RCT Business Club November Newsletter

Halloween has passed and Christmas will soon be upon us, which means that here at the RCT Business Club, we are building up to our Fantastic Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony. Here is our November edition of RCT Business Club E-Newsletter – enjoy!

Please feel free to send in anything that you think may be of interest for the next newsletter (December 2007) to businessclub@Rhondda-Cynon-Taf.gov.uk

Dates for your Diary

14th November 2007 - Networking breakfast

Time: 7:30am for 8:00am Start
Venue: Heritage Park Hotel, Trehafod
Putting your networking skills to good use. RCT Business Club has teamed up with Speed Networking UK to run a Workshop in Presentation and Communication. This will provide you with a practical and interactive seminar that increases your confidence and improves invaluable networking skills. More Info

21st November 2007 - Member's Day

Time: All Day
Venue: The Vale of Glamorgan Hotel & Spa
A unique event full packed day with exclusive opportunities for members' to market new products and services, network with your next new customer and gain information from specific seminars and workshops. More Info

11^th December 2007 - Networking Lunch

Time: 12:00am for 12:30am Start
Venue: ESIS Conference Centre, Nantgarw
A networking lunch bringing together RCT Business Club members and Business Network International (BNI) Chapter for the first joint networking event. More Info

25^th January 2008 - Gala Dinner & Awards Ceremony - A Night to Remember!

Time: 6:30pm Drink Reception
Venue: University of Glamorgan Business Centre, Treforest
The RCT Business Club Gala Dinner & Awards Ceremony 2008 will be held on Friday 25^th January 2008 with our very special guest speaker Gareth Edwards MBE. The RCT Business Club awards are now in their second year and continue to acknowledge outstanding achievement. The awards are open to any business operating within Rhondda Cynon Taf. If you would like to become involved by nominating yourself, your company or another company or just simply come along to network with colleagues, members and sponsors then click here to find out more.

To book a place at any of the RCT Business Club events, please contact Claire Curtis on 01443 424109, e-mail businessclub@rhondda-cynon-taff.gov.uk at register via the website at www.rctbusinessclub.co.uk

If you have any suggestion/comments about the events, please Contact us.

Club Membership

Introduce a member to the Club and get a free place at one of our breakfast events contact us if you would like to take up this offer.
RCT Business Club Welcomes our new members

• JMF Capital Markets
• Instrumental Music
• Mametz Battlefield Tours
• MRP Information Security Limited
• South Wales Discount Meats
• Crown Business Finance
• Manning Estate Agents
• Solar Sunshades Limited
• Hire One Ltd

Enjoy Members Offers

The RCT Business club members are pleased to offer: -

Pontypridd Rugby Club

Would like to offer members the opportunity to purchase International tickets for the RBS 6 Nations championship. The tickets would come at discount price for members who offered sponsorship to Pontypridd Rugby Club. Tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis.

DTD Training Ltd
Would be delighted to extend our offer of 15% discount to RCT Business Club members on Open Training courses at our Tredomen Offices.

For more information on the offers available to you please click here. Also if you are interested in offering a discount to other members, please Contact us.

Business Club News

Univerisity of Glamorgan are proud to sponsor the Rhondda Cynon Taf Business Club

The University of Glamorgan makes a sizeable contribution to the growth and wealth of the regional economy. The University employs well over 2,000 staff, delivers learning to over 21,000 students and generates an increasing number of graduates each year.

Glamorgan has excellent links with leading employers in Wales, the UK and the rest of the world. This includes the BBC, Blackwells, Cardiff International Airport, Coral, Parkman, Post Office and Reebok

The University’s core activities of teaching and research enable us to offer support that may be applicable to solving your business development issues. If your organisation is looking for graduates to recruit, innovative technologies, or training for employees, we may be able to help.

How Will Your Company Benefit As A Sponsor?

At Rhondda Cynon Taf Business Club, our events programme offers an ideal opportunity for your organisation to raise its profile. Working in partnership with us brings with it great opportunities at a range of prices and benefits. Click here for further details.

Help for your 'Green' IT credentials

Often IT is cited as being responsible for having a negative effect on the environment, from energy-intensive production techniques, precious materials used for components, and the sheer volume of hardware created not helped by the short life-span of much of the equipment, which can encourage wasteful, frequent upgrades and replacement.

LightAge are as aware as anybody that we all need to try to make some changes to lessen our impact on the environment and for anybody who is concerned about the effect that their computer systems are having, consider a few ways very simple ways that you can make a positive impact:

• Check with your IT support company how you can safely switch off your computers each night - you can save energy (and money). You may also find you need to spend less on cooling systems and fans.
• The WEEE directive now controls the disposal of electronic waste goods and suppliers now have responsibilities regarding the re-cycling of computers and other IT equipment they supply. Check this situation when you buy any new equipment.
• Don't print unless you have to - do you have to print off that email? Ensure that you trust your back-up systems so you can produce less paperwork!
• Recycle the paper you do use - put recycling bins around the office.
• If you can save 700Mg on a CD - use the space wisely - you can save hundreds of Word/Excel documents on a CD and thousands on a DVD.
• Re-writeable formats can be re-used.
• Consider Web or videoconferencing - by saving traveling time, you are not only helping the environment but also saving time and money and adding to productivity

Useful Tips and advice

Business in Focus offers the second of our useful tips and advice. If you would like to submit any useful tips, please Contact us.

Business Tip: Make Sure you maximise your personal wealth:

One of the best business books I’ve ever read was Stephen Covey’s "7 Habit of Highly Effective People" in which one of the key points is "Begin with the end in mind".

How many of you are working hard to develop your business, satisfy customer demand and maybe have lost touch with why you set it up in the first place. Certainly one consideration must have been wealth creation for yourself and family, yet the vast majority of business owners have no Exit or Transfer Plans to ensure they maximise their wealth at the time they wish to leave the business. There is a strong likelihood that you are NOT prepared to exit or transfer your business and achieve your maximum potential, nor are you building the real value into your business as you develop it.

It gets worse. Many business owners find they work the last few years of their working lives just to pay their taxes as they have not planned their strategy for the transfer or exit of their business and every year in Wales, 5,000 businesses fail due to lack of succession/exit planning. Don’t be one of them.

Following research undertaken by the DTI and additional ELWa funded research on succession planning in SMEs in South Wales, the Business in Focus TRANSFER programme was developed to specifically:

• Maximise wealth for retirement
• Avoid or resolve family conflict
• Provide clarity of future roles and training needs for successors
• Create the Legal, Financial and Tax framework
• Put yourself in charge and save £100k’s in tax
• Guarantee business continuity with benefits for all stakeholders

Take action to guarantee your future, and that of your business. Contact Business in Focus now for your FREE Transfer/Exit Self Assessment. Complete a brief questionnaire and they will help you analyse the risks and opportunities for you and your business and recommend whether a Transfer plan is recommended and in what areas of risk. Call Business in Focus on 01443 841842 for your FREE "TRANSFER" self assessment or ask for Phillip Ellis to discuss the next seminar, business breakfast meeting or personal & confidential meeting on this subject. You can email him on phile@businessinfocus.co.uk

Rhondda Cynon Taf Business Club
Valleys Innovation Centre, Abercynon, CF45 4SN
T: (01443) 424109
E: businessclub@rhondda-cynon-taf.gov.uk
W: www.rctbusinessclub.co.uk

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