One of the Black Country’s most popular lunchtime networking events continued with its impressive attendance streak, as the first event of 2016 attracted a sell-out crowd.
Black Country Diners Club (BCDC), hosted by BCRS Business Loans, received bookings from over 116 people who descended into Wolverhampton’s Molineux Stadium to kick-start their year with a motivational, creative twist.
BCDC has been a prominent event on the region’s networking calendar for over 10 years. Renowned for providing excellent networking opportunities with leading business professionals from across the Black Country and surrounding areas, plus insightful and engaging guest speakers, BCDC has built a prestigious reputation and consistently attracts large delegate numbers.
A key factor in the success of this event is the eclectic blend of professionals that attend, providing an excellent forum in which to network and strengthen professional contact bases. Accountants, bankers, brokers, chambers of commerce, engineers, consultants, HR, lawyers are just a few examples of the sectors that are enticed to this event.
In line with the traditional format of BCDC, the event opened with 45 minutes of networking over light refreshments; followed by a two-course lunch provided by Wolves Corporate and a speaking session from a guest speaker.
Held on a quarterly basis, this event offers delegates the opportunity to either attend as individuals or host a table of 10. Paul Kalinauckas, Chief Executive of BCRS Business Loans, extended this to everyone who attended, with a special thanks going to Trade & Export Finance Limited and Aaron & Partners LLP for each taking a table of 10 at this event.
BCRS Business Loans was delighted to announce the guest speaker for January’s event as Les Jones, with a talk entitled ‘How to be Creative in Business (even if you think you’re not).
Les Jones is a designer, photographer, writer, author and speaker with over thirty years’ experience of working within the creative sector.
In 2011, Les launched his own one-man creative magazine called ‘Elsie’ – which was subsequently voted one of the top ten new magazines in the world by the prestigious ‘New York Library Journal’. He has recently been shortlisted for an ‘Editor of the Year Award’ by the British Society of Magazine Editors
Les’ talk at BCDC received widespread praise from all attendees, thanks to a presentation style that was thoroughly engaging, humorous and thought-provoking.
The aim of Les’ presentation was to make all delegates believe in their creative ability and blamed the lack of creativity in UK businesses on an education system that places emphasis on knowledge and examinations, rather than allowing children to develop their imaginations.
After surveying the audience to find out how many people classed themselves as being more creative than logical – to which only a small number of people said they were – Les said: “If you believe you are creative, you will be. SME owners shouldn’t stand still – use your imagination.”
“Set goals you’ll struggle to achieve. Only then will you do things differently.”
“I would urge all businesses to change their culture. You can’t blame employees for a lack of creativity, you need to make sure you promote this in your business and don’t penalise employees too much if something isn’t successful – at least they tried something new and tested the boundaries,” concluded Les.
Black Country Diners Club will be back on Tuesday 26th April, with the same successful format and George Buckley, Chief UK Economist at Deutsche Bank as our special guest speaker. This event is expected to be very well-attended, so please book your place early to avoid disappointment.
Stay tuned for updates on this event, which can be found either by email or on the @B_C_R_S Twitter page.
For any more information about Black Country Diners Club or to register an interest in attending the next event please email Events@bcrs.org.uk.
