What a year we have had! Most notable for being able to meet in person once again!
Rupert’s Overview…
The tone for our year started in December 2021, Christmas Eve to be precise, when our daughter and her boyfriend announced that they had gotten engaged while they were in Paris.
Our soon to be son-in-law Adam had staged the whole thing beautifully, proposing to our daughter Becky by the River Seine in sight of the Eiffel Tower!
Throughout the year there have been numerous wedding-related conversations and excursions, particularly for Angela where everything seems to require a dinner out and a night away!
Business-wise, in March Biz X was the big deal. We enjoyed a jam-packed two days of learning alongside our clients. We heard from world-renowned speakers such as Tony Alessandra, Jake Humphrey & Damian Hughes, Stephen R Covey, and, Noel Fitzpatrick the Super Vet! It was an amazing event and were pleased to see one of the businesses we work with reach the finals in the business excellence awards.
Our quarterly planning event GrowthCLUB, which we run with 5 other ActionCOACH’s goes from strength to strength, we had a whopping 120 people attend the last one.
The combined event allows our members to meet and work with numerous other midlands-based business owners and senior managers as well as hear from some brilliant guest speakers. This year we have had Frank Dick who has worked with Eddie Jones and Alex Ferguson, Brain Mayne who wrote the best-seller Goal Mapping and Tri-athlete Steve Judge.
For us coaches, in October the ActionCOACH UK Coaches Conference took place at the brand-new Hilton Garden Inn in the middle of the Silverstone circuit, which makes a nice change from being in a tent for race days!
In November Angela and I hosted 21 people to the Raise your Hand seminar with Brad Sugars and Marcus Sheridan, many of who are implementing the marketing advice they received on the evening in their business right now. One of our party Robin Kirkley, also turned chauffeur at the end of the evening to give Marcus a lift back to his hotel – talk about getting close to a recognised world-leading expert!
As many of you know I broke my shoulder last year in a mountain bike accident (the accident being that I’m getting too old to ride like I’m still 21!) which has now pretty much fully healed.
As part of my continuous learning, I’m moving to more sedate cycling now. Unfortunately, this did not work quite as planned when someone rode into me (I know, very below the Point-of-Power!) riding around Rutland Water, resulting in two broken ribs, fingers and resulting in a four-night stay in hospital.
I cannot praise the staff at Peterborough City Hospital enough, they were consistently brilliant on both occasions at a time when they were under considerable strain due to COVID.
One of the year’s best-kept secrets was that Angela and I realised a long-held dream and bought a motor home. We have already enjoyed numerous great trips during 2022 including Norfolk, the Lake Districts, and the banks of the River Thames! We have one more trip left to do this year, and already planning where to take our mobile home from home in 2023!
I have had some great ActionCOACH member results with several having their best year ever. A new member who was worried I would drown him in stuff but said I actually made everything clearer. I’ve also been inspired by another (a CEO) whose confidence in himself has increased, and an Executive Coaching member whose section of the business there were responsible for grew considerably faster than any other area!
My year was topped off by my results from the annual Client Satisfaction Survey where I received a Net Promoter score of 86 – which is way above average and I couldn’t be more thrilled!
All that said, the best thing for me is seeing the work ActionCOACH Oakham and Kettering have been doing is increasingly making a difference to the local business community. That is what I love to see and that is why we started the business all those years ago!
We have even more exciting ways to help local businesses planned for 2023 which we will be announcing in January 2023. I can hardly contain myself!
Angela’s Overview…
2022 started with me building my Vision Board. I wanted various things to happen in both my business and in my personal life and over the last 12 months I have been watching them come true (well, not just watching, actually making them happen!).
Hosting and attending more face-to-face events and networking was one of the main items on my dream board. Continuing to work with our great client members and building relationships with new ones was another.
There have been many business highlights and achievements this year, most notably attending the Biz X conference in March where client member Sara from Risa UK was runner-up (she won the previous year).
We have had a great response to our quarterly ‘The Midlands Biggest Growth Event’ which saw over 120 business owners attend on the 9th of December. The event run in conjunction with other ActionCOACHES is going from strength to strength. It’s perfect for our client members to meet business owners from around the Midlands and work on their business plans.
I’ve joined new networking groups and very much enjoyed meeting new people with a passion for growing their businesses. I love how we support each other and there’s lots of idea sharing, support, and learning. That said, we felt one thing was missing and that was a support group right on our doorstep. In the latter part of this year, we decided it was time to challenge ourselves and start an Oakham Professionals Group; a group where business owners of professional services can come along to help each other, bash out business problems, gain some learning and collaborate with each other. I’m pleased to say the first two sessions have been small but perfectly formed groups, and we are looking forward to nurturing them in 2023.
2022 saw me trying other new things such as attending a positive intelligence course, launching a finance for non-finance leader’s workshop, and hosting a meet and greet with our office neighbours (a great excuse to get the mince pies and wine out!). I even had a lesson to drive a motorhome…
Yes, a motorhome! Rupert and I have longed for a motorhome and this year saw us finally purchase one (hence me having a driving lesson). We’ve been enjoying holidays and weekends away in our mobile home from home with our dogs, who I might add take up so much more space than we do! Always looking for ideas on where to go so do share your ideas with me.
Everyone I do dream/vision boards with includes wanting something for their family and I was no exception. Seeing our children happy is something all good parents want so I was delighted when my daughter got engaged. This year we’ve been on many outings together saying Yes to the dress, choosing mother-of-the-bride outfits, and generally enjoying the planning of her big day. Can’t wait for the wedding!
Seeing our son Martin excited at his home purchase has also been a personal highlight, along with watching rescue dog Ella winning over my heart and forcing me out on long walks which I love (well, maybe not so much in this icy weather).
As you can see it’s been a busy year and there’s already lots planned for 2023. What will be on my dream board? Let’s see, maybe I will add George Clooney to come and make me a coffee and see if that will come true too!
I hope that some of your dreams have come true this year too! Merry Christmas.
