Business Events Archives - St Andrews Business Club

2020 AGM Evening – Guest Speaker Andy Lothian

21st May 202021st May 2020 Yvonne McAulay

By Sanaa Sachdev

64th President Marie Paterson (left) and Immediate Past President Caroline Rochford at the Club’s 70th birthday dinner-dance in February.

In the Club’s 2020 AGM, held online for the first time via Zoom, outgoing President Caroline Rochford reported Club membership was 132 by the end of April, 12 ahead of this time last season, making it a third successive year of growth for the Club.

The Club’s finances are also in a healthy state, allowing the new Committee to consider more new initiatives next season.

In her President’s Report, Caroline reminded members of the events held so far this season before thanking the outgoing Committee, Marketing Communications interns and Marketing Assistant for their hard work.

Speaking about the club year, Caroline said: “As I step down from my presidency, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge what an incredibly friendly and successful business club we are. I love hearing from visitors that they have found the club to be friendly and welcoming and long may that continue.

“It has been hard work behind the scenes, but I know that I have been able to build on the great work that previous Presidents and Committees had already put in place. Thank you for the privilege it has been to be your President.”

2020-21 Committee

The 2020-21 Committee elected are:

64th President – Marie Paterson
Vice-President – Reseda Muir
Secretary – [Position vacant]
Treasurer – Michael Stephenson
Immediate Past President – Carolyn Rochford
Committee members – Alasdair Kyle, Jonathan Gibson, Christopher Trotter, Heather Stuart, Kirstin Uhlenbrock

Newly-elected President, Marie Paterson, thanked Caroline for her dedicated service to the Club before asking members to approve honoraria for Emma-Jane Kerr and Alan S. Morrison for ‘going the extra mile’ for the Club during the year and a gift to Caroline.

Marie then closed the AGM before introducing the Guest Speaker, Andy Lothian, Chief Executive of Insights Group.

Insights Group CEO, Andy Lothian, was guest speaker.

“I’ve often said self-awareness is the foundation on which all else is built.”

Almost 30 years ago, Insights Group Chief Executive Andy Lothian left the City of London to build a business with his father, Andi Lothian, in his home town of Dundee. From a humble two-man operation, the Insights Group is now one of Scotland’s fastest-growing and most successful businesses.

Andy shared his personal story of success and revealed the principles that have guided him over the years before talking about how your personal purpose and strategy should help guide your thinking about how to take your business through the Covid-19 crisis. Thanks to Andy for sharing his story and expertise with our Members and other attendees.

For more information about Insights Group and its work, go to its website at https://www.insights.com/

NEXT EVENT: June 3 – Members’ Presentations Evening – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/members-presentation-evening-member-only-event-tickets-106209752228

Inspiring Women 2020

5th March 20206th March 2020 Yvonne McAulay

In the week of International Women’s Day, the annual celebration of the contribution women make to the world, St Andrews Business Club held its third annual Inspiring Women event, this time in conjunction with Fife Women in Business.

As in the past two years it welcomed two more inspiring women who have achieved much to date in their careers and lives.

Rachel Weiss, Partner at Rowan Consultancy, shared her story in St Andrews Business Club’s 3rd annual Inspiring Women event.

Rachel Weiss shared how after studying mathematics at Oxford she began her career as a school teacher before becoming a counsellor and coach, founding Rowan Consultancy in Perth in 1997. It now has a network of counsellors from London to Inverness, together with coaches and trainers throughout Scotland, helping people to live more satisfying lives.

In 2017, she also founded the Menopause Café charity which coordinates pop-up events worldwide, where people gather to drink tea, eat cake and talk about menopause. It also runs the world’s only Menopause Festival – #FlushFest2020 will be held in Perth on May 29 and 30.

Rachel spoke engagingly about her fascinating journey, the setbacks she’s faced and how she’s overcome them.

Rachael Nixon, Owner of Chanix Millinery, shared her career journey in St Andrews Business Club’s 3rd annual Inspiring Women event.

Rachael Jayne Nixon explained how she began her career as a children’s nurse. Her interest in millinery came after she moved back home from a spell living in Saudi Arabia, where she’d bought a large and expensive ‘hatinator’ to attend a race day organised by the British Embassy.

On her flight home, the hatinator was accidentally destroyed by another passenger. As she had several weddings to attend that year, Rachael, who’s been into crafts since childhood, ended up making a replacement herself because she couldn’t find any she liked and matched her outfits.

Her Chanix Millinery business began when she posted a photo of the hatinator on Facebook and got two orders for more! Since then she spent three years teaching herself the traditional millinery skills before studying it formally at Glasgow Clyde College .

She went on to share how in a short time she has become an international award-winning milliner, including first place at the Lincoln International Millinery Competition, Best Hat at a Melbourne Cup event in Australia and Winner of Amazing New Business Innovator in No1 Magazine’s Amazing Women Awards 2020. Rachael spoke movingly of how she’s gained confidence through overcoming barriers.

Thanks to both women for inspiring everyone!

For more photos, go to the Album on our Facebook page.

NEXT EVENT: The Club’s next event is April 22: Business Communications, when Eugene Clarke will help you achieve your goals through effective communication.

70th Anniversary Dinner

22nd February 202023rd February 2020 Yvonne McAulay

Club President Caroline Rochford welcomed everyone to the 70th Birthday dinner-dance held by St Andrews Business Club at The Old Course Hotel.

To celebrate the Club’s 70th birthday a special dinner-dance was held at the Old Course Hotel.

Members past and present and their guests were welcomed by a piper before enjoying a glass of fizz and networking.

A photograph of all the Club Presidents present was taken before everyone took their seats.

Presidents past and present (from left): Frank Quinault (2007-8), Bruce Alexander (1985-6), Ewen Sparks (1999-2000), Caroline Rochford (2019-20), Alan S. Morrison (2018-19), Ronnie Murphy (1991-2) and Stephen Westwood (2010-12).

In her welcome, Club President Caroline Rochford explained the Club began in 1950 when ex-Provost George Bruce took up the idea of David Thomson to have a business club to help local businesses discuss and address issues affecting trade. Thus the first meeting was held on January 24 1950 in the Town Council Chamber.

Although Mr Bruce paid tribute to the part played by women in the business life of St Andrews, women were not initially admitted but it was agreed they might be permitted to attend meetings. Women were, of course, later admitted as members.

Caroline went on to explain that the club’s strength, then and now, is the breadth of its membership, who as individuals are involved in a wide range of business interests, local, national and in some instances global.

As Mr Bruce was keen to ensure younger businessmen were involved in the Club, Caroline said she was sure he would be delighted to learn of the introduction of the new daughter club, St Andrews Business Club Students, created last year by the current marketing communications interns, Sanaa Sachdev and Stanley Parker.

Caroline than through some of the Club’s past meeting places, including McArthurs Café – now The Rule – on South Street, the Scores Hotel and the New Golf Club, before listing some of its most prominent speakers, who include Sir Tom Farmer and Andy Irvine. A message was read out from Glen Pride, who was President in 1967-8, recounting how he was invited to join the Club before becoming its President the following year!

Caroline then thanked the committee members who helped organise the event, the staff of the hotel for their excellent service and to Audrey Clarke for her piping.

After dinner, Past Presidents Frank Quinault, Stephen Westwood and Ewen Sparks talked about times past in the Club before a raffle was held in aid of the Refugee Survival Trust, which Food For Support – a fundraising initiative co-founded by Stanley Parker – supports year-round through donations from special dishes sold at local eateries. It raised £534.

The prizes, mostly kindly donated by member businesses, were:

The Old Course Hotel – Champagne Afternoon Tea for 2
Fairmont St Andrews – Champagne Afternoon Tea for 2 in the Atrium Lounge
Scaramanga – Citylander laptop bag
Fife Cultural Trust – a Theatre gift voucher for one of their venues
West Port Print & Design – A voucher for a pull-up banner or box print from
Luvians – A bottle of wine
The club – A bottle of champagne

Finally, all enjoyed dancing till midnight to renowned band Ceilidhdonia.

For more photos, go to the Album on our Facebook page.

NEXT EVENT: The Club’s next event is March 4: Inspiring Women, when the speakers will be entrepreneurs Rachel Weiss of Rowan Consultancy & Rachael Nixon of Chanix Millinery.

Festive Social – Fairmont St Andrews

12th December 201912th December 2019 Yvonne McAulay

Report by Sanaa Sachdev & Pictures by Stanley Parker

Members enjoyed the Club’s 2019 Festive Social at Fairmont St Andrews.

The five-star resort encapsulates luxury, elegance and truly breathtaking surroundings and prides itself on its array of facilities, including two championship golf courses.

Along with 211 luxury guest rooms, it also offers a unique dining experience at the La Cucina Italian eatery and the recently awarded second AA Rosette – St Andrews Bar and Grill. Its services expand beyond dining with a world class spa facility that includes a swimming pool, sauna, steam room, Jacuzzi and relaxation room.

Club President Caroline Rochford welcomes everyone to the event.

Stewart Elder, Fairmont St Andrews Director of Sales, welcomes Club members.

The event was held at the newly-refurbished Zephyr Sports Bar and began with a warm welcome and a short presentation by the Hotel’s Director of Sales, Stewart Elder.

Members enjoyed networking over drinks in the Atrium on arrival at Fairmont St Andrews.

Members enjoyed networking and festive canapes and drinks in the Zephyr Sports bar at Fairmont St Andrews.

It was followed by an evening full of networking, drinks, canapes and a quiz! The Christmas spirit definitely brightened the ambiance, making it one of the many great nights we’ve had with our members.

Thanks to Fairmont St Andrews for kindly hosting this event and becoming a corporate member of the club and to all our members for attending it.

For more photos, go to the Album on our Facebook page. 

NEXT EVENT : The Club’s Next Event is Sustainability – benefiting your business and the planet on January 22.

Our first event of the New Year brings this in to focus with three guest speakers: Fiona Flynn of Resource Efficient Scotland, Reseda Muir of Muir Walker Pride and David Stutchfield of University of St Andrews, who will talk about ways in which you can make your business have less environmental impact, an example of how it’s done and how you can market your ‘greenness’ to build relationships with stakeholders.

Fife business coach to advise on work-life balance in St Andrews event

21st October 201916th October 2019 Yvonne McAulay

People struggling to achieve their desired work-life balance can get expert tips on business success without sacrificing family goals at St Andrews Business Club’s November 13 event.

In the event, to be held at the Old Course Hotel from 5.30pm, Fife business coach Sam Forsberg will tell attendees about the big work-life balance myth, the key to success and the perspective shift you need to make to avoid succeeding in business but doing it at the cost of family, health and sanity.

Sam Forsberg is a business coach and business growth specialist at ActionCOACH Scotland, based in Dunfermline. A graduate of the University of Newcastle in her native Australia, she has qualifications in IT, Business Systems, Management Accounting, Psychology/Behavioural Analysis and Coaching.

Sam grew up in a small business and, despite seeing the many challenges firsthand, has been a business owner herself for 13 years. She helps other business owners get their businesses running more effectively, profitably and sustainably so they can take a step back and focus on growing and running the business, rather than feeling like it runs them.

Anyone wanting to learn as well as network is asked to book via Eventbrite. A list of this season’s events can be found the club’s website at www.standrewsbusinessclub.co.uk.

University of St Andrews Enterprise Week Keynote 2019

8th October 20198th October 2019 Yvonne McAulay

At the University of St Andrews Enterprise Week 2019 – Keynote Event, Dr Tanya Ewing, Owner of Glaze & Save, Daniel Malikzade-Afshar, Founder of Yes!Cab, Graeme Carling of Carling Property Group, PRS Group, United Capital, Infinitas Investments & CEO, McGill, Juno Lee, Co-Founder of CombiniCo & Sagar Kuma Sharma, Founder of the Angel Group, shared their entrepreneurial journeys, lessons learned and advice for anyone considering their own venture.

Dr Tanya Ewing, Entrepreneur & Owner of Glaze and Save Ltd, shares her story.

The evening began with a candid account from Dr Tanya, who shared the troubles she faced in her early life and how she overcame these challenges to develop her highly successful career with Ewgeco, the first smart real-time utility meter in the UK, and her new business Glaze & Save – insulating products for doors and windows, mainly focused on improving energy efficiency in listed and conservation properties.

Graeme Carling, Founder & CEO – Carling Property Group, PRS Group, United Capital, Infinitas Investments and Chief Executive of McGill, tells his entrepreneurial story.

Graeme Carling was just as candid about his business journey – admitted to making mistakes in early businesses before going on to build his large and successful portfolio of businesses. A key message was the need to adapt to changing markets – a very important lesson in today’s economic and political climate.

Journey

Juno Lee gave a very interesting and enlightening description of his journey to creating the iconic CombiniCo food brand and his future plans for the business. The audience enjoyed hearing his stories and challenges he faced.

Daniel Malikzade-Afshar, Founder., YesCab, gave a very candid talk!

Daniel Malikzade-Afshar gave a comic yet educational talk in a laidback style with insights into the challenges and surprises he came across when establishing the Yes!Cab taxi app. It was very interesting learning about his unique business model and his plans to grow the brand while diversifying against his major competitor, Uber.

4th Year Management student Sagar Kumar Sharma talked about his experiences.

The evening concluded with Sagar Kumar Sharma, a student entrepreneur with a colourful career already including investments, property and music. Sagar took a different approach to the others – taking of the importance of pursuing a career you enjoy, which develops you as a person and philanthropy.

Thanks to them, the Enterprise Week Committee and everyone who attended for making this such a great event at the Byre Theatre.

Student Club

Stanley Parker, one of the club’s marketing communications interns, took the opportunity of this event to announce the launch of the new student business club – St Andrews Business Club Students!