IoD Suffolk Magazine | summer 2014

Page 1

suffolk

State, Taxes and Money

Fresh Thinking

Capital in the 21st Century

Dominic Frisby interviewed on the tyranny of dependency

IoD Suffolk’s Annual Conference, stealing and swiping the Suffolk way

Thomas Piketty’s global bestseller, unpicked

Inspiring and connecting the county's business leaders



CONTENTS / SUMMER’14

IOD MEMBERS Luke Morris, Chairman

5

Recent IoD Suffolk events

18

Question Time Dinner

20

Business Breakfast | Jo Kerley

21

Members page

32

FEATURES Protecting the Director

7

The Chinese are coming

8

Workplace Health

10

Across the Region

22

The Pursuit of the Suit

26

World Cup Fever!

28

Are things looking up for Suffolk?

30

FRESH THINKING Creative Swiping

12

Annual Conference

18

PEOPLE Martin Chambers, Editor

3

Jo Kerley

9

Dominic Frisby

16

Paddy Bishopp

24

Thomas Piketty

31

Published by: Tilston Phillips Magazines Limited 141 Norwich Road, Ipswich IP1 2PP enquiries@tilstonphillips.com www.tilstonphillips.com Designed by: Toni Escriche All rights reserved. Reproduction, in part or in whole, without the prior consent of the publisher is strictly prohibited. The content of this magazine is based on the best knowledge and information available at the time of publication. All times, prices and details of events were correct at time of going to press. The views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily those of the publishers, proprietors, the Institute of Directors or others associated with this production. © Tilston Phillips Magazines Limited 2014

12

Creative Swiping – the art of borrowing ideas and making them your own

24 Paddy Bishopp gets a roasting

31 Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty has been taking the world of economics by storm


From our solutions comes your certainty 01473 346046 www.poundgates.com Pound Gates St Vincent House, 1 Cutler Street, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 1UQ Pound Gates & Co Ltd, trading as Pound Gates, is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and is an ISO and Investor in People accredited company.


WELCOME

WELCOME FROM THE EDITOR

www.iod-suffolk.co.uk

Welcome to the summer edition of your new-look IoD Suffolk Magazine.

Follow @SuffolkIoD

With a new look, new ideas and a new editor, we are hoping to transform this publication into a conversation which will prove essential to Suffolk business leaders.

EDITORIAL Martin Chambers Editor 01473 286155 martin@tilstonphillps.com

Caroline Kearney Suffolk Branch Administrator 07917 699498 caroline@iod-suffolk.co.uk

ADVERTISING Marina Jacobs Advertising executive 01473 286155 marina@tilstonphillips.com

Our 2014 events programme is kindly sponsored by:

To start with, the magazine will have a more visual feel, and at its core will be ideas. This edition focuses on the ‘Fresh Thinking’ ideas presented at the IoD Suffolk Annual Conference. We look at new ways of thinking which can energise business and perhaps change the way we look at the world, or indeed change the world of business. New ideas are essential to keep business fresh, and in this publication we are embracing that, and hope to generate a debate among business leaders about how we refresh ourselves and our business. Some of the ideas advanced may not sit well with you, some you may embrace wholeheartedly, but join the conversation. Give us your fresh ideas, let us share what you are doing differently. Share your fresh thinking with other business leaders in Suffolk through your IoD Suffolk Magazine. As the editor of this publication, my aim is create a forum, one which every forward-thinking business leader in Suffolk will feel obliged to join and to share their ideas. Enjoy your summer and your magazine. Please let us know what you think. Martin Chambers – Editor

IoD suffolk | summer 2014 | 3


David Hall, Dominic Frisby and Luke Morris at the the IoD Suffolk Annual Conference, May 2014


LUKE MORRIS / IOD SUFFOLK CHAIRMAN

“Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive!”

Licence to steal Our conference on May 14th wasn’t really a normal conference. It was about connecting everybody, about sharing authentic and real practical experiences, problems and solutions. Bluntly, it was about stealing, swiping from each other but in a polite and very Suffolk way. Ultimately it was about demonstrating that, with our combined time and energy, anything is possible. I found this story about rural broadband in The Economist. Christine, a 60 year-old farmer’s wife, with ‘borrowed’ tools and some basic training, mastered the art of “fusion splicing”, a technique network engineers use to string together optical fibres. “It’s a bit like knitting,” she said.

Learnings from Lancashire For years Christine, and her neighbours in the rural Lune Valley, waited for telecoms companies to upgrade sluggish connections. In 2011 they decided to do it for themselves. They raised over £1m from a share issue through a locally owned network, called an "altnet", buying ducts and cables for volunteers to install. Pensioners did much of the digging. "Some are getting six packs for the first time in years," said Christine. Up to 10% of Britons are in locations too far flung to benefit from the £1bn in state subsidies going to BT to extend its highspeed networks. And whilst BT is playing about with existing copper wires, this Lancashire altnet is plugging houses directly into optical cables: the fastest connections in the world. Without costing the taxpayer a penny.

Continuous fresh thinking is essential to our businesses, particularly as the economy shows signs of improvement. Not the time to breathe a sigh of relief but the time to find answers to age old problems and to break down conventional barriers.

A subject close to many of our hearts, this is an example of the sort of infrastructure that could and should be making a huge return to us right now but where government hesitancy, and vagueness has cost us dear.

IoD Suffolk wants to create a place where business leaders, members and nonmembers, can explore fresh thinking together, where the power of many can make one person’s life a lot easier and hopefully more fulfilling.

Our ‘cover’ fresh thinker and conference guest, Dominic Frisby, solicited an apt comment about his first book:

We want to create a place where business leaders meet and exchange ideas.

“Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive!”

“Find the right answer, realise you may never see it in your lifetime, and then advocate it anyway because it’s the right answer.” Businessman and science pioneer, Andy Grove, is often quoted:

There is no reason why we as a group of fresh thinkers with Suffolk in common can’t act as an incubator for the next altnet. Join us at our next event, join us online www.iod-suffolk.co.uk You don’t have to be a member to join in the conversation.

Luke Morris IoD Suffolk Chairman and Partner, Larking Gowen IoD suffolk | summer 2014 | 5


At Ensors, we provide experience and expertise. We are approachable and easy to work with. And as you can see, our clients really appreciate this.

That’s why clients choose to partner with Ensors Chartered Accountants. Talk to us, we have all the answers to your questions.

Bury St Edmunds I Cambridge I Huntingdon I Ipswich I London I Saxmundham

www.ensors.co.uk


PROTECTING THE DIRECTOR

WROnGFUL TRADInG WARnInG FOR COMPAnY DIRECTORS Directors of limited companies are being warned that their personal assets could still be at risk if their business folds leaving a stream of creditors. Kevin Sullivan, solicitor and partner at Essex law firm Birkett Long, says if it can be proven that a director ignored the warning signs his firm was about to fold and carried on trading whilst amassing debt, they could be penalised out of their own pocket. “It’s known as wrongful trading,” said Kevin, who specialises in insolvency law and represents company directors facing such claims as well as disqualification proceedings. Kevin said: “When a company goes under, the directors may be at risk of the liquidator bringing a claim against them under section 214 of the Insolvency Act 1986 alleging they have engaged in ‘wrongful trading’. “If found liable, they may be ordered to make a contribution to the company’s assets.

“What directors fail to realise is there is a lower burden of proof needed to prove wrongful trading than there is fraudulent trading, which theoretically makes it easier for the liquidator to gain an order for wrongful trading. “That said, it is still a difficult claim to bring, although that doesn’t eliminate the risk of allegations being made which need investigating and rebutting.”

financial affairs – don’t wait for tell-tale signs such as a demand from a creditor, a winding up petition or notice from the bank of an interest payment. And... 3. Carefully monitor your lender’s financial compliance covenants. Kevin adds: “As ever, seeking early legal advice is always a director’s best option. Getting things wrong can be disastrous.”

He says it’s a tough position for directors to be in and there is evidence that some start insolvency proceedings before they are perhaps necessary. If your firm is in financial crisis his advice is this: 1.Hold regular board meetings and report the commercial decisions of directors in full in the company’s minutes. 2.Ensure you have up-todate information on your Kevin Sullivan specialises in insolvency law and represents company directors facing such claims, as well as disqualification proceedings. Kevin is a partner at Birkett Long LLP and will be pleased to provide further advice. Contact him on 01206 217376 or kevin.sullivan@birkettlong.co.uk


TOURISM

The Chinese are coming! Tourism means business, and Chinese tourism means big business. Paul Hensby, Director of Reach Into China, describes how Suffolk businesses can take advantage of the huge increase in Chinese tourists to the UK in the years ahead. experience once they arrive. These services include Mandarin translation of marketing material and visitor information, supplying temporary Mandarin speaking staff, staff training, providing the very important UnionPay (the card used by most Chinese) payment facilities, and creating and managing our clients’ Chinese social media accounts, a particularly cost effective way of reaching the 550 million users of the Chinese equivalents of Twitter and Facebook.

By 2020 there are likely to be 650,000 Chinese visitors to the UK, spending an annual £1.1 billion. In 2013, 97.3 million Chinese travelled abroad and this figure will grow rapidly with the spectacular increase of the Chinese middle class. Britain is one of the top three countries the Chinese want to visit. The UK government has made it easier for the Chinese to get a visitor visa, and in March Visit Britain launched the GREAT China Welcome campaign to show the Chinese we want them to visit this country, and have a good time when they get here. What has this got to do with Suffolk? For organisations that can offer something to Chinese tourists, the answer is a lot. Chinese visitors want what most tourists want…memorable, enjoyable, interesting and entertaining experiences. And they will spend their hard earned money to achieve this. Promoted properly to the Chinese, Suffolk and the venues wanting to attract them, have many advantages. Close to 8 | IoD suffolk | summer 2014

London; its coastline, rivers and estuaries (running water means good fortune); clean air; unspoilt towns and villages; historic buildings and sites. Businesses that, given the right advice, will benefit from the surge in Chinese tourism include hotels, pubs, restaurants, museums, galleries, gift shops, stately homes, craft centres, fashion and beauty retailers, breweries and sport, leisure and entertainment venues. Many Chinese will add business, investment and education to their interests, looking to start, or partner with, local companies, buy property and considering schools for their children. So Suffolk based estate agents, business advisers and those in the education sector should get ‘China ready’ if they want to grow their companies. For those in the tourist industry, another advantage of Chinese market is the timing of their national holidays: early February, early May and early October. Reach Into China, recommended by Visit Britain, offers advice and services to enable UK businesses to become more successful at marketing to Chinese tourists and giving them a better visitor

now is the time to act, not least because if a company can demonstrate it is becoming ‘China-ready’, it can join Visit Britain’s GREAT China Welcome Charter and be promoted, free of charge, in China. Reach Into China can enable our clients to become Charter members but can also give longer term and more strategic advice to businesses of all sizes in Suffolk. The question for Suffolk businesses is not whether you can afford to market to the Chinese, but can you afford not to. www.reachintochina.com

Spending on retail, hospitality and leisure by overseas visitors to the East of England is set to rise by a third to £1.1 billion by 2017, compared with 2013, according to a report from Barclays. It says US, French and German tourists are currently the biggest spenders in East of England, but Chinese tourists will take third place by 2017 when they are forecast to spend £77 million in the region, up by 79 per cent. Brazil is also set to enter the top enter the top ten East of England spenders’ league table by 2017 and Italy will be pushed out. Source: UK Tourism Dynamics


Young Entrepreneurs take on local Dragons! Motivated by an offer of investment from Duncan Bannatyne on the BBC’s Dragons Den, Suffolk Mum, Jo Kerley has taken on a new challenge; Inspiring the children in Rushmere Hall Primary School Ipswich to design their own products and pitch to a team of Suffolk Dragons!

Rushmere Hall are not new to designing products as they helped Jo with her children’s suitcase and entertainment centre, the PlayAway Case which she took on to the Den. Jo shared with us: “If we can inspire more children to set up a business they could offer employment to others within the community improving social mobility, and this aspiration setting needs to start in primary school.” Jo added: “Having seen how excited the children became when helping with our PlayAway concept it inspired me to approach the Head Teacher, neil Challis to look at a fun learning opportunity for the benefit of the children.” In June 2014 the year six children at Rushmere Hall School will be designing

their own travel products and pitching their ideas to a group of local business people at an event on 14th July 2014, including the very scary Steve Flory of Hudson’s Group, and Luke Morris of Larking Gowen! However many people from the local business community will be involved in the programme helping to mentor and guide the children through four weeks of design and production, and deliver the final pitch to our very own Suffolk Dragons! We look forward to attending the event and sharing the outcome with you.

If you wish to attend the event please email info@playawaycase.com for more information. IoD suffolk | summer 2014 | 9


WELLBEING

Workplace Health and Wellbeing Influences Innovation Whatever the type or size of your business, if you employ people, having a strategy for managing the hazards and risks relating to the health, safety and wellbeing of your workforce can benefit all. From reducing costs associated with absence to improving safety, productivity, employee engagement and innovation; having a planned proactive approach makes commercial sense. Here are some tips for businesses to consider when developing the management of workplace health and wellbeing: v Be aware of and understand any legislative requirements that may relate to your type of business. This is a good starting point to determine what Occupational Health measures and procedures you should have in place such as Health Surveillance. v Understand the hazards and associated risks that may affect the health, safety and wellbeing of your workforce and consider implementing health surveillance and monitoring programmes.

v Having a better understanding of absence and the impact on your business will enable you to decide the best time to seek Occupational Health advice. Consider the cost and causes of absence and how it influences the business, culture, productivity and engagement.

incorporating it into your business culture and day-to-day business you will start to positively influence behaviours and attitudes and see your employees take more responsibility towards their own health and wellbeing.

v Work together to make a difference by including all the relevant people in the development and implementation of your strategy and initiatives, such as Senior Management, HR, Health & Safety Manager, Line Managers and Occupational Health Advisors.

v Seek the right advice and guidance from an Occupational Health specialist. If you don’t quite know where to start, start by talking to Gipping OH. We have a wealth of knowledge and experience in helping businesses develop and manage workplace health matters that are cost effective and tailored to the needs of your business.

v Make it the norm, don’t put the Health, Safety and Wellbeing of your employees at the bottom of the “to do” list. By

For more information about occupational health please call 01449 766913, or visit www.gipping.co.uk

WE SEE THINGS FROM WHERE YOU’RE SITTING At Barker Gotelee, we know that you’re looking for more than just expert legal advice. The close working relationship we forge with each of our clients ensures we understand matters from all sides.

01473 611211 www.barkergotelee.co.uk

For life, land and business

10 | IoD suffolk | summer 2014



IOD ANNUAL CONFERENCE/ IN ASSOCIATION WITH STOKE BY NAYLAND, GOLF & SPA

FRESH THInKInG | CREATIVE SWIPInG: The art of borrowing ideas and making them your own SWIPE 1: End world war and poverty. It may take 400 years. Follow your core purpose. Richard Anscombe, CEO Atlas Fram Group, Farmer Owned Cooperative

The story of Konosuke Matsushita. Born 1894. Started work age nine. One of nine children. In very many ways, Konosuke Matsushita was ahead of his time. When no one listened, he moved on to realise his next dream or invention. He is now recognised as a pioneer in modern business thinking. He died in 1989, aged 94. none of his siblings lived beyond their 30th birthday. Konosuke Matsushita founded Panasonic. His father gambled and lost. He became the family breadwinner age nine. He witnessed the emergence of electricity, invented the bike lamp, and launched the domestic iron. He believed business was something entrusted by society. He set up his own Employee Training Institute declaring in

SWIPE 2: Attitude. Sales ‘R Us Rob Thacker, Pound Gates, Chartered Insurance Brokers Pound Gates borrowed heavily, or swiped generously from two particular authors’ approaches to business and life. David Sandler. You cannot run a one-off session. We meet weekly to talk through sales and fresh approaches to thinking. Stephen Covey. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Written in the 1980s but stays relevant today. Sales are as much to do with underlying motivation and attitude as sales technique. We all get to choose our attitude every day and all of the time. Capturing this has influenced all Pound Gates’ outputs, the multiple awards won and the satisfaction of clients.

12 | IoD suffolk | summer 2014

1937: “Our mission as a manufacturer is to create material abundance by providing goods as plentifully and inexpensively as tap water. This is how we can banish poverty, bring happiness to people’s lives, and make this world a better place.” He is widely accredited for getting Japan out of poverty and for helping Japan back on its feet after WW2. 15,000 employees signed a petition imploring the allies to allow Konosuke Matsushita to rebuild Panasonic and help Japan back on its feet. He invested 7 billion Yen of personal wealth in creating the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management with the aim to train world leaders. He was known as “The God of Management”. What kept him going?


WEDNESDAY 14 MAY 2014

SWIPE 3: The quirkier and odder the idea the better Jordan Holder, 18, MD, Suffolk One Student and IoD Student Member

I started my little business ‘Catalyst Design’ in 2011 when I was studying for my GCSEs and to cut a long story short, we needed money for our prom and I came up with a solution of doing Year Books… didn’t think I’d actually have to make them though. At the start of the process I didn’t have a clue and got ideas from everyone and anyone, I can remember one boy said to me: “Jordan, why don’t you get comments from the tutors and teachers to go in the book?” Since then that’s the format I use. However, once the business moved on and I had more clients I got too attached to the same old methods, this was pointed out by my girlfriend, who irritatingly, was right. She mentioned that I change the boys’ profiles to blue and the girls’ to pink, a method I have since adopted and implemented. Listening to new and quirky ideas helped me build the business and do things that I wouldn’t normally do. I often use the phrase “if you want something done properly do it yourself” but what it actually should be is “if you want something done the same way, time and time again, do it yourself”. now my quirky idea. It came when working for Viking Mariners. They charter luxury yachts on the river Orwell. Whilst being there I worked in our shop Dressed on Deck, went sailing, did marketing and many other things. My boss was talking to our accountant about new technology to implement into the business. I mentioned Google Street View, and how you can now get in shops and that maybe we can try and get it on some of the vessels. They smirked: “Jordan, you have all our resources to use, get a quote and we’ll go from there.” The long process of the virtual tours started. and we gained hundreds of hits as a result.

SWIPE 4: Reinvent meetings Jane Warden (nee Bowen), Tailored Training Have you ever sat in a meeting which is going on for far too long; no decisions being made, no action points are done? And have you ever worked out how much that meeting costs? Let’s pretend that we have never heard of a ‘meeting’ before. Don’t know what one is, and can’t imagine why on earth we would have so many of them in a week or a month. Meetings are needed; but have you ever thought that we may be ‘meeting mad’ and we have turned everyone off with the very word ‘meeting’? Maybe we should ditch the word ‘meeting’ and rename! Let’s re-invent meetings. Let’s look at what the purpose is, who attends and what our objectives/outcomes should be at the end of the meeting. Also, what expectations are, in terms of action points (when should they be done). The best meetings are the ones with pace, clarity and a chairperson who knows what their role is.

If we are going to have a meeting, we have to think about what it should be like, how long it will take and what sort of environment will make the members comfortable to contribute.

Plan? Purpose? Who attends? Role? Expectations? Chair? It may not be you. Jane Warden, 07713 256139 tailored_training@live.co.uk

IoD suffolk | summer 2014 | 13


IOD ANNUAL CONFERENCE

SWIPE 5: Employees: your greatest cost? Asset? Make sure they are in line. Tony Kerley FCIPD, FInstLM

HOW IT WORKS Engaged Employees... 1. Have a clear line of sight between what they do and organisational goals 2. Feel an emotional attachment to the organisation 3. Go the extra mile at their own discretion. COnCLUSIOn To develop more engaged employees, focus on the following 'Employee Engagement Enablers': 1. Create a clear sense of direction 2. Encourage managers to engage 3. Actively listen to your employees 4. Develop shared 'org-wide' values

FACT There is a direct and tangible link between employee engagement and organisational success.

WHY IS THAT IMPORTAnT? High employee engagement leads to organisational success. Poor employee engagement reduces it.

SWIPE: 6 More students, students, students Dave Hall, The Ideas Centre

Last year, The Ideas Centre Ltd committed to exploring new ways of interfacing between businesses and educational establishments. Over the last year, they have undertaken a pilot project with Suffolk new College to investigate a new way of business linking directly with the students. Following a creativity session to investigate novel ways of addressing peaks in workload, a neat idea emerged – to link with local colleges for them to then offer a series of “off the peg” project services, providing access to students to undertake work on behalf of a client business. The pilot involved web-based research, identifying businesses in a target sector, analysing their offering (as described on the web) and summarising in a final report. For example, a group of four final year IT students undertook research to identify businesses within the creative industry sector across East Anglia; they generated a report which detailed the offerings of 215 companies,

14 | IoD suffolk | summer 2014

all with premises rather than freelance, breaking down their offering in terms of web design, branding, SEO etc. Cost? Just £100. The benefit to the client business is clear – a market research project completed, which would otherwise lurk in the background shadows for years to come (I know what to do – but am simply too busy to do it!); the students receive a modest payment, but more importantly gain exposure to the business environment, delivering a real project to a real business; something to add to the CV, and to gain a reference for future employers.

Interested to find out more and get involved with your web-based research project?

Contact Dave Hall d.hall@ideascentregroup.com

For more on how to develop employee engagement in your organisation, feel free to contact me.

01473 610555


IoD suffolk | summer 2014 | 15


DOMINIC FRISBY

“Anticipate charity by preventing poverty; assist the reduced fellow man, either by a considerable gift or a sum of money or by teaching him a trade or by putting him in the way of business so that he may earn an honest livelihood and not be forced to the dreadful alternative of holding out his hand for charity. This is the highest step and summit of charity's golden ladder.� Maimonides

State, taxes, and money


IOD NEWS

One may wonder why a quote from a preeminent medieval Spanish, Sephardic Jewish philosopher tops an article about the ideas of economic commentator, author and comedian Dominic Frisby. Dominic quoted this chap to me at the top of our conversation, and I must be honest, I knew nothing about him, so I looked him up. The quote is probably better known by its ‘lite’ version – ‘Give a man a fish and it feeds him for a today. Teach a man to fish and it will feed him for life.’ It is relevant to the power of the state and the ‘dependency culture’, which many believe it creates. Dominic is certainly a believer. “We have a society now in which the state, for the most part, looks after the birth of the baby, the education of the young, in many cases the employment of the man, the care of the man, the care of the elderly and the burial of the dead. People don’t question it. “They take institutions like the nHS for granted, but we’ve only lived in a world where the state does so much, for about 100 years. Our nHS is a very expensive way of providing care, and our education system is a very expensive way of providing education. “The whole thing is colossally inefficient anyway, but the problem is, if you earn an average wage and you pay tax, then once you’ve paid your tax it is very difficult to earn enough money to buy yourself private healthcare or education. So then you find yourself dependent on the state. “There is a vicious cycle there, and one of the things in my book (Life After The State) is that we should tax people a lot less, and in different ways, so that people are empowered, and keep the profits of their labour. When people have more money they have more power and are more able to provide essentials for themselves, be it care or education. “At the same time if you look at the food and clothing industries which are basic human needs but for the most part are not provided by the state, the progress that these two areas have made over the last 30 or 40 years – clothing is so much cheaper, and so is food. This is because of improved productivity, because of competition. “I think education and welfare have not seen the same levels of improvement because of this huge state that gets in the way. “People instinctively think that without a welfare state the poor and needy would not be looked after, and they become fervent in their defence of these welfare systems. “Too often state care breeds dependency. Different situations require different

forms of care. Sometimes the giving of money is required, sometimes that brings a temporary levelling of suffering, but sometimes it leads to a greater level of dependency and less self-reliance. Sometimes a kick up the backside is required, but different circumstances require different forms of care. “There is also the dignity of the recipient to take into account. Sometimes it is demeaning and sometimes anonymity is required. How on earth anyone can think that a one size fits all system of state care can meet all these individual requirements.” “With state care, however, the giver’s needs are not considered. Taxes are taken and that’s it. You have no say on how your taxes are spent, apart from a vote every four or five years. This forced giving through taxation destroys the altruistic satisfaction people feel when they give, and removes the compassion. “Where the state is responsible for the poor and the needy, the government has a near monopoly of compassion. When you have to pay the government through tax for care or education, your ability to provide it for yourself is reduced. So more and more get dragged into the dependency net, and if the state is responsible for caring then you are absolved of your responsibility for doing it. “The greatest expense in your life is not your home or your children’s education but the government. Without the state, suddenly that expense is removed.” Step back to Renaissance Italy, to a time and place that produced some of the greatest people who ever lived. A country of small city-states, if you did not like naples you could get on your horse and go to Venice and live your life on a canal. Dominic believes the reason that there was so much burgeoning of art and ideas there was because they were small states and were in competition. But since unification at the end of the 19th century, Italy has been a “basket case” of large government, corruption, organised crime and fascism. “Rather than freeing up people, the large state model has had the opposite effect. I would take the analogy a stage further and say the EU is doing the same. What is right for northern Europe is wrong for southern Europe and you don’t have to have a huge bureaucratic organisation running things to have free trade and free exchange.” How has the state been able to grow so big, compared to 100 years ago? “Then, we were all on the gold standard. Gold was independent. You could not print gold. You needed gold to back your notes. Along came the First World War, and Germany, Britain and France took

their currencies off the gold standard, because they needed to print banknotes for the war effort. If the gold had run out then war would have ended, but because the governments could print their own money, the war went on and on. That ability to print their own money allowed the state to grow and get into debt by printing money it did not have, and they can do it ad infinitum. One counter to this, says Dominic, is bitcoin, and electronic cash system with no need for banks. “One of the exciting things about bitcoin,” he says, is that suddenly here is an independent money that more and more people are using. It cannot be debased, it cannot be inflated in a way that governments currently do. It can be sent across borders, so capital charges don’t apply. It is hugely cheap and efficient. “It offers opportunities to people who are ‘unbanked’. It is a potentially liberating development in the world of finance, if it takes on. It threatens banking in the same way that the internet threatened the hegemony of newspapers. “It also threatens governments to an extent, because if people are getting paid in bitcoins, or other crypto-currencies, then they are no longer using the traditional banking and money networks. When they aren’t using those networks they become freed up, and the monopoly that governments and banks have now no longer applies. It is an exciting development, and provides opportunities to people to better their lots.” Martin Chambers Frisby in figures

46 | In 1900 a British household typically spent 8.5% of their earnings on government. Today, it is 46%

10,000 | The state system spends nearly £10,000 per pupil per year when infrastructure and bureaucracy is taken into account. Every child could be sent to a private school for that money

14 | Inflation in the NHS has been running at 14% a year for the last decade, without any meaningful attempt to introduce structural reform

15 | We should have a single, flat rate of 15% for income and corporation tax and introduce a land value tax to replace all other taxes

5 | All legislation should expire after five years unless there is a new vote in parliament to extend it. New Labour created 4,300 new crimes in 13 years IoD suffolk | summer 2014 | 17


IOD ANNUAL CONFERENCE

“This was no ordinary conference - that's what they said on the flyer. From a pedestrian starting point of asking"How can we increase profits/corporate giving?”We arrived at an idea of creating a event celebrating world peace marked by an event at Aldeburgh Music. Not the obvious answer... How did we do it? We took five engaged IoD members, asked them to turn one member's problem of creating more revenue on its head: we got underneath it; shook it to its roots; thought about what really wouldn't work under any circumstances and in a final twist, reversed the doomsday scenario entirely to end up with a fantastic, realistic and stretching aim. It was refreshing to have new but like minds adopt quite a forensic approach to a real business problem facilitated by people with experience.”

Ciara Scallon, Corporate Development Manager, Aldeburgh Music 18 | IoD suffolk | summer 2014

Alan Whittaker, Suffolk One

Clare Richards of Barker Gotelee and Mary Graham of Yellobelly Design & Marketing

Tim Fenton of T Fenton Ltd and IoD Suffolk committee member

Rob Thacker of Pound Gates


WEDNESDAY 14 MAY 2014

IoD Suffolk Annual Conference

In association with Stoke by nayland Hotel, Golf & Spa

Sarah Sharlott of Realise Futures

John Matthews of Ensors, Rob Thacker of Pound Gates, Clare Richards of Barker Gotelee, Luke Morris IoD Suffolk Chairman and Partner at Larking Gowen and Dominic Frisby

One delegate said: "Could well be the best ÂŁ114 our business will spend this year!"

Lina Hogg of Picasso HR and Richard Anscombe of Atlas Fram Group David Hall of The Ideas Centre and Ciara Scallon of Aldeburgh Music

IoD suffolk | summer 2014 | 19


QUESTION TIME DINNER

James Sproule, IoD Chief Economist and Director of Policy

Bruce Sangster, Roger Beaton, George Baker and Monty Nunn

Rachel Sloane

Sandy Martin, David Campbell Bannerman, Rachel Sloane, James Sproule, Josephine Hayes, Luke Morris and Stuart Agnew

IoD Question Time Dinner

26 March 2014,

Guests gathered at Hintlesham Hall to quiz East of England's MEPs and IoD Chief Economist, James Sproule 20 | IoD suffolk | summer 2014


BUSINESS BREAKFAST

Business Breakfast | Jo Kerley

23 April 2014,

Jo Kerley told her story over breakfast at Seckford Hall about product invention, sourcing and taking it to the Dragons' Den

Jo Kerley

Jo Kerley and Luke Morris of IoD Suffolk and Partner at Larking Gowen

Jo Kerley, Toby Pound of Barker Gotelee, John Matthews of Ensors, Luke Morris of IoD Suffolk and Partner at Larking Gowen and Neil Matthews of Pound Gates.

Michael Kernan of Scrutton Bland

IoD suffolk | summer 2014 | 21


ACROSS THE REGION

Business Roadshows see 40% take-up in funding

CBI calls for government to help ‘forgotten army’ of entrepreneurs CBI Director-General John Cridland

Local businesses that attended the first of 50 new Anglia Business Roadshows across norfolk and Suffolk are already on the way to benefiting from funding to help them invest and grow their companies. Five roadshows held in Bury St Edmunds, Lowestoft, Fakenham, Downham Market and Haverhill saw 40% of businesses attending applying for a range of grants up to £500,000 – with most wanting to expand and employ more staff. The roadshows, which are jointly organised by the new Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and business improvement company, Business Shaper Group, aim to help local businesses understand and access business support including advice, training and funding. The events run until november this year and aim to connect more than 1,000 businesses across the new Anglia LEP region. Jason Middleton, business growth manager at new Anglia LEP said: “The roadshows are a fantastic opportunity to show local businesses, which want to invest and grow, that there is money out there for them.” For more information on the business roadshows and where they will be go to www.business-roadshow.co.uk

Gary Douglas-Beet, presenter at the business roadshow

CBI director-general John Cridland has called on the government to give more help to growing businesses. He said that mid-market companies have often been overlooked by government policy in favour of small businesses, but he identified them as the true engines of future economic growth. The director-general was speaking at an industry summit, which brought together some of the UK ’s best known and most entrepreneurial companies to debate the global impact and influence of technology on business. Mr Cridland also called on the entrepreneurial community to take advantage of the ubiquity of technology available to deliver a steady growth period. He said: "Some businesses, with a turnover of £100-200m, have the potential for quick growth and could be worth £500m in about five years. They are our true national champions – but

we don't have enough of these companies making that growth spurt in Britain. We need to concentrate on nurturing the £20m, £40m or £100m turnover businesses so that they become the future national champions we can be proud of. “We cut off the support for businesses when they get to around £10m turnover, but why are we doing that? We need to focus on this ‘forgotten army’ of entrepreneurs and help them make that progression. This medium sized group makes up less than 10,000 of the 3m business of the UK but it is worth 23% of the UK economy. Daisy represents a perfect example of these companies that, with a helping hand, are more likely to innovate and create more jobs than either the small or large businesses.” He also called for the term SME to disappear, claiming that it now describes an obsolete concept.

Ford pays tribute to the work of Suffolk businesswoman One of the world’s largest groups of car dealerships has presented an award to a Suffolk businesswoman for her ‘outstanding’ service. Audrey Furnell, director of Sudbury based SGA, which specialises in creating corporate events and business videos, received her surprise award from Ford Retail, presented by breakfast TV anchorman Eamonn Holmes at the recent Ford Retail Awards for Excellence that she organised. “I’m absolutely delighted to have received 22 | IoD suffolk | summer 2014

this award from such a high profile client. Spending a lot of time organising recognition events for other people it’s great to feel what it’s like. At SGA we’re into our 26th year of business and we take great care and pride in the services we deliver. It is very satisfying to know this is being recognised by our clients,” she said. Ms Furnell’s work with Ford Retail sees her organising and managing a range of important events for the company and works closely with hundreds of Ford colleagues across a network of 65 sites across the UK.

Audrey Furnell pictured with Eamonn Holmes and Ford Retail board members receiving her award


Across the Region

Regional business stories

125 years in Practice On the 6th February 1889 Isaac Lott Ensor was admitted to The Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. To mark the 125th anniversary of this auspicious occasion Ensors have published a book charting the history and development of the firm. With research carried out by Jane newley, Ensors’ Marketing Manager, the book was co-written and edited by Jane and Angela Hagan, a local freelance writer who writes regularly for The Guardian. White Space provided the design and publisher Jonathan Tilston supported the whole project with consultancy services. Robert Hatch, Ensors Senior Partner, said: “We are enormously grateful for the detailed work Jane and her team have carried out compiling this book; looking through large quantities of archived material and speaking to many long standing clients and retired partners to bring together such an interesting record of Ensors history, our aims and achievements.”

From left to right Jane Newley, Jonathan Tilston, Angela Hagan, Matt Cable, Bex Riley

The book is available to read online at www.ensors.co.uk/125book or, if you would like a free copy, please contact Jane direct at jane.newley@ensors.co.uk

Leading company launches new website to reflect global offering A UK industry leader has marked its continued growth into global markets by investing in a new website to demonstrate its diverse offering. network 2 Supplies (n2S) is the UK’s market leader in IT data security and technology life cycle management and says the new website will be central to marketing its services to a worldwide audience. Last year n2S recorded a record turnover, marking a year on year growth over the past decade, after securing two major contracts, which sees the company provide services in more than 7,000 locations across the world. Its recent success is allowing n2S, which has sites in Bury St Edmunds and in London, to significantly expand its operation. Jack Gomarsall, n2S managing director, said: “We have for some time been the UK’s leaders in technology lifecycle management but the success of last few years has made us a key player on a global level. We felt we needed a new website to reflect our now global standing and to demonstrate our full offering.”

N2S MD Jack Gomarsall who is confident the new website will enhance the company’s global standing

IoD suffolk | summer 2014 | 23


SUFFOLK ENTREPRENEURS

10 Questions... The first in an occasional series where IoD Suffolk interviews business leaders from the county. In this issue, Paddy Bishopp, of Suffolk coffee roasters Paddy & Scott’s, answers the questions... Martin Chambers: What has been your most satisfying moment in business? Paddy Bishopp: It was when opening our fiftieth in-house branded café (which happened to be in Barclays offices in Glasgow) and having the same sense of excitement and pride as when we launched our first. What is the most important innovation you have made at Paddy & Scott’s? This is a real ‘watch this space’ moment. We will be launching our own high street cafés this year with the aim to become ‘The Most recognised Coffee Brand within East Anglia’ and as part of this journey we have developed a Paddy and Scott’s App. With this you can pre-order and pay for food and coffee, receive special offers/competitions and get your loyalty points which can either be used on yourself or you can donate to The Paddy and Scott’s Foundation which is being set up at this very moment. With the benefit of hindsight, is there anything you would do differently? We will be seven years old this year and we have had great growth (we will serve over 33 million cups of coffee this year) and this is really down to the great passionate team I have around me, the quality of all that we do and the training programme we spent 18 months developing. There is not much I would change but one is in our early days we allowed ourselves to be sidetracked from the core business. We looked at importing our own teas and certain sectors that were not core growth areas. This is just our entrepreneurial sides coming out but the advice is – stay focused. What are the most important parts of your business? The people who work here, from Zoe (customer relations) to Emma (project manager), to the core management team of Scott and I and our amazing MD Chris Thompson. Emma and Zoe were both found via social media so already followed us and we have such a passionate group 24 | IoD suffolk | summer 2014

working with us. Indirectly we employ over 214 people via our branded cafes and The Paddy and Scott’s Training Academy has instilled this passion and importance of quality in all of them. Who do you most admire, in business or in general? In business I have always admired Richard Branson, a man who is not afraid to have a go, fail if required but become very successful. Like Scott and I he realises the importance of having the right people around you. In general I am a huge Andre Agassi fan, not just for his tennis success, but by overcoming many obstacle in life and just being such a tenacious person.

Paddy Bishopp gets a roasting

This always opens up a lively debate but for me, as Stephen Britt from Anchor Storage in Kenton so well put in The Sunday Times Business Section recently, we need to improve our roads. As a company, and me a lot of the time, we travel up and down the A12/A14 and we have to allow at least one to two hours extra to allow for delays. With the UK’s biggest port at Felixstowe and a county with no motorways it definitely makes business think twice about coming here. The most positive change generally will be when Paddy & Scott’s is available on many high streets around the county.

If you were to set up a new business, what sector would it be in and what would you call it?

What are the biggest challenges you face at Paddy & Scott’s?

My big love is food and drink, hence why my last two businesses (Eat Anglia and then Paddy and Scott’s) have been in this arena. Even though it is a tough sector competitively and margin wise, I can see myself staying in this sector as I love the challenge and people I meet. A wine company could work for me and I could see myself working with Scott again so it would probably be called ‘Scott and Paddy’s this time.

This year a big challenge is the price in coffee is going up rapidly due to a drought in Brazil and non-perfect growing conditions in other coffee growing areas. Overall it is the challenge of grabbing an opportunity. In the next two to three years they forecast a 25% growth in coffee shops around The UK and we need to make sure we are part of this, that we are the one of the best and recognised for this. What we cannot afford to do is not join the race.

Is there anyone you would say that you ‘owe’ your success to?

What does the future look like?

Definitely Sarah my wife, who has always supported my mad ideas and let me follow my dream. I literally came home one day and said ‘I am quitting my job tomorrow and setting up my own food and drink business’ and she said ‘I believe in you’. She has not only looked after home and family but has been a great sounding board for key business decisions and now works with us here. What changes in Suffolk would make the biggest difference to business in general, and to Paddy & Scott’s?

2014 is looking to be one of our most exciting years to date. In the early part we opened our 55th branded Paddy and Scott’s in-house Café, this one being in Barclays Cardiff. We also secured our first major export contract in Russia to follow on from success in Shanghai and are talking with interested parties in Ireland and The netherlands. The most exciting development though is yet to come as Paddy and Scott’s are hitting the ‘High Street’ and plan to open three cafés within East Anglia (the first in Suffolk) in the next twelve months... You heard it here first!


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SARTORIAL ELEGANCE

The Pursuit for the Suit The purchase of a suit is often seen as a highly significant outlay for a gentleman to make. Which is why, at Coes, it’s a purchase that we take very seriously. At Coes, we are pleased to be able to stock an array of brands which include: Without Prejudice, The Label, Ted Baker, Digel and Santinelli, as well as our own brands such as Samuel Golding, Bortoni and Coes. We offer a wide choice of fabric and weights, and you cannot go far wrong with a fine wool suit. Often a suit is required to take a gentleman from day to night and needs to look as good at 9pm as it did at 9am. A finely woven wool suit will stand up to this test – taking into account travelling, working and socialising – with only the slightest of wearing. One of the most vital aspects of a suit is the fit. With changing body shapes, it is becoming more and more difficult for ‘off the peg’ suits to fit all sizes. This is one of the reasons that we stock The Label suits. This brand allows you to

26 | IoD suffolk | summer 2014

purchase the suit jacket and trousers separately, taking a mix and match solution to tailoring.

any The Label suit and receive a free Seidensticker shirt and a tie completely free of charge*.

This approach ensures that a better fit is achieved for each individual customer. It also gives the flexibility of purchasing more than one pair of trousers to match your jacket, or returning to purchase at a later date – as the trousers usually wear the quickest – thus lengthening the life of the suit and offering excellent value for money.

We’re delighted to have partnered with Seidensticker for this promotion. Every individual shirt from this brand goes through a process of 142 quality checks before it is presented to the consumer – an approach that we wholeheartedly applaud at Coes.

Of course, if you find a suit that doesn’t have the mix and match option within Coes, our free tailoring service is available with every suit purchase. It’s all part of the Coes experience. So if you’re looking in your wardrobe and you see such evidence before you, visit Coes before the end of June to take advantage of our fantastic suit offer – buy

The Splendisto range that we carry is made from 100% cotton, resulting in a non-iron fabric which makes laundering these shirts easy. Another added benefit is that whilst achieving the benefits of wearing a 100% cotton shirt, thanks to the treatment it receives, it looks better for longer during the working day. So search no more, your pursuit for the suit ends at Coes, Ipswich.



LEISURE

World Cup Fever... or does it leave you cold?! For some the four years wait is nearly over as England take their footballers to Brazil for the World Cup. The media are already in overdrive informing us of all that will ensue in any and every outlet that they can. Has he picked the right squad? What will be the starting line up? Will the heat be a major factor? I am sure by the time it actually comes around we may be anaesthetised to it all! How will this four yearly occurrence affect you or your business? Have you been able to build business on the back of it? Depending on the type of business you are in you may have: offered trips: set up screenings of matches: offered discounted products depending on results Or are there different opportunities you could supply as others seek refuse away from the hype? Stuart Robertson PGA Golf Professional and Director of Golf Ufford Park Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1QW 01394 382480 www.doctorgolf.co.uk mail@doctorgolf.co.uk #doctorgolf247

Could you be a “no Sport” pub? Offer “Get Away From It” breaks? Promote different activities? During the six weeks of the World Cup there will be many other sports offering taster sessions or classes

for those that are not as enchanted with our national Game. This could be the ideal time to take up a new sport, maybe one that can be played by the whole family, that will last for a lifetime. With a decent weather forecast for the summer this may be the ideal time to think about other outdoor sports with cycling, tennis and golf (to name a few) offering taster sessions within their clubs. As with many other national Governing bodies, England Golf’s’ “Get Into Golf” program offers a heavily discounted series of lessons, and is being offered at many driving ranges and golf courses during the summer. Equipment, as well as refreshments, will be provided free at most venues as well as some great instruction and help in how to get started. Check out www.getintogolf.org for your nearest participating venue. As there will be another four years until the next World Cup, who knows how good your golf will be by 2018!!

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LOCAL ECONOMY

Are things looking up for Suffolk? Well, yes, according to an economic survey showing that Suffolk is performing better than the national average. the pace for Suffolk Chamber’s 2014 ‘Business is Good for Suffolk’ campaign,” said Dr Peter Funnell, president of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce. “Taking account of the strong performance of the service sector in domestic markets, we can also continue to be positive about the prospects for economic and jobs growth in the county for the rest of 2014.” Dr Peter Funnell, president of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce

The Suffolk Chamber of Commerce first Quarterly Economic Survey for 2014, which covers January to March, also shows that optimism is at a high for manufacturers in Suffolk as domestic and export sales increase, “The feedback from our manufacturers around both domestic and export sales is excellent news and sets

The service sector in Suffolk had a successful quarter in the domestic market, with both the deliveries and orders balances soaring to all-time high levels. As with manufacturing, county-based firms in the service sector also shared their optimism on turnover and profitability. “Suffolk is the home of hard working and entrepreneurial businesses,” Dr Peter Funnell added. “The latest figures tell us that there is a 19% increase in employment in the service sector with

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prospects for taking on new staff rising to +33%, the highest point since the first survey in 2008.” Confidence in turnover improved for the third consecutive quarter, up eleven percentage points to the highest level seen since the end of 2007. Suffolk Chamber chief executive John Dugmore said: “Having worked hard during the worst of the recession, Suffolk businesses are continuing to grow in confidence and are beginning to invest. The picture from this important survey is encouraging and together with new initiatives such as the norfolk and Suffolk Growth Hub, which will help optimise business growth opportunities in the area, we expect the position to strengthen going forward.” The survey was conducted in March and the results were analysed by a research team at Suffolk County Council.


BUSINESS BOOKS

An economics book that has gone global... Thomas Piketty

‘Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty has been taking the world of economics by storm and as Martin Chambers discovers it has become an unexpected bestseller in Britain. Getting my hands on a copy of Piketty’s book was a real struggle, but it was worth the effort. Piketty, a professor at the Paris School of Economics, opens his economic blockbuster with a paragraph guaranteed to keep you hooked: On August 16, 2012, South African police opened fire with live ammunition on strikers at the Marikana platinum mine near Johannesburg, killing thirty-four. The miners were in dispute with the London-based owners Lonmin, primarily over wages. And so begins his treatise about how the income from production is divided between labour and capital. Piketty’s book is the result of 15 years of painstaking research and it shows, laden as it is with graphs and statistics.

In the USA, he argues, “inequality is higher than in any society at any time in the past, anywhere in the world”. In the 30 years following 1977, 60% of US national income went to 1% of the population. “Wealth is so concentrated that a large segment of society is virtually unaware of its existence,” he says. He argues that the 1% is almost not on the same planet as the rest of the population. These are not millionaires or entrepreneurs who have made a few quid, but those with inherited wealth which is moving further and further off the scale, a world where the oligarch’s gold-plated yacht is upwind from the homeless shelter.

According to this French economist we are heading into a future of more and more inherited wealth where capital becomes concentrated among smaller and smaller numbers, and this gives the mega-rich increasing power over politics and society.

Return to South Africa and the miners’ strike in 2012. A strike ‘primarily’ over wages, the miners were protesting not only about Lonmin’s excessive profits, but also about the owners rewarding the mine manager with a rise of one million euros a year, equivalent to the wage of 200 miners. The miners had asked for their wages to be doubled from 500 to 1,000 euros a month. After the shooting, the company offered them 75 euros a month.

Patrimonial capitalism has consequences for democracy as it drifts to oligarchy, because inherited wealth will always grow faster than earned wealth in an economy where the rate of return on capital outstrips the rate of growth. The power of inherited wealth has been there from the start, he says, invoking Jane Austen’s female characters at the beginning of the 19th century looking to get on by marrying into wealth, and Honoré de Balzac’s male characters marrying daughters of the rich.

The increasing division of wealth, Piketty says, has consequences for social order, and will have more in the future. In the decades following World War Two, it seemed as if extreme inequality was a thing of the past and capitalism was becoming a generator of wealth for all. not so, says Piketty, this was just a blip in the normal state of affairs. Things looked better then because of state investment following the war, the strength of organised labour, and the introduction of welfare reforms.

The bank collapse six years ago was no freak event either, he argues, as falling incomes alongside rising financial wealth is a sign of the system working normally, so we should expect more of the same. Economic trends can be reversed and Piketty’s work does contain solutions he believes are possible without the overthrow of the system. Among his answers is a 15% tax on capital, an 80% tax on high incomes, enforced transparency for all bank transactions, using inflation to redistribute wealth downwards. He acknowledges that the 80% tax rate would not generate significant revenue, but he argues that it would help shrink the ever-increasing income divide. Karl Marx, in his version of ‘Capital’ written in the 19th century, would have called these solutions "utopian" because the rich consenting to such measures without a struggle is unthinkable. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Piketty’s premise and prescriptions, this book, all 685 pages of it, is thoughtprovoking, attention grabbing, and already initiating wide debate about capital and inequality.

Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty, published by the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, £29.95. What do you think about this? Join the debate about Piketty’s ideas. Write to us with your own thoughts and ideas. IoD suffolk | summer 2014 | 31


MEMBERS PAGE

Diary Dates Visit iod-suffolk.co.uk for more information, non-members welcome

Joint Breakfast with IoD Cambridge 25th June 2014 7.30 – 9.30am Practical support for growing your business overseas from Liz Basing, UKTI with real experiences from Richard Blakesley, The Wand Company and Nick Hill, SureFlap

Are you a member of the IoD? Join us and you’ll discover a unique mix of opportunities to learn and be inspired by interesting speakers; meet other directors, senior managers and professionals and enjoy a variety of social occasions with a big member discount.

Jockey Club Rooms, 101 High Street, newmarket, Suffolk. CB8 8JL £20.00 + vat members, £24.00 + vat nonmembers

Many of our members take advantage of other IoD benefits including the superb meeting space and facilities in Pall Mall, London, which are free to use; free one-to-one expert advisory sessions and free business information queries answered within 24 hours.

Golf Day at Hintlesham Golf Club

As an IoD Suffolk member you are also entitled to free access to a dedicated workstation in the new e-touchdown on the 5th floor at Eastern Enterprise Hub in the James Hehir building on Ipswich waterfront. See www.eehub.co.uk

2nd July 2014 12.00 – 8.00pm

New members to Suffolk branch Tristan Bray Clive Media Limited Sharon Brown Miles Smith Chris Conway CMG Technologies Charlotte Cooper Cooper Lomaz Recruitment Limited Lucill Curtis University Of Essex Stuart Davis Kendra Energy Solutions Ltd Jacques William Forrest Centurion Safety Products Ltd Tim Gallop Fr. Meyer's Sohn (UK) Ltd Rachel Alexandra Gordon new Media Group Steven Herd MyLondonHome Ltd

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Reception, charity auction and opportunities to buy on the night Suffolk One, Ipswich £10.00 + vat members, £12.00 nonmembers

Company Visit 11th September 2014 6.30 – 8.30pm Muntons Cedars Maltings, Stowmarket Suffolk IP14 2AG Cost TBC

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For a complete list of the current affinity member benefits, please see www.iod.com/speciallynegotiated To find out more about joining IoD Suffolk branch please contact: Caroline Kearney Suffolk Branch Administrator 07917 699 498 caroline@iod-suffolk.co.uk Institute of Directors Suffolk Branch 25 Wilding Drive, Grange Farm, Kesgrave Ipswich IP5 2AE

Steven Peter Long Universal Asset Protection Ltd Mark Mathewson Consequentially Ltd Alexander McGrath A and C Learning Neil Mellor PSnGB Ltd Clare Margaret Richards Barker Gotelee Andrew Rowe Concertus Design & Property Consultants Ltd Ciara Scallon Aldeburgh Music Matthew Self Concertus Design & Property Consultants Ltd Emma Smith Larking Gowen Ltd Tony Stiff Flowgroup Plc

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