February 2014 - British Business Club Düsseldorf eV

The British Business Club Düsseldorf eV
Web address www.britishbusinessclub.de
NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2014
Your Committee: 2014
Position
Honorary Chairman
Honorary Vice Chairman
Honorary Secretary
HonoraryTreasurer (
Coopted)
Honorary Social Secretary
Club Auditor
Website Manager
Name
Thelma Matuk
Brian Hicks
Sylvia Tunmore
Paul Stheeman
Telephone
0172 - 9718 422
0176- 3268 8583
0173-5209730
E-Mail
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Justine Cross
0152- 5562 5978
[email protected]
0211 - 9448 219
Other Key Contributors: 2014
John Evans
Steve Harris
[email protected]
[email protected]
Dear all,
Well what can I say about our two events held in January this year- BRILLIANT! The Club held its first event at
the Residence of the British Consul General, Mrs Susan Speller, the President of the Club in the form of a
musical soiree. Anna Shevchenko-Boehmer was our guest violinist for the evening playing a medley of music
from her portfolio. Our members also had the opportunity to network and make new contacts during the evening.
Now To Our Burns Night...........
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The Club received a plethora of very favourable comments about the Burns Night held on the 31st January. Here
are a snapshot of some of them below....
“ I´d like to say a big Thank You very much for your efforts in organizing the Burns-Night. I hadn´t had experienced such a ceremony before, and I
appreciated all of it. The Haggis was absolutely delicious, and the Whisky blended in quite nicely... It was really great fun, and we had a splendid evening!
Thanks again, and please carry on!....”
“ Can I just say the Burns Supper was very very good. I as a wee Scotsman have been to many a supper this was one of the best, The address, odes etc.
were very well planned and executed. The organisation and meal were excellent but all my guests had a great time, as well as myself.
So thanks to all involved in the planning. I raise my hat to you all. I look forward to next year's Supper...”
“Many thanks for inviting us to join you all for a really fun 'Burns Night', we really enjoyed ourselves.
I'm sure it was a lot of hard work for you and your team but well worth it!..”
“A most enjoyable night last night. A BIG thank you to you both, Thelma - for asking me to come, loved every minute, and to Gabrielle for running the
dancing (I hope I didn't step on your feet tooooooo many times)...
It was a GREAT night, food excellent and the company most pleasurable...”
There will be a lot more photos placed on our website in the next few days so please take a look. We had nearly
100 members and guests attending the Burns Night this year. David Johnston, the piper for the evening who has
also played for HRH The Queen gave a dashing performance of songs on the bagpipes including Auld Lang Syne
and Mull of Kintyre He was also joined by Ken McKinny in the finale after midnight as we danced the night
away. The Industrie Club did us proud with the best every Haggis, Gabrielle introduced us to some great dances,
Andrew Gardiner addressed the Haggis and the Immortal Memory, Tam led the Selkirk Grace, Avril performed
the toast to the laddies and Ken the toast to the lassies. And it was all washed down with the best ever bottles of
whisky FREE for everyone on the evening.
The charity raffle was in aid of Help For Heroes and Bahnhof Mission and raised 1100 euros on the evening. I
would like to personally thank P&O Ferries, The Hilton Hotel, Grohe AG and Scottish Development
International for donating prizes for which we are extremely grateful.
Our February event is attracting a lot of interest so please sign up if you have not already done so. I shall be in
touch shortly with details about our March event.
The number of hits on the website is gradually increasing. For Jan 2014 we had 392 unique visitors and 8792 hits.
This points to the fact that we are a highly successful business club and are now the FIRST point of contact for
any businessman or woman wanting to network in Dusseldorf and attend an interesting event portfolio.
I wish you a fantastic Carnival month and look forward to seeing you all soon.
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Greetings from the Isle of Wight where I am writing this newsletter and now on my way to look round Osborne
House, another English Heritage gem!
Best Wishes
Thelma
Chairman
British Business Club
PS If anyone left behind a small blue umbrella at the Residence after the New Year Reception, then please let
me know.
Marketing The Club:
Justine markets our events to the expat community in the Düsseldorf region using an online forum called
www.meetup.com. All of our events will be listed on here together with details of our website. Please open
www.meetup.com and search on Düsseldorf where you will find details of our club. Registration is free.
The British Business Club is now on Linked In and the Club also has a Twitter account and is now on Facebook.
These links are now shown on our website. For further details please contact Justine.
Justine
Social Secretary
Dates For The Diary!
Tuesday 25th February 2014
“The Trials & Tribulations of UK & German Employment Law” sponsored
by Jones Day, Industrie Club, Dusseldorf
March 2014-02-08
tbc
Thursday 9th April 2014
AGM, Industrie Club, Dusseldorf
Thursday 12th June 2014
“ Life at the sharp end – 15 years of flying Concorde”, John Hutchinson, Ex
Pilot, Concorde
Friday 12th December 2014
BBCD Christmas Party
Treasurer Corner
Payment For Events:
In recent months participation at our events has increased significantly. Of course we welcome this trend and will
strive to continue offering interesting events.
Until now, we have asked for prepayment by bank transfer only for participation at the larger events and have
taken in cash on the evening for the other events. With increasing numbers this is becoming more and more
cumbersome for the Treasurer, so the Committee has decided in future the preferred method of payment shall be
by transfer to the BBCD’s bank account prior to the event. The option of paying in cash on the evening remains,
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but you would greatly assist the work of the Treasurer if you were to transfer the amounts due beforehand. At
your request the Treasurer will continue to issue invoices or receipts.
For most events we have to organize food and/or drinks. As this has to be done in advance may we ask that, if
you are unable to attend an event you have registered for, you let us know 48 hours in advance. Otherwise we
may not be able to change the participant numbers and will have to charge you for the costs. This particular is the
case for venues held at hotels, clubs or restaurants.
Many thanks for helping us on these arrangements.
Paul Stheeman
Hon. Treasurer
Membership
Please remember to inform the club if you do change your bank details because for every failed direct debit is a
cost to the club of approx 20 euros. The renewal fee remains at €70 and for new members it is €50 for the first
year and thereafter €70.
Bank details are as follows:DEUTSCHE BANK
KONTOINHABER BBCD
IBAN:
DE60300700240531176600
BIC:
DEUTDEDBDUE
Our treasurer, Paul Stheeman has asked all members if they could inform him for any change in bank details.
This will avoid the club having to pay for any bank charges due to returned direct debits.
For those of you who have not yet returned their SEPA forms to Paul, then please do so as soon as possible.
In 2014 we will be updating and confirming the address database for all our members. Please remember to inform
me of any change to email addresses so we can ensure that our membership list is up to date.
New Members:
We have 2 NEW members this month:Ulrich Boettcher, travel agent, Dusseldorf
David Royston, Business Consultant from Bergkamen
In addition a clarification from January!
Andrew Cross, Chartered Accountant and Business Manager, works at the Rheinland International
School, Heiligenhaus and not at the International School in Kaiserworth.
A warm welcome to you all and we look forward to seeing you participate in our forthcoming events.
Please contact me if you know of any prospective members. It is important that everybody tries to bring fresh
blood into the club so if you meet somebody new to Düsseldorf or someone who has not heard of the club, please
get them interested and bring them along to one of our events.
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SPORTS
BBCD Squash:
Every Tuesday evening commencing at 20.00pm, BBCD Squash meet at Bruhey Sports Club in Ratingen
Homburg which is easily reached via the A44. At present there are 8 members but we are always on the lookout
for more! If you have an interest in playing squash and meeting new people then please contact Ian Mackenzie on
02150 2044 or via email at [email protected] All are welcome from beginners to experts. Bruhey also offers
use of the sauna at no extra cost!
BBCD Golf:
Anybody interested should contact either Ian Mackenzie on 02150 2044 .
BBCD Cricket:
Due to the success of our annual cricket match we have decided to organise a series of matches throughout the
year. Anybody interested should contact either Ian Mackenzie on 02150 2044 or Keith Shillingford on 0151
1214 7389.
Social Cricket has been a part of the clubs activities for several decades
Now we are keen to reach out to members and beyond to participate in our handful of regular friendly fixtures we
have each year. Please speak to your friends relatives business partners or any expats you come across and let
them know we are looking for new players.
The cricket is fun, and we play against teams based Germany, the UK and other exciting countries!
Advertisers
If you would like to advertise your companies and services and sponsor a monthly newsletter please contact me at
[email protected] for further details. We offer favourable rates and this letter gets sent to an extensive
database network.
Consulate Corner
The Passport section in Düsseldorf no longer has a “Counter” service. All applications must now be sent to IPS in
Liverpool. The Consular section however, will continue to have a counter service for emergency travel
documents and notary matters.
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ALL PASSPORT APPLICATIONS FROM GERMANY MUST BE SENT FOR PROCESSING TO THE UK.
Applications arriving at the Passport Section in Düsseldorf will no longer be accepted.
Information relating to this can be found on our website.
Please check this link for further information: http://ukingermany.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-britishnationals/passports/how-to-apply/germany.
Christ Church
With regards to events at Christ Church please refer to the following website for more details:
www.christchurchanglican.de
Other Club Events & News
International English Library:
Situated in the heart of Düsseldorf in Kasernenstrasse 6 where there are over 22,000 books to choose from videos,
DVDs and audio –cassettes. There is a peaceful reading room with English, German and American magazines
and newspapers. For more details, please contact: [email protected]
Message From Minaz Hirani:
I am seeking a job as Facilities Services Manager/ Assistance Manager or Catering Support Services Manager
with UK companies or German companies
My job at JHQ Rheindahlen was Facilities Manager and Catering Support.
My contact details are: T: 0049 21579070467, M: 0049 (0)1781857769, E: [email protected]
A CV is available upon request.
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