Parklife - Customer Testimonials - Training & Business Support On Your Doorstep

Customer Testimonials

	"Graduate Challenge The Graduate Challenge program has been invaluable to our business. As a small business, time and resource has always been a problem. We knew that we had the need for someone to fill this role, but we were not in a position to be able to offer the salary that we felt would be required. By being able to bring a Graduate in to the business via the Challenge scheme, we are now forging ahead with projects that we could not achieve before and thus we believe that we can now generate more revenue for the business. By having this extra revenue, it looks like we can finally achieve filling this much needed position permanently." Vanessa Fowler, Managing Director, Heroes For Kids
	"The BDP has provided me with a reminder of how to run a business and how to adapt to change.The programme led by Stuart Barnes also provides the opportunity to share experiences and challenges with other delegates.I consider that programme is beneficial to sole traders and corporates and I have already booked a place for my co director to attend the next course." Gerry Dupree, Gerry Dupree & Co (2008)
	"Parklife - What is in it for me? Why attend meetings? Having been involved in Parklife during 2008 and seen that there is sometimes a poor turnout for meetings I thought it might be worthwhile passing some comments on to other Parklife companies about our experiences here at Vibixa. When we first became involved and offered the facility of our room to the Parklife group, we thought (rather arrogantly in retrospect), that as a larger company we would probably get less from our Parklife membership than some of the smaller companies at Kingsditch. However, this has not proved to be the case. On the contrary, we have gained significant benefit from the things we heard about at every meeting. Some examples are: The Business Planning/Development Training (made available through Parklife) was attended by Tony Szymonik the Director and General Manager of the company. He found the sessions very informative and of practical help. The cost of this training would be around Ł2,000 and has been entirely free! Tim Pittaway, Factory Manager has attended all of the Parklife meetings held at Vibixa and as a result has taken the opportunity to join the Environmental Management System training and network group. He is the project leader for the introduction of environmental management at Vibixa and is finding both the training and mutual support of the network group invaluable. Whilst this training is not free to us it would be free to most Parklife member companies. Several managers have attended the meetings and found the networking opportunities excellent, e.g. you might want to buy a second hand forklift truck and it just so happens that we have some for sale! At the same time we have formed relationships with key people such as our local police who are keen to provide us with assistance in improving site security etc. The speakers have been diverse and we have been made aware of some excellent services that may be of use to us in the near future. For example, the SevernWye Energy Agency who are run as a charity; they will give businesses a free assessment of their energy efficiency and help in reducing their costs, as well as providing courses in controlling energy use, all at no charge. I say again, this service is FREE. We only know about this company through a Parklife meeting. My observation is that most companies have a designated Parklife representative who occasionally attends meetings, but because the meetings are held on site here, we have a wider range of people attending meetings and gaining benefit from it. I would encourage all member companies to try to get more people to attend from across their businesses – the networking is good – lunch is provided – the meetings are local - and they might just get something useful out of it!" Sue Baldwin, Vibixa (2008)
	"I am pleased to confirm that the Parklife Network Meetings are producing many 'spin offs.' A new company has been formed being Rabbitt Recycling Cheltenham Ltd, purely because of two people being introduced through Parklife. The training sessions for Marketing, First Aid and Ebay have all been welcomed with open arms and many of the companies on the estate sent representatives to attend. The AVM Business Centre is almost 100% full, which has been enhanced by being able to show people the meeting room that can be used by the tenants to develop their business. I look forward to the future developments of the facility that I am sure will continue to help small businesses in the Cheltenham Area and furnish them with information, resources and relevat training that they may require." Steve Clark - AVM (2007)
	"The Federation of Small Business (FSB) - Bristol and Gloucestershire Region - has been very supportive of the Parklife project since its inception. Parklife's main focus is on the Business Parks and Industrial Estates where the FSB has always supported initiatives aimed at encouraging clusters of businesses located in small areas to work together. Collaboration increases economics of scale thus helping to reduce costs and improves the ability of smaller businesses to complete. One key area where the FSB has supported collaborative working is on waste management. The Y-Waste initiative, started by FSb members to improve waste management and recycling for smaller businesses, has shown clear advantages for collaborative working amongst town centre businesses and we hope to see this extended to Industrial Estate and Business Parks soon" Terry Morgan - FSB (2007)
	"It was by chance I picked up the phone and contacted Fred Reed, Parklife Business Advocate. We had moved our business, a business we wanted to sell, to premises that we had brought and wer finding rather expensive to run. Were were lost and did not know which way to turn. We knew we had a very good building but really did not know it's worth in both value or adaptability. Fred moved straight away into his marvellous ability to network people and expertise. He soon had Alan and I a meeting with such experts who gave generously of their time and knowledge. These have been extremely patient, kind and knowledgeable gentlemen who have helped us enormously to find, set and achieve goals that we otherwise might have found but it would have taken us for ever and we would have suffered a great deal of heartache in the meantime. He also introduced us to another business man who was looking for premises to which he could relocate and it seems that we may well have settled a deal for a tenant in the building which in turn may have led us to find a purchaser for our hire business. So after a very short space of time from our first meeting we have turned our business life around for the better. Without the help and support of Fred and Parklife we would certainly not have been able to achieve such momentous steps and we will always be exceedingly grateful." Caroline Sutton - April 2007
	"I would like to thank you and your team for providing 2 of our trainees with free Forklift Truck Training. Both lads had low levels in Basic Skills but were given help and encouragement to succeed. It was excellent for them to receive this training free of charge and hope that other trainees will benefit from this in the future." Jan Villis, E2E Training Co-Ordinator,Furniture Recycling Project
	"Just a note to thank you and your team for organising the free Fork Lift Truck Training. We sent four people, three of whom passed, the other unfortunately had to drop out due to an injured shoulder. It's been excellent to receive this training free of charge. I look forward to meeting up with you on future courses. Best regards." Sue Farmer, Permali
	"Informative & interesting as well as entertaining." (Employment Law Update)
	"Open forum, friendly, helpful and informative." (Employment Law Update)