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IoD South – Latest News!

All the latest business support can be found on our Coronavirus Support Hub.

If you would like to help your fellow members by sharing ideas or resources for the hub, email us.

We are in regular direct contact with Government and will continue to make your voice heard, seeking the support you need. Let us know what Government needs to hear by emailing our Policy Team, if you haven’t already done so to sign up for Policy voice.

The IoD are committed to continuing to providing connection, development and representation for our members during this challenging period, including:

• Providing you the information, resources, and guidance you need to respond in the weeks ahead. Our Information and Advisory Services, including our Legal and Tax helplines, remain operational.
• Exploring all avenues to further enhance our digital offering, in terms of both professional development and member connectivity. Please visit our Digital academy which includes bitesize CPD and our IoD South Events and Webinar page here.

IoD Virtual Office

Many businesses are changing the way they operate in the face of Covid-19 and part of this shift includes more businesses using remote reception and registered/mailing address services. At the IoD we have the Virtual Office service that provides this based at our Pall Mall location. A summary of the VO services and costs can be found here.

The South region of the Institute of Directors has members spread over a geographical area stretching from Banbury in the north to Dover in the east, with seven individual branches.

IoD South is home to a huge variety of businesses and is one of high output and achievement. All business interests are represented in its membership and the activities of the region and its branches provide an excellent platform for inspiration, discussion and development of ideas.

The region is responsible for the development and management of a programme of strategic events and seminars for IoD South members including highly prestigious events such as the annual London and South Director of the Year Awards.

Upcoming Courses

IoD Professional Director Series | CPD in your region

The IoD is here to help you be the best leader you can be. Whether you’ve been a director for days or decades, there is always something new to discover about the role, your responsibilities, and the business world around you. In an economy that’s changing by the day, it’s never been more important to be on top of your game with professional development.

To help you understand your role as a director, and future-proof your board and organisation, we’ve developed our Professional Director Series – bringing accessible and digestible CPD to your region on the topics that matter. The whole series – wherever you are in the UK - is mapped to the IoD Director Competency Framework, keeping your learning relevant, up-to-date and in line with your professional development ambitions. Whether you’re embarking on the Certificate in Company Direction or are a qualified Chartered Director, this CPD series is the perfect accompaniment – or refresher – to your existing knowledge.

You’ll also be part of a group of leaders from organisations of all shapes and sizes across your region, giving you the opportunity to connect, learn from each other, share your setbacks and successes, and encourage each other at the most senior level.

Future Directors

Succession planning and developing the next generation of directors can be a daunting task and relies on the alignment of employee ambition, company resources, finances and time. To help you nurture the leaders of your organisation, we've created our Future Directors course.

Across three days, delegates will explore, analyse and develop the key attributes of a director.

The course is designed by expert IoD course leaders, and is available as a residential or non-residential programme, as well as the option to be tailored to the specific needs of your future directors and delivered in-company.

Delegates will meet and be inspired by a Chartered Director during their time on the course - men and women who are advocates for professional development and have learned valuable lessons to share with those on a pathway to directorship.

Upcoming Events

IoD South holds many engaging and informative events, webinars and networking sessions across its branches. IoD South webinars can be found here.

Upcoming Events

IoD South holds many engaging and informative events and networking sessions across its branches. Below are a few events which we think you will be interested. The full list of IoD South events can be found below.

South Branches

IoD South has seven branches: Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, Berkshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Sussex.

Berks Berks
Bucks Bucks
Hampshire Hampshire
Kent Kent
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire
Surrey Surrey
Sussex Sussex
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About IoD Berkshire

IoD Berkshire Ambassador Bios

IoD Members drop in

Do you have a question for your local IoD team or would just like to visit your branch hub?

Please join us once a month at our local IoD Berkshire Hub at Arena Business Centre, Winnersh to drop in and meet your local Branch Manager and ambassadors.

It’s a great way to connect, collaborate and ask any questions you may have about your membership. Find out more about the IoD’s benefits such as, member information and advice services, training, PD courses and events that can help develop you as well as your business. We are here to help you Connect, Develop and Influence.

For more information and to book your place, please contact: Julie Jones, Julie.Jones@iod.com T: 020 8078 4009

Member Drop in dates at Arena Business Centre, Winnersh:

Friday 3^rd Sept 10:00 – 16:00 Julie Jones, Branch Manager
10:00 – 12:00 Sebastian Gray, IoD Berkshire Content Communication & Social Ambassador

Friday 1^st Oct 10:00 – 16:00 Julie Jones, Branch Manager
11:30 – 14:30 David Fawcus, Governance and Policy and Membership Retention Ambassador

Friday 5^th Nov 10:00 – 16:00 Julie Jones, Branch Manager
10:00 – 12:00 Gitte Ganderup, IoD Berkshire Membership Retention & Education Ambassador

Our Purpose

We are a safe space for our members to develop innovative and challenging ideas and make peer connections to co-develop as effective and socially responsible leaders for the betterment of our members, their businesses and the wider community.

Our Vision

"We will deliver excellent value to the current and future leaders and their organisations, while giving them the best membership experience at the Berkshire Branch Level. We are committed to diversity and inclusion to represent the society we live in, and will make a positive social impact on our communities".

The Team: You can view our full team’s bios here but for convenience we have included their names and email addresses below. Please feel free to reach out to the relevant person with any questions or queries you may have.

Raj Singh, Chair
Julie Jones, julie.jones@iod.com
Graham Kiy, Ambassador for Membership Experience Management
Yahya Alamari, Ambassador for Membership Experience Management
Biyi Oloko, Ambassador for Member Acquisitions
David Fawcus, Ambassador for Member Retention & Corporate Governance Policy
Gitte Ganderup, Ambassador for Member Retention and Education Sector
Laura Redman-Thomas, Ambassador for Member Acquisitions and Equality & Diversity
Sebastian Gray, Ambassador for Content, Communications & Social Media

We are social: We have two LinkedIn pages. A private group for members to connect with each other, which can be accessed here and a public page where we share all the latest news and events related to both the branch and national IoD. You can access this here .

Events: We host online and offline events throughout the year. Our popular Cliveden Breakfast Club is a good place to start and discussions around a topic lead by a table host is the usual format. We aim to restart this event in September 2021. We hold a variety of further events including breakfast briefings, directors lunches, economic updates, informal networking and meet the team events and online events focused on topics around the boardroom, wellbeing, business economics and more. All of this can be found here and on our LinkedIn page.

IoD Berkshire

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About Buckinghamshire branch

At IoD Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes we aim to inspire our members to be better directors, help them connect with others, and get the support they need to grow their business.
We do this by offering a wide variety of events and activities to complement the general benefits of being an IoD member and create a community for likeminded individuals to share their knowledge and experience. We believe that by supporting our members to be effective directors, and their businesses to be as good as they can be, we bring economic benefits to the whole of Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes.

Main Focus of Activity

Our committee covers a wide range of topics that reflect the needs and interests of our Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes members – Chartered Director; Young Directors; IoD 99’s; Education & Skills; Small Business; IT & Cyber; Digital Economy; Infrastructure; Transport & Logistics, and Membership. But as a team, our three primary areas of focus for the branch in 2019 are:-

1. Building a diverse and engaged Director community We believe we should capitalise on the vibrant mix of experience we have, and proactively develop opportunities for our members to equally be exposed to the ideas of the young, the wisdom of the wise, and the collective experience of all.

2. Fostering Entrepreneurship Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes is a UK hotbed of entrepreneurship, and we believe as the IoD we should be offering support and encouragement to new businesses in our area, to ensure we help build the next generation of Directors.

3. Education and Engagement with Learners We strongly believe that Directors are only as good as their personal and professional development, and therefore want our members to gain the maximum from their membership through a programme of learning opportunities, so we are creating an ongoing schedule of events to complement the opportunities offered by the IoD centrally.

4. Events

We hold a variety of events across Bucks and MK area from informal networking to content driven breakfasts with discussions around a topic. We are always looking for new ideas for events so please contact Juliet Rushent with your ideas.

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Sponsorship Opportunities

We are focused on working closely with every part of the business community here in Buckinghamshire and then supporting them to achieve success. To underpin this, we want to expose our members to like-minded professional businesses and to gain from a wide range of expertise, so, member or non-member, if you would be keen to talk to us about contributing to and supporting our events programme, please contact Juliet Rushent – admin.buckinghamshire@iod.net

Ambassadors

Our committee is made up of business people from across Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes and from a variety of different sectors. Each ambassador is dedicated to making Bucks and Milton Keynes IoD an exciting and effective group for our members. If you are interested in joining our committee please emailJuliet Rushent

A full list of our ambassadors can be found here

About Hampshire branch

Hampshire and Isle of Wight IoD is recognised as the premier business organisation for the area. We aim to represent the concerns of our members locally, nationally and beyond, facilitate networking relations and provide an unsurpassed platform for conducting business.&

IoD Hampshire is a large and proactive branch. As well as laying on a range of events, we work very closely with other business organisations in the area, and have representation on various boards, such as the Local Enterprise Partnership, where our objective is to ensure that business remains involved and engaged.

Drawing on the practical experience of members and the expertise of the IoD Policy Unit, we have developed a strong business voice. Lobbying government is an important function of the IoD and helps Hampshire business to make its voice heard.

About Kent branch

The Kent branch of the Institute of Directors has a large membership base of nearly 1200 members from the full range of industry – agriculture, engineering, construction, transport and communications, manufacturing and the service sector – and we have particularly strong representation from the banking, financial and business service sectors.

Female members account for almost 16 per cent whilst members under 40 account for almost 11 per cent, reflecting our initiatives to fully represent the movers and shakers in business today. Advance members equate to 5% and Kent Chartered Directors total almost 3%. We also have 16 young student members represent Directors of the future.

Our vision

Helping Kent business leaders succeed through making powerful connections.

IoD Kent sponsored by:

About Oxfordshire branch

IoD Oxfordshire is an active and engaged branch, representing many members on a local basis. We work closely with the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to ensure the county continues to see an influx of investment. To that end, committee members have been taking on more ambassadorial roles to ensure business interests are fully represented in vital areas.

IoD Members drop in at Leander Club, Henley-on-Thames
Do you have a question for your local IoD team or would just like to visit your branch hub?

Please join us once a month at our local IoD Oxfordshire Hub at Leander Club, Henley-on-Thames to drop in and meet your local Senior Branch Manager, Branch chair and ambassadors.

Member Drop in dates at Leander Club, Henley-on-Thames:

Tues 14th Sept 10:00 – 16:00 Juliet Rushent, Senior Branch Manager
10:00 – 12:00 John Buxton, IoD Oxfordshire Governance and Policy ambassador

Wed 13th Oct 10:00 – 16:00 Juliet Rushent, Senior Branch Manager
10:00 – 12:00 Ambassador TBC

Wed 10th Nov 10:00 – 18:00 Juliet Rushent, Senior Branch Manager
16:00 – 18:00 Mark Johnson CDir, IoD Oxfordshire chair

Have your say on 'Oxfordshire Plan 2050'

A consultation period has begun for the: 'Oxfordshire Plan 2050' and closes on Friday 8th October 2021. It is very important that our business voices are heard.

How do you see the development of your company over the next 3 decades – do you have a strategy for a changing business environment?
Will the Oxford Cambridge Arc create a positive or a negative impact on businesses in Oxfordshire, particularly in Oxford city centre or the Science/Techo parks?
Affordable Housing is also a key issue for recruitment
Youth unemployment is currently high yet businesses generally tend to employ experienced people!
Will on-line/working from home become the norm?

Please contribute with your ideas: visit the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 website for more information: https://oxfordshireplan.org

Committee members - Would you like to join our local team?

Our committee is made up of business people from across Oxfordshire and from a variety of different sectors. Each committee member is dedicated to making Oxfordshire IoD an exciting and effective group for our members. If you would like to join our committee or to find out more please email Juliet Rushent

We are taking a particularly active interest in:

Education

We are building strong links with Young Enterprise and academy chains in the county, tackling the challenges of Generation Y’s entry into our workforces, asking what makes for employability and how we can boost it at a time of significant threats to further education funding.

Housing

House prices in the county are considerably above national average, but wages aren’t, with Oxford itself one of the least affordable cities in the country. IoD Oxfordshire is lobbying the LEP, ensuring the voice of business is heard in any measures taken to tackle this problem.

Employment

While the private sector is thriving in the county, the public sector is one of the largest employers, and the cuts continue. We need to be aware of the impact of these on ourselves and our staff, and, by working closely with the LEP and the various councils, we aim to represent and inform businesses.

Events

We hold interesting and enjoyable events, helping you build your professional development and widen your circle of business contacts. Our popular Blenheim breakfasts will continue, as will our recently introduced Connect evenings.

About Surrey branch

IoD Surrey branch has a large member base spread across our county which borders London, and is ideally situated between the international airports of Heathrow and Gatwick. Members profiles are broad and their businesses reflect the diversity of the business community in Surrey.

Chair Sue Lawrence, the staff and volunteer Ambassadors combine to form the committee with a remit to lead the IoD Surrey branch in support of branch members, their businesses and the Surrey business community.

Aligned to the IoD principles to connect, develop and influence, we organise valuable and engaging business events to boost personal professional development, extend networks and create opportunities to share director level knowledge and experience.

Alongside fellow IoD South branches, we host regular business briefings direct from the Bank of England to share the most up-to-date economic intelligence on a range of issues from the state of business to the outlook for inflation, direct from the Bank of England. We also contribute to, and are members of, various Surrey business boards ensuring the voice of our member community contributes to local initiatives.

Our Ambassadors lead on various initiatives, special interest groups or activities for the benefit of our members. Find out which Ambassador is most relevant to you, your business or your interests on our contact page.

Our Ambassadors Our Events

About Sussex Branch

IoD Sussex branch has a large member base throughout the county. Sussex is rich in business variety, from the area’s traditional agriculture to the cutting-edge creativity of Brighton and Hove, and we encompass it all at IoD Sussex.

Ambassadors

Our Committee comprises of volunteers from a variety of business sectors. Everyone on the committee is dedicated to making the Sussex branch an effective and enticing group for members. We hope to foster a culture of mutual support in which members help each other to be more effective as directors and to help their businesses grow. Ambassadors are usually present at local events and are always available if you have questions.

Please let us know if you think you might like to join the Sussex committee. We always welcome new members.

Membership engagement

To encourage engagement and networking we launched the IoD Sussex LinkedIn group where you can connect with fellow members and find out about our latest events. You will find it at LinkedIn under ‘IoD Sussex – members only’. We also hold bi-annual IoD Connect evenings where you can meet other IoD members from Sussex over an informal drink. Please look at our events page for more information, typing 'sussex' into the search box.

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