come and share your expertise, it
will help them to understand the business world.
Workplace Visit – Invite the pupils to visit your
organisation to see what you do.
Paid Internship – All our pupils on the programme
take part in a paid internship where they are
expected to conduct a job role for a minimum of 6
weeks. Just like any other employee at
your organisation.
If you are interested in this article, please contact:
Mrs K Kalirai at Waseley Hills High School.
kkalirai@waseleyhills.worcs.sch.uk
13
Don’t Take
Marketing Issues At
Face Value…
20 Years of marketing management in such corpo-
rate giants as Rover Group, AT&T and ntl: taught
me little about the marketing and development
needs of SMEs.
The objectives and imperatives of such companies
are light years away from the focus and immediacy
displayed by small companies who rarely have a
clear view of their objectives and strategies prefer-
ring to move forward on a day to day basis. This
lack of clarity and simplicity however was not totally
new to me.
Before my marketing career among the corporate
giants I had owned and managed business within
the Travel, Leisure and Computer Services sectors
and was very aware for the need to generate profit-
able sales at minimum investment in cash and time
based on clear and simple objectives.
The size of business and market sector however
has little impact on the essential truths of business
marketing.
All need to deliver the right products competitively
but profitably priced; backed up by effective
promotion and communication and supported by
everyone in the business to deliver the best
possible customer service and positive messages.
It is therefore vital to remember that marketing is
not the responsibility of a single part of the
business tasked with generating enquiries.
Marketing, like quality, is the responsibility of
everyone. There is no point in investing thousands
of pounds in websites, brochures and advertising if
the installation engineers are scruffy
and unhelpful!
This holistic marketing approach is reflected in a
number of projects on which I have worked. The
first example is a business that imported and
distributed electric and woodworking tools to hobby
modellers. Distributing via a team of sales agents
to the retail industry my client had a respectable
and profitable turnover of circa £3m.
Family owned, the problem was that the business
was not thriving. It hadn’t grown in years and
chairman dad wanted to retire and was pressuring
CEO son to deliver the growth that would enable
him to do so.
Martin Parry
Continued on page 14
Autumn 2010
By Martin Parry

pin drop.
Fascinating!
Sue Crabtree
03
pin drop.
Fascinating!
Sue Crabtree
03
Businesses Around The World Coming Together. Birmingham: Attracting National Icons.
14
After hard work from all involved I was given 10
product ideas to put to the leadership team. Of
these, three were adopted by the business for
initial development and my team were asked to be
heavily involved in programmes that ultimately
delivered two new and profitable products for
the business.
My purpose in selecting these two case studies
for discussion was simply to demonstrate the
truism that marketing is not websites, brochures
or social networking.
Marketing works at a strategic level within
businesses to deliver high quality, profitable
products and services by a trained and motivated
team of people led by those who have a clear
commitment to the company’s objectives. Lack of
sales is often blamed on the web site or the sales
manager. As advisors and consultants we should
be prepared to look much deeper than that!
Martin Parry
Martin has 25 years marketing experience in the
Travel, Leisure, Telecommunications and
Computer Services industries.
You can contact him at:
martin.parry@mgba.co.uk
The whole business was flabby! from the
warehouse was slow; sales unremarkable; too many
customers buying too little. The company lacked
direction, strategy and meaningful targets.
Working with the board we undertook a complete
review of the business resulting in a re-organisation
of the sales team; a sharp knife taken to the retail
customers cutting out those who failed to reach
sales targets, focussing on those willing to respond
positively to a new retail incentive scheme.
As far as delivery was concerned, we invested in
the distribution centre reducing average dispatch
from 5 days to 1 thus allowing us to improve cus-
tomer service; speed invoicing and improve cash
flow by cutting stock and debtor days.
All this activity was underpinned the identification
of management criteria and reporting available at
management meetings and ensured that senior
management took responsibility for their delivery.
As a result sales revenue grew; profitability
improved and morale throughout business
recovered rapidly. Since the completion of this
project the business has been successfully sold for
a good sum; dad has retired and son is a senior
director of the new expanded business.
A second project involved a larger business, circa
£10m revenue working in motor components. They
manufactured suspension systems for
manufacturers like GM, Land Rover and Scania.
Their problem was simply despite having a number
of successful product lines they had identified a
product gap during 2011 – 2012 and wanted to
develop a product to fill it.
The excellent management team had discussed
this on several occasions but had failed to agree.
And it is true to say that my suggestion to ask the
staff was met with a degree of scepticism. However
I was given a team made up of machine operators
and junior supervisors and we set to work.
Our task was to make new product recommenda-
tions that would make maximum use of existing
skills and resources within the company. Three
days was spent brainstorming the project and un-
dertaking detailed SWOT and PEST examinations
of each idea put forward.
out the answers.
fun session.
Inside the Minds of
Top Achievers
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04

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