MA2020 Chairmans Breakfast Roundup

‘Many thanks to all who attended the first breakfast meeting of 2020, what a fantastic turn out on a cold January morning, it was great to see so many members and their guests.
Jane Box introduced our new Operations manager Ella McManus, who with your support will become a valued member of the team, please get in touch with Ella to introduce you and your business.
Jane also thanked Michelle Errett and Mark Higginbottom for their contributions to the organisation.

Thanks were given to:

• Andy Whittaker for his fun presentation at the Christmas meeting, and to all members who contributed to a fantastic £1000 collection from the raffle which helps support Mansfield & Ashfield Christmas lights. Well done all.
• The results of the survey taken in December will be used by board members as we look to develop our next 10 year strategy, we were grateful for the honest opinions put forward.
• Tom Stendall of Hopkins solicitors for his light- hearted presentation in quiz form to showcase the various areas of legal assistance offered by the firm from their Mansfield, Sutton, Kirkby and Nottingham offices.
• Michael Carr – Executive Dean – Enterprise – NTU for his talk around the offers and support NTU provide for business start-ups and those on growth paths. He touched on the collaboration work being undertaken with our patrons, Vision West Notts College, on developing HE offers to suit all student and employer needs. Finally, giving an overview of a variety of programmes to help all sized businesses to grow and to close skills gaps based around employer engagement.
  We look forward to working with NTU/VWNC as this collaboration takes shape.

 
Elizabeth Orridge asked members to consider offering 14 hours a year to attend 3 meetings and read literature supporting the Evolve Trust to raise the aspirations of young people.
Raising aspirations for local youth is a theme close to my heart and I would ask all members to consider when they may have the time to think about how you could mentor school pupils and assist the NTU/VWNC teams, helping in your own way to raise these aspirations, developing a much needed environment for positivity of the ability to gain employment locally.
MA2020 welcomed 2 new members, Rachel Heyes of NTU and Fred Copestake of Brindis.
Congratulations are offered to Idlewells indoor market in Sutton who are nominated for the indoor market of the year award. Following successful refurbishments in 2017 the market is a buoyant place to shop and well worth a visit.
Ashfield D.C announced free car parking for up to 2 hours in certain areas around the town centres. This is an increase from the previous 1 hour to encourage people to shop locally. Make sure you are in a correctly marked bay. For more information take a look here.
The MA2020 Business awards application date deadline is approaching and all businesses who would like to be engaged need to get in touch with Ella as soon as possible. We also seek to know how many people wish to enjoy our fantastic awards presentation evening in April so reserve your tickets in advance.
Finally, I would like to ask that any members who seek anything from a business group, that we may not as yet offer, get in touch and have a chat around these issues.
It is by continued communication with each other, positive interactions and inter trading that we as a business group can affect the growth of the economy and work towards bridging of skills gaps.
As Jane stated, we are looking to our new 10 year strategy and vision, minded by what has been achieved over the last 20 years with the demise of so many large industries.
Mansfield & Ashfield has so much to offer, I hope you are coming along for the ride.
I look forward to seeing you all at the February meeting giving support to Portland college.
Gary Jordan
Chairman