NAA Update January 2012 – Carol Holden, CEO
New Year, new start – learn about automotive business opportunities in this newsletter every month, and network with fellow members at various NAA events planned for the year
Happy New Year!
I write this while preparing to travel to India for AutoExpo 2012 and the mission to Pune and I wonder what the year ahead of us will include? The general economic input is not that bright with the Euro challenges, but on the whole, the prediction is that Automotive will weather the storm. Take a look at the article covering the SMMT vehicle and economic forecast, this came from an SMMT webinar on the same subject and I hope that you like I will find it interesting and it is all part of our service to provide you with the latest information.
Our second R&D tax credits event is nearly fully booked and I would encourage you to register your interest promptly with Zoe, if necessary we will move to a larger room. February will see both a Business Excellence Benchmarking meeting and also our “Why become Accredited” event on Tuesday 28 February, so get your diaries out and the dates entered.
Looking forward to later in the year and following our successful networking dinner in October 2011, please enter the 2012 Annual Networking Dinner on Thursday 18 October at Carden Park, Chester into your diaries now! It was an excellent evening last year, and this year we are also looking to include a limited number of awards from our Business Excellence related activities. Bookings are being taken from 3 January onwards with prices for individual tickets (£50) and tables of 10 (£400) remaining the same as for 2011. We are also looking for award sponsors (£1,000) and event sponsors (£2,500). Please contact Zoe (z.desoer@nwautoalliance.com ) if you would like more information or want to make a booking.
We look to include a variety of useful information within the newsletter so that there is something for everyone within our diverse, automotive community and this month we have a new slot. I quite often receive requests linked into vacancies, but this is linked into a product opportunity. If we have a good response and feedback from you we will look to include further similar items in the future.
At this time of New Year’s resolutions, why don’t you add another one, to attend more NAA events than you did last year? Only by participating do you really start to gain the benefits of networking and as the saying goes, you have to be in it to win it! We are still looking for Board Members from the SME community, so if you are a paid member of NAA, would like to have a say in what we do and how we are run, then let me know and we can have a discussion about you becoming a member of our Advisory Board, subject to approval by the Directors.
I wish you all a successful & profitable 2012, and look forward to working with you.
Carol Holden
Chief Executive NAA
