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BEST News

TWO MORE NEW MEMBERS

We are pleased to welcome two new members to our expanding group. They are Ruth Sengale of the HR Department and Doug Packer of Virtual IT. They expand the services offered by the Group, bringing in human resource consultancy and IT network planning.

COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPING

Businesses as well as home-owners can benefit from the services offered by Transform Ltd whose Simon Gray joined BEST in March. Simon started his career in the landscape industry by working for George Baileys of Petersfield. Baileys had gained an excellent reputation for building large-scale Arab gardens during the late Seventies and early Eighties. After one year with Baileys Simon left to go to Merrist Wood and after three years successfully completed his N.D in landscape design and construction. Two further years were spent developing his practical experience with Tilhill Landscaping of Farnham and Hungerford and a further year working with Landsystems Landscapes of California USA.

Transform works for a number of private organisations including:

  • Hotels
  • Conference centres
  • Schools and Colleges
  • Business Parks and Industrial Centres
  • Nursing homes and Hospitals

THE COMMS CO WIN MAJOR CONTRACT

BEST member The Comms Company recently helped bring a major improvement in productivity to one of their clients - A1 Lofts.

Between 2000 and 2007, A1 Lofts Ltd converted more than 800 lofts into living accommodation and built its turnover to £10 million a year. One of the company's obstacles to growth was its administration systems which had failed to keep pace with their sales expansion. They looked for a technology solution but found these were too expensive. Then they spoke to The Comms Company, an Alcatel-Lucent Business Partner, who suggested running customised open source applications for a figure, to quote the client, that was "a fraction of the other quote." Jerry Ryan, Director of The Comms Company and former Chairman of BEST said "Our work for A1 Lofts is genuinely exciting and innovative. As far as I know, this is the first time that advanced, IP convergence tools that can deliver substantial productivity gains have been made affordable to small and medium enterprises."

BEST GOES GREEN

At a recent meeting Sacha Nathanson of PNPR talked of how all member companies could help the environment by introducing different policies into the way they ran their businesses. Waste disposal was a major issue although many members felt that the differing methods of rubbish collection and sorting of waste by neighbouring councils did little to encourage firms to introduce good practices into their companies.

The latest recruit to BEST, is Simon Gray of Transform which is a firm of landscape gardeners who offer commercial enterprises a cost-effective way of maintaining and improving their grounds. Maybe we'll see a greener Guildford yet.

SANJAY PATEL TAKES OVER AS CHAIRMAN

Sanjay Patel the MD of Fuse Invest and Fuse Properties was elected chairman to serve from January 1st 2008. The Vice Chairman is Graham Ellwood of Guildford Wealth Management.

01.01.08

WORLDWIDE WIN FOR BEST MEMBER
The Brandmakers Company has won the INTEC international advertising account. INTEC is a major quoted company producing software for the telecoms industry and has more than two dozen offices around the world. The Brandmakers developed a press and web-based advertising campaign that will appear in business puiblications in Europe, America, Africa and the Far East.
Click here to read more.

 

NEW MEMBER GETS THINGS MOVING
Paul Munter of Diamond Logistics joined the BEST Group in July. Diamond Logistics, based in Normandy, Guildford, offer a specialised courier and delivery service. Their clients include lawyers, vets, accountants and hospitals - in fact anyone who has a need for a totally-reliable fast same-day courier service. For more details go to their website


 

 

BEATING THE BIG BOYS
On March 8th the Group held a Showcase event for local businesses to explain how small companies could compete and beat the big companies. There was particular emphasis on the use of the internet as a marketing tool. The speakers were Paul Nathanson, Laurie Rogers and Mark Yadegar. The evening, chaired by Ken Mead, was very well attended my many local business owners. £200 was raised for local charity - Jubilee Action.

 

GUILDFORD ESTATE AGENT TAKES OVER AS CHAIRMAN 12.01.07


On January 1st, Ken Mead from Clarke Gammon Wellers took over from Alan McCulloch as Chairman of the Group. His Vice Chairman was approved as Jerry Ryan of Offero. Ken said he hopes to build on the continued success which the Group has enjoyed in 2006 and to put greater emphasis on publicising the services offered by Group members to the local community.

 

 

FIVE MEMBERS COMBINE TO GIVE LORD NELSON A FACELIFT
An excellent example of how members generate business while helping small businesses to succeed is the Nelson Arms in Merton High Street. This pub was acquired by a relative of BEST member, Sanjay Patel of Fuse Properties. The whole pub needed gutting and launching as a smart new venue. So Sanjay introduced BEST members who could help. Alliotts advised on the accountancy side while RHW dealt with the legal issues. Goss and Co sorted out insurance and the Brandmakers handled the promotional launch and built their website. The Nelson Arms has proved an immediate success and is testimony to the way in which BEST members combine to provide seamless professional services to local businesses.

GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL
BEST members are a busy lot; most run their own businesses; but even they need a break now and again which is where BEST member Grattan Smallman of Ubook Travel comes in. A travel expert, he can arrange tailor-made trips for busy executives. Recently he arranged for Laurie Rogers from Brandmakers to travel to California while Jerry Ryan from Offero took the family to Florida. Quin-Essence boss, Nikki Ferguson also used Grattan to arrange her visit to Texas although that was strictly a business trip. All three BEST members agreed, however, that not only was Grattan able to save them money, but time too.

BEST BEHIND BARS
Five members of BEST found themselves behind bars when they volunteered to help raise money for the Jubilee Action appeal. They were among local dignitaries who were locked up in the Guildhall and had to phone their contacts to pledge money for their release. The total appeal raised over £13,000 on the day and the Guildford-based charity which campaigns on behalf of abused children worldwide was delighted with BEST members efforts. Laurie Rogers, who was Chairman of BEST at the time was joined by fellow members from RHW Solicitors, Quin-Essence, Alliotts and CRC.

BEST TAKES TO THE AIR


Recently Julie Jenkinson of the Surrey Air Ambulance Appeal gave a presentation to BEST members. Surrey is one of the few counties that does not have its own air ambulance - a service that has been proved to save lives in other counties. As part of their fund raising efforts they held a Funky Footwear competition sponsored by local radio station 96.4 The Eagle. The competition was won by Carol Euston from BEST member firm, RHW solicitors. The prize was a fantastic sky high experience in a helicopter flight over London with the London Helicopter Centre in Redhill.

Picture shows Peter Gordon, Eagle Presenter, with Carol Euston and Julie Jenkinson

 

 

 


MICROTEK SCORE WITH MEMBERS
Richard Thomas, the MD of IT suppliers, Microtek, is a very happy member of the BEST Group. An introduction from a fellow member led to a sale of over 100 Toshiba laptops. Richard's price, as usual, was extremely competitive and his customer was delighted by the saving he made. Most BEST members have taken advantage of the extremely competitive prices and next-day service that Microtek offers - The Brandmakers chose Microtek for their laptops as well as for supplying a top-of-the-range laptop for a prize in a Lloyds TSB competition. Clarke Gammon Wellers use Microtek for their hardware and software needs while The Comms Company who advise on and install telecommunications and IT systems are large customers. Richard says "Joining BEST was one of the best things I ever did - it's really helped my business."

WRITING FOR THE WEB
On Tuesday 11th July 2006, Laurie Rogers of The Brandmakers Company (www.thebrandmakers.co.uk) made a presentation to members on Writing for the Web explaining the different copywriting approaches needed from the usual press advertising. The Brandmakers Company offers copywriting and content management solutions to clients wanting to gain higher conversions from their website visitors. Another BEST member, Romsey Associates, provide a host of web services including hosting and search engine optimisation.

REWARDS PACKAGES
Nicki Fergusin of Quin-essence, a member of BEST, gave a breakfast seminar at the Guildford Holiday Inn on the tax benefits of employment reward schemes.

ARCHITECTURAL SUCCESS
Alan McCulloch of Brownlee McCulloch architects gave a presentation on 4th July showing the range of architectural projects his company had been involved in recently. He emphasised the need to understand the particular planning requirements now in force including those aimed as preserving the natural habitat of certain species of wildlife.

NEW TO BEST
Several new members have joined the BEST Group in the past six months including Sharad Faria of ComAcc Consultancy specialising in Business Continuity planning, Tim Collis of CRC Limited computer audits, and Keith Davenport of Goss & Co IFAs. The Group now comprises members from twenty different companies.

BEST is a group formed by local businessmen which meets every Tuesday at the Y Centre in Bridge Street, Guildford for business breakfast and the referral of business to each other.

There are places for a few more business service providers to complement the existing team although only one representative of each discipline can enrol.

If you would like to attend a forthcoming meeting as a guest, please click here.