The Giraffe Network

Hope everyone has had a LOVE...ly day❤️💕. Our team continues to work hard to get back to baking .
.

Graeme our resident 'chancellor,' of SeavorChartered gave us the lowdown on the UK Autumn Statement. It's big news for us in Carlisle!

🚀 What's on the table?

📈 Minimum Wage Increase: A step forward for employees, but what does it mean for our business costs?

🛠 Apprenticeships: Still a valuable asset? Let's navigate the changes together.

💡 Capital Investment Incentives: Permanent 'full expensing' for plant and machinery - a golden opportunity for growth?

🤝 R&D Credit Merging: Enhanced support for innovation from April 2024.
Could this be a pivotal moment for our businesses.?

👉 Join us at our next meet-up. Together, we're stronger!

🌟 Making Customer Service the Star in Cumbria's Small Businesses! 🦒

At The Giraffe Network's latest gathering, we had a vibrant chat about something that touches every corner of our business lives - Customer Service! 🎉

Did you know? Even in our fast-paced, digital world, customers still cherish good, old-fashioned customer service. It's that personal touch that makes all the difference! 💬

But here's a twist: We explored how sometimes, in our businesses, there's a gap in leadership, especially when it comes to showing the way in customer service. 🤔 It's not just about guidelines; it's about walking the talk!

So, are you ready to revamp your customer service approach and lead by example? Join us at The Giraffe Network, where we're all about sharing, growing, and thriving together!

👋 Swing by our next meeting! It's where Cumbria's business magic happens!

🎉 October Wins and Karen’s Journey from Classroom to Poolside!

👥 We had a great time at the Giraffe Network meet-up yesterday. Many members shared that October was a fruitful month for them. Have you felt this upturn too?

🎤 A special thanks to Karen Robertson for sharing her story.
Back in 2004, alongside her school teaching job, Karen started exploring the idea of teaching babies how to swim. It was a learning curve, but she embraced it wholeheartedly. And a fun fact - her first employee was a former student!

🌊 Karen’s path had its share of hurdles, the biggest one being the Covid lockdown. However, she stayed strong and navigated through. Today, her business, Baby and Toddler Swimmers, is thriving, teaching over 700 toddlers, ranging from 8 weeks to 10 years old.

🔎 Curious to learn more? Dive into Carlisle Swim School for the full scoop.

https://carlisleswimschool.co.uk

🦒 Just had another heart-to-heart at our Giraffe Networking meet!
💬 It's so comforting knowing we're all on this business rollercoaster together.
🎙️ Major shout-out to our member for sharing their face-to-face networking journey.
😅 Ever felt out of place in a room full of networkers? I've totally been there.
🎉 But guess what? Made 20 solid connections without even realizing. We can be our own worst critics, right?
🧠 Our deep dive into 'imposter syndrome'? So relatable.
🔍 Quick tip: Peek at LinkedIn before events. It's a total game-changer!

📢 Fancy being part of a trusted local business community? Engage in real talks that uplift and guide.

DM us to book a free visit! Let's grow together. 🌱🤗

Over the past couple weeks we have had some cracking meetings where Ross from Tarn Wealth management talked about the business, financial climate and investments but also about his personal life and exciting chapters ahead.

Also we had Helen from Dawson Kaveney HR giving us a business update on the latest products she's offering to her clients as well as great advice regarding new employment legislation coming in soon.

Always great meetings to be a part of each Thursday morning.

If you want to get involved and see what it's like at one of our meetings get in touch and we'll book you in as a guest.

Great meeting this morning from our new home at the Cumbria Wildlife Trust centre in Houghton.

Our member of the week talk was from Ray ClimbHigh SEO and he reminded everyone about the importance of back links and also Ray gave each one of our members a few pointers on where they can improve their website. We all found it very useful.

Amazing achievement Karen we're all so proud of you!!!

And she’s done it!!!!
Huge congratulations to Karen on completing the Lakesman half today! What an incredible achievement and for such a great cause close to her heart. The whole team at Baby and Toddlers are very proud!!! Well Done!!! 💪🏼💯🏊🏼‍♀️🥰🥳

What a great opportunity to work for the best

Carpet Fitter - Carlisle - Indeed.com Home Carpets by Neil Mcbrearty

Great lovely spring morning this Thursday morning. And to top it off we had a cracking meeting with our main talk from Helen at Dawson Kaveney HR

As our newest member she took this opportunity to delve deeper into what services she can offer and HR related subjects she gets called into helping with.

All the group found it really interesting and certainly plenty of questions followed as the members continued to find out how Helen could help them.

Another cracking meeting this morning.

Luke from H&H Insurance Brokers was our member of the week this week and he spoke to the group about all the success the business has had over the last year and how they became national winners. Really great to see how well Luke personally is doing and the business as well.