News

The Isle of Man Business Network (“IOMBN”) is pleased to announce it will be supporting the Institute of Directors’ (“IOD”) Annual Spring Lunch on Friday 15^th April at The Sefton Hotel with guest speaker Ruchir Rodrigues, Managing Director of Digital Banking at Barclays.

In his role, Ruchir Rodrigues is responsible for developing the business and commercial strategy, managing the roadmap and defining the customer experience for Digital channels, products and propositions across Personal and Corporate Banking.

“It’s great to have the IOMBN on board for this year’s Spring Lunch,” said Clive Parrish, Chairman of the IOD. “We believe that our members share common goals and aspirations, it’s an ideal event to bring both the IOD and the IOMBN together. I’d like to thank the IOMBN committee for supporting this event and to Barclays for kindly sponsoring the lunch once again.”

The Lunch will also host the IOD’s inaugural Director of the Year Awards Ceremony, sponsored by Appleby, which will see the Judges announce and present the awards to some of the Island’s most exceptional and inspirational business leaders.

“We are very pleased to be supporting the IOD’s Spring Lunch,” said Rachael Hooper, Chairman of the IOMBN. “As the Lunch will also host the first year of the IOD’s Director of the Year Awards ceremony, it will be an ideal event to bring the two organisations together to celebrate excellence in leadership on the Isle of Man.”

The Isle of Man Business Network (“IOMBN”) is pleased to announce it will be hosting a speed networking event on the 4th of February 2016. This event will be held in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (“CIMA”).

Back by popular demand, the event will incorporate all of the elements of previous speed networking events held under the JCC IOM brand.

The IOMBN is delighted to once again welcome Paragon Recruitment as sponsors of the evening which will be held in the Courthouse Club (downstairs bar of The Courthouse) from 6pm on Thursday 4th February 2016. The evening will consist of a short presentation on successful networking skills followed by a speed networking session where you will be given to the chance to put those skills into practice!

“I’m very much looking forward to this event as our speed networking evenings are a perfect example of what the Isle of Man Business Network is about. The aim of the evening is for our members and guests to create new connections across all business sectors in a fun and relaxed setting,” said Rachael Hooper, Chairman of The IOMBN. “The evening also provides our attendees with the opportunity to learn techniques on how to present themselves and make the right impact in the professional market. I’d like to thank Paragon for supporting this event once again.”

To purchase tickets please visit the events section of our website at iombn.im or to find out more please contact us at events@iombn.im.

The Isle of Man Business Network (“IOMBN”) is pleased to announce it is holding its first Annual Budget Breakfast under its new name (previously JCC IOM). Held at The Palace Hotel and Casino on Wednesday 17th February, this gives members and their guests a chance to hear from the Island’s Treasury Minister Eddie Teare MHK, who will talk about the highlights and implications of the 2016-2017 Isle of Man Budget.

The Budget is the Isle of Man Government’s most important economic policy tool that translates Government policies, commitments and goals into decisions on how much revenue to raise, how to raise it and how to use these funds to meet the competing needs of the island.

“The budget impacts the whole of the Island so our Budget Breakfast is always a very popular event. It gives everyone who attends an opportunity to hear first-hand about the Treasury’s plans and to address our Treasury Minister directly with any questions they may have about the Budget,” said Rachael Hooper, Chairman of The IOMBN. “Our thanks go to the Treasury Minister for kindly agreeing to take time out from his busy schedule to come and speak to us and to ILS World for their generous sponsorship of this event.”

To purchase tickets please visit the events section of our website at iombn.im or to find out more please contact us at events@iombn.im.

The Isle of Man Business Network (“IOMBN”) is pleased to announce that its first learning event under the new brand was a great success; a presentation on Digital Opportunities from our guest speaker Ian Morgan, Managing Director of Digital Corporate Products and Channels at Barclays.

Ian joined Barclays in May 2015 as Managing Director of Digital Corporate Products and Channels, with the specific responsibility to define and execute the digital transformation of the Corporate Bank.

Prior to his current role at Barclays, Ian was Director of the Finance sector team at Google UK from 2006 until May 2015. As part of the UK leadership team, Ian was responsible for managing Google’s Digital relationships with the UK’s major financial services providers, to help formulate and execute their digital transformation programmes. Whilst at Google, he succeeded in building and maintaining in excess of $300m annualised digital revenues through highly consultative engagement at Senior Executive level.

Ian has also had a series of senior Marketing and Product Development roles within both Thomas Cook and BUPA.

During the event, Ian covered a variety of current topics including:

• An overview of the digital landscape including key technology trends;
• Impact on consumer behaviour;
• How businesses should evolve their strategies to take advantage of digital opportunities; and
• How businesses can become more innovative to move at the same pace as the digital environment.

This was a really insightful event,” said Rachael Hooper, Chairman of The IOMBN. “We are now living in such a fast pace environment that is it important to understand how the businesses we work for should evolve their strategies to take advantage of all of the digital opportunities that are out there. I hope everyone took something away from the event. I’d like to thank Barclays for their generous sponsorship of the event and to Ian for coming and talking to our members.”

At one of the biggest events of the Christmas season, over 90 guests joined the Junior Chamber of Commerce (“JCC”) to celebrate the launch of their new brand identity; The Isle of Man Business Network (“IOMBN”).

“This is a very exciting time for us,” said Rachael Hooper, Chairman of the Isle of Man Business Network. “We decided it was time to take a brave leap; to break ties with the old name, the logo and the brand, so that our new name could reflect what we actually do and so that even more people could realise that our events are designed for them.”

The JCC was originally set up in 1992 and was connected to the Isle of Man Chamber of Commerce. Over the years the JCC has evolved into a separate organisation and has become the leading society for business networking and self-development on the Island. The society used to operate an age restriction, limiting membership to people at a “junior” stage in their career. Now, their events are open to everyone, at any stage in their career. The name Junior Chamber of Commerce had become a hurdle for members and speakers to jump over before being able to take advantage of what the society has to offer.

“Some of our speakers have genuinely turned up to our events expecting to present to students and 6th formers, and then were pleasantly surprised to see such a cross section of the Island’s business community,” continued Rachael. “We would like to thank everyone who made this change possible, particularly our members and of course the committee. We’re a not for profit organisation, run by volunteers and it has been inspiring to see the level of time and effort that has been put into making this change a reality”

The committee started evaluating the brand in March this year and decided that it didn’t quite fit what the organisation was trying to achieve. During the following months, the committee looked closely at their strategy, particularly paying attention to what their members wanted, and discussing their plans to re-brand with them. The name change was officially passed at September’s AGM, which allowed the committee to look at the brand identity and change it so it reflected who they are and what they stand for.

“I’d like to congratulate Rachael, Richard [Smith – Vice Chairman], Kate [Parrish – President] and the rest of the committee,” said Minister Laurence Skelly, MHK. “I was fortunate to be included in one of their strategy meetings earlier on in year to discuss the re-brand. Networking on the Isle of Man is vital which is why organisations like The Isle of Man Business Network are important for our economy, bringing together like-minded business professionals. I’ve attended several of their events this year and they always bring such a cross section of the Island’s business community together. Their new tagline; “Join. Connect. Communicate.” exemplifies essential goals for the Island’s business community, to help drive the economy forward. I think this is a great transformation for the organisation and I wish them all the best for the future. Well done everyone.”