This week Business Club Ayrshire members attended a fantastic Behind The Scenes event organised by the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and hosted by Emergency One Group Ltd at their impressive facility in Cumnock!

Emergency One is firmly established as UK market leaders in the manufacture, service and support of specialist Fire and Rescue Service appliances, along with a growing export presence worldwide. The company now has a workforce of over 200 people operating from two production facilities in their 8-acre campus.

Big thanks to John, Chester and Elliot for the factory tour and the excellent presentation about their company!

A major part of our thoughts at BCA meetings is looking for ways to support local Organisations.

As we hold our fortnightly meetings in Unity Grill in Ayr we heard about their commitment to provide holiday meals to children across Ayr North - these kids may otherwise go without a hot meal during school holidays. Unity Grill, in partnership with South Ayrshire Council and The 10:10 Trust, agreed to provide over 2,000 hot, nutritious, soups/meals over the Christmas holiday period.

As a group we decided to see how we could help with this challenge!

It wasn’t money that was required of us, but simply time! This was time to help prepare the food, and then to help get it to those who needed it. This was food prep in a scale we had not seen before – cleaning, peeling, chopping, grating various forms or veg in huge amounts. For many of us it was the first time in a commercial kitchen! Due to the time it was taking to grate the carrot mountain, we decided it would be best if Business Club Ayrshire donated a couple of food processors, which allowed us to speed up considerably. Thanks to Andy Kerr of Kerr Roofing for having this eureka moment as we may still be there grating otherwise! As our confidence (and ability) grew we even managed some additional preparation for the Community Christmas Dinners hosted by Angela in Unity Grill on Christmas Day, and the one hosted by the 10:10 Trust.

After all the prep we helped create gallons of soup, trays of pasta and cooked 100’s of baked potatoes, all ready for the food delivery truck the next day.

During the days we provided a couple of helpers to assemble and serve up the hot meals on The 10:10 Trusts’ double decker bus where the kids congregated for some fun on the climbing wall and games consoles while having some lunch. We helped provide soup, a choice of meals, sandwiches and a snack. It makes 4 stops and tries to reach as many kids as possible.

We managed to cover 6 shifts in total over the festive period which amounted to over 60 hours of support for this excellent initiative! We also gained some valuable skills in kitchen as an added bonus!

Our second successful BCA on tour event was hosted by our very own member - Neil from McColm Civil and Structural Engineers who gave us a behind the scenes insight into the remarkable, thriving engineering company he and Richard have grown!

Thanks to our BCA president, Laurence Malyon from Donnini Apartments for giving a presentation on behalf of the Business Club, highlighting the clubs core values.

Also thank you to all attendees, we hope you had a great morning and look forward to seeing you at future events and/or if you would like to enquire about joining BCA as a member please get in touch.

Local charity, Whiteley's Retreat recently launched their new, innovative children's book, written by Lorraine Johnston, to raise awareness and funds for Whiteley's Retreat. Whiteley's are a fantastic organisation, based in Ayrshire providing free therapeutic shorts breaks for children, young people and their families with cancer and life altering illnesses.

BCA members Launch Digital and Kestrel Press offered to help in the development of the book. Both businesses were delighted to get involved with this exciting project and worked closely with Lorraine and Maxine to create the perfect book which reflects the ethos and values of Whiteley's Retreat. Launch Digital worked on the design and layout of the new children’s book, and Kestrel Press printed and bound the books on sustainable paper.

“I can’t thank Launch and Kestrel Press enough for taking on the design and print project of Whit of Whiteleys Wood, and helping me get the book over the line to print. WoWW is a wonderful creation written by Lorraine Johnston and brought to life by the talented illustrator Mandy Sinclair. I hope to raise awareness of Whiteleys Retreat and the vital services we offer to families throughout the region. A children’s book will spread the word in a much more light hearted fashion and bring joy to so many young people and their families. Hopefully, we can raise funds along the way too from the sale of the book. Every penny from the sale of each book goes to charity, as these kind hearted creatives have donated their services.”

Maxine Allan, Chief Executive of Whiteleys Retreat.
www.whiteleysretreat.com

WE LOVE LOCAL BUSINESS!!!

Come and join us at our second BCA on tour event! No requirement for membership - just book a ticket and get along on the day to meet like minded, enthusiastic businesses and join us in the awesome patter.

BCA on tour offers Informal networking which showcases local business and local community causes. We have organised a series of completely free and completely awesome events at various different interesting venues across Ayrshire. Our bags are packed and we want you to join us!

Our second event takes us to our very own member: McColm Civil and Structural Engineers who will open their studio doors wide to welcome business owners and directors one and all! See behind the scenes how this thriving young engineering practice work together and produce their designs... If that isn't incentive enough, yes - there is Lego.

As ever, BCA on tour is a completely FREE business networking event, powered by Business Club Ayrshire. Ease yourself into Friday with blether about all things business with like minded people.
There will even be coffee...
See you there.

Watch this great promo video from BCA member Launch Digital, who have a proven track record for delivering engaging, exciting and functional designs. They make your brand standout, by making it an inspirational tool for your staff, clients and the wider community.

The award winning team of designers start every new project with a fresh approach, as every project has a different function and target audience, the Launch graphic design team create stunning, eye catching material designed to increase call to
actions, enquiries and set goals.

As an established family business Launch offer comprehensive on-going support and back up ensuring quality and customer satisfaction are at the top of the agenda at all times. Social responsibility is taken seriously by using energy saving equipment, recycling and reusing, including having a company EV for business trips, to reduce Launch’s carbon footprint.
Launch work closely with the local community and charities, ensuring to ‘give back’ where possible. The agency believes in equal opportunity and as an all inclusive, diverse and equal employer it makes Launch a great company to work for ensuring all employees are included in all decisions.

The Ayrshire Communities Trust’s green credentials were boosted recently when the Saltcoats-based organisation took delivery of its first electric vehicle.

The brand new, all electric Volkswagen Golf E was sourced and supplied by Ayrshire’s Vehicles4Work, and Director Patrick Kane was delighted to personally delivery and hand over the new car to the Trust’s team last month.
The plug-in car will help connect the Trust, also known as TACT, to the numerous community groups and projects it supports across North Ayrshire, enabling its experienced team to deliver various services whilst reducing their carbon footprint.
Operations Manager Kaileigh Brown and Employability Team Leader Cheryl Newall were on hand to take delivery of the Golf-E.
Kaileigh commented: “The Ayrshire Communities Trust provides support to community organisations throughout North Ayrshire and it is therefore essential that our team can travel the length and breadth of the area. Thanks to North Ayrshire Council’s Switched On Vehicles Grant, we are now able to do so sustainably, whilst helping demonstrate the viability of cleaner, greener electric cars to the wider community.”

Ayrshire-based Vehicles4Work sourced and supplied the car, working with the team at TACT to identify the type of electric car most suited to the Trusts’ needs. Patrick Kane, Sales Director at the independent car and van brokers, added: “We were delighted to help The Ayrshire Communities Trust identify and source their new car. The variety of electric and hybrid cars available is ever increasing, and so we carefully went through the options with the client. The Volkswagen Golf-E is the ideal fit, and we were very pleased to be able to source it directly from Volkswagen Financial Services | Fleet and hand it over personally to Kayleigh and the team at their Saltcoats head office.”

Check out the current offers below at Vehicles4work:

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Business Club Ayrshire hosted the first BCA on tour event at HM Prison Kilmarnock on Tuesday 20th August. The event was a great success with members and visitors engaging in great networking, sharing ideas and building relationships for future business. HM Prison Kilmarnock shared their business opportunities and visions. Keep following BCA for information on our next event, get involved, gain new business and meet like-minded business people.