Welcome to our February newsletter. Everyone certainly seems to be motivated to making 2025 a fantastic year, we’ve seen some great energy amongst our business community!
We started the year with a fantastic networking event at The New Wolsey Theatre which has become somewhat of an ISSBA tradition! It was lovely to see a mix of familiar and new faces. Thank you to the team at The New Wolsey for welcoming us and it was fantastic to hear how well panto went, as well as their exciting plans for the year ahead.
Our February event is Meet the Members Networking on 26th February at The Freston Boot, Ipswich. It is a beautifully restored 17th Century public house with a welcoming environment so we can’t wait to visit them. Non members are very welcome to join us so come along for friendly networking over coffee or tea. Book your place here.
On 12th March, we’d love you to join us for a networking event at The Hold, Ipswich which we are holding in partnership with Ipswich Borough Council as part of the Ipswich Thrive Business Week. Everyone is welcome so book your place here.
Bookings for Anglia Business Exhibition 2025 have been coming in thick and fast since January so if you haven’t booked yet, don’t leave it too long! As well as our exhibitor stands, we also have some amazing sponsorship opportunities available to suit all budgets. Our exclusive sponsor/press launch event will take place in the Spring so make sure you’ve booked your sponsor package in time to be included in that. Also, the earlier you sign up, the more time there is to maximise the opportunity so, get in touch on contact@angliabusinessexhibition.com to find out more. Read our ABE update here.
National Apprenticeship Week 2025 takes place from Monday 10th February to Sunday 16th February. Find out all about the benefits of apprenticeships, kindly written by Gaynor Marsh from Suffolk New College.
Our February Member of the Month is Switch Direction. Staying with the theme of learning and development, Dan Cocksedge explains about the importance of training and personal development for both employers and employees.
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