West Midlands News - Institute of Management Services
Transcription
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: [email protected] .uk Region Treasurer— Julian Cutler FMS Business: 01789 202238 E-mail: [email protected] k Secretary and Member- Stephen Cullen ship Development Officer— Ailsa Bell MMS Home: 0121 445 3959 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Executive Members: Bill Acres E-mail: [email protected] Stephen Burchill E-mail: stephen.burchill@btopenworl d.com Peter Story E-mail: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected]. 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. To change your present delivery method for WM News, please tick here If you are NOT receiving your WM News electronically and wish to do so, please give your e-mail address: If you are receiving your WM news electronically but wish to receive a paper copy, please give your full postal address