SfG and Plexus Teaser Event - Inverness 13th March

On 13th of March we were treated into a real insight into what makes a successful collaboration by Plexus and SfG Software that had recently worked together, with HSPC, on a project to redevelop the way HSPC provided information to their customers via their website and through their shop in Inverness City Centre.

David Garvie from SfG talked about how he was initially approached by HSPC after they had been visited by a consultant ITspecialist from Edinburgh who had proposed a very expensive solution to the issues they were having. David visited HSPC shortly after this initial contact and then put together a proposal which looked at what they were currently doing - much of which worked really well infact. Instead of advising them to reinvent the wheel he advised them to fix the 20% which wasn't working as they wished. This turned into a project that involved Plexus Media who provided the website and quite a bit of the technical support they currently used and were very happy with infact, the main issue was that they had a separate system which didn't work in tandem with Plexus and this caused lots of issues keeping the systems up to date, in sync etc.

Fusion at 4Networking 7th February 2012

It was an early start here at Fusion to take part in the 4Networking event at the Kingsmills Hotel. This group has been running for nearly 2 years and meets every fortnight for a breakfast networking session. The sessions are informal with the first 30 minutes for open networking, an introductions round (over breakfast), a speaker section of around 10-15 minutes and 3 ten minute appointments with people you want to meet in the room. 4Networking has networking breakfasts throughout the UK and is now spreading further afield - to Australia for example. Membership costs are £200 for 200 days membership plus £10 for each breakfast you attend. Non member attendance is limited to 3 breakfasts. Fusion was attending to promote Fusion as a networking organisation but also to look for opportunities, connections and links for our members.

The Secret of Business Success is Potatoes

At long last we have discovered the secret of business success and it's clearly related to the humble spud.

At the Fusion conference in November 2011 Peter Crome opened his speech by telling the audience his first job in catering and hospitality was peeling potatoes and he did this for three weeks solid. He was very proud of his potato peeling skills to the current day.

A recent news article about Steve Langmead of Capita UK stated that he started life as Mr Chip walking the streets of Aberdeen accompanied by his friend Harry Haddock.

Conference Biography - Gary Williamson, Williamson Foodservice

As a young man, Gary chose not to join the growing family retail and wholesale food business but instead opted for a military career. On leaving the Armed Forces, Gary joined his father and brothers in the family business, eventually taking on the role of Managing Director. A stickler for good service and delivering a quality product, Gary and his wife Jacqui began a separate retail food business under the banner of Corner on the Square Ltd which Jacqui runs on a day-to-day basis.

Photography has always been a passion of Gary’s and one way he unwinds from the stresses and strains of running a large food business. Showing his true entrepreneurial spirit, Gary has turned this hobby into an additional business, Gary Williamson Photography.  Recognised for his attention to detail and passion about selling good quality food, Gary has for some 6 years been a judge on the panel of the Highland Food & Drink Awards of which he is currently Chairman and a Sponsor.  Innovation, collaboration, service and quality are all important in Gary’s everyday working life and he looks for their application in the business of nominees for the awards he judges each year.

Conference Biography - Councillor W. J. “Ian” Ross OBE, FICF, FRSA

Ian Ross is chairman of the Highland Council's Planning, Environment and Development Committee and previously chaired the Council's Sustainable Development Committee for six years. He is a forestry graduate from Aberdeen University; a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Foresters and the Royal Society of Arts; past Chairman of the Forestry Commission Scotland’s Highland & Islands Forestry Forum and member of the Scottish Forestry Forum. He is a Highland Councillor for East Sutherland and Edderton.

Ian is a visiting lecturer on forest and social policy and sustainability at the Scottish School of Forestry, University of the Highlands and Islands.

As a councillor he has been actively involved in a number of sustainable development initiatives and projects. He is a Director of Highland Opportunity Ltd – the Highland Council’s Enterprise Trust and is also currently the vice-convener of the Northern Joint Police Board.

Conference Biography - Mike Neilson – Acting Director-General (Enterprise & Environment) The Scottish Government

Mike Neilson was appointed Acting Director-General Enterprise & Environment in December 2010.His role spans the Rural Affairs and Environment, and Finance and Sustainable Growth portfolios. His previous role was as Director of Marine Scotland.

In Scotland, he has also worked on Public Service reform, housing and regeneration and sponsorship of the Water Industry. Before joining the Scottish Government, Mike worked at the UK Treasury, the UK Permanent Representation to the EU, and the European Commission on a wide range of issues including financial markets, the EU budget and European Transport policy.

Conference Biography - Janet McDonald, Janet the Coach

Janet MacDonald is an internationally-certified life coach, having undergone a rigorous training with the Academy of Coaching Excellence and is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation She works mainly with individuals, small businesses and teachers. Her clients include financial advisors, film makers, lawyers, coaches, educationalists, creative artists, personal development practitioners, sales people, designers and local authority personnel.

Janet has been helping people to improve their lives for over 25 years, having a wide experience of working with individuals and groups as a life coach and in the field of complementary medicine. She feels that the skills and experience she gained from her earlier career as a shiatsu therapist, teacher and assessor informs and enriches her current work as a life coach. Both involve interacting with people, understanding their needs, directing them to look at areas of their lives that are not working effectively, and supporting them through changes that they wish to make in order to improve and enhance their health and lifestyle.

As a coach her aim is to empower her clients beyond their self-imposed limitations in order for them to create and attain exciting and meaningful goals that will enrich their lives. She works by drawing out the best in people, focusing on their strengths and encouraging them to do the same, whilst holding them accountable for their choices and actions. Janet is warm and inviting and will support you to lead a life full of possibility and promise. She aspires to coach with rigour and compassion

She lived much of her adult life in London and Bristol but in 2003 returned to her roots, a place of outstanding natural beauty in the Western Highlands of Scotland. A large percentage of her work now takes place over the telephone, Skype or in a residential setting.

Member Profile - TEFL Scotland

Member Spotlight

TEFL Scotland

High Street, Dingwall

joe@teflscotland.co.uk

www.teflscotland.co.uk

Scratch the surface at TEFL Scotland and you will find that TEFL Scotland is infact just one of a network of TEFL organisations run from Dingwall at their new home in the High Street, Dingwall. Joe Hallwood was previously an English teacher and he worked in Greece in his 20’s. He helped start up what is now a competitor’s business and gained a Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification specialising in online marketing.

Having spent many months beavering away writing course content in their garden shed TEFL Scotland was born in October 2008, 6 months later TEFL England came along, September 2010 saw the arrival of TEFL Wales and TEFL Ireland has launched this year.

The suite of TEFL sites are aimed at anyone wanting to teach English abroad with lots of enquiries coming from teachers unable to secure a full time teaching post, students looking to fund their travel and older students looking to take gap years as well as retirees. A jobs board available only to students helps demonstrate the type of work available and is a good sales tool together with the fact that the courses are all ILA approved so can often not cost the learner anything directly.

Capitalising on the Cloud - Applying New Practices to Deliver Business

On Tuesday 8th of November Fusion attended the above event which was supported by Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Knowledge Transfer Network.

The venue was the fantastic Horizon Centre in Forres which was perfect for such a subject. Phillip Huber of SymetriQ was the first speaker giving us a good overview of what the cloud was and also what it wasn't. This was followed by a particularly fascinating presentation by Fraser Muir of the Queen Margaret University who gave an overview of moving all their IT over to their new Queen Margaret University Campus and some of the challenges and opportunities this provided - this was particularly interesting in light of course of the new Beechwood campus. He gave lots of information on the decision making process and the money saved but also some of the less obvious savings - a particular example was by changing to all LED projectors staff did not have to spend summer months changing all the projector bulbs and the projectors would pay for themselves within 5 years.

After a networking lunch it was more presentations. David Massey from Alchemy Plus gave a talk entitled "Head in the Clouds, Feet on the Ground" which talked about offering cloud services but also more traditional IT support and how he felt both were needed for the interim period. He went through the sales pitch that he would give to clients considering using the cloud. Then followed Andrew Mulholland from Hunted Cow Studios Ltd - a gem of a company doing great things in the world of online gaming based in Elgin. There was an audible intake of breathe when Andrew casually told us the company had 4.6 million subscribers and over 30 employees. This was followed by another engaging presentation from Joe Lockwood from the Glasgow School of Art Centre for Design Innovation - particularly impressive was the diagram showing how trustworthy you were based on the shape of your beard.

It was a technical day but a very interesting one - there are plenty of interesting funding options available through the Technology Strategy Board as explained to us by Dr Maurizio Pilu and HIE also gave an overview of their strategy and some funding opportunities too.

We met some great companies and contacts whilst we were there and also expressed interest in a online networking project for rural businesses too which we hope will be of interest to Fusion members.

2nd November SCDI Influencers Dinner Golf View Hotel, Nairn

On the 2nd of November I attended the SCDI influencers dinner at the Golf View Hotel, Nairn for Fusion. The small bar area was jam packed as people mingled and caught up on news and happenings. We then headed through to dinner and enjoyed a great meal, as usual at the Golf View. The evening was all about skills and education with many questions coming from the audience on this topic and plenty of interesting points made.

SCDI events are always a great way to meet lots of great contacts in one evening - David Fraser was there with an even bigger moustache than the previous week and networking away as usual.

I made several connections that I hope will be useful to Fusion members and hopefully one or two more people learned what Fusion was all about.

What's Coming Up

It's a busy week coming up for Fusion next week - networking all over the place and some great events.

On Tuesday we will be networking at 4Networking, visiting AJG Parcels to do their membership profile and then zipping up the A9 to TEFL Scotland for their Fusion Teaser event from 12.30-2pm. If  you have not booked this already then don't miss out - Joe and Jennifer have really grown the company and there are plenty of exciting plans in the pipeline.

On Wednesday 2nd it's up to Caithness to meet with the Chamber of Commerce and then a Fusion Teaser at Training at Naver where we will be learning all about what they do and what they plan to do in the future. After that it's back down the road and then through to the SCDI dinner in Nairn to do some more networking.

Thursday 3rd it's into Inverness to meet Donald Mackenzie from Drive Business Services, then the Staff Canteen for the Self Employed lunch and then off to Fort William for the Business Gateway event. Hoping to catch up with the some Fusion contacts in Fort William and Oban on the 4th of November and then back home to do some promotion of the Fusion conference, Rising From Recession, over the weekend.

Phew!

Staff Canteen for the Self Employed

On Tuesday 1st of August the staff canteen reconvened - I think we should rename the event as it sounds like we meet in a truckstop or similar when infact we meet in the very fine Kitchen restaurant.

9 of us enjoyed some great conversation about life, business and what we are doing at present and what we are planning to do in the future.

Staff canteens are designed for smaller businesses who may feel a bit isolated. Yes we all have lots of conversations with suppliers and customers but there is nothing quite like talking with people who know what it feels like to be in business for yourself, how you can't switch off at 5pm and the extra effort that running a business takes.

We have been asked to keep running the staff canteen events on a regular basis so the next one is scheduled for the 15th of September. Booking available here

Just so you know there is no charge to attend this event - we share the cost of the meal which averages around £7-8 per head including drinks but you do need to bring some cash with you! This event is limited to 10 people otherwise the format doesn't work so well.

Dennis Overton - Aquascot Member Profile

Dennis Overton

Aquascot

www.aquascot.com

A visit to Aquascot gives you the feeling that this is a company that operates differently right from the get go. At the top of the reception stairs is a large notice about togetherness which is signed by all the employees of the company. On walking into Dennis Overton’s office there is a clearly African theme in the decor and there is also a large bookcase packed with great books about different management techniques, new ways of doing business and enterprise. On top of the bookshelf a stuffed owl keeps an eye on proceedings.

Aquascot is a business that believes in doing things differently at all levels of the business. This is obvious not just from the feel of the business, but through the way they operate and right through to their website. How many businesses have an article from one of their employees about their experience of working at their company? Lots of businesses come up with core values but I am not sure as many are as dedicated to implementing them as Aquascot whose core values are effective teamwork, commitment, respect and trust. Of course in typical Aquascot style these values were created by the employees themselves.

Allan Simpson - Member Spotlight

Allan Simpson

The Results Academy

www.theresultsacademy.com

allan.simpson@theresultsacademy.com

Allan Simpson graduated with a Degree in Hotel Management and spent his early years learning his trade in various hotels across the country. He learned all aspects of hotel management and particularly enjoyed the marketing side of the business. Allan worked at a range of hotels gaining experience in different types of markets – experience that was to serve him very well in later years.

Later in his career Allan decided to take an MBA at Strathclyde University and then set up in business on his own. Half this business was then sold to an American investment syndicate. Allan was providing support services for investment businesses and helped them find suitable businesses to invest in. Unfortunately the key person in charge of this business died suddenly meaning the company closed and Allan had to start looking for a new role.

Member Spotlight - Mike Weston Inverness UHI

Member Spotlight

Mike Weston

UHI, Fairways Business Park, Inverness

www. energyresearch.uhi.ac.uk

Dr Mike Weston describes how science is in his blood. He studied Chemistry at Edinburgh and decided being a in a lab was not for him and then went off to Napier to do a MSc. He did a research project after this and then headed off for more education and did a PhD and worked on a project involving fuel cells which was to become a bit of a fascination. He then relocated to the MoD in Gosport and put together a great fuel cell project involving a variety of partners – the only problem was the fuel cell manufacturer decided they didn’t want to produce them anymore, announcing this just after funding was secured.

It was at this moment that Mike realised there was a connection between money and research – he had effectively put together a business for his project without realising it. From here on economic development and research were both subjects Mike was interested in. He moved to an energy company and then relocated to Aberdeen where he ended up in a project that involved shouting about research and development. Unfortunately quite a lot of the activities this project did were a bit alternative so the funding was cut when Scottish Enterprise had to revise down their budget.

What Happened at Our First Two Fusion Workshops?

We had a busy start to our first Fusion workshop event with a real mix of attendees from the public sector, private sector and third sector.

Allan Simpson of the Results Academy made us work hard and think about how we were marketing our businesses at the moment. We came up with a scary number - between the group we were spending £337,000 in time on our marketing activities. The group then had to think about how we wanted to grow our businesses for next year and we came up with a forecasted £176,000 of growth. We then looked at some of the issues that were preventing us from achieving the marketing results we wanted and identified 389 across the group.

So off we headed with plenty of homework and to think a bit more strategically about the marketing we are doing - especially with regard to social media which may be free to use but it certainly has a big time cost.

We then held a smaller event in Elgin library which as is often the case with Fusion was completely different given it was a completely different group of people - all of whom actively used Social Media. We had a pretty frank discussion about what we were all doing and again headed home with plenty to think about.

Our next event will be Oban on the 19th of April.

Synergie Member Profile

Ian McGillvray

Synergie Scotland

01463 227570

http://www.synergiescotland.co.uk/

Project management can mean many things to many people but where Synergie are concerned it’s all about buildings and construction. Synergie provide everything you need to build a building and to make the building work. In the past they have managed the Fairways Business Park and still manage the Synergie building they are in. They have also project managed the build of the Centre for Health Sciences, the European Marine energy Centre in Orkney, buildings on Forres and Dingwall Enterprise Parks and the power project on the Isle of Eigg.

Ian can appear quiet but he is disarmingly honest too about his business. Like when he tells you that his experience (when employed as a Civil Engineer) on a number of badly run projects gave him a unique insight into what not to do when he set up Synergie in 2001.

First Fusion Highland Event of 2011 with the Kingsmills Hotel

Not only was it Shrove Tuesday today but it was also the first event in the Fusion calendar for 2011 and what better place to be than doing a Teaser event at one of our newest members, the Kingsmills Hotel.

We were warmly welcomed to the hotel by Craig Ewan who gave us a brief run through of his background, his career and then moved onto the history of the hotel. It was fascinating to hear that during World War 2 the hotel was the HQ for the Northern Fire Brigade. Craig also told us that they had recently found some very old marketing materials which described the hotel as "the country hotel in the city" - a description that fits today as well.

We heard about the operational problems in running a hotel and the effect on the business of recession, ash clouds and snow. Wintry conditions have not only meant that guests couldn't get to the hotel to check in but they also meant guests weren't able to leave too.

Fusion Events Programme Launches for 2011

Here at Fusion we are busy putting the finishing touches to our events programme and there is lots of great stuff to look forward to. Our first event kicks off on the 8th of March at the Kingsmills Hotel where we will get behind the scenes of what it takes to run a private hotel in a corporate environment.

You can view all our events by clicking here

We are having a mix of events for 2011 including Fusion Teaser events which are a member case study combined with an informal networking event. There are also Fusion Roadshow events which combine a workshop with networking and for 2011 there will also be some informal more social events.