issue 23
Summer 2013
news, chat and goings on from the Jennings parks and premises
Ashgrove House
Hampden House
Monument Park
Thame Retail
The Boundary
Tower Park
Business Centres
SOUTHERN OXFORDSHIR
E
NEW BUSINESS
Competition
Winners: Zoe, Ed, Mick from Special Effects, Charlie, Jake and Rhonda
from Jennings
new business competition
winners announced
This year saw the strongest ever
field of entries for the Southern
Oxfordshire New Business
Competition – so much so that
the Judges decided they had to
choose 2 Winners.
The Community Tennis
Association was started by Ed
Nieburg in Didcot as a nonprofit making enterprise to help
break down the price barriers of
Centre
Rhonda and Ed at Didcot Business
tennis coaching, particularly for
younger people wanting to play.
The CTA (www.ctatennis.org) also
help and support local tennis clubs
increase their membership and
advise on upkeep and development
of public access courts. Ed and his
partner Zoe have already taken up
CTA’s prize and moved in to a
furnished office in our Didcot
Business Centre.
EasyScaff scaffolding
(www.easyscaff.co.uk) is Charlie
Caulkett’s winning business.
Charlie, with help from his son Jake,
started EasyScaff only 18 months
ago. In that time he’s grown the
business to employ 9 scaffolders
and is taking on work across the
South of England & the Midlands,
mainly for domestic & short term
commercial projects. Charlie has
Charlie and his son Jake
opted for a prize of a Virtual
Office and call answering service.
Both businesses also win extra
prizes of free PR support
from PRBI, a free review
of their website with
Oxlink web designers,
business mentoring
from Oxford Business
Mentors and tickets to a
Late Breakfast
networking event.
We’d like to say a huge
thank you to all the
businesses that took part, as
well as to the competition
judges & sponsors for their
time and efforts. We’d also like
to congratulate both winners
and wish them a very bright
future!
parkbench
issue 23
chairman’s note
We never stop Learning
I was invited to be a judge for
the County finals of the
Young Enterprise Competition.
There were eight teams of
15-16 year olds who had set
up a business, and been
financially successful within
about 6 months.
Some teams had problems with
staffing. In one case motivation to
succeed was initially non-existent
and the leader noticed, and
motivated them to do so well in
three months that they made it to
the final. Another found that there
was chaos on their trade stand, so
set up sales training for every team
member, and instantly boosted
sales. Another set up continuous
feedback from customers which led
them to train staff to improve
customer service.
Some teams overcame product
issues. One used project planning
methods based on experience from
the first product, a book, to produce
the second in only three weeks.
Another carefully assessed market
conditions on trade stands to modify
their products to suit their market.
All of this was within a six month
period, while studying at school,
and without the controlling
influence of salary. Amazingly all
teams were enthusiastic, committed
and were having fun.
As I go through life as a business
owner I continue to learn from
others in business, and I hope as
well that they learn from me. What I
had not been aware of was how
much I could learn from these
youngsters who had only been in
business a few months.
They have reminded me that
success should not be measured by
finances, but by the amount of fun
and excitement that we derive from
our businesses, and our motivation
to improve every day as we deliver
our service to
our customers.
Thank you Young
Enterprise, and
thank you to the
teams that
reached the
final, and
inspired me.
Mike Jennings
monument
community trust
Supporting Oxfordshire Charities & Community Groups
The MCT Trustees returned to the
annual Funding Network event
on 16th May at The Old Fire
Station in Oxford, to support
local Charities using the money
from the Community Trust Fund.
We supported some great local
charities: My Life My Choice www.mylifemychoice.org.uk
Arts @ The Old Fire Station www.oldfirestation.org.uk and our
old friends Aspire Oxford www.aspireoxford.co.uk. On the
night all three charities received
pledges of over £5000 in total –
which will make a huge impact for
them in each of their projects. The
Trustees will now be looking to visit
www.jennings.co.uk
these charities to see how else we
can help, on top of the money
donated.
Monument Community Trust
recently supported the SpecialEffect
Oxford Legends match back in April
to raise vital funds for the
Oxfordshire Children's Charity and
the Charlotte Nott Trust Fund
www.specialeffect.org.uk. We have
also donated money towards a
Christiania cargo/catering bike for
Yellow Submarine, who have
recently launched a social
enterprise sandwich shop & café in
central Oxford. The aim of the
project is to provide training and
employment for young people with
learning disabilities.
Monument Park, Chalgrove
MCT not only offers money, much of
the support comes through helping
the charities with challenges they
are facing, and using contacts in
the private, public and voluntary
sector to help address some of their
issues.
If you are interested in supporting
charities or community projects, or
think you may like to find out what
it’s like to be a trustee of a charity,
please contact Louise –
mct@jennings.co.uk
Jennings_
parkbench
issue 23
footsteps friday!
WOW what a morning!
Tenants and friends were
invited to join the Jennings
team raise funds for Footsteps
Friday coffee morning, held in
the business lounge on
Monument Park.
The Jennings team (the Jennings
ladies) spent the night baking away
for ‘Footsteps Friday’, and the
results were impressive! Bens
Cookies, a tenant on
Monument Park, also helped
providing the baking with a
delivery of fresh cookies.
A mini raffle and guess the
weight of the cake competition
helped to raise over £230, and
the monies are still coming in!
Footsteps Foundation are a brilliant
local charity who support lowincome families with disabled
children by funding a percentage of
therapy costs, enabling children
with neurological disorders to
access the centre’s unique ‘spider’
equipment. The programme helps
to improve physical ability,
confidence and independence and
enables children to reach their full
potential.
www.footstepscentre.com
broadband across monument park
As regular readers of
parkbench will know, we’ve
been looking into ways we
can share our fibre
broadband line in Hampden
House across the whole of the
Monument Park site.
In May we held a Broadband
Forum and invited tenants from
around the Park to tell us what they
need and for us to describe what
we can offer. The biggest single
problem we heard is that
broadband is slow & intermittent.
Average speeds seem to be around
2 to 3 mb/s.
We explained that we’ve
investigated and researched a
number of different ways of sharing
the line, with WiFi coming out to be
the most feasible; it’s simpler to
connect than most other methods,
it’s more affordable to the end users
and it can be done with decent
speeds & reliability.
Now we’re in a position to confirm
some more of the details behind
the plan:
• Over WiFi, we expect to be able
to offer average speeds of
4-5mb/s in an entry level (‘Basic’)
service and 8-10mb/s in a
service designed for heavier
users (‘Enhanced’)
• Prices would be along the same
lines as those charged in
Hampden House - £40 and £80
per month respectively.
• For even heavier users or for
businesses with alot of users
connecting, we can also look into
providing an ‘Enhanced Plus’
service
www.jennings.co.uk
• To receive the signal, your unit
will need to have a small
antenna mounted outside &
some cabling to your office
router. Costs for this should be
around £200-250 to install and
connect.
If you’d like to find out more or talk
through the options without the
tech jargon, get in touch with
chris@jennings.co.uk or call
01865-893200.
Monument Park, Chalgrove
Jennings_
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issue 23
The Late Breakfast Chalgrove
We think we’re very fortunate
with the Late Breakfast events
we host. We manage to
book a great range of
speakers who kindly give up
their time to come and speak
for us at each event.
It’s because of them that we draw in
such a diverse and interesting mix
of guests from so many different
business sectors. Our job is simply
to make everyone feel welcome and
introduce people to new contacts in
the room.
to bounce back with a 5 step
process to improve your business.
At the end of May, we welcomed
Niki Schäfer, an award-winning
author, interior designer and
speaker. She explained some of the
tips & traps of writing in business whether it’s a book, a blog or just
trying to communicate what your
business is about.
The next event is on Thursday July
25th. More details will follow soon,
or why not visit
www.jennings.co.uk/newsroom/
At the Late Breakfast in March, Peter
Roper (a past President and Fellow
of the Professional Speaking
Association) spoke about what to do
when the ‘Fridge is Empty’ and how
Didcot Business and
Community Awards
Known as the BACAs, the
Didcot Business and
Community Awards have 6
categories: Customer Service,
Community Involvement,
Delivering Added Value,
Entrepreneurship & Enterprise,
Science & Innovation, and
Youth.
significant local impact for
customers or users, generated
employment or volunteer roles and
put themselves on a sustainable
footing.
Oxford Business
Mentors Mingle
In early May, Oxford Business
Mentors held their second
“Mingle” event at The Big Bang
restaurant in Oxford, with a
fabulous turn out of over 40
mentors, clients and directors. It
is an unusual networking event
because all of the participants
are business owners, and the
discussion topics are naturally
centred around mentoring,
rather than the more usual topic
of what you are selling.
Nominations can be made via
www.didcotfirst.org.uk and need
to be in by September 6th.
The result was that everyone
thoroughly enjoyed the evening,
with more than half staying
beyond the official end of the
meeting. Mentoring Mingles are
held at various locations around
Oxfordshire and only open to
mentors or clients of Oxford
Business Mentors.
Launched last
week, Jennings
are delighted to be
sponsoring a new
award for
Entrepreneurship &
Enterprise
recognising
organisations
which have
generated
Rhonda and her fellow BACA judges
www.jennings.co.uk
Niki Schäfer
Monument Park, Chalgrove
Jennings_
We would like to say a big thank
you to Max Mason for hosting at
his lovely restaurant.
parkbench
issue 23
job swap day
In the last parkbench we
threatened it would happen...
and it did happen...and Hampden
House is still standing...!
Yes, our Job Swap Day to help raise
awareness of National
Apprenticeship Week came and
went with only some minor
problems for our usual chairman
Mike Jennings (who became our
Receptionist for the day) and our
own Amie Coles, who became
company Chairman.
Despite having to learn the
complexities of our phone
system, cope with a Reception
full of Wally’s (see our Where’s
Wally Coffee Morning story) and
a visit from Ann Ducker, leader
of South Oxfordshire District
Council, Mike did pretty well
in the hot seat.
Amie handled her new role with
ease. She enjoyed a morning being
briefed by her PA (Louise Tucker of
course) in her new office, went on to
chair a Board Meeting and chatted
happily about business prospects in
the south of the County with Ann
Ducker. Finally, knowing how to win
over her staff, she took all the
Jennings team out for a light lunch
at The Picnic Hamper!
Ann Ducker and Amie Coles
swimathon challenge!
Each year I challenge myself to
do an activity of some kind to
raise money for charity. As
some of you may know, last
year I abseiled down the John
Radcliffe Hospital for SeeSaw.
This year I decided to challenge
myself to compete in a
Swimathon, to raise money for
Marie Curie Cancer Care.
On Sunday 28th April, I took to the
pool looking
ever so
attractive in
my emerald
green
swimming
hat and
aqua blue
goggles. My
challenge
was to swim
2.5km (100 lengths) of the Oxford
Brookes pool at Westminster
College, and secretly I wanted to
complete it in under an hour… After
the first 32 lengths I was making
good time at 18 minutes gone – but
then it got a little painful. After
battling cramp, a dead leg from
another swimmer’s kick and a bit of
coughing and spluttering, I was
nearing the end of my challenge.
My friends and family were
cheering me on, and I eventually
finished with a time of 57 minutes
and 22 seconds!
Marie Curie offer amazing care to
those suffering from Cancer, giving
expert nursing care, counselling
and respite for family and friends.
Thank you to everyone who
sponsored me, I raised a
staggering £340, which will pay
for 17 hours of care!
Rosie Butler
www.jennings.co.uk
Our confused receptionist & fabulous chairman!
For the full story with pics & a video
– and a surprise twist at the end go to: www.jennings.co.uk/newsroom
hot offer
Do you work from home? Is
there a part of you that’s
dreading the kids breaking up
from school for the long summer
holiday? Then why not spend a
day or two a week hot-desking
in Hampden House on
Monument Park in Chalgrove.
Why fall out with the kids when
they’re just doing what they
should be, having fun. The
solution could be right around
the corner...
We’re offering home-workers a
chance to work in peace, in a
fully equipped shared office for
as little as £15 (plus vat) per day,
that’s half price! Just plug in your
laptop and go...
Our on-site cafe also offers the
perfect solution for informal
meetings and that’s just for the
price of a coffee!
For more info or to book please
contact Amie or Rosie on 01865
893200 reception@jennings.co.uk
Monument Park, Chalgrove
Jennings_
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issue 23
business spotlight
Golf Tech Systems
Monument Park
How it all began… Golf Tech
Systems was created by father and
son duo Pete and Steve Webb. In
Late 2012, Steve and Pete saw the
need for a technical and sales team
to partner with them, that’s where
Simon Bayley and Adam Arscott
came into the picture.
Pete, Simon and Adam
Where they are now…Golf Tech
Systems have been on Monument
Park now for almost 9 months
starting in unit 9 in Greenacres.
The vision was to provide home
users, golf clubs and businesses
with accurate technology at an
affordable price. The purchase of
golf simulators has historically
been out of reach for many
individuals in the UK, but now they
are at affordable price points.
box sales and custom installations
there was a clear requirement for
the next step up.
After months of conversations they
chose TruGolf as their preferred
product. TruGolf Simulators are one
of the most advanced systems on
the market, as it produces
amazingly accurate results. TruGolf
software make these simulators feel
like you’re really on the course.
Having identified the products we
were going to supply the next step
was to move into a larger premises
with the layout we needed to
provide a fully immersive
environment for our clients…up
came unit 37a on monument park
and with the help of Jennings it
really has become something to be
proud of. In light of this and to give
a little bit back, Golf Tech Systems
have set up a quarterly competition
for tenants and their employees as
of the 1st May called the ‘Monument
Park Cup’ with a prize for the lucky
winner…to find out more, visit
www.golftechsystems.com
Golf Tech Systems customers range
from amateur golfers looking for
light entertainment to large events
companies hiring the Prestige
simulator as a crowd pull. Their
installations range from a number of
private homes to the Lee Westwood
academy and London Mill Hill golf
club. They were also present at the
Oxfordshire sports awards in
November 2012 which proved an
overwhelming success for hiring out
simulators at corporate events.
Optishot had created the perfect
platform, and with steady growth in
www.jennings.co.uk
Action shot!
Monument Park, Chalgrove
Jennings_
decking
Mark and I have created a new
decked seating area outside the
Picnic Hamper for people to
enjoy during the summer. The
furniture and sunshine have both
been ordered, and we will be up
and running soon!
Ollie Emmerson
landscape
report
The spring flowers have been
out in full bloom (despite the
changing weather) and we have
had some lovely comments
about the entrance to Hampden
House. For the next few months
we will be focusing on the lake
area at Monument Park. I will be
working closely with Stuart
Mabbutt, who is a specialist
wildlife and gardening
consultant. We have plans to
build a sheltered area, wild
flower banks, bug houses and
bird feeding stations, to
encourage more wildlife into the
area. Ideas to leave most of the
field as a meadow area are also
being discussed, along with
clearing the lake of excess reeds
and weeds. Stuart Mabbutt will
be holding a wildlife talk in
Hampden House on the 18th
June at 4pm, to register please
email Rosie@jennings.co.uk
Mark James
parkbench
issue 23
low carbon heating project
As part of our continued
drive towards a sustainable
future for business, we’ve
taken the decision to
replace the three LPG
boilers in unit 37 with a
brand new, carbon-neutral
Biomass Boiler.
We’ve been working with local
renewable energy specialists,
EnergyMyWay to identify the best
way of reducing carbon, saving
energy and reducing costs.
Due to be installed in early July, the
new 70kW Biomass heating system
is fuelled by wood pellets which are
derived from fast growing crops
that consume CO2 as they grow,
equivalent to that produced during
the combustion process. This makes
our Biomass Boiler carbon neutral
and over 40% cheaper to run than
the current system.
We’ll keep you up to date with
progress and once the new boiler is
up and running, we’re planning a
launch talk to demonstrate the
schools
spirit, and to develop a closer
relationship with the school.
Over the last few years we’ve
had a choir from the local
primary school in Chalgrove
come over to Monument Park
to sing Christmas carols
around the pond.
Recently we’ve talked to the Head
teachers of both Icknield School, in
Watlington, and Chalgrove Primary
School, and invited them over to the
Park. Both Heads are very
community facing and are keen to
link up with the local business
community to see how we can all
work together for the benefit of the
young people locally and the small
It’s lovely to hear the children
singing, watch the faces of the
tenants as they get into the festive
Icknield Community College
Business Mentoring Scheme
Our Business Mentoring
Scheme aims to create links
between Icknield Community
College and local businesses in
order to provide students with
one-to-one support. “Business
Mentors” act as role models,
critical friends and advisors.
Business Mentors meet their selected
student on two occasions for each of
the six academic terms (once every
three weeks). Each meeting lasts
approximately thirty minutes to an
hour and is an opportunity to help the
student:
benefits for you all to see. In the
meantime, if you’re interested in
sustainable alternatives to heating
such as Biomass or Heat Pumps, or
would like to know about Solar
energy, we can put you in touch
with EnergyMyWay who specialise
in renewable energy for Oxfordshire
properties.
• reinforce classroom learning with
real life examples
• expand their understanding of
business culture and workplace
etiquette
• practice employability skills such
as time management, problem
solving, CV writing, improving selfconfidence and self-esteem to
develop interview techniques
We are looking to support students
who are between 14-15 years of age
who would benefit from support from
external organisations. These
students would require improving
motivation, organisation and inter-
www.jennings.co.uk
businesses. Over time we are
hoping to introduce various
initiatives in partnership with these
schools, accommodate visits from
the students, and find other ways
of providing support. The first
initiative is a new mentoring
scheme which we would love your
help with.
See our Icknield Mentoring story
below for more information.
personal skills in order for them to
reach their full potential. Business
Mentors could range from recent
graduates to Managing Directors, in
both the private and public sectors.
Each relationship is as individual as
the people involved, and all will have
different, but equally valid,
experiences of the world of work to
share. We will provide a short training
session with a clear framework, so no
prior mentoring experience is
required.
We are delighted that Jennings have
agreed to support this new and
exciting scheme.
If you feel you are able to offer your
time to support one of our students,
or would like more information,
please contact Luisa Howden on
01491 612691 or email
lhowden@icknield.ocnmail.net
Monument Park, Chalgrove
Jennings_
parkbench
issue 23
summer bbq dates
hellos
A big welcome to Robert and Bex
Saunders who have joined us in
the Abingdon Business centre
with their heating engineering
business Thames Valley
Electrical Ltd.
Another big welcome to Robert
and Ronald of Plethora Solutions
Holdings Plc who relocated from
London to Hampden House at
the beginning of June. Plethora
are a pharmaceutical company
specialising in the development
and marketing of products for
the treatment and management
of urological disorders.
LinkingUp
on LinkedIn?
Almost everyone in business
uses Social Media in one form
or another these days. At
Jennings, our favourites are
Twitter, Facebook (have you
seen our Monument Park page
recently?) and LinkedIn.
We’ve recently been getting to
grips with some of the features
LinkedIn offers – we’re all
adding more to our personal
profiles, commenting on groups
we’ve joined, gently promoting
some of the stuff we do and of
course connecting to lots of new
people! If you’re on LinkedIn
we’d love to hear from you.
To see our Jennings company
profile, search “Jennings of
Garsington ltd” and you’ll find
us under companies!
For more information on any of these
articles please call 01865 893300.
www.jennings.co.uk
Like previous years we will be holding
our BBQs this summer with The Picnic
Hamper so don’t forget to put the
dates in your diary! It’s the perfect
excuse to get away from the office to
join us with your family, enjoy good
food, meet other people, and take
pleasure in great entertainment and
activities provided.
Keep your fingers crossed for good
weather!
20th June Pig Roast
at The Picnic Hamper
21st August Summer BBQ on
Hampden House Lawn
where’s wally coffee morning
On Friday 15th March we held a
coffee morning in Hampden House.
We raised £120 which we divided
equally between Comic Relief & The
Footsteps Foundation. The Jennings
team were great sports & joined
in on the fun dressing up as
Where’s Wally.
It was great morning and we would
like to thank everyone who turned
up and supported these worthy
causes!
Wally Lou, Wally Chris and Wally Donna
football prediction competition
Thank you to everyone who entered
our Football Prediction Competition
which helped raise £440 for our
Monument Community Trust fund to
support Oxfordshire Charities &
Community Groups. We had over
200 entries again and it was great
fun receiving all the useful
observations from nerdy footie fans,
which really helps us with the
updates - please keep them coming
for the next season.
Congratulations to this year’s
competition winners!
Collecting 1st prize of £100.00
goes to Bob the Builder, Josh in
2nd place winning £80.00 and
£50.00 going to Nathan in 3rd
place - well done!
Monument Park, Chalgrove
Next season’s competition will be
launched in August, so please give
it your support. It’s great fun, raises
money for good local charities, and
you don’t even have to know about
Football to win!
Jennings_
Bob & Linda Dingle