At SMBA we’re always willing to try out new ideas…no matter how weird or wonderful they may sound. So when one of our members asked gardener Mike Morin about a story she’d heard he was happy to help her try it out! Apparently conkers emit a ‘smell’ that spiders hate – so leaving a few conkers in a room should ensure that it becomes a no-go area for these creepy-crawlies. Mike provided her with a large bag of conkers which were distributed around the home – three weeks later not one spider had been seen. Now that’s what we call a result!

Our members are always looking to form new strategic alliances with other businesses; sometimes this means working together with mutual clients, sometimes it’s about knowing who you can work in partnership with to deliver the widest range of services to customers. Martin Hood, our independent financial advisor, has been heavily investing in back office processes at the Platinum offices in Sale, which means that they are now able to offer office accommodation and business growth opportunities to other IFAs who are looking to work alongside a well-established and highly reputable team. If this is something you might be interested in then contact Martin at martin.hood@platinumifs.co.uk.

Our members are certainly a musically talented bunch of business people! Joanne Siddall, who offers PA and secretarial services for busy bosses, has recently joined a Knutsford based choir who are looking to recruit even more folk who like to make sweet music together! From Christmas carols to pop and swing, everyone is welcome regardless of age or ability, no auditions are necessary. If you’re interested then visit www.starchoirs.co.uk for more information – or come along to one of our meetings and you’ll hear Joanne singing their praises!

Our Member of the Month for November is Howard Pollitt who, as a long-standing member of the group, has been delivering a range of flexible health insurance plans which provide affordable, top quality private healthcare. We are all looking forward to finding out more about how these plans can be taken up by different size businesses for their staff. Most importantly, we want to know just what kind of introductions to new business opportunities Howard is looking for – last month our ‘spotlighted’ member Alex received 16 new business leads from our members!