This exclusive club is only for Founders, Directors, Owners or Key Decision Makers of local businesses who have 5 or more employees, and who would benefit from building productive & profitable relationships with the owners of similar sized businesses.
If that’s you and you would like to experience 1845 Connect you can join us as a guest. Find more details here.
UPCOMING EVENTS
January 21st 2025 // Member Event
Venue: The Fleece, 11 Church Green, Witney OX28 4AZ
Topic: “Let’s Chat about ChatGPT” What will AI do for your industry?
RECENT PAST EVENTS
December 17th 2024 // Member Event
Venue: Carpenters Arms, Fulbrook, Burford, Oxfordshire, OX18 4BH
Speaker: James Hunt
Topic: Resistance to change: a corporate lawyer’s perspective
November 19th 2024 // Member Event
Venue: The Bird In Hand Inn, Witney
Speaker: Bryn Perry
Topic: Another Ewenique 1845 Supper Club Experience
October 15th 2024 // Member Event
Venue: Carpenters Arms, Fulbrook, Burford, Oxfordshire, OX18 4BH
Speaker: Ian Woollard
Topic: The Life of a Publican: the challenges of operating a pub
September 17th 2024 // Member Event
Venue: The Fleece, 11 Church Green, Witney OX28 4AZ
Speaker: Vince Butler
Topic: RSVP Safety – “Safety Properly”
August 20th 2024 // Member Event
Venue: Carpenters Arms, Fulbrook, Burford, Oxfordshire, OX18 4BH
Speaker: James Hunt – Sophie Enterprises
Topic: Dragons, Angels or Demons: How best to fund your enterprise
July 16th 2024 // Guest Event
Venue: Carpenters Arms, Fulbrook, Burford, Oxfordshire, OX18 4BH
Sofie Enterprises Annual Birthday Party
June 18th 2024 // Member Event
Venue: The Bird In Hand Inn, Witney
Speaker: Ben Newnum – Nalas Baby
Topic of Discussion: Running a fast-growing start-up: behind closed doors
May 21st 2024 // Member Event
Venue: Carpenters Arms, Fulbrook, Burford, Oxfordshire, OX18 4BH
Speaker: Simon Gregory – Clear & Creative Communications
Topic of Discussion: Branding and Websites
April 16th 2024 // Guest Event
Venue: Carpenters Arms, Fulbrook, Burford, Oxfordshire, OX18 4BH
Speaker: Sam Hodgetts – FCP Technologies
Topic: How to start a software company and never ever make any money – an Australian tale
March 19th 2024 // Members Event
Venue: The Fleece, 11 Church Green, Witney OX28 4AZ
Topic of Discussion: Dragons, Angels or Demons: How Best to Fund your Enterprise
More war stories from James and Ian are promised, but come along with your own stories of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the Corporate world.
February 20th 2024 // Member Event
Venue: Carpenters Arms, Fulbrook, Burford, Oxfordshire, OX18 4BH
Topic of Discussion: The Business Owners Succession Strategy.
A lively evening with some reverse psychology from James Hunt and Ian Woollard about their favourite subject, the vendor-funded MBO. Including some war stories of exits that did not go to plan!
January 16th 2024 // Member Event
Venue: The Fleece, 11 Church Green, Witney OX28 4AZ
Topic of Discussion:Top Tax Tips from Tom of The Academy Partnership
A romp through the tax jungle with some great ideas on what to do before April 2024. Members have already reported that they found the talk very practical and informative (and actionable!).
November 21st 2023 // Member Event
Venue: The Bird In Hand Inn, Witney
Topic of Discussion: Food For Change.
Speaker: Marianne Hill
November 15th 2022 // Member Event
Venue: The Bay Tree Hotel, 12 Sheep St, Burford OX18 4LW
Topic of Discussion: Flexible working with Helen Wright of 9-2-3 Jobs
9-2-3 Jobs are an award-winning recruitment consultancy that’s passionate about breaking the conventions of nine to five. They do two things really well: they place talented professionals into flexible roles, and help businesses embed and embrace flexible working. Helen Wright founded 9-2-3 Jobs in 2015, as she was personally frustrated at the lack of flexible roles in our workplaces. After looking around her local playground one afternoon, she realised she wasn’t alone, and saw that there were lots of talented individuals all seeking to work in a way that wasn’t bound by the office-based 9-5.
Over the years Helen and her team have seen more and more organisations persuaded by the benefits of flexible working; and the pandemic, with the way it has dramatically impacted how and when we work, has given increased impetus to this workplace revolution. The 9-2-3 team are all passionate advocates of flexible working, and love finding incredible talent to help businesses thrive.
October 18th 2022 // Guest Speaker Event
Venue: The Bay Tree Hotel, 12 Sheep St, Burford OX18 4LW
Speaker: Nick Jones of Partners& (and formerly Focus ORM)
Nick Jones, an insurance veteran, joins us for this quarterly open supper. We’re coming together over supper to hear what Nick learned about his MBO spin out and then growing his insurance brokerage business to a successful exit to a private equity-backed industry consolidator. Up close and personal, hear the ecstasy and the agony (that all owners experience) on the long road to freedom.
September 27th 2022 // Member’s Event
Venue: The Bird in Hand, Witney
Speaker: Bethany Joy, Brand Voice Strategist
Bethany Joy is a brand voice strategist, helping businesses define their organisational identity and develop language that embodies it. She began her working life in charity communications almost 15 years ago, going on to work in a variety of marketing and brand development roles in the UK, the US, and Australia before starting her own business here in 2016. She’s a regular conference speaker and podcast guest and also runs Marketing Camp, a fun and practical monthly meet-up aimed at supporting marketers in SMEs across Oxfordshire.
August 16th 2022 // Members Event
Venue: The Fleece, 11 Church Grn, Witney OX28 4AZ
Topic of Discussion: Alternative Investments
When directors Christopher & Steven Allpress acquired Knights Fine Jewellery in 2017 from the previous directors, they realised the potential for an old-fashioned approach to quality service. They rest on morals and a ‘people are people’ attitude toward their clients, treating individuals as they would expect to be treated and holding up their hands should they be unable to provide the service needed; that said if they can’t they normally know someone who can!
Their focus for 2022 is gold & silver investment grade bullion offering services to corporations and private individuals who wish to diversify their portfolio. They also celebrate momentous occasions by supplying high quality jewels, high end watches and bespoke jewellery designs to members of the public.
But why gold investment? They branched into gold investment due to their old-fashioned approached to wealth management, ‘If I don’t hold it, I don’t own it.‘ That and a general mistrust of the corporate and financial institutions which have shaped the world as we see today and are responsible for the huge shifts in wealth witnessed over the past 25 years. They believe in community and shun the idea of a mechanised, digital future where wealth and power are concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer individuals.
They would never recommend anyone to put all their trust into a certain asset, it is a matter of spreading risk over several potentials. But precious metals represent a historically and culturally significant form of wealth storage which has been successfully utilised to hedge against inflation for generations, it also sits under your control outside of the banking system meaning during crisis you are not beholding to another entity.
They look forward to discussing in more detail and answering questions on the 16th of August!
July 19th 2022
Speaker: Jade Wilcox, Wilcox Limousines
A personal and business journey
Jade is the CEO of Wilcox Limousines, the leading British coachbuilders established in 1948. For over 70 years the business has been providing new and used funeral vehicles, customised and armoured vehicles. They customise Jaguars, Vauxhalls, Volvo and Fords at three locations in Great Britain and employ over 150 people. Jade will share her very personal journey and provide insights on the challenges she has faced at the helm of this third generation family business.
April 19th 2022
Speaker: Paul Essery, My Sales Guru International
Selling Simplified from a True Sales Guru
March 15th 2022
Speaker: Leah Spasova
Sexuality and Relationships in the Workplace: setting ourselves free from taboos
Event Format
The Format of each meeting is generally as detailed below. However timings and content may differ slightly.
Guest Event
18:45–19:05 – Arrival & Drinks in the Bar
19:10–19:30 – Sit Down, Welcome & Intros
19:45–20:30 – Supper
20:30–21:00 – Guest Speaker
21:00–21:30 – Questions & Discussion
Members Only Event
18:45–19:05 – Arrival & Drinks in the Bar
19:10-19:30 – New Member Hot Seat / Discussion
19:45–21:15 – Supper
Join Us
Membership costs £79.00 per month and requires a visit as a guest and a short informal interview.