West Midlands News - Institute of Management Services

West Midlands News
Institute of Management Services — West Midlands Region
Spring 2013
Volume 13/1
Delivery of the WM News goes electronic
With effect from this issue, the great majority of members in the West Midlands Region
are receiving their copy of the WM News electronically. We have compared our list of
Region members with the e-mail addresses with those held in the IMS Head Office records and as result we have been able to significantly increase the number of members to
whom we can e-mail the WM News.
Special points of
interest:
 Electronic delivery of your newsletter
 Visit to the MG
car factory, Longbridge
Receiving the WM News electronically means members will receive their copy of the
newsletter more quickly and in full colour, and of course it reduces postage and printing
costs to the Region. The electronic newsletter is in the widely recognised PDF format and
if you do not already have suitable software you can download from the Internet free PDF
reader software from Adobe.
 Visit and tour of
St George’s Park,
national football
coaching centre
We recognise that for various reasons some members do not have the facilities to receive
their copy of the newsletter electronically or prefer to receive a paper copy of the WM
News via the Royal Mail and for those members we will continue to send them a copy by
conventional mail. If you want to change your method of delivery for the WM News
please complete the registration form on the last page of the newsletter
 Report of Region AGM
Spring Programme 2013

Brian Coley region Treasurer
steps down
The West Midlands Region
Board have organised an
interesting programme of
events for the Spring:
Inside this issue:
Editorial
2
Report of Denby
Pottery tour
2
Recognition of Brian 3
Coley ‘s long service
Board Directory
3
How secure is your PC 4
or laptop?
Reply slip
4
On Thursday 9th May at
1pm a visit and tour of the
MG car plant at Longbridge, Birmingham. This
is an opportunity to see the
phoenix of MG returning to
Longbridge, the site of the
old Austin works. The owners of the MG marquee are of
course the Chinese, and it
will be interesting to see
their future plans for the historic MG badge. This event
is open to members, their
family and friends at cost of
£2.50 per head but please
register your interest.
The Football Association
have at last opened their
national training centre at
St Georges Park, just outside Burton on Trent, and
the West Midlands Region
are arranging a visit and
tour of the facilities. Numbers are limited and this
event is sure to be popular
and there is a £5 per head
charge for members and family members including children.
If you are interested in visiting St Georges Park please
register your details using the
form at the back of the
Newsletter
Visits to:
MG car plant,
Longbridge
St Georges
Park, Burton on
Trent
Report of Region AGM
The West Midlands AGM was held at the Badgers Sett, Hagley on Saturday 12 th January, and the
Region Chair John Hopkinson welcomed Peter Storey, Stephen Cullen and Bill Acres to the meeting.
The Region Officers gave reports on the Regional activities during the year.
Brian Coley the retiring Region Treasurer gave his final report on the Region’s finances. John
Hopkinson thanked Brian for all his hard work and commitment over the years.
The following officers were elected for 2013:
Region Chair and Editor of the West Midlands News – John Hopkinson; Region Treasurer and National
Council Delegate – Julian Cutler; Region Secretary and Membership Development Officer – Ailsa Bell
Board Members: Bill Acres, Stephen Burchill, Stephen Cullen, and Peter Storey and Glyn Williams
Page 2
West Midlands News
Editorial…The Chair’s message: Continuing Economic Uncertainty
John Hopkinson
Chair West Midlands Region Board
..we are
getting very
mixed
messages
about our
economic
situation
Just as the West Midlands
Newsletter is being prepared, the disturbing news
has been announced that
Honda are to make 800
workers redundant at their
Swindon plant, as consequence of the falling car
sales in Europe. At the
same time Jaguar Land
Rover announced they
were increasing their
workforce by 800 employees at Solihull to
meet the demand for their
luxury cars in the developing countries. So we
are getting very mixed
messages about our economic situation.
The Honda announcement
was particularly concerning since only a short
time ago Honda were announcing major investment plans for their Swindon plant. This shows the
volatility of the economic
situation and the uncertainty of the European
economies as the Euro
crisis still looms.
The retail sector seems
no better with Jessops
following Comet into
liquidation and closure
and HMV in receivership. There are even
concerns over Marks
and Spencer’s performance but John Lewis
and its up market supermarket chain
Waitrose, report expanding sales. So once
more there are mixed
messages in the retail
area, with on line shopping taking a major
share of retail activities. There could be yet
more casualties in the
retail sector.
There also seems to be
very mixed messages
from other economic
statistics – for example
the recent falls in the
unemployed and a record number of people
in work, but youth unemployment continues at
high levels. Last year
over 2 million new cars
were bought in the UK,
the highest figure for a
number of years which
would seem to indicate
economic optimism by a
large number of people.
The Stock Market has
been very buoyant in the
early New Year but we
seem to be at the mercy of
international trends – the
continuing uncertainty of
the Euro crisis (more
problems will exhibit
themselves over the next
few months), the continuing uncertainty of the
United States economy
with the need to agree the
national budget and determine how the huge US
deficit is to be tackled
(these issues could yet
plunge the US back into
recession with risk it takes
the UK and other nations
with it).
Visit to Denby Pottery and Visitors Centre
On Wednesday 17th October a small party from
the West Midlands Region visited Denby Pottery near Derby for a
guided tour of the factory.
Sought after Denby
table ware
Please send any
comments on the
West Midlands
News to the Editor
John Hopkinson
john_e_hopkinson
@yahoo.co.uk
the times and a high level
of automation is now used
throughout the production
processes.
The business expanded
and prospered during Victorian times, greatly aided
by the improved transporDenby has been making
tation links of the new
the famous Denby
railways, and the comStoneware in the heart
pany produced a variety
of Derbyshire for over
200 years. The pottery
of utilitarian stoneware,
was founded in 1809
everything from ink
using local raw materiwells, marmalade jars to
als, and local clay is still
pottery insulators for the
used today in the manunew telegraph system.
facturing process, but
The company is now
the long established
business has moved with known for its table ware
A large proportion of the
output is exported across
the World and the writer
recalls seeing a large display of Denby tableware
in one of the leading department stores in Wellington, New Zealand.
The tour of the factory
lasted for about 1.5 hours,
and included an opportunity for visitors to try their
hand at producing a clay
model. Our thanks to our
knowledgeable guide, for
making this a very interesting visit.
Page 3
Volume 13/1
Brian Coley steps down as Region treasuer
At the Region AGM
on 12 January , Brian
Coley tended his resignation as member of
the West Midlands
Region Board and Region Treasurer. Brian
has given many years
service both to the Region and former Staffordshire Branch.
Brian and his wife
Margaret are moving
to Cockermouth in the
Lake District to fulfil
their ambition of retiring to that part of the
World, a picturesque
area which they have
grown very fond of over
the years.
Brian joined the Institute
in 1985 when he left the
Michelin Tyre Company
and worked for many
years in the pottery and
ceramics industry, including in later years responsibility for the Six Sigma
and Lean Manufacturing
for the European operations of Standard International; a job which took
him to many European
countries and United
States before his retirement in 2012.
The Region Chair John
Hopkinson formally
thanked Brian on behalf
of the Region for his long
and committed service
over many years and also
to personally thank him
for his help and support
which will be greatly
missed in the future.
We wish Brian and Margaret a long and happy
retirement at their new
home in the Lake District.
Brian has
given many
years
service..to the
Region and
former
Staffordshire
Branch
Region Chair John Hopkinson formally thanks
retiring Regional Treasurer Brian Coley for his
long and committed service to the Institute
From left to right; John Hopkinson—Region
Chair, Julian Cutler– newly appointed Region
Treasurer, Ailsa Bell-Region Secretary, and
Brian Coley retiring Region Treasurer
West Midlands Region Board Members Directory
Region Chair –
John Hopkinson FMS
Home: 0121-353-8025
E-mail:
john_e_hopkinson@yahoo.co
.uk
Region Treasurer—
Julian Cutler FMS
Business: 01789 202238
E-mail:
julian_cutler@nfumutual.co.u
k
Secretary and Member-
Stephen Cullen
ship Development Officer— Ailsa Bell MMS
Home: 0121 445 3959
E-mail:
ailsabell15@googlemail.com
E-mail:
sacullen@hotmail.co.uk
Executive Members:
Bill Acres
E-mail:
bill.acres@btinternet.com
Stephen Burchill
E-mail:
stephen.burchill@btopenworl
d.com
Peter Story
E-mail:
peter.story507@ntlworld.com
Glyn Williams FMS
Ailsa Bell
Regional Secretary
and Membership
Development
Officer
Institute of Management
Services
Achieving excellence through
people and productivity
Brooke House,
24 Dam Street,
Lichfield,
Staffs WS13 6AA
www.ims-productivity.com
Phone: 01543 266909
Fax: 01543 257848
E-mail: admin@ims-stowe.fsnet.co.uk
Company policies can sometimes be in conflict.....With acknowledgements to Scott Adams
How secure is your PC or Laptop?
1. Don ’ t use the same username and password everywhere
If you reuse your same password for different sites, you’re giving hackers access to the information they need to hack your bank account and
other networks you use. The problem is people use simple passwords for convenience - memorising too many is just a pain.
2. Don ’ t trust public wi-fi
When you go on a public wi-fi network you have no way to determine whether it’s a real network run by a reputable company, or a fake run to
steal your data
3. Don ’ t trust people you don’ t know, be careful about who you friend on Facebook
People randomly ‘friend’ other people, not realising they are giving away information that could be useful in a cyber attack - for instance
names of pets or family that might be a password or security question.
4. Don ’ t be fooled by ‘ cries for help ’
Some of the most effective attacks are "cries for help" from friends - sent by email from a hacked compromised machine. Many people respond
to that, particularly if it’s someone who travels a lot. It’s more convincing when you get an email saying that they are stranded abroad, and
need money.
5. Use uptodate antivirus software
Browsing the internet without uptodate anti-virus software is like driving without a seatbelt. It’s your first layer of defence,.
Reply Slip: To Julian Cutler, Region Event Secretary, 3 Birch Grove, Wellesbourne, Warwick CV35 9SJ
E-mail: Julian_Cutler@nfumutual.co.uk. Please register me for the following:
Thursday 9th May at 1 pm
Visit and tour of MG Car Factory,
Longbridge, Birmingham
Yes/No
To be confirmed and advised to Visit and tour of St George’s Park,
members who have registered National Football Coaching Centre
an interest
Yes/No
Guest names—contribution for
Members and guests of £2.50 per
head
Guest names—a contribution for
members and guests of £5 per
head
Member Name Telephone and/or e-mail address.
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