Welcome to BNI Ipswich Cobbold.

We meet every Friday morning at David Lloyd Heath Club, Nacton Road, Ipswich. (click here for a map).

If you are a business that is looking to grow by word of mouth marketing, we are delighted to welcome you as a visitor so you can see for yourself how business by referral works.

If you would like to visit, please email our web site coordinator Matt Porter by clicking here.

We are proud to be forward thinking at Cobbold, if you would like to follow us on the popular Social Networks, click on the links below:-

If you would like to receive our monthly newsletter, please subscribe in the right hand column.

Did you know that …

• A survey by communications giant Orange found that 62% of staff working for firms with more than 1,000 employees would be prepared to work flexibly to aid their firm’s chance of survival during the recession.

• From 1 October 2009, the limit on a week’s pay for the purposes of calculating a statutory redundancy payment will rise from £350 to £380.

Although redundancy may seem inevitable to some organisations, there may be other options.  Private sector firms including KPMG, Jaguar Land Rover, JCB and Ryanair all opted to reduce working hours or implement pay freezes earlier this year in a bid to save jobs and hang on to key talent and both Nissan and Honda have cut production and brought in short time working.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants predicts that the UK economy will grow by 0.5% in the third quarter of 2009 and confidence in the economy is rising so it may not be the best option to lose skilled employees that could be costly to replace as things improve.  Short time working or layoffs can be effective in handling temporary work shortages and adverse trading conditions without having to resort to redundancy.

However, many businesses do not have a clause for this in their contract of employment which can make this area a legal minefield.

Come to our FREE Employment Contract briefing on Thursday 26th November at Basepoint Ipswich, Ransomes Europark to find out more about this and other common employment contract pitfalls.  Enjoy a buffet breakfast and networking opportunities from 8am before the briefing starts at 8.30am, finishing by 9.45am.

Following the briefing, we are offering an Open House HR surgery.  Book a FREE 10 minute appointment to speak to an HR expert for a one-to-one discussion.  Why not bring your organisation’s contract of employment along for a quick review?

To book your place please email contact@pds-hr.com or call 0800 907 1015 specifying whether you would like to attend the briefing, surgery or both.  Places are strictly limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

For more information about Pinnacle and the services they offers go to www.pds-hr.com

BNI Cobbold on Facebook

You are cordially invited to become a fan of BNI Cobbold Ipswich on our very own Facebook Page.

The page features up to the minute postings from the BNI Cobbold leadership team and members.

If you would like to be part of the growth of our Chapter in Ipswich, please visit our page on Facebook and become a fan.

If you know of anyone else in your contacts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any of the other Social Networks, please feel free to ‘Retweet’ or ‘Share’ this post.

We look forward to welcoming you.

Matt Porter
Web Site Coordinator
BNI Cobbold Ipswich

If I tut-tut about cases of multiple debts going back maybe years, you’ll probably assume that I’m sniping at ne’er-do-wells who borrow without intending to repay and who make lenders’ lives a misery.

No, I mean lenders. Because creditors can be guilty of precisely those faults they criticise in debtors: improvidence, disorganisation, and procrastination.

There are people who lend to relatives or even strangers without security. Some people lend without knowing who they have the agreement with. Many are owed money by numbers of debtors and do absolutely nothing, while others threaten action, do nothing, and so lose all credibility.

And action isn’t necessarily difficult. I have handled cases of multiple indebtedness where I have recovered some of the debts with a single phone call and the majority within 48 hours. On one occasion, a debtor who refused payment on Monday settled in full on Tuesday!

I’m often told that creditors hesitate to act for fear of losing a customer, especially in competitive markets. I really do wonder why the custom of a non-payer is so valuable: an unpaid builder, for example, is losing not simply profit, but also working capital spent on labour. And in any case, as I stressed in my previous newsletter, responsible debt collectors like myself seek to preserve relationships, not sever them.

Of course, some debts are irrecoverable, as we’ll see in a future letter. But the sooner you act, the better the chance of success. And even if I fail to recover your money, you will at least know where you stand: you’ll have information allowing you to decide whether to give up a pointless chase or take legal action.

In the event of legal action, of course, I am able to act for you.

So if I am to act for a client, who might that client be? Clients can be local traders or professionals, a plumber, solicitor, landlord or hairdresser. Additionally, through London House, I am retained by major banks and building societies. And, of course, I work for private individuals whose problems involve family or friends.

However, any of these clients is capable of doing nothing about money they’re owed. It’s an awkward predicament from which I can release them.

Because debtors, please note! As we shall see, however long the delay, however far you roam, you can still be traced!

For information on any matter relating to the above, call David Degiorgio on his mobile 07740 443083 at any time. Other services include Trace Enquiries, Information Gathering, Process Serving and Fraud Investigation

If all goes well, it should be approx 7:40am (London Time), on Friday 4th September 2009. I am attending BNI Cobbold Chapter in Ipswich, UK. To demonstrate the speed and ease of posting to multiple Social Networks, this post will be triggered during my sixty second presentation.

“My name is Matt Porter from Matt Porter Web Design Limited, based in Ipswich, we design, build, manage, host and optimise web sites for all sizes of business across the world.

This week, I would like to demonstrate the speed and simplicity of using Social Media Pack for business, this sixty seconds and the attached photograph of the BNI members present.

Members should go to www.socialmediapack.co.uk or twitter.com/socialmediapack after the meeting you will see this post in all it’s glory. This week I am looking for businesses that are looking to generate leads to their web sites, including via the search engines.

That’s Matt Porter Web Design, Bringing your business to the world.”