Jackie’s Networking Adventures

County Business Club’s member meet up – Worthing- April

April’s members’ meet up was our third to be hosted with our partners Freedom Works. The creative and digital hub in Worthing has extended the town’s offering of co-working and flexible office space to 20,000 square foot in the heart of the community located on the ground floor of the iconic art deco building Stoke Abbot Court – just a 5 minute walk from the central station an 5 minutes from the town centre.

This space is designed with a light industrial look of 20 offices of various sizes, a hot desking area, meeting rooms and a cafe breakout area. There is also bike storage on sites plenty of town centre car parking as well as access to shower facilities.

The Worthing meet up was the 3rd event of its kind for CBC members in collaboration with Freedom Works. We have now hosted events at Astral Towers, Hove and most recently Worthing. All three of these co-working spaces have so much to offer yet are also different in their look and feel.

Our monthly member meet ups will continue to rotate on this cycle, giving our members the opportunity to see the different venues, joining like-minded businesspeople from the different locations. At each of the meet ups we have welcomed businesses local to the location as well as Freedom Works’ members.

There are several benefits for our County Business Club members across the Freedom Works portfolio. For more information, please email me directly, jackie.ashwood@countybusinessclubs.co.uk

Dates for the diary: June 23rd in Hove, July 28th in Worthing, September 29th in Gatwick

Sussex Cancer Fund – Afternoon tea
Hosted at Malmaison in Brighton Marina.

I was delighted to attend the Sussex Cancer Fund afternoon tea at Malmasion in Brighton Marina alongside my networking partner in crime, Millie Stone. 

The Sussex Cancer Fund was created in 1981 by Consultant Oncologists Dr Deutsch, Dr Hodson and Dr Murrell. Originally called the Sussex Cancer Treatment Fund, the charity progressed to include the funding and development of research programmes and later became known as the Sussex Cancer Fund for Treatment and Research. Now named the Sussex Cancer Fund, the goals of the fund are to work hand in hand with the NHS to give every cancer patient in Sussex the best available treatment and facilities.

Their most recent support for cancer patients’ success included over £1 million worth of refurbishment to patient areas at the Sussex Cancer Centre including:

• A comfortable patients’ lounge

• A more accessible entrance and reception

• Up to date Impression Suite and the latest immobilisation system

• The North extension released offices to provide vital clinical space

• The patient and carers’ car park

• Refurbished quiet room

• Refurbished chemotherapy waiting room

• Recipe books for chemotherapy patients

• Accessible garden – providing a relaxing, outdoor space to aid the support to cancer patients and their families

Having recently lost a close relative to a blood cancer after a 25-year battle, this event was very close to my heart. The event was organised by Joanna Godden from Sussex Cancer Fund, and we were very fortunate to have guest speaker by Doctor Timothy Chevassut, Professor of haematology and director of academic training from Brighton Sussex Medical School who gave us an insight into some of the work and research the department is currently working on. 

The research they carry out is phenomenal and crucial to help provide life-saving treatments for cancer patients.

The Boundary Club Hove

What’s not to like about networking with the backdrop of a game of cricket? The Boundary Club is Sussex Cricket’s own unique networking and membership club, where business meets cricket, hosted right alongside the boundaries edge. The club is now in its 10th anniversary year and aims to bring together like-minded businesspeople for informal networking, a 3-course lunch and a guest speaker against a backdrop of first class cricket.

The lunch at boundary never fails to impress, the food is always of an exceptional standard. 

This month we were treated to a warm salmon and prawn tart, followed by the most amazing slow cooked pork which was delicious. The desert was a white chocolate and mango sorbet.

The guest speaker was Tom Sergy, an expert in English wines and a drinks brand consultant. Tom, who is incredibly passionate about his English sparkling wines, took us on an incredible journey on how the climate and soil had lent itself to creating a perfect glass of wine we were then able to enjoy networking. 

As always, it was great to see so many knew but also familiar faces. Boundary is a great place to maintain existing client relationships but also develop many new ones too. Unfortunately, on this occasion, I was unable to stay till the end [usually there are a couple of us that are last to leave, but I shall not name names] as I had to get myself across to Worthing for our own event, the County Business Club monthly member meet up. 

Brighton Summit 2022

The annual Brighton Summit brings together 300 businesses and entrepreneurs from across our city’s diverse business community. Hosted by Brighton Chamber, it’s a day for strengthening existing relationships and forging new ones. Brighton Summit celebrates the spirit of our open-minded, quirky city, which makes it such a dynamic region to live, work and do business in.

There were several inspiring speakers, expert-led workshops and energising discussions, with plenty of time for networking built in at every turn. I was fortunate enough to hear from Keynote Speaker Rachel Watkyn, founder of the Tiny Box Company. Rachel Watkyn, who spent part of her childhood in care. An early job took her to Sierra Leone and she was there during the military coup. The poverty she witnessed inspired her vision for a Fairtrade business.

It was initially a jewellery company but her struggle to find green packaging sparked the idea for Tiny Box Company, supplying businesses with attractive, ethical packaging.

Despite the problems that life continued to throw at her – including cancer, fire, flooding, an IT hack and of course the pandemic – Tiny Box has flourished. It’s now the UK’s largest online gift packaging e-commerce company with 90 employees, 700 products and 120,000 customers.

Rachel initially found her investment from appearing on Dragons Den – she is the programme’s most successful female entrepreneur yet. 

I also, alongside Sam Thomas, attended a workshop ‘Bubble and Speak – learn how to speak confidently in public.

Stefan Holmström is a professional opera singer and expert voice coach working with singers and speakers worldwide from his studio in Brighton.

He has performed at Glyndebourne, the English National Opera and Opera Holland Park, as well as in the West End as a member of Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre.

As a certified Estill Master Trainer, Stefan uses Estill Voice Training (EVT) as a baseline for safe and sustainable voice use. Estill teachers are known for their expert knowledge of the physiology and function of the voice, as well as for their fun and innovative approach to vocal development.

This was a highly engaging session of giggles, bubble blowing and making lots of silly noises while exploring what your voice can do. 

Actors and singers learn how to identify and change their voice habits easily…but anyone can (and probably should) do it. With conscious muscle training, you can overcome nerves and learn to get your voice to sound exactly as you want it to in any situation.

The key take aways from this session were:

• An understanding of the anatomy and physiology of your voice

• Tools to express yourself as you choose, not as dictated by old habits

• Breathing, posture and tension release

• How to speak freely with a clear and varied tone

• How to cope with nerves

• How to keep your voice in good working order