Meeting Reports 

Sussex and Surrey Branch

This year’s summer outing was a return visit to the Wey and Arun Canal on a balmy evening in June. The Cruise was much enjoyed by some 40 boaties – members, guests and visitors from Thames Valley and Kent branches. 

Without any rain in this part of the country for some 10 plus weeks, the group was unable to take the boat through the recent extension works, but several took time afterwards to walk to the nearest new lock and bridge. 

The pub adjacent to the embarkation point provided an excellent buffet supper, taken as they cruised almost silently (the boat is electric powered) through some of the most beautiful scenery in England. The canal trust’s ambitious aim is to eventually re-connect the River Wey near Woking with the River Arun just above Arundel after some 125 years. 

Quiz night 30 September 2010

Branch meetings have always been of a business nature and by way of a change, a quiz night was deemed to be a good way to break the pattern. There were no questions of a technical nature – but that didn’t stop the quizzers talking shop during the buffet supper beforehand, or in between rounds.

The quiz was compiled from a variety of sources (including pinching some from another branch!) and was presented by John Morris, Branch Chairman. A winning team duly emerged to receive a suitable prize. Actually, everyone went away with a reward of some kind. Prizes were kindly provided by Hays Recruitment, Brighton, who bravely also entered a team, in this their first event supporting this branch.

Our next events are, not yet fully confirmed, but two members will make a presentation to the East Sussex branch of the Federation of Small Businesses on 31 January to which members will be invited and the Branch AGM will be in February and will include a skittles evening with supper provided.

Final details will be advised to members as soon as possible and will come up on the branch website.

More new grist to The Mill

Around 15 members and guests turned out for the Annual General Meeting of the Sussex & Surrey Branch at the Reigate Manor Hotel, which took place in early February.

After an excellent buffet supper, Branch Chairman John Morris kicked off the formal proceedings of the AGM, approving the minutes of the last meeting and summarising the past year's events.  Through the good work of John and the committee, numbers to recent events had shown a positive upturn, a trend that is expected to continue for the events already scheduled for 2010.  Successful events in 2009 included an extremley well attended mock creditors' meeting, ably hosted and acted out by Ian Vickers and Ian Skyes of Vantis Business Recovery Services in Worthing.  Another wine tasting at Bookers Vineyard in Bolney was equally well attended.

The formal nomination of Branch officers for 2010 saw the re-election of John as Chair, Ian Metcalfe as Vice Chair and Karen Elliott as Secretary.  Geoff Peckham, a founding member of the branch, was unable to attend due to an urgent dentist appointment(!), but having indicated his agreement beforehand, was re-elected as Treasurer.  This is the first AGM Geoff had missed in 33 years!  The Branch is also looking for a willing volunteer to bring ideas to the table for future events and activities.
After approval of the accounts, the major expense for which was the Branch's contribution of a third of the cost of the 2009 Turner Lecture, John handed over to ICM's Director of Commercial Relationships, Rob Beddington.

Rob, who joined the ICM as editor of Credit Management in 2000 explained how his role within the ICM had evolved over the last few years, reflecting the significant inroads the Institute has made with government, the media and the wider business community, under the direction of ICM CEO Philip King.  The Institute has been involved in some exciting initiatives of late, including the ongoing hosting of the Prompt Payment Code website, the impending relaunch of the Managing Cashflow guide series (which has seen 115,000 downloads in 2009) and the development of business services for the Industry.

Rob's own responsibilities cover three areas, namely the advertising and sponsorship, Member benefits, and commercial relationships, which all offer numerous opportunities to work with the ICM in ways never possible.  The emphasis is on "win-win-win" for the ICM, the third party and the member.

A lively question and answer session followed.  Wrapping things up, John thanked Rob for making the trip down South to outline the wide range of iniatives coming out of The Water Mill, and also passed on his thanks to everyone who attended for taking time out of their busy schedules.

Branch Meeting

A presentation by Simon Patterson of Kent Branch. Simon is a Insolvency Practitioner and is known for his informative, lively, even controversial presentations on a range of topics.

A buffet supper will be available from 18:45.

For catering purposes, please advise attendance by 12th March to:

John Morris by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone 01903 716667