A great evening, as ever, at the quarterly Hinckley Business Association (HBA) seminar/dinner at the end of April but even more so with a really first class after dinner speaker - Geoff Burch.

As usual our bestofhinckley hotel Sketchley Grange Hotel & Spa did an excellent job of hosting the evening and preparing and serving a delicious evening meal for all the members and guests. Following the two course dinner with coffee and mints, there were four local speakers in total before Geoff Burch took the floor.

The first pair up was - Judith Sturley (HBBC) and Mark Wort (Heart of England Co-op) from the HBA committee who provided us with an update on the progress of the HBA Awards, announcing the proposed deadline for the applications as 22nd July 09 with the Awards presentation dinner planned for the 21st September at Sketchley Grange Hotel & Spa.

Second up was Andy Killip (HBBC) to give us an update on the progress with the forthcoming Hinckley town centre developments.

Finally, John Moore of Exponential Training & Assessment, Earl Shilton provided us with an interesting view of business training. John also introduced the group to the opportunities for funding that are currently available to businesses in Leicestershire through the Leaders First grants. These grants can provide funding for Director's training from between £500.00 (with no contribution required) to £1500 (with a £500 contribution). If you would like to know more contact John at Exponential in Earl Shilton on 0333 321 3997.

After a short break for the group the after dinner speaker - Geoff Burch, star of the BBC2 hit series "All Over the Shop" that was shown on television in October 08, took the floor and immediately had the group in fits of laughter and spellbound for a good fifty minutes. Geoff's presentation was a clever and entertaining way of getting across some really serious and important businesses messages for us all but very cleverly embedded within some wicked humour and fascinating characterisations! A great and stylish end to another interesting and enjoyable HBA seminar/dinner.

If you would like to find out more about the excellent business Guru Geoff Burch then take a look at his website at www.geoffburch.com. If you would like to join us at the next HBA seminar/dinner on the 21st July 09 then find out more about us and our local business aims first and then contact us through the website at www.hinckleybusiness.co.uk