Thank you to all our members for their continued support and attendance at today’s breakfast meeting.
Asked recently about the split of responsibilities this term between myself and Jane Box I would like to give a little more clarity.
The role of Chair is quite complex and onerous at times and it was agreed at board that Jane would present the breakfast meetings, judge competitions such as the business awards and Junior Enterprise as well as attending several local business events.
I work with the Operations manager, ADC, MDC, Discover Ashfield, VWNC, NTU, Uni of Nottingham, LEP, local MP’s , the local community, other local stakeholders and not least the local business community attempting to forge sustainable relationships, work with groups focused on bridging skills gaps, raising aspirations of young people and those adults seeking employment.
There are a number of exciting events and initiatives coming up during 2020 that will require the business community support. I ask you ask members that if you can afford a little time to engage in these as they will over time benefit you, your business and the Mansfield & Ashfield communities as a whole.
I would like to thank the following for this morning’s breakfast meeting presentations:
Mark Dale of Portland college for sponsoring the event, their dedication and commitment over the last 70 years to improve the lives of disabled people is impressive and their plans for the future are as expansive now as they were back in 1949. Through the development of the Woodland Adventure Zone, they have created a space that will benefit not just their students but everyone in both the local area and further afield. If you can attend the grand opening on Saturday 28th March then I encourage you to go and see for yourselves just what a wonderful space this is. Also thank you to long term member Richard Fuller at County Battery for enabling the members of M&A 2020 to contribute to funds needed to purchase a more efficient, environmentally friendly vehicle that can transport smaller numbers of students around. This is the difference you have all made.
Thanks to Chris Morledge from Edutrips for taking us through the reasons our businesses should be looking to transform through the use of digital technology. Our customers expect more from us at a time that suits them and these expectations to perform like a huge organisation can leave us feeling like we can’t compete. Chris has explained as businesses we need to be preparing for the pace of change otherwise we could find ourselves being left behind. This fits in nicely with a conversation I had last week with regards to skills required in the next ten years and these are areas that we will all need to be aware of if we are to see the economic growth we want for the region.
Stewart Rickersey for raising awareness of the Rotary Courage Awards, celebrating the resilience and bravery of young people in the area. The awards are held at Portland College on March 3rd at 12pm.
Andrew Cropley (VWNC) & Katie-Cooper Lewis for presenting a pilot competition for young people. More details will follow.
M&A 2020 also run a schools competition and we like businesses to consider mentoring when the Junior Enterprise event kicks off. These are your young people and they need our support.
I would like to thank the board of M&A 2020 who will be working hard to develop the next ten year strategy for the business group and deciding what are the main area’s we should be engaging in to help in any way to grow the local economy and raise the profile of the area.
And finally to you, the members, who network, build alliances and relationships, hopefully inter-trade and are as determined as we are to make Mansfield & Ashfield bigger and better.