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THE

January Issue 2014

CLEOBURY COUNTRY BU

LLET

IN

www.cleoburycountry.com

THE

cover image: David Salt - Competition Winner

by local business people for local business people

Next Cleobury Networking meeting date: Wednesday 19th February

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Well it was a quieter thanusual January networkingevent – turns out somepeople thought it was thefollowing week!Note to ALL – check thedates for future events!The one that drew mostattention is However thelower numbers enabled us tohave some longer anddeeper conversations aboutbusiness and all achievedthat it had been a highlyproductive meeting. Ourthanks to Bill White forsponsoring the chips whicheven though it was post-Christmas diet time wentdown extremely well!

Lots of good things arehappening locally in ourbusiness world and thenetworking event is a greatand time productive way offinding out, eating somesimple grub and havingsome time for businessdevelopment – don’t missnext month!!!

Here is another written extractfrom my video business blogPeppermint Wednesday.Each week I answer aquestion about familybusiness which invariablyrevolves around one of myfive keys to family business;

“Why did I start myfamily business?”Peppermint Wednesday

8th January 2014

Welcome to the first edition ofPeppermint Wednesdays in2014 – I hope you had afantastic start to the New Year!

Today I want to talk about ofmy five keys to familybusiness, which is ‘Reason’.The Question:

‘Why did I start my family business?’

When I work with family businessesI always ask this basic question. – “Sowhy did you start the business?”. Iget so many different answers andso many different reasons – it reallytakes people back. What I would askyou is to think about when youstarted your family business – whydid you start it?

Most people say to me “Well Peter,it was to put food on the table” or‘to get some cash in the bank andpay the bills’. These are allabsolutely, perfectly fine! But if thatwas the reason for you starting thebusiness, ask yourself what madeyou start the business – and thencarry it on!

The Answer:To me, carrying on the business isthe thing that’s really interesting!Sometimes I ask people thatquestion and its twenty years laterand where they’ve gotten to isnowhere near where they started!

I’d like to ask you three keyquestions very quickly:

1.] Take yourself back – why did youstart the business? Are you stilldoing what it was you wanted to doin the beginning? My experiencetells me that most times peoplemoonwalk to the side – I’m notsaying that’s right or wrong, butsometimes we lose sight of what itis we are trying to achieve because‘stuff’ gets in the way!

2.) Is the reason you started stillrelevant? Has life moved orchanged? If that relevance hasgone, park it, bin it, its history if youlike! But if it is still relevant, andyou’re not quite still on track, thenask yourself the next question…

3.) What is relevant now? What isimportant? What is it that makesyou run a family business? What is itas of today, as you read this blogthat you’re doing for the familybusiness? How does it interact orrelate to those things you originallythought of, which energisedyourself to start that wonderfulthing, which is a family business!

So that’s it for this week – The realopportunity here is to share ourexperience so please get onto oursocial media or comment below sowe can all learn from ourexperience.

Until the next time…

The Family Business Man

p.s. “And Remember… If I Can HelpYou In Any Way Just Let Me Know!”

next networking: 19th February

Networking Perspective

Best Selling Author,Award Winning Speaker

Business Development Consultant

www.familybusinessman.com

Peter Roper

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CleoburyCountry

January at the CleoburyCountry CentreFirstly I must apologise for thelack of Bulletin in December!!We simply ran out of time beforeChristmas to get everythingtogether and then there didn’tseem much point once we cameback in January!!!

New year, new systems and anew face!!! Cleobury Countryhas taken on an Apprentice!!

Vicki Harris started with us on 6thJan and already has slotted intothe way we work really well!We’d been considering taking onsomeone else for some time andalways the money issue has putus off but having spoken to Gavinat Country Training about thepossibility of taking on anapprentice, quite frankly, it was ano brainer!

We decided to go for the upperage bracket, of 19 - 21 rather than16 – 18, as there would beoccasional lone working and thesuccessful candidate would needto be responsible enough tocope with that. From a businessperspective, the wage isaffordable and there’s thepossibility of obtaining a £1500grant, which really helps!Country Training are a training

provider so Vicki doesn’t have tohave a day a week out of theoffice to go to college, she doesall her learning on site whichmeans the 30 hours she’scommitting to the scheme isspent with us.

The new systems has caused usless IT literate girls a fewheadaches! We’ve upgradedour main pc to Windows 7(thanks to Ricky @ Cleobury ITSolutions) and with the help ofour glorious chairman, TonyChamberlain, linked a second PCto the main one and set upCloud storage for everything.This will ensure that our backingup is not reliant on me!

Christmas’ Farmers Market wasfantastic! We had 24 stalls andcould have filled the churchseveral times over, and wecounted 323 adult visitorsthrough the door. Each traderkindly gave a small donation to aChristmas Hamper, visitors wasasked to fill in a form with theiremail addresses and this wastheir free entry into the draw forthe hamper. The lucky recipientwas Sue DelMar. The churchlooked splendid with itsChristmas lights everywhere, andit sounded splendid as St MarysChurch Choir entertained us allwith Christmas carols.

The last market of the yearwouldn’t have been completewithout our regular CrookedSteeple Clog Dancers making anappearance, and they certainlywere warmer than most by theend! Hopefully, January’s marketwill be successful and althoughwe’re down to about 15 stalls,they’re all good ones so pleasecome and visit if you can.

So lots for us all to get our headsround for the next few weeks,and hopefully, it’ll means that theCleobury Country girls are evenmore efficient!!!

Clare Todd

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Cleobury Country has just

discovered this little “gem”

of a pot of funding that is

available in our area...

Worcestershire Rural Hubbecomes part of the Rural andfarming networks.

Rural business leaders will have ahotline to the heart of Governmentthrough the creation of new Ruraland Farming Networks, AgricultureMinister Jim Paice announced today.This means that they will be able todirectly shape future rural policies.

Fourteen networks representingdifferent areas of England havebeen set up to identify andfeedback local issues andconcerns straight to the heart of

Government, in order to makepolicies more rural-friendly.

The Networks bring togetherpeople from rural communities,rural businesses and the food andfarming industries. They will makea direct link between rural areasand the Government, creating newopportunities to develop betterand more targeted policy.

Each group will also be a vitalpoint of contact in the event oflocal emergencies – such asflooding – giving advice andinformation so that the right kindof assistance can be provided tokeep businesses running.

ACORN Project Open for Business

Worcestershire Rural Hub Ltd. isdelighted to announce that

following a successful projectapplication to The Prince’sCountryside Trust that the AcornProject will be acceptingapplications in Worcestershirefrom 8th April 2013.

The Acorn Project provides small,easily accessible grants toWorcestershire farmers and theirfamilies. The grants are designedto assist, in particular, youngpeople to develop or improve onor off the farm businesses.Maximum grant value will be£2,000 per applicant and will bematch funded by the applicants(See guidance notes).

Full details, application forms andGuidance notes are now availableon www.wrh.org.uk

The Green Bridge SupplyChain Programme is a new competition fund whichwill provide grant support forexisting Small to Medium sizedEnterprises (SMEs) within the WestMidlands Region. The programmeis funded by the Regional GrowthFund and runs from June 2013until March 2015

Financial Assistance available:A grant award of between £20,000and £100,000* is available, tosupport SMEs which are:

• Operating within the greensector or seeking to diversify intothe sector

• Demonstrating viability andfinancial capability to deliver theproject

• Seeking to implement aninvestment plan which helps todevelop and grow the business

• Creating sustainable new jobs

and/or safeguarding existing jobs

Type of Projects that can beconsidered:• The purchase of capitalequipment and improvements insystems or processes (grants up to35% of eligible costs)

• Relocation and expansion intonew premises (grants up to 35% ofeligible costs)

• New market development(grants up to 50% of eligible costs)

• New product development(grants up to 50% of eligible costs)

• Development of managementand staff capability to support theproject (up to25% grant of eligiblecosts specific to in companytraining and maximum 60% grantof eligible costs towards NVQbased qualifications)

Eligibility Criteria:

To qualify for consideration,businesses must meet the

following eligibility criteria:

• Be an existing SME (trading for 6months or more)

• Employ less than 250 people

• Operate in the green economy orseeking to diversify into the sector

• Have an investment plan todevelop and grow the business

• Have a viable project thatqualifies for the minimum grant of£20,000

• Create new jobs and/orsafeguard existing jobs as a directresult of the projectimplementation (sustainable for 3years or more)

• Be based in the West MidlandsRegion

• Be based in one of the eligiblesectors

• Be State Aid compliant

• Have a project which will becompleted by March 2015

Cleobury Style: 15 th January

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What’s On?

Principles of COSHH

Manual Handling

Health & Safety Level 2

Food Hygiene Level 2

Practical First Safety

Paediatric First Aid

Cleobury Country Farmers Market

Business Networking Session

Video School Training

Where is it

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

St Mary’s Church

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

When is it?

29th Jan

29th Jan

30th Jan

7th Feb

11th Feb

13,14,26,27th Feb

15th Feb

19th Feb

20th Feb

Information on Cleobury Mortimer Parish Council can be found on their website:www.cleobury.org.uk, by ‘Liking’ their facebook page or following them on Twitter.

We were a bit thin on theground this month, I'm notsure if we were preparedfor the third wednesday inthe month to come roundquite this quickly!Even so, great discussionswere had on the problemswe all face and the bestways of fixing them.

We welcomed in: Clare Hilton-Turvey from Waith & LovetteRoom Tailoring and PeterChatterley from BabbageLovelace Search & Selection.

The regulars were: Bill Whitefrom Bill White Nurseries, AnniRoper from Confidantes,William Withers from CrystalThought, Paul Steadman from

Cognet Training and JoApperley from Red Hare.

Chips were sponsored by:Bill White,from Bill White Nurseries

Bill White has been growing plants since 1988 and has been established on theLem Hill site on the edge of the Wyre Forest since 1994. He supplies gardencentres, landscapers and the public with quality plants. The nursery startedspecialising in Herbs, Vegetable plants and Wild flower plants, but now growseverything from trees to bedding plants and shrubs to herbaceous plants. Hespecialise in sourcing unusual plants.

Lem Hill, Far Forest, Rock, Near Kidderminster, Worcs.DY14 9EB - Tel: 01299 266326    Email: info@billwhitenurseries.co.ukFollow Bill on Twitter for regular gardening tips and special offers: @flowerpotbill

Bill White Nurseries

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Since being appointed byCounty Training back inMarch I have been workinghard in the South ofShropshire actively engagingwith local communitiesattempting to create moreemployment opportunitiesfor young people andoffering an alternative, costeffective way for businessesin the local area to developApprenticeships!

Thus far, things have been goingreally well and the CleoburyNetworking Group has been a partof this success.

Through the networking group Imet local business owner JamesSales who many of you will know.James owns ‘In The Saddle’, an

equestrian travel company inCleobury Mortimer. I am pleasedto say that we recently advertisedand recruited an IT apprentice tosupport the business and despiteonly being in place a few months,James is already seeing the addedvalue that his apprentice isbringing to the business.

“Our first apprentice has only beenwith us for three months, but evenin that short time, we have hadsome real measurable benefit.Given the right training early onthey can quickly become avaluable member of the company.My advice to anyone consideringan apprentice is not to rush into itbut spend time choosing the rightperson for your organisation.”J.Sales.

The idea of apprenticeships isgrowing rapidly for young peopleas well as businesses and havingrecently attended Lacon Childespost 16 careers event, I can tellyou that there are many brightyoung students that will bestarting their search for localapprenticeships after Christmas.

This fact has not been lost ongovernment and there is currentlya grant available of up to £1500 foremployers recruiting 16-24 yearold Apprentices to theirorganisation. If you would like todiscuss the idea of apprenticeshipsor find out any more informationthen please catch me at thenetworking group or directly on01743 255159.

Gavin OwenFree Property FloodProtection AssessmentAs flooding is so much in thenews due to the recentweather conditions, we wouldlike to remind you about thefree property flood protectionassessments which are offeredby Shropshire Council.

Shropshire Council is working hardto manage flood risk across thecounty and is busy learning aboutthe flooding issues that affectdifferent areas.

As part of its approach, ShropshireCouncil is offering free residentialproperty flood protectionassessments, where internalflooding has been experienced.Assessments will be carried out byan approved surveyor who isindependent of manufacturers offlooding related products. Anassessment will be made of the likelyroutes of ingress for flood waterentering your property, andmeasures that could be used toprevent or mitigate flood damage toyour home will be suggested. Aftervisiting, the surveyor will issue a briefreport outlining their findings. You

can then use the report to help planprotective measures for yourproperty. Shropshire Council canprovide further guidance on thetypes of products that are available.

Please pass this information on toresidents in your parish who maybe interested. If you would like apaper copy of the form to displayon your parish noticeboard, pleaselet us know.

To request a visit, please send yourcontact details toflood@shropshire.gov.uk.

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Contact Clare Todd at CleoburyCountry Centre, 01299 272300clare@cleoburycountry.co.uk

Site Foreman/Plant OperatorGPC Land & Water Solutions Ltd,C/MWork sites will be local & national.50 – 60 hrs per week. CSCS plantoperator ticket for 360/180excavator required. Able tomanage small team.CV to emma@gpc-land-water.com0845 257 9068

Experienced PlumberEZSolar, C/MTo work on solar thermal, solar PVT,ground, air & water sourceheatpumps & biomass systems.Plumbing qualification, plus BPLECor LOGIC qualification inrenewables, min 3 yrs experience.CV to andy@ezsolar.co.uk01299 270011

Heating Engineer/BathroomFitter Cornbrook Construction &Building Services, CMExperienced person capable ofsurveying, designing & estimatingjobs. Installation of plumbing &heating systems, bathroom fitting.Applications to sandra.dodd@cornbrookconstruction.co.uk 01299 271863

Apprenticeship VacancyReceptionist & Admin Clerk, CMWorking within a small busy team ina social enterprise. £90 per week.To find out more call CountyTraining: 0345 678 9023 :Job Ref:353613

Apprenticeship VacancyCustomer Service AssistantTo work in a busy local grocerystore, assisting on the delicatessencounter, merchandising & stockreplenishment. £120 per weekTo find out more call CountyTraining: 0345 678 9023Job Ref: 261778

Apprentice VacancyTrainee Web ProgrammerWe are a local web developmentand online marketing company. Youwill work on client facing web basedproducts, as well as bespokeinternal systems.Ideally you will have completed aBTEC in an IT related subject andhave experience of PHP andother web-based technologiessuch as HTML, Java Script, SQLquery and databases.CV to william@crystalthought.co.uk

LOCAL JOBS BusinessbroadbandsupportBusinesses in Shropshire andStaffordshire will be helped to getthe most out of faster broadbandspeeds thanks to a successfulfunding bid.Shropshire Council, incollaboration with StaffordshireCounty Council, has successfullybid for £214,000 from theEuropean Regional DevelopmentFund (ERDF) for the project,Optimising Business Broadband.A series of events and trainingprogrammes will take placeacross the two council areas toensure businesses are well placedto take advantage of access tofaster broadband, which is beingdelivered as part of the nationalBDUK (Broadband Delivery UK)framework.The project will give businessesthe opportunity to have one-to-one support from experts, whowill visit businesses to show howthey can save money and increaseproductivity by using fibrebroadband services.The project aims to work withbusinesses across the ShropshireCouncil and Staffordshire CountyCouncil areas until the end ofJune 2015, helping them to boosttheir turnover and efficiency usingfibre-based broadband.

http://shropshire.gov.uk/news/2013/12/businesses-to-get-broadband-support/

for local peopleWe believe local business is best,but why do so many people haveto look for work further afield, andso many businesses have troublefinding people locally?

Advertise your jobs here, and if youare skilled and looking for work,advertise yourself.

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Staggeing Year on yeargrowth of almost 20% meansthat the new frontier inbusiness is being fought noton the high street orshopping centre, but online.If you are not spending timeand money on your websitepresence you will fall behindyour competitors.

Your website should be thefocal point of any and all yourmarketing initiatives. Itshould be effective at:

• Lead generation

• Business development

• Efficient communication

• Closing sales

and perhaps lastly, keepingyour customers and potentialcustomers informed

Your website must be:• User friendly

• Looking better than thecompetition

• Quick to load

• Search engine friendly

• Standards validated

• Fully functional

• Call to action friendly

and perhaps mostimportantly it must havecompelling content that iskey phrase rich and targettedto your customers.

A cheap website is no longergood enough, it is in fact itcould be a waste of money.

To get a return on yourinvestment, you need toensure that your website iscapable of generating asteady stream of leads allyear round.

It is important to make asteady continuousinvestment of time andenergy in your website.

Reviewing yourcompetititors, as well as yourown content is crucial tosucceeding on the web in2014 and beyond.

Are you maximising everypossible marketing channelthat your website can offer?• Social Media

• Video media

• Google adwords, and otherPay Per Click methods

• Blogs

• Case studies andtestimonials

• Google Local and otherfree directory services

• Offline marketing, such asadvertising and printedmedia with QR codes andweb address

• A lead generation servicesuch as Approved Index

• Paid for listings in popularniche websites

If all this seems a bitdaunting, Crystal Thoughtcan help your business bytackling some of the mainbarriers to effectivelycompeting in the onlinemarketplace.

Staggering growth in online searches and sales

Web Design & BuildOnline Marketing

Design for PrintBusiness IT Support

www.crystalthought.co.uk

William

www.cleoburycountry.com

Next Cleobury Networking meeting date: Wednesday 19th February

CleoburyCountry

Cleobury Countrypresents...

FarmersMarket 2014

Market Dates for 2014Saturday February 15thSaturday March 15thSaturday April 19th Saturday May 17th Saturday June 21stSaturday July 19thSaturday August 16thSaturday September 20thSaturday October 18thSaturday November 15thSaturday December 20th

ALL MARKETS HELD ON SATURDAY’S FROM 9.30am to 12.30pm

www.cleoburycountry.com

CLEOBURY COUNTRY

TRADE CARD 2014

THE

AVAILABLE FREE NOW in the Cleobury Country Area

Contains Useful Telephone Numbers andAlphabetical Trade Listings for Local Businessses