Hello and welcome to ISSBA’s August newsletter! I hope you are all having a lovely (albeit slightly damp!) summer.
I have some sad news to share as two very great friends of ISSBA sadly passed away this month - Allan Scott and John Bamford. Both were involved with ISSBA for many years and will be deeply missed. I would like to send our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones, both personally as Chair and on behalf of the committee.
Thank you to all that attended our July networking event and thank you to our host and sponsor, Bucklesham Grange. Attendees enjoyed some delicious breakfast rolls, great conversations and a tour of the amazing facilities on offer.
We don’t hold an August event as it is holiday season but booking is now open for our September networking event which will be held at Regus Franciscan House on 27th September. Book your place here.
Planning is well underway for Anglia Business Spotlight on 25th October so if you are an ISSBA member and would like to be on the interview panel, make sure you apply by emailing mail@issba.co.uk explaining why you should be chosen.
Not long now until we launch exhibitor bookings for Anglia Business Exhibition 2024 which takes place on 8th May at Trinity Park next year. If you are interested in becoming an ABE2024 sponsor, get in touch now on contact@angliabusinessexhibition.com. Read our ABE2024 update here.
Member of the Month for August is University of Suffolk. Read their article to find out about the many things they have available to help local businesses.
Our business focus piece this month is titled ‘Is YouTube an effective marketing tool for businesses?’ and was written by Logan Sennett while doing work experience with ISSBA member, Spartan Consultants. Thank you to Logan for an interesting article.
Would you be interested in joining the ISSBA committee? If so, let us know on mail@issba.co.uk. We are a friendly bunch and usually meet once per month (via Zoom currently). As well as having a say in how the organisation is run, this is a fantastic opportunity to build your profile in the local area. Get in touch if you’d like to know more.
Don’t forget our Recommend a Friend scheme, it is great to see ISSBA members benefiting from this. Any current ISSBA member will get one month's free membership for each new member they recommend, plus the new member also gets one free month, so Win-Win! There are no limits to how many referrals each ISSBA member can make as long as you have a current, paid up membership, so if you bring in 12 new members, you'll get a whole year for free!
GoCardless is making the renewal process much easier for many of our members. If you haven’t signed up yet, either let us know on mail@issba.co.uk or keep an eye on your inbox for an authorisation request. GoCardless is a direct debit system fully protected by the Direct Debit Guarantee and means that you never need to worry about forgetting to renew again. By signing up to this you will help your committee save valuable time in chasing renewals, so please, if you aren’t already signed up, please do!
Graham Barton, ISSBA Chair