2012 So Far

The Chamber has been very busy over the last few months, we have had various successful events including our B2B event and Chamber Golf Day at Erskine Golf Course. Also we have had a run of booking after booking in our Business Centre and a flood of export documentation from our members, thus it has been a quite a while since my last post!

In January I started my Business Degree which the Chamber is putting me through at Glasgow Caledonian University, I attended this Monday and Wednesday evenings after work. Since then I have passed both modules of my first semester and finished off for summer – good to have some free time again!

A big challenge for me at the start of the year was to qualify as an authorised certifier for export documentation following the absence of Laura Connor on maternity leave with her baby boy Owen. Having passed the course in Birmingham I became the youngest qualified to stamp export documents in the UK, I then had the task of learning how to apply the rules I had learned to documents which come through the chamber. It took me a while to get into the swing of things but I quickly gained confidence with the process.

My Modern Apprenticeship continues to go well, thanks to Joyce keeping me on track with the evidence summaries that must be done.

I until recently worked part time in Hollister throughout the winter, however I have left in order to enjoy my weekends over summer fully whilst my friends are off Uni. It was a great opportunity working for the Abercrombie & Fitch Company, and feel I benefited in gaining experience within the retail sector.

It is my intention to pick up where I left off with my BASI ski instructor qualification over summer, hopefully this will lead to an opportunity to instruct over the winter.

Outside of work, the rugby season is over! Already thoroughly looking forward to next season with Bishopton Rugby, hopefully the pre season training will pay off!

Hope everyone has a prosperous summer, if you have any Chamber queries please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Might be here for a bit longer…

Originally, I was only to be working at the Chamber for a year, then my plan was to go to university or find work elsewhere. However, one of the team, Michelle, is leaving us over the new year and hence a new position has became available within the Chamber. In light of this Bob came to with the offer that my contract be extended to take up this new position whilst also continuing my own duties plus another responsibility of doing export docs. On top of all this, I will also be doing a part time uni course.

Of course, I was delighted to accept this offer.

My new job will start come the new year, so I’ll have plenty to learn in the next few weeks. The part time business course at Glasgow Caledonian will start on January 16th – this will involve attending the uni two evenings a week, as part of my new job I will also have Fridays off to keep up with my studies (just as well otherwise I might explode).

So it’s fair to say I am quite excited for the new year to get begin these endeavours – I am equally excited at the prospect of what new opportunities this experience will bring and look forward to taking on the challenges ahead.

Don’t worry, I’m still here!

I realise it’s been a while since I last posted, so naturally I have plenty to share- however I’ll just summarise my last few weeks.

The “New Member’s Event” was a hugely successful event, thank you all very much for you’re feedback! We’ll take all suggestions into account for future events.

For those unaware of the New Members Event, this was my first event at the Chamber I had solely organised, so I am relieved at how smoothly it ran. I also made a short presentation to all who attended, a total of 55 delegates, on the benefits of membership at the Chamber. I look forward to organising similar events in the future!

The ROCCO’s are now only 2days away! Kilt booked, and most of the admin for the event done I’m now excited to watch the show unveil after being so involved with the prestigious awards, perhaps on the night I may be too busy to enjoy the entertainment.. but fingers crossed I’ll have 5minutes to sit down and take it all in.

Hope everyone’s Christmas shopping is well under way, I’ve already spotted a few Christmas trees popping up. Feels like only last week I started here and had never heard of the ROCCO’s.

Its Getting Colder…

The weeks are going by quickly and the mornings are getting colder, as we come towards the end of October it is not long now until the ROCCO Awards.

In the Chamber we have been very busy organising various things for the upcoming awards. Since my last post a lot has happened, the Shortlist for the awards was announced, the judging has gone underway and Reid Kerr College has been announced as this years main sponsor. With the constant buzz around the office its hard not to be excited about such an event.

However, before the ROCCO Awards 2011 all other business in the Chamber must go on as usual. Among other things I have been organising my first event, the “New Members Event” at St Mirren. So far this has been well received and we can expect to see 50+ delegates on the day of the event.  Hoping all goes well or else it will be on my head… But I’m sure it will! In preparation for this event I’ve been creating a short slide show on the functionalities of the Chamber, and the benefits of being a member, to show how useful membership can be when used to its full potential. If you have recently joined Renfrewshire Chamber of  Commerce,  please contact me for details on the event and I will book you on.

The thing that has made me realise how quickly the weeks are racing by is that next week we have another monthly networking lunch. It feels like the previous lunch was only last week; these events are always brilliant and I would highly recommend coming along to the one every so often. Such events are a perfect opportunity to network with businesses and learn more of what is happening in markets other than your own – and also get a fantastic lunch!

If you would like more information on any of our upcoming events, or are interested in having an article in our website, app and eNews – email me ekeltie@renfrewshirechamber.com

Back after the long weekend…

Enjoyed my long weekend and started the week off well on Tuesday morning with a meeting with Audrey Cumberford in Reid Kerr. Was very interesting to hear of the involvement Reid Kerr has with the locally community, and how this active role also benefits the students and their college experience. Also met with Janet Lessells who told me more of the corporate development within Reid Kerr and showed me around Reid Kerr including their excellent conference facilities and new “ICE” building.

Had a very exciting day yesterday, started off the morning bright and early to do a presentation  on work experience at Gryffe High School with Wilma and Sadaf. This was the first time I had actually been in the school, and it seemed and very nice place! Another first for me was making a presentation to this size of audience, on the car trip to the school its fair to say I was a little nervous, but once I was in I was completely chilled and just wanted to inspire some young minds! Sadaf was maybe feeling the nerves a wee bit more but she still managed to put across her points well and delivered a cracking presentation. Delivering these kind of things is definitely something I enjoy and look forward to doing more of in the future!

After that I headed off to RBS in Paisley to meet Wee Bob and Big Bob. What I really enjoy about my job is I have the opportunity to go in and see places other people my age would not necessarily get to experience, and being in the upstairs boardroom in RBS definitely qualified as one of these occasions.

In the afternoon Bob D and I went into Braehead to have a look in the new Apple store, this was the first time I had been in the new shop and was highly impressed with the very open, fresh looking store. An event could definitely be held there in the future.

Now just about to head off to my second end of month networking lunch at the Lynnhurst!

Another Week.

Started the week off like Zoolander with a photo shoot at Renfrewshire House with Sadaf and Dale – perhaps I am in the wrong job, the camera was really working for me that morning and the cameraman seemed to appreciate my attempts at “Blue Steel”.  Was good to see Sadafty and Dale again, and I do hope they are settling in well!

Tuesday morning I was up early for a Breakfast FatBuzz event, which was very interesting. Definitely learned a few things that could be implemented into the chamber’s own facebook page. As well as being a thoroughly enjoyable morning, the bacon roll was a fantastic start to the day.

Yesterday was another busy day. Assured 24 in the morning, followed by 4 hot dogs in Ikea (£2!!) then a brilliant tour around Diageo, truly remarkable the scale of operation in there with a very friendly and welcoming workforce.

Today I am attending the PSYBT Regional Business Awards, this is an area I have particular interest in so hope to have a chat with a few people. This afternoon I’ll be at The Recruit 2011 evaluation – definitely a good way to finish off before the weekend!

My Week.

Had a very productive week! Started off the week with a meeting about starting a modern apprenticeship, looking forward to the challenges this will bring me. One of the units involved with the modern apprenticeship is organising an event of my own – this I am very excited about. Already I’ve had a chat with Bob D and Bob G about what kind of event I’d be looking to organise. I’ll definitely keep you all posted on  the development of this, look out for upcoming events on the chamber website… one of them might be organised by me! On Monday I also attended a council meeting which was interesting to see within Renfrewshire House and gave me a useful insight into the formal proceedings of a meeting, another factor which may well come up in my modern apprenticeship.

On Tuesday afternoon I met with John Armstrong of On Track Training and Coaching, I used this opportunity to express some of my own business ideas and hopes for the future to John, who gave me some useful advice for the future and valuable information from his own experiences in life.

Another point of interest from this week was the Hollister event I attended in One Up in Glasgow on Thursday night. Of course this wasn’t a Chamber event, however  it was a good night and looking forward to my part time work there in the future!

This morning I was in Paisley with Bob G meeting with Alan from Thomson Cycles, this was where I purchased my road bike which I cycle to work (weather permitting).  Alan seemed a great guy and Thomson Cycles are now a new member of the Chamber!

Looking forward to the weekend now, doing a first aid course at Bellahouston Ski Centre tonight and tomorrow…. However, still haven’t seen Inbetweeners – definitely need to be making time for that sometime soon.