The Agriculture Team on Tour

On Tuesday evening I travelled up to Garliestan in South West Scotland, this is where Emma Pigg our farm secretary lives with her partner James. On arrival I was met with a cool beer and my tea on the table.

Emma and James had organised for me to meet up with a few farmers from the area, so after tea we walked down to the local pub on the harbour side. The locals were really friendly and great crack. A couple of the farmers offered to show us round there farms the next day.

The following day we visited the two farms which were similar sizes but had very different systems. One of them had recently installed a Rotary Parlour with a purpose built shed. This was fantastic to see and really interesting. The photo shows Emma getting well prepared for the tour of the farm.

We had a great couple of days meeting the locals who really made us welcome and we already have meetings set up for next month.

Michael Peile

The British Blue comes to Carlisle

As a farmer’s daughter, when I get the opportunity I like to go down to the auction at Rosehill to view their shows and sales. Today’s show was held on behalf of The British Blue Cattle Society, a breed that I am personally involved with, and one that is recognised for their importance in the commercial beef market; renowned for short gestation and low birth weight they have a very high percentage of saleable meat.

The sale brought buyers from near and far to view the sale and there were a good number of entries. All I can say is ‘wow’... they were not disappointed.

Congratulations to David Milburn (pictured above) who is now the proud owner of the champion bull Seaclan Duke Et purchased from S O.neill for 6,200 guineas. The reserve champion Rathlyon Dinah Et bred by Kathleen McDermott also achieved a very respectable price of 3,500 guineas.

The show was once again outstanding. I am looking forward to the next one.

Sandra Gowling

David Allen supports local Young Enterprise

Kirstie Somerville, Business Adviser at David Allen, yesterday had the honour of being invited to meet Caldew School’s Young Enterprise entrepreneurs.

The students had identified that there are many people in Cumbria who are struggling to feed themselves and their families – in support of this they have launched an appeal to help those most affected.

As part of their strategy they are asking for food donations and are currently collecting non-perishable food items from individuals and businesses throughout Cumbria - they will then distribute the food to those who are most vulnerable.

As part of the project they have to prepare a trade stand, develop their ideas and present their findings to a judging panel, then with Kirstie’s help they have been asked to prepare a Business Plan in support of their idea.

The students have already met with the Salvation Army and local councillors and by request will be meeting the mayor to outline their idea to him.

As a Young Enterprise Business Supporter we believe it’s important for business and education to work together. We want to inspire and help the young people of today to give them the confidence to succeed in their chosen career.

Would you like to help? If so, please bring your donation to the collection point situated in our office at Dalston.

Sara Deans

It's a great time to be an Equity Investor

Yesterday morning I attended a breakfast seminar held by the prominent fund management group Invesco Perpetual.

Invesco Perpetual run a number of such seminars at various locations around the UK including Carlisle; yesterday’s event was the first of 2012.

These seminars are always very informative and this particular event was no exception; focusing on the wider economy from a UK and international perspective.

The speaker, Neal Bailey, covered many issues concerning both financial advisers and investors which included the difficulties of the Eurozone, issues affecting the UK and what the next few months have in store for the rest of the world including the USA & China.

Video interviews with a number of Invesco Perpetual’s top fund managers, including Neil Woodford, gave their perspective on how the problems within the Eurozone would develop and whether the Euro would remain intact. John Greenwood (Chief Economist at Invesco Perpetual) believes that the Euro will survive but possibly without Greece and Portugal, however we may not see any form of resolution for at least two years.

There was a strong message delivered during the seminar, in that shares currently offer good value and investing in the right companies can provide good investment returns. As Nick Mustoe (Chief Investment Officer) said “it’s a great time to be an equity investor”.

Some investors are nervous about investing in stock markets but with interest rates at an all time low it’s the right time for us, as independent financial advisers to help individuals design an investment strategy that’s right for them.

Derek Baty

Breakfast with NABO at David Allen

This morning saw David Allen host our second NABO breakfast meeting. Our guests included members from the Carlisle area including David Martin from Lloyds Group and Mike Simmonds from System People together with other members from further afield; Lynn Mallinson from Country Puddings and Victoria Ferguson from Strutt & Co in Penrith.

On arrival, NABO kindly provided bacon butties which was a great start to the meeting and as usual we had a lively discussion and shared lots of ideas for developing our businesses.

NABO’s next event will be held at the Saints Rooms in Cockermouth on Wednesday 25 January at 6.30pm then following this, at the Andalusian in Carlisle on Tuesday 31 January at 6.00pm.

If you’d like more information or would like to book a place on a future event please contact tanya.moxon@gmail.com or lisa@winderhall.com.

Julie Osborn

Developing the mentor/mentee relationship

Following on from my last post, Julie Osborn, Michael Peile, Jill Hetherington and I finally got to meet our mentees yesterday at the student induction day at Richard Rose Academy.

Our aim as a mentor is to help and develop the mentees succeed in their careers through working together to set short and long term goals that will hopefully lead to life-long success – however I don’t think it’s going to be all one way and I’m sure we as mentors will all learn things about ourselves over the next 18 months that will help us to develop our own goals.

Yesterday, we started off with some random ice breaker questions that gave us an insight into them as individuals, into what drives them and what they hope to achieve with our help and it was great to see that they were all extremely positive and enthusiastic about the journey ahead.

For me personally, I can’t wait to get started – my mentee has already joined our David Allen football team and I am really looking forward to integrating him and our other mentees into the David Allen group. Overall there are 44 students involved in the project, each with their own mentor.

At David Allen we strive to provide the best possible experience for our mentees and hope that the relationships that we develop turn into valuable friendships.

Kirstie Somerville

Networking with NABO

Last night, I attended the first NABO networking event of 2012 in The All Saints Room in Cockermouth. It’s true what people say… that a new year brings new opportunities; it also brought a number of new faces to the meeting and turned out to be an open forum for like-minded people with a lively discussion on ways to develop and improve your business.

The next NABO meeting will be held at our offices in Dalston at 8.30am on Tuesday 17 January. If you would like to book a place please contact Lisa on 01900 85107 or email lisa@winderhall.co.uk no later than 12 noon tomorrow.

Julie Osborn