Business in Glasgow

Excerpt from open meeting.

We would like to bring together people interested in BiG to discuss how BiG might evolve in the future.

Unfortunately Danny McGuigan is unable to speak on Tuesday because of illness, but Manish Joshi has kindly agreed to step in at the last minute.

Manish should be well known to those of you who regularly attend BiG Tuesdays. His talk will look at how we manage our money, as individuals and also within our businesses and organisations, and what measures we can take to weather the current economic storm.

BiG Event Report

We were delighted to welcome Manish Joshi for his first talk at Business in Glasgow. We benefited from his considerable acumen as he provided timely advice on an extremely topical and relevant subject.

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Ewan Mearns of Scottish Enterprise discussing strategies for change.

BiG event report

The March lunch-time event was a great success and considered the topic of Strategic issues. Ewan Mearns from Scottish Enterprise led us skilfully and thoughtfully through this issue and provided relevant insight and useful advice.

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Barry talks about the influence of culture on the workplace.

BiG event report

Barry Rogers led us skilfully and thoughtfully through a presentation entitled, ‘The Cultural Advantage & the Model of Freedom’, dealing with the following areas:
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We all know that to enjoy life we need to get the right balance between work, relaxation and relationships. However we can often unconsciously find ourselves stressed and struggling to cope with this great balancing act.

Stress is normal and even necessary for a healthy life. It is the tension created by external factors and/or pressures on the one hand and our reactions and feelings about our circumstances and ourselves on the other. It is only when we feel that we cannot deal or cope with it that stress has a negative effect on our lives.

Work-related stress is a major problem for businesses and organisations across the UK. According to research commissioned by the HSE, about half a million people in the UK experience work-related stress at a level that they believe is making them ill.

How can I ensure my stress levels are not destructive? Steve will help us consider some key life and work related stressors, their effects (both short and long term) and identify ways to enable a more balanced and ultimately more productive life.

BiG event report

Steven Watson of Stepwell Consultancy Ltd managed to squeeze a huge amount of fascinating information into his talk on stress issues. He was full of wisdom with lots of practical suggestions as to how to begin to tackle this universally experienced and sometimes crushing phenomenon.
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Martin spoke about being an entrepreneur

BiG Event Report

Martin Johnstone delivered an inspirational talk beginning with three powerful stories:
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David will speak to us about how work and family life can present challenges.

Iain spoke about relationship issues.

BiG Event Report

The topic Iain was addressing was relationship issues and he covered these under four headings:

1. A helicopter view of what areas relationships cover
2. Things which subvert good relationships
3. Things which enhance good relationships
4. What we can do with respect to our relationships
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We regret to announce that due to a bereavement, Danny McGuigan will no longer be able to deliver his seminar on Ambition Issues at Work on Tuesday 3 November as planned.

We have therefore brought forward December’s seminar and Peter Gardner will discuss Spiritual Issues at Work.

There are lots of issues we face in our work, keeping work focus, maintaining motivation, finding a healthy work-life balance, sustaining self-confidence, setting goal and priorities. We have all heard of good ways to improve our work practice but most of us find it difficult to do things differently. Peter Gardner, who is minister at Renfield St. Stephen’s church, and has worked with Business in Glasgow over the last seven years will look at these issues from a different angle and, drawing from some of the traditions of Christian spirituality, suggest some practical ways of improving the way we work.

The final BiG lunchtime meeting of 2009 will be a panel discussion where three members of Glasgow’s diverse society will offer insights and practical advice on the issues that are pertinent to surviving the recession.

The people involved are:

Gayle Cattanach – BiG Trustee, Chartered Surveyor and Director of a commercial construction company
Ruth Walker – former Customer Relationships Director for Scottish Enterprise, now an independent consultant
Andrew Low – Chief Executive of Glasgow City Mission

The panellists will offer insights on issues they are facing as a result of recession and how they are dealing with it. You should find the different perspectives enlightening.

New Venue: Glasgow City Mission’s new HQ in Crimea Street

Our final Business in Glasgow seminar provides all our supporters and participants a unique opportunity to visit the recently opened premises of the Glasgow City Mission, an organisation which began in 1826 through the vision and compassion of David Naismith its founder.

Once the first of its kind, now duplicated in the major cities of the planet, Glasgow City Mission continues to offer practical as well as spiritual support to the most vulnerable in the City of Glasgow.

With the recession continuing to make significant inroads into our city’s working population it is a good thing to remind ourselves that vulnerability is not just reserved for the poor of society. We are witnessing, if not experiencing, such vulnerability across the business scene too but as with many successful charitable organisations the Glasgow City Mission is a reminder that there is also hope and a future.

We are grateful to Glasgow City Mission for offering to host this event, and we welcome anyone from the business community in Glasgow to join us.

Glasgow City Mission, 20 Crimea Street, Glasgow G2 8PW
Map and Directions