The Werks - Home

Mastermind Session with Sue Taylor

2009-06-01T13:03:00Z

When: Wednesday 10th of June 2009 from 6pm

Register: online - see bottom of page

This session is to promote the power of small groups we are calling these Masterminds @ The Werks

Have you ever worked through the day/week with a particular work problem on your mind? Not sure where to go with it or how to tackle it – it just stays there, then you meet up with someone and while chatting they say something that leads you to solving that dilemma? You might call it coincidence or a lucky meeting! I think it is a meeting of minds that can be orchestrated. I facilitate such meetings of minds.

Through my years of learning and growing as well as being self employed I have logged what works and what doesn’t.

These are the benefits I have found through facilitating groups of like minded but very different people.

Working alone can be therapeutic and just what you want to do but there is no-one to bounce ideas off or give you feedback, it is sometimes lonely.
Share, solve and support through a trusted group all wanting a similar outcome.
A respected comment can unleash a burst of creativity
Develop your people skills such as listening, selling, dealing with difficult people.
Bring renewed motivation to a stagnant week.
Hearing what works for others can provide marketing or technical ideas for you.
Being part of a group can help with your commitment to achieve in the allotted time.
Helps you focus on the step by step process rather than the big picture.
Helps you visualise the big picture that makes you take those small steps.

I could go on because different people get different things but all want passionately to work for themselves.

Please come to see what it is all about. Groups will be formed and the next meet will be arranged. The cost of each Mastermind meet will be discussed then, but it will definitely be affordable.

Crunch unveiled!

2009-05-19T20:23:00Z

After almost 2 years of putting the different parts of the business together; Crunch Accounting Ltd and E-Crunch Ltd, Crunch launched on April 8th this year.

As the first seamless service offering of a secure online Accountancy system and a Charted Accountancy, the combined service offering is starting to take on Freelancers and Contractors from every possible sector. Everyone from new media freelancers to Locum Doctors are coming on board.

This marks the first public unveiling of the Crunch system. Built in banking grade Enterprise Java as a highly secure system, Founder and Managing Director Darren Fell will explain where the system is going and why the integrated approach of a combined Chartered Accountancy service is making so much sense for it's customers.

19:00, Wednesday 20th - downstairs at the Werks, Church Street, Hove

Then to The Farm freelancers meetup at The Wick Inn

Brighton Robotics: Shadow Robot Company talk

2009-04-23T12:15:00Z

When: April 23, 2009 from 8pm - 11pm

Brighton Robotics have Graham Wiseman from the Shadow Robot Company coming to talk about the company and the advanced robotics that they build commercially.

Shadow has been developing robots and other unusual technologies since 1987, for research customers and for people with real-world problems. It was set up as a group in 1987 by Richard Greenhill. The group met weekly to work on the development of the domestic robot. The Shadow Robot Company was formed in 1998 by a small team of the original developers.

Shadow is a small company specialising in the development of advanced robotics. They use innovative actuators to develop a wide range of robots, including The Shadow Dextrous Robot Hand which is capable of 24 movements, is regarded as the most advanced robot hand in the world

The Shadow team currently consists of eight full-time engineers, plus support staff and a network of associates. Their skills range from mechanical engineering to real-time software and systems.

Shadow has had a range of prestigious clients over the years, including NASA and Carnegie-Mellon University and have won many awards.

Upcoming event

The Accountancy Healthcheck for Freelancers & Contractors

2009-04-09T22:24:00Z

Are you in Accountancy Hell?
Want to find out how to save as much tax as possible as a Freelancer?
Or would you just like someone to explain, in plain English, the basics of Accounting?

Here’s your chance to meet the professionals behind Crunch, the brand new Accountancy service and online system specifically for Freelancers.

Crunch Director, Steve Crouch will be guiding you through key important areas for freelancers:

What the benefits and drawbacks are of being a Sole Trader / Limited Company
What expenses you can claim, and how much tax it would save you
What paperwork you need to claim these expenses
What you should do to avoid getting caught by IR35

Steve is also owner of the very successful SRC Chartered Accountancy firm based in Brighton.

Conveniently The Brighton Farm weekly meetup will be across the road at The Wick Inn.

Upcoming listing

One Thing About Money - another short workshop with Charles Davies

2009-03-24T11:55:00Z

Workshop:One Thing About Money - a very short workshop with Charles Davies

When: Wednesday 25th March 2009. 1 - 2pm. Please arrive for 12:45

Cost: Free.

Food: Feel free to bring some food

Following the great workshop we had last week Charlie is back with a follow up.

Not a get-rich-quick workshop. Or a personal finance workshop. Or about the credit crunch or derivatives or pensions.

The focus of the workshop is on developing a kind of 'money practice'. Rather than starting with 'more money good, less money bad', the point is to look at different ways of using money and different ways of thinking about money.

The content of the workshop will be limited to one thing: the process by which we give meaning to money. There'll be a short introduction, a short discussion and maybe a short exercise.

If you'd like to come along on Wednesday (or if you can't make Wednesday lunchtime, and would like to request a workshop at another time) please email: onethingaboutmoney@gmail.com

After Werk - Rockin' edition

2009-03-23T14:43:00Z

When: Friday 27th of March from 5:30pm till late.

Cost: bring your own drinks & food. Contribution to DJ welcome.

After Werk is Werkshop's monthly social open to anyone. Come along, bring yourselves, some drinks and food to share.

This month there will be 2 DJ's to play music. They have been witnessed and seen in action by some werkers and we are told they are really 'cool' and play great music. Raw 50's R'n'R, fuzziest 60's garage, Fastest Psychobilly. GREAT to dance to!! and the guys are really laid back and cool! They have agreed to play from 8 - 11pm for £40, so contributions from all attending would be most grateful.

Event: UX Brighton: Mental Models, Service Design & Problems with Convergence

2009-03-20T14:59:00Z

When: April 14 from 18:45pm

Where: The Werks

Cost: Free, registration required

Speakers: Filip Healy & GiGi Demming from Amberlight

Filip and GiGi are both principals at Amberlight Partners. Amberlight is a London based User Experience Consultancy. Clients include Apple, Microsoft, Sony and O2.

It’s becoming increasingly popular for large companies to bundle together a range of services such as broadband, mobile and TV. While this can result in lower prices for customers, how does it really impact the customer experience?
Amberlight has engaged in a number of service design projects that have looked at this very problem – how can these bundled but disparate services be aligned in a manner that presents a coherent, ‘joined up’ feel for the customer?
In this presentation, Amberlight will talk about their learnings, and will lay bare some of the key questions that you need to think about when dealing with this tricky service design problem.

Following the presentation there will be an open discussion, and informal show-and-tells. Please feel free to bring along visual stimuli for discussion!

And after that, we’ll probably head to The Greenhouse Effect for a drink.

Tickets are FREE, registration required

One Thing About Money - a very short workshop with Charles Davies

2009-03-16T09:33:00Z

Workshop:One Thing About Money - a very short workshop with Charles Davies

When: Wednesday 18th March 2009. 1 - 2pm. Please arrive for 12:45

Cost: Free.

Food: Feel free to bring some food

Not a get-rich-quick workshop. Or a personal finance workshop. Or about the credit crunch or derivatives or pensions.

The content of the workshop will be limited to one thing: the process by which we give meaning to money. There'll be a short introduction, a short discussion and maybe a short exercise.

If you'd like to come along on Wednesday (or if you can't make Wednesday lunchtime, and would like to request a workshop at another time) please email: onethingaboutmoney@gmail.com

The Making of FreeAgent Central with Olly Headey

2009-02-25T16:54:00Z

Olly Headey will be talking about the making of FreeAgent Central. Taking the pain out of accouting, FreeAgent Central is the darling of freelancers and small businesses for it's simple, thoughtful user experience. Olly will be talking about how FreeAgent Central is designed and built, and will hopefully answer the question that has been bugging me for the last 18 months; how do they deliver so many improvements every week without fail?

Where: The Werks

When: 19:00 April 1st 2009

Upcoming

This event has been timed to coincide with The Farm which will be just across the road at The Wick.

Free 2 day course in ‘resilience’ and staying strong for those facing tough times in Brighton

2009-02-25T11:52:00Z

When: 20th - 21st of March 2009 at The Werks

Top international coach helps those in need in her home city

A top management coach is to help people in need in Brighton benefit from training normally only offered to senior executives, in how to develop resilience in tough times. The two day course that normally costs over £750 is being offered free to up to 30 local people facing tough times such as redundancy, relationship break-up or financial problems.

The sessions are being run by leadership expert Hannah Keep of Brighton-based Vi International and will cover the six steps to toughing out a crisis, such as creating inspiring goals, drawing on your natural talents and discovering what beliefs have helped you succeed in the past.

As well as group exercises and access to the latest resilience techniques, delegates will take away their own Personal Resilience Strategy to help them become resiliently fit for life. This intensive support – normally only available to captains of industry - will help people stay confident under pressure, focus on what they can do as opposed to what they can’t, flip scary thoughts on their head and keep going no matter what.

Hannah says that delegates will learn why some people seem more able to ‘bounce back’ from setbacks, and how to become one of those people: “Some people seem to weather every setback like water off a duck’s back. We’ve worked out what these naturally resilient people do. I believe anyone can be taught how to be more resilient – it’s like a muscle that you keep using till you build it up.”

“Brighton’s a fun, optimistic and creative place to live – all qualities that are good news for resilience. But now shops are closing down in the high streew and lots of people are losing their jobs or are petrified of being laid off. I want to help local people to stay strong and resourceful and to get a decent night’s sleep even in the thick of a recession like this,” says Hannah.

Hannah is keen to make sure this course is open to absolutely everyone, and is particularly keen that anyone out of work or with difficult family circumstances can access this unique opportunity.

The course will run on 20-21 March at small business community centre The Werks in Palmeira Square, Hove. Anyone interested should contact Hannah by email or post, saying briefly what they hope to get out of the course. This will help her tailor the course to what participants need. Her details are: hannah.l.keep@viinternational.com or Hannah Keep, Vi International, 1 Church Rd, Hove, BN3 2HA.

“We support schemes like this which encourage people to collaborate and learn off each other,” says Ian Elwick, Director of the community interest company Werkshop, which is hosting the training. “Collaboration, mentoring and self-help is going to be the key to surviving the recession.”

After Werk - February

2009-02-13T11:16:00Z

When: Friday 27th of February 2009

Where: The Werks

Who: open to everyone

After Werk is our monthly social. Come along from 5:30pm. Bring your own drinks and nibbles. Bring yourself, your friends and/or your family. Meet some top people in a relaxed way whilst having some fun.

Photo Werks

2009-01-13T16:45:00Z

Late last year the Big Boss had a birthday celebration at The Werks. Gideon, a fellow werker, who specialises in photography for families and children took the opportunity to try out his instant photography sessions.

He set up the space, people volunteered themselves as test dummies and a few minutes later they had print outs.

Below is are a couple of examples of the results of the photos he took of my family.

Business Advice with Business Link

2009-01-13T11:08:00Z

When: Thursday 15th of January 2009 from 6pm

Where: The Werks

Cost: Free

Leo Banks and Larry Clark Smith from Business Link will be coming into The Werks to run a small presentation on how they may be able to help you with business advice. The session will last approx. 30min on Thursday 15th at 6pm in The Werks ground floor.

In addition, you could take advantage of Business Links free review, as follows.

Free StartUp Business Review with Business link

Has your business been established for less than 24 months?

Do you need to re-focus on the aims and objectives of your business?

Would you like to become more cost effective and increase your profit margin?

Business Link is offering companies like yours a FREE Start-up Business Review, providing valuable advice from experienced professionals.

Our business advisors have at least three years practical experience of companies who have faced business problems and opportunities. Their expertise is harnessed to give you an analysis of your individual situation, your review will be 100% bespoke to your business.

After Werk - January

2009-01-13T10:25:00Z

When: Friday 30th of January 2009

Where: The Werks

Who: open to everyone

How to Write an Environmental Policy course 29 January 2009

2009-01-12T10:17:00Z

Due to demand after a successful event in November, Green Minded is running another one day course on Thursday 29 January 2009 on How to write an Environmental Policy. Whether you’re a complete beginner on environmental issues, or you know a thing or two and just need help getting started and with tactics, this training will help you begin to tackle the environmental impact of your organisation. An environmental policy will help your organisation recognise its impact on the environment and take measures to manage and reduce negative impacts, it will help your organisation be more efficient and save money, it is a requirement for many grant funding streams and contracts, and clients often expect businesses to have a positive stance on environmental issues.

See Green Minded for more information, or contact us to find out more: training@greenminded.co.uk; 01273 540 998

Book by 16 January to get a 15% discount!

Don’t forget, you can get funding from Train to Gain for leadership training, if you would like a course like this to be run for a number of members of staff / Directors / Trustees within your organisation.

If you would like to register an interest in future courses please let us know. We are also planning other sustainability-related courses for those of you wanting to be green minded, on subjects such as running a waste campaign, calculating your carbon footprint and sustainable procurement. If you would be interested, or need any help on sustainability projects, policy development or capacity building, then do Green Minded!

Green Minded was started to help businesses and organisations improve their sustainability through policy development, business planning, auditing, project management and training. We are also as sustainable as possible in our own running. Green Minded was born out of the desire to show that reducing your impact on the world is not only possible, but desirable, and to help those who want to do so. Karen from Green Minded has over ten years experience of environmental policy development, implementation and communication.