Watch this space for what’s new with The Business Benefit! Check out our members’ success stories and more!

Item 1] New Features on TBB Website!


Friday 26th June 2009: Check out out the new look site and our very cool Members’ Directory feature! This feature basically gives members, who have their own website, free advertising through our site.

 

To Be Announced Soon!


Friday 26th June 2009: The first events run by The Business Benefit at the HSBC Venue in Stourbridge have raised a considerable sum of money for The Friends of Sophie Hill-Jones, with all money raised going to the West Midlands Air Ambulance. (Total amount raised to be announced very soon)

However, this is just the beginning, and we will also soon be announcing how Sophie’s charity will also be “going to the next level”, in collaboration with The Business Benefit, to benefit the local community even more!

 

Keith Stokes represent’s Sophie’s charity, and he is now one of our speakers. As he said at yesterday’s business benefit event...

 

“Watch this space!”

Archived News Items

Posted Below:

Item 2] Update: Mid-August 2009:

 

7th August 2009. Gary Lennon met with Peter Howe and Richard Rogers who will be supporting us with their facilities at The Glass House College in Stourbridge for the next Business Benefit event (Dates to be confirmed but probably late Sept / early Oct)

 

6th August 2009: We are growing! First formal meeting held on 6th August of The Business Benefit organisation committee and members group. This confirmed that there is very strong local interest in growing The Business Benefit as an entity and that future development of the Business Benefit will come through:

 

Producing high quality educational and uplifting experiences in ways that add value to event attendees and the wider community.

 

We also confirmed that we are setting high standards for ourselves to live up to and whilst we are most definitely not a networking group, we do however expect opportunities to arise from people meeting in an enlightening environment and thus naturally developing trusting relationships.

 

6th August 2009: The Business Benefit in the News! Articles have been published in the Stourbridge News online on 30th July and in the main paper 6th August. To read online article from The Stourbridge News of 30th July 2009 please click here

 

28th July 2009: Photo: Gary Lennon, Sue Cumming and Keith Stokes of The Business Benefit present Tom Hill-Jones, brother of Sophie Hill-Jones with cheque for £1000 to benefit Midlands Air Ambulance.

Item 3] Update: Mid-November 2009:
12th November 2009.

The role of Leader of The Business Benefit as a community focused ethical endeavour was accepted by Keith Stokes of HSBC.
After running the two highly successful pilot events in summer 2009, the event on 12th November 2009 was The Business Benefit’s formal inaugural event, and it too was a great success!
Feedback from attendees, plus the honest observations from the core team who make these Business Benefit events possible, is summarised below:
Overall:
The Business Benefit truly ‘came of age’ on this inaugural event. It fully demonstrated the ability of The Business Benefit (TBB) to challenge, help, inspire and support a worthy cause whilst doing so.
Venue:
The Glass House College was used for this inaugural event and it proved to be a superb venue that added enormously to the feel and success of the evening.

Using a “community” focused building, rather than a business location, enforced the values of TBB.

Having an entrance via the coffee shop promoted space and opportunity for discussion prior, during the half-time break, and after the event.

The theatre style and lighting gave an appropriately professional quality to the venue as a whole.
Quality of Presentation:
The presentations themselves were once again of a very high quality.They are the cornerstone of the event and HAVE to deliver. They did.

First-time attendees Steve Bird (Beacon Employment) and Weaving Hope commented specifically on this.

This time the content was themed across the whole evening. [That theme being PURPOSE ].

All of the presenters on the evening Eric (MC), Keith (The Sophie Hill-Jones Trust) Richard, Gary and Ray (Main Speakers) incorporated the theme and it did not go unnoticed.
Co-operation / Solutions:
NO business cards were exchanged in a networking sense. No facilities/time was allocated for this. This was (is) deliberate. Instead attendees congregated naturally and solutions were offered and help given.
Physical Demonstration of Our Support:
Rather than ‘promise’ to do something, or promise to contribute a certain amount of funds over a given period of time, we gave away the very money that the evening’s attendees and contributed all money raised on the night itself to the chosen worthy cause.

A presentation
cheque was
given to the
Representatives
of the beneficiary
organisation,
“The Sophie Hill-Jones Trust”, after which those same representatives spoke to thank the attendees and also to explain what they were actually doing with money being raised on their behalf.

Monthly Events Agreed:
The next event to be organised and run by The Business Benefit will be on Thursday 10th December 2009, and this will again take place at The Glass House College.
The theme for this next event will be COURAGE. Thereafter, The Business Benefit intends to run events on different themes on the second Thursday of every month.
The theme for January will be VISION and instead of being presentations and only presentations, this will take the format of an explanatory presentation followed by an interactive workshop during which attendees will have the opportunity to increase their levels of clarity about their own VISION for their own enterprise.
The venue for the January event is yet to be confirmed (hopefully this will also be at The Glass House College). The date for this event is Thursday January 14th 2010.