The Connect Yorkshire mentoring session we had with Jonathan Sands was hugely valuable for us as a company looking to the future. Jonathan gave us some highly relevant insight into how Elmwood grew and gained reputation as the worlds most effective brand design consultancy. We listened very carefully to Jonathan’s thoughts and since we met him we have embarked on a journey of looking closely at what Wish is currently and what exactly we want Wish to be in the future. This promises to be a very exciting journey and we have Jonathan to thank for being so generous with his time and lighting the blue touch-paper.

Connect Yorkshire is a fantastic network of businesses. From the training, to the networking and mentoring sessions there is something for everyone. Personally I’ve found the mentoring very valuable. It has allowed me to develop new ideas alongside some very successful entrepreneurs and gain valuable insights and feedback on my business. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Connect Yorkshire network to people looking for that next step up in their business.

We had a great mentoring session with David Smalley recently – it’s always of value to hear the experiences, thoughts and indeed challenges, of successful business owners. Rather than looking over the longer term this session provided a great outlet to look at a current situation and provided some clarity to us which ultimately led to a positive decision.

Meeting Jonathan Sands was insightful, when it comes to finding a difference for your business especially in the creative industry it’s a hard act,his advice helped me to reflect on and revaluate our offer.

Martin Port took the time to speak with us and listen to our business plan and where we should lay our focus. He also gave a couple of very useful contacts to help expand our business in new ways. This has made my CY membership worth it alone!

The mentoring meeting with David Grey was hugely engaging, informative, inspiring & motivational. The conversation was informal but greatly beneficial in learning more about how a local businessman had dedicated himself to creating a globally successful commercial operation.

Neil is an experienced business person and involved with the operational side of Conlon Construction. We had a detailed discussion about the challenges and opportunities in the Northwest construction market in particular, and as a Connect Yorkshire member I found the time spent extremely useful.

I have recently had my one to one session with David Grey, It was a fantastic session and we covered loads of different topics, David’s experience and advice was invaluable and is helping me to develop a strategy for growth, I really appreciated his insights into the challenges I have faced and his own experiences  in resolving them.  I initially thought we were only looking at one area of the business but went on to discuss a whole range of subjects. A massive thank you to David for giving up his time and to Connect Yorkshire for making it possible. The session gave me renewed hunger to run the business and I came away from the session revitalised and excited about the year to come.

My mentoring session with David Grey was great. He really helped me understand key issues and how to over come them. I thoroughly enjoyed the session and can’t wait to start actioning points that came up. Thank you to David and Connect Yorkshire for helping organise it.

It’s not everyday you’re able to discuss the future of your business and bounce ideas off someone you’ve admired and respected from afar since you started out on your career path all those years ago.

Yesterday I had just that opportunity, sitting down with Jonathan Sands of Elmwood. His approach and insights were invaluable, and he opened up my eyes to seeing things in a different way.

Hugely grateful to Jonathan for giving up his time to talk with me. Looking forward to putting what I have now gained from the meeting into practice.