NAA Update: After a fascinating visit to Vodafone Automotive, make sure you don’t miss out on forthcoming events
Our Vodafone Automotive visit has now been and gone, so please make sure you have the following events in your diaries, as you will always learn something from them, as well as making new business relationships…
I am writing this immediately after our networking meeting at Vodafone, it was a not-to-be-missed event as you will see in the write-up below. Everyone who attended thoroughly enjoyed the visit and the hospitality from our colleagues in Burnley and we all went away having learnt at least one new item – however Martina wasn’t quite right over the meeting being held in sunny Burnley!
Automechanika is fast approaching and even if you do not have a stand at the event, then please ensure that you make the effort to travel to NEC during one of the three days of the event.
There are two key activities from the NAA that coincide with Automechanika; firstly, I need the feedback from all SMEs on their 2015 figures so that we can update our investment and growth chart. You should have received a personal email from me in the last week (please check your junk mail box if you haven’t seen it). I would like to thank those of you who have responded already, but I am looking that we increase the number of responses from last year’s map which included 20 companies. This is free advertising for you and it is seen by people who count, on a national automotive basis, so I really do need your response. As we want to maximise the benefit for everyone, we will be ‘letting our fingers do the walking’ and getting our phones out and ringing you in the next week to maximise the response rate.
Secondly we are working with a group of companies from Incheon City, South Korea to host a networking reception on 8th June, at the end of the day. They have even identified which member companies they would like to meet at the reception; so in the next few days I will be sending out more information to those companies, please don’t ignore it, this is a huge opportunity for you to build relationships with companies within South Korea without having to do anything more than travel to the NEC!
The International Festival for Business will soon be upon us. Week commencing 13th June is Advanced Manufacturing Week and w/c 27th June is Digital Week. More details about IFB events are in the events listing at the bottom of this newsletter, and we will cover more about opportunities for your involvement in the next newsletter, but please look to maximise this opportunity that is on your doorstep.
Here is advance notice of future NAA meetings:
Early July: an NAA & Kensington Consulting seminar, the focus of the seminar is to address some of the key concerns facing businesses today from ‘Addressing the skills gap within industry’ to ‘Understanding Behaviours’. During the course of the morning you will get the opportunity to:
- Shoot the recruiter (metaphorically)
- Place your frustration in Room 101
- ‘Think about how you think’
- Boosting business performance through behaviour
These are just a few reasons to join the seminar and share your experiences with like-minded delegates. More information will be circulated when available.
Mid-July: Our annual Awards workshop; the date is being finalised, but this is the not-to-miss event if you want to submit an application for the NAA (or in fact any) Awards process. The NAA Award sponsor assessors are not aware of which companies have attended the event, but I know that there was a high success rate last year amongst those who did! This is the workshop to attend that will really help develop the skill of Award applications. More information will be circulated once the date is finalised.
5th October: An NAA networking meeting being hosted by Helical Technologies at what has to date been one of the North West’s best kept secrets – the company’s Warton Technical Centre. This will be a unique opportunity to visit the facilities, where exhaust systems and components can be tested when mated to manufacturers’ powertrains. I have been several times and have been impressed by the effort and investment that Helical has put into developing the site. Reserve the date in your diary now!
Carol
