First Impressions cannot always be planned

Having a dinner on a summers evening with an accountant and his wife in Dorset, I was anxious that they enjoyed the evening and remember Janet Peacock of Griffin & King.

The food and liquid was most enjoyable, we were about to order our coffees when outside the restaurant major activity kicked off police sirens, police cars coming from all directions, a Securicor van with blue smoke willowing through the air, yes we had just witness an armed robbery.

It was not long before the helicopter was circling overhead, and more sirens and police cars were in the area and the place was quickly taped off.

I should not have worried as to whether my guests will remember me that evening will stay in the minds for some time to come; we cannot always plan things they have a way of just working out.

Janet

Networking manners…do they exist?

In a world where you are invited to get amongst your peers and thrust business cards in their faces, can it exist? Yes is the simple answer.

I was once told that all normal rules of etiquette are suspended in a networking situation. You can eavesdrop, butt in and join conversations without invitation.

This is the norm. A real nightmare for a girl who minds her P's and Q's. But there is a balance and below are the simple manners that should never be forgotten…

Hello to your left and right

Sometimes manners are allowed to be forgotten, and other times, it's just rude. Always introduce yourself to the person to your left, and the person

to your right. You are about to eat a meal with these people, how awful is it to not even know their names? (Really, there have been events where people have sat next to me and we've not

spoken for the whole time)

Listen to the speaker

I know that not every speaker has the right topic for you, but if this is the case, listen anyway. It's not easy standing in front of a room full of people, and to be faced with an

audience of yawns, poking and stifled giggles is not much fun. So, if your speaker is talking at length about the mating rituals of whales and how that can improve your sales targets, stick a smile on your

face, look interested and clap when it's over.

Thank your host

Would you leave a party without saying thank you to the person that hosted it? I would hope not. The same goes for networking. It takes a lot

of organisation to put a networking event on, and just a simple recognition of that to your host will mean you are a favoured guest whenever you go.

About BPBNC

Bournemouth Peacock Business Networking Club (BPBNC) is a monthly networking breakfast hosted by Griffin and King, as well as a different

monthly sponsor. The breakfast begins at 7.30am, and is held in the Gladstone suite at The Royal Bath Hotel. Guests are invited to mingle for 20

minutes at the start of the event, after which guests are seated for breakfast and there are four options to choose from. During the breakfast, each attendee stands up and has one minute to

introduce themselves to the room. Once the introductions have been completed, the speaker is introduced.

Speakers come from a variety of businesses, and offer an insight into their industry and often provide an interactive and interesting session.

BPBNC is a well attended group that attracts businesses from all over Dorset, so it's well worth a visit and an early morning start. Those who wish

to find out more should send an email to: janetpeacock@i-resources.co.uk

New Downloads Added

Another 5o+ templates have been added to our site this weekend, from employee handbooks to new risk assessments and are all freely available to for you to download and edit as you please. We are making steady progress on our new and improved member's area and will provide you with further information over the next coming weeks. Our new business download area is also making good progress which we hope will be live by the end of August.

Apprenticeships – what do they offer your business

Well it is has been a hectic couple of months which is the main reason for the lack of blogging, so what have we been doing? The website has undergone a number of changes, acting on feedback from users and development that we had planned, we have temporarily removed the members section and have now made all downloads accessible from the homepage. The member's area has been removed temporarily due to maintenance and improvements, as this could take some time we felt it the best approach to take. Should you need to access your member's area then just let us know and we will make the necessary arrangements.

We plan to add another 50 downloads in the next four weeks so if you wish to be notified please sign up to our newsletter.

Anyway apprenticeships, now is the ideal time for you to look at your business and identify whether or not you feel you could benefit from taking advantage of the apprenticeship service that has received a large amount of press in the last couple of months and endorsed by Sir Alan Sugar.

So how does it benefit you? Persons aged 16 – 24 can access full funding for their course and while they are training receive a wage payable by the employer of £95* per week as a minimum. It is easy to be deterred by the possibly large amount of time you might have to commit but think of the long term benefits. Firstly all training delivered is completely funded and colleges and training providers are becoming more and more flexible on how they deliver the qualification as the market becomes increasingly competitive, it is no longer the case of the local college as your only option and other routes should be explored. Secondly developing young people specifically for your business and providing them with a positive working environment can only add value to your business and its future development. The training wage should also not be forgotten, from a business point of view £95 per week for 40 hours work** surely has be tempting especially if your business is not ready to fully commit to a full salary which could be upwards of £11,000.

For more information about apprenticeships

Don't forget to sign up to our newsletter

* £95 is the amount for 16/17 years old, national minimum wage applies to the 19 and over

** 40 hours includes training