I’ve spent the last 14 years working in, and being a huge supporter of ‘Nottingham’. It’s a great city and I, like a lot of other people I know, believe it has the potential to be even better! My allegiance isn’t exclusively focused on Nottingham; I support other places too where I have worked and have relevant views on them. But Nottingham is, and will continue to be, a city I support through my work.

In recent months my circumstances have changed. I don’t work in the city anymore, but I do have some really close contacts there and I continue to spend time in the city. My ‘office’ is Browns at the moment!

One group I have spent a lot of time with over the years is the Invest in Nottingham Club. This was set up by the late Jim Taylor; a great man and a true ambassador of Nottingham. Jim asked me to sponsor a club lunch a couple of years ago. The reason he did this was because the event was to be held at the University of Nottingham’s Jubilee Campus. Jim had realised that one of L&H’s buildings was being built on site right outside the event space. He thought it would be really good to see some real work, which was supported by a number of club members. Jim was good at making these sorts of connections.

The Invest in Nottingham club is in an exciting period of evolution. Before Jim passed away, he appointed Simon Gray as Chief Executive. Simon works with Chairman Paul Southby and the team. I’ve spent some time with Simon over the last few months and shared my views with him on how the Invest in Nottingham club should perhaps change/ improve. The great thing about the club is that people are really keen to support it and want to make it as effective as possible, for the greater good of the city.

Last week I attended an excellent club lunch, it was actually the best one I’ve ever been to. RizkMcCay, Nottinghams leading brand and marketing agency, hosted the event and presented some stimulating and impressive thoughts on the impact of branding. Even their biscuits are branded! I really admire their work – it just seems to work every time.

The big news at the lunch was the re-brand of Invest in Nottingham club. It’s new name is Nottingham means Business. The intention is for the public/ private sector business club to have a more defined identity and purpose. The slogan is; Inform. Inspire. Invest. And those three words succinctly define the purpose of the club going forward. The new website, created by RizkMcCay of course, is really good and includes full members profiles for all companies involved. Take a look at the new site here. There’s also a launch video – click here to see it.

It’s been an interesting week, with two major launches; Nottingham means Business and my companies restructure at wcec group ltd.