Stowmarket Chamber News for June 2010

The proverbial bad penny?

We said Goodbye to him at our May breakfast but there he was again in June – evidently the Golf Club breakfasts were too good to be missed – though we’d like to think it had something to do with the sparkling conversation!

Joking aside, we’ll all miss the retiring Suffolk Chamber of Commerce membership officer Dick Calvesbert both for his support to Stowmarket and for his humour and we wish him well with his new role.

Dick’s June appearance was to introduce Marie Frazer, Suffolk Chamber’s Client Relationship Manager. We hope to welcome her to future breakfasts.

Marie is available on
01473 694817 marie@suffolkchamber.co.uk
for any advice, guidance or queries members may have

Attendance at Breakfasts

We’re delighted that attendance is growing and we’ve welcomed several visitors. May was a near-record at 31 and June was equally well attended.  If any of you want to bring guests you know they’ll receive a warm welcome – and a good breakfast!

Are we the first to do this year’s Christmas story?

Stowmarket Chamber has again been entered in the parish church's Christmas Tree Festival, where the challenge is to decorate a tree according to the theme of a carol, "I Saw Three Ships". – Thinking caps on everyone.

For your diaries:  Our Christmas lunch will be on Friday, December 17, noon-2pm, at the Stowmarket Rugby Club.  Book your place with Chamber Secretary Keely Taylor: secretary@stowmarketchamber.org.uk

June member spotlight

Kate Kelly, of Saffron Consulting, had some excellent advice in her spotlight presentation at the June breakfast for businesses considering making changes. She summed it up in three points:

The first was “Don’t just do something, sit there”.
In other words give some thought to the change, what you want to achieve and why before you go any further.

The second was “Find a Diagnostic Partner” – this is someone you can use as a sounding board for your idea, NOT a mentor or adviser. It will help clarify your thinking.

Finally: before you say “that’s what I need” take a moment to work out what “better” would sound and feel like.

To illustrate this she used the example of a business that was losing customers. The immediate thought would be that the business needed to find new customers, but, said Kate, it might actually be that the business needed to focus instead on ways to retain existing customers.

“Too many people quickly run to a specialist without defining exactly what the problem is,” she says. “Before you enlist any outside help think out what you want and define it.”

Kate set up Saffron Consulting in 2007 after working in a previous consultancy partnership from 1996.  Before going into consultancy work she was a marketing manager for Schlumberger in Felixstowe. 

She is married and has lived in Woolpit for 20 years – fortunately, she says, at the end of the village away from the notorious “whiff” – as long as the wind’s in the right direction.

You can contact Kate on 01284 339821
Email:  kate@saffron-consulting.com
www.saffron-consulting.com