St Andrews Business Club is delighted to announce that, following a review of the venues it uses for its events, it has come to an agreement with The Old Course Hotel, St Andrews for it to be the exclusive event venue partner of the Club from January 2018.
The Club’s events will now be held in the business meetings facilities of The Old Course Hotel and its associated venues around the town, with each event allocated an appropriate location based on its individual requirements and anticipated attendance.
The first event to be hosted at The Old Course Hotel will be the Learning Lunch on January 10, which will see Mark Gibson and Elaine Cromwell of Thomson Cooper Accountants explain how businesses should start preparing for HMRC’s Making Tax Digital initiative, the other benefits of online accounting and how to choose the package best suited to you.
Speaking about the agreement, Club President, Alistair Morris, said: “St Andrews Business Club is delighted to have forged this business relationship with The Old Course Hotel, St Andrews. We know from our recent business visit to the hotel that this collaboration will provide our members, guests and visitors with the highest standard of event venue and hospitality.”
Helen McBride, Resident Manager at The Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa, said: “The Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa, St Andrews is delighted to be the official host for St Andrews Business Club from 2018. We very much look forward to welcoming all our fellow members to the hotel for its forthcoming events.”
Full details of all the club’s events, most of which are now open to non-members, can be found on the Events page.
Club Members and their guests enjoyed a tour of the upgraded facilities at the five-star The Old Course Hotel as well as a festive social event on December 6. Martin McAvoy takes one tour group into a room.
Club Members and their guests enjoyed a tour of the upgraded facilities at the five-star Old Course Hotel as well as a festive social event on December 6.
Bordering the renowned 17th ‘Road’ Hole of the Old Course, the Old Course Hotel overlooks the famous links courses, the West Sands Beach and the beautiful Scottish coastline. This prestigious AA Five Star-awarded hotel has 144 rooms including 35 suites and is recognised as one of Europe’s leading resorts.
Members were welcomed with glasses of prosecco and festive canapes by the hotel before President, Alistair Morris, added his welcome and introduced the Club’s newly-appointed Marketing Communications Intern, Comora Love-Mitchell, a 3rd Year student at the University of St Andrews.
Refurbishment
The Old Course Hotel’s Resident Manager, Helen McBride, then talked about the major refurbishment work done last winter (including replacing the roof tiles with a rubber alternative made from recycled car tyres – to better resist errant golf balls!) before joining colleagues Phyllis Wilkie and Martin McAvoy in conducting tours in groups. The rooms, business and dining facilities were not short of ‘Wow! factor’.
Everyone then enjoyed further networking, seasonal food and drink before departing very happy into the early gusts of Storm Caroline.
Loretta Maxfield of Thorntons Law LLP explained how company owners and managers can avoid getting into problems with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on May 25 2018. Pic: ASM Media & PR
The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force on May 25 2018 and will be enforceable on many UK businesses.
Loretta Maxfield of Thorntons Law LLP has more than 10 years’ experience in advising a range of public bodies, research/education institutions and private businesses (up to £300m+ turnover) on data protection, privacy and other regulatory matters.
In the Club’s first Learning Lunch, which was a joint-event with Fife Women In Business, Loretta explained to attendees:
What GDPR is
How it will affect businesses
What they need to do to ensure compliance
Penalties if they don’t
The event was very much enjoyed by all who attended, who said they found it very useful.
Join us for an exclusive insight into the upgraded facilities at St Andrews’ top hotel as well as an opportunity to network with Club members in a relaxed atmosphere.
If you’re not a Club member but would like to attend this event, you’ll need to join the Club before booking.
Loretta Maxfield of Thorntons LLP will talk about The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) at St Andrews Business Club’s first learning lunch on November 22.
People doing business in North-East Fife are being invited to a November 22 event where they can learn how to ensure they don’t incur fines of up to €20 million or more when the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force next May.
In the first learning lunch of St Andrews Business Club’s new season, the joint event with Fife Women in Business will hear information law expert Loretta Maxfield of Thorntons LLP explain what GDPR is, how it will affect businesses, what they need to do to ensure compliance and the penalties if they don’t.
The lunch will be held at the New Golf Club from 12.30pm till 2pm and will also include time for networking at the start.
Anyone wishing to learn about this important business topic, as well as network, is asked to book via Eventbrite.
Full details of all the club’s events, most of which are now open to non-members, are available here.
In the first business breakfast of the Club’s new season, held at The Scores Hotel, attendees learned how to improve personal and team productivity as well as enjoying networking.
Sam Forsberg of ActionCOACH Scotland.
Sam Forsberg of ActionCOACH Scotland shared key principles for greater productivity and introduced attendees to tools they can start using immediately to achieve more of the things most important to them.
Dr Sandra Romenska, Senior Lecturer and Director of Teaching at the University of St Andrews School of Management.
Dr Sandra Romenska, Senior Lecturer and Director of Teaching at the University of St Andrews School of Management, helped attendees discover how they can be a better leader via a research-based interactive experience which included setting each side of the room a team negotiation challenge.
Both excellent expert presentations were greatly enjoyed by attendees, who clearly found them energising and inspiring.
NEXT EVENT:The Club’s next event is Surviving Brexit on November 8. It’s a politics-free event featuring 3 expert speakers on how to ensure your company does!
Since the Club’s AGM in April, the Committee has been hard at work all summer on ways to make membership of the Club and attending its events more directly useful to members and non-members.
The season and changes we’re announcing today are based on the results of detailed market research interviews with members and non-members last Summer as well as ideas and other feedback from members over the last year.
One of the questions we asked ourselves was ‘What is the Club’s purpose?’ Looking at the original 1950 constitution (which we’re seeking to update soon), we saw two key activities – meeting other businesspeople and learning for business. They’re still important to succeed in business today, so you’ll find them at the heart of the 2017-18 season.
Learning
Learning event topics, some of which were suggested by members, have been chosen to provide you with essential information you can use straight away on today’s key business issues. They will include:
Details of the final learning events in the Club season will be announced later. If there are topics you’d like covered, please email us with them.
Inspiration
Professor Sally Mapstone, Principal of The University of St Andrews, is the keynote speaker at our ‘Inspiring Women’ event in March 2018
We know from past seasons how much hearing high-achieving people such as Lord Mulholland, Alban Denton and Kevin Grainger sharing their stories and lessons can inspire and educate others. So we’re delighted Professor Sally Mapstone, Principal of the University of St Andrews, has agreed to give the keynote speech at our ‘Inspiring Women’ event on March 7 next year (the eve of International Women’s Day).
But first, on October 11, Alan Mahon, co-founder of craft beer social enterprise Brewgooder, will be among a panel of entrepreneurs sharing their stories and advice at the University of St Andrews Enterprise WeekKeynote Event which the Club is contributing to in partnership with the student committee. Members will have access to a Club priority allocation of tickets for this event. Click here for more details.
Networking
To aid the business networking part of our purpose, since last season all Club events have included scheduled time for networking. This year we’re going a step further and opening most of our events to non-members – so they can join members and their guests and all enjoy the benefits of meeting more people.
We’re also adding informal facilitated networking lunches to the schedule – for a small number of people to discuss over a light lunch how a business issue or problem was or can be dealt with. The first will be held on March 28.
New formats, times & more events
Those of you familiar with the Club will have spotted a new word there – ‘lunches.’ One of the event format changes we’re introducing this year as a result of member feedback is having our daytime events at lunchtime rather than breakfastduring the GMT months – so you don’t have to get up in the cold and dark to attend. See the event listings for details of dates and times.
Another new event format we’re trying is holding a Pecha Kucha-style event on May 9. Members will be drawn at random to present 20 slides of 20 seconds each on a topic of interest to all. It promises to be a fun night!
Also as a result of member feedback, we’re extending the Club’s season into May and June for the first time, which means members will be getting even more value from their annual membership fee and non-members will have more opportunities to join in, meet and learn.
New Membership benefits
The right to present at our Pecha Kucha-style event is one of several newmembership benefits we’re introducing this year. But why else should you join the Club?
Other new benefits include:
One free Guest at each event
Member profile, logo, contact info and link listing on Club website (Coming Soon)
Opportunity to write a guest blog post for the Club website once a year
Access to Club allocation of tickets for external events, such as the General Election Hustings earlier this year
Free display of flyers at events
Those join the following benefits which members already enjoy:
Access to Members & Guests-only events
Free access to evening events
Opportunity to be the expert speaker at a Club event
Company feature post on Club social media channels
Opportunity to have social posts shared on Club channels (Twitter & Facebook)
That’s a fantastic range of benefits for just £30 annual individual membership – the best value it’s ever been.
Still not convinced? You can read here why some members joined, what they’ve gained and enjoyed since.
Want to join the Club? Find out how to do that here. Existing members will receive their renewal reminder next month.
New Corporate Membership option
If you think some of your colleagues would also want to join or renew their membership, you should consider the new corporate membership option we’re introducing. It’s just £100 for five named members of an organisation and includes some extra benefits over individual membership. Go here for full details.
Whether you’re already a member, a past one or someone new to the Club, we’d be delighted to see you at our events this season. And hear what you think – so we can keep making the Club better.
Details of the full season’s topics, dates, speakers are here
Details of membership benefits and how to join the Club are here
For latest news from the Club, its members and the North-East Fife business community, follow the Club here on Twitter and like our Facebook page
Noele McClelland, employment law Partner at Thorntons, explains the issues to Club members and guests.
Noele McClelland is a highly-experienced employment lawyer who advises public and private sector clients on all aspects of employment law and HR practice, in which she specialised in 2001.
Noele has been involved in a number of high-profile executive disputes and also acts for a number of SMEs – working closely with their directors as a trusted advisor to support them with their employment law needs.
She is listed in Chambers’ Guide to the Legal Profession as one of Scotland’s leading employment solicitors.
Noele ran Club members and guests through the key organisational processes which are regulated by employment law, including:
Recruitment best practice – e.g. avoiding publishing job adverts which discriminate against some possible applicants
The Right to Work in the UK – Thorntons has seen an increase in enquiries about this across all sectors as a result of Brexit
Working Time Regulations
The National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage – rates increased on April 1
Auto-enrolment pensions – which people working with your business have to be ‘auto-enrolled’
‘Protected conversations’ and procedures for termination of employment – ensuring the way in which you go about having someone leave your organisation won’t result in a tribunal award against your firm
Noele also answered questions on the crucial issues in Zero Hours Contracts, differences in how HRMC sees employment status versus employment law and record-keeping to ensure successful defence of hiring decisions.
Speakers: Colin McLean and Dr Natalie Coull from Abertay University’s Division of Computing and Mathematics plus Susan Riccio from PIB Insurance.
Colin McLean is a Lecturer in Computing at Abertay University and Certified Ethical Hacker trained in Internal and External Penetration tester.
In 2006, Colin developed the BSc in Ethical Hacking at Abertay University – the world’s first undergraduate degree with the word “hacking” in the title. In 2015, Colin was listed in the Top 100 people driving the digital agenda in Scotland by Holyrood magazine.
Dr Natalie Coull is programme tutor for the MSc in Ethical Hacking at Abertay University and teaches a range of subject areas from programming to ethical hacking.
Natalie won the Outstanding Woman in Cyber award at the inaugural Scottish Cyber Awards last year and is involved in a number of initiatives to increase the number of women who choose to study computing.
Natalie and Colin explained the rationale and approach behind ethical hacking before giving examples of recently-discovered common website vulnerabilities and the costs if your company is affected.
Ethical hacker and lecturer Colin McLean of Abertay University at the event.
They then went through some typical hacker/victim scenarios, showing how people can make a vital mistake – clicking a link or opening an attachment – which gives the hacker access and then demonstrated the range of things the hacker can then do.
Colin McLean and Dr Natalie Coull from Abertay University demonstrating typical hacker/victim scenarios.
Before the talk they profiled the Club and an organisation connected with it and explained the weaknesses they found. Finally, Colin and Natalie explained the things you can do to protect yourself and your organisation.
Susan Riccio is a Senior Financial Lines Account Executive at PIB Insurance Brokers. Susan has more than 30 years’ experience in the insurance industry. Her specialisms include cyber liability, professional indemnity and management liability.
Susan Riccio from PIB Insurance Brokers outlined the evolution of cyber risk and regulation before going on to explain cyber risk and data breach insurance and the types of losses and incident/crisis response services it covers.
Susan first outlined the evolution of cyber risk and regulation, before going on to explain cyber risk and data breach insurance and the types of losses it covers and the incident/crisis response services included. Finally Susan gave examples of past claims and how you can mitigate against cyber risk in a bid to protect your balance sheet and your organisation’s reputation.
Are You Thinking About Starting Your Own Business?
If you are, then the one day Acorn Business Bootcamp is for you!
It’s on Saturday, 11 April 2015 from 10:00 to 16:00
The event, run in conjunction with the University of St Andrews, is designed for both students and the wider business community.
For University of St Andrews students, the theme of this event is to give you a flavour of what running a small business is really like and to encourage you to consider launching your own start-up!
For existing business owners, you will hear the story of other business owners and how they overcome various challenges on their entrepreneurial journey!
We have 3 awesome speakers at this Bootcamp for you:
He started selling it to his neighbours and at the local Fife Farmers’ Market. Now 5 years in, Byam has his own kitchen, a growing team and is stocked by House of Bruar, among other prestigious outlets!
Chris is on a mission to change the way that businesses communicate and engage with their audience forever, and help business owners become better marketers of what they do. He will share his amazing story and some advice on personal branding regarding what students and business owners should be doing now to ensure they stand out.
* Jen Munro – owner of ISSOS: is our keynote speaker and is also a former Univeristy of St Andrews Student.
Jen is a well-respected Scottish entrepreneur and for the past 9 years, her business, ISSOS, has provided exclusive, well balanced summer programs, catering to 13-18 year old’s from over 64 nationalities. With two locations; St Andrews University and Cambridge University, ISSOS offers students a summer experience like no other.
Our February meeting will be held at 5.30 pm on Wednesday 11 February 2015 in premises of the Highland Chocolatier, 145 South Street, St Andrews.
Julie Collier, the Commercial Director will give a talk and demonstration on chocolate manufacturing. This may provide an opportunity to buy the ideal Valentines present!
The Highland Chocolatier produces artisan gourmet chocolates handmade by award winning Chocolatier Iain Burnett, in a 4 star tourist attraction specially designed chocolate kitchen. Highland Chocolatier provide top European chefs with gourmet chocolates of a quality unavailable elsewhere – set like a jewel in the heart of Highland Perthshire.
By Alistair Morris, President
Anyone joining the Club by September 4 will be able to join members and their guests in an 
Members will also enjoy a 
