Henley Business Partnership

THANK you to everyone who has been part of the Henley Business Partnership last year. It has been quite tremendous to see everyone coming together in support of each other’s business aims and personal goals.

We finished the year with a total of 47 member organisations, made up of sole traders whose faces we get to know quickly, as well as larger businesses represented by various members of the team, who bring a different vision and perspective to our 3FM meetings. This combination of people brings a real richness to our community, which continues to thrive to the benefit of all.

Our last meeting saw a raucous celebration of everything that makes 3FM meetings so much fun. Led by our very own “Mr Christmas”, Richard Rodway, we enjoyed some speed-networking, which was chaotic, great fun and, as ever, yielded lots of new and interesting acquaintances, which I am sure will lead to many great business relationships forming, even if this happens further down the line.

This was followed by yodelling with special guest Lynne Nash, who had us all roaring with laughter as she taught us in just a few minutes how to yodel along with her — although I don’t think many of us will be vying with Lynne for performance space soon!

Richard then challenged our brains with some Christmas-related trivia in a game of heads and tails. The almost incredible statistics he asked us to consider (verified by Google at the time of quizzing) seemed quite preposterous. Do we really consume more than eight million turkeys each year in this country? The winner and lucky recipient of two bottles of fizz was Sue Turner — well done, Sue! — who immediately re-gifted one bottle to Lynne, who had more than earned it for her earlier efforts.

Thank you to Warings Bakery, which is situated at the bottom of Greys Road, for generously donating several boxes of delicious mince pies for our meeting. These were enjoyed by many.

Over the year we’ve seen about 50 appearances at meetings from non-member visitors — some of them came more than once, which is lovely. Every meeting provides a different mixture of faces and stories, which saves us all from the boredom of seeing the same people month after month. Thank you to everyone who invited a friend, colleague or local business owner along to share in the HBP experience.

At this meeting we welcomed non-members Chris, Debbie, Faye, Lynne and Robin. It was lovely to see you and we hope you’ll come back next time.

A special welcome to our newest members, who have joined us since our last meeting — Sian Davies, Kerry Fretwell, Amy Goodall-Smith, Simon Wright, George Searle and Tony Woodward.

Membership covers all staff in your business and all are welcome to attend 3FM meetings.

Our member of the month was Tara Macleod, chair of trustees at the Kenton Theatre. The Kenton has just had its busy season, with pantomimes Peter Pan (which was kindly sponsored by fellow members Blandy and Blandy) in December and Jack and the Beanstalk at the beginning of January.

The Kenton Theatre is a stunning Georgian venue based in the heart of Henley, which first opened in November 1805 and is one of the oldest working theatres in the UK. Seating 240, the theatre today is a charity and offers a varied programme and is regularly used by a number of local groups. We’ll hear more from Tara next time, once she has come up for air after panto season!

We start the new year with our first event of 2026 being the January 3FM meeting, on Friday, January 16.

What do you know about using AI in your business? Are you trying to keep up with all the new developments and using it just because you feel you should? Maybe you are an avid user, making the most of it already? Is it to be trusted? Is AI a help or a hindrance?

Come and listen to Joe Fennell and Miranda Read, of AI Compatible, who are experts in this field.

Our first social event of the new year will be a curry night. Beat the winter blues and join us for this informal meal at Asiana Spice on Wednesday, February 4. Tickets for this are on sale in our online store, and will include a starter, main and sides (make your selection when you get there), with drinks being paid for separately on the night.

Isobel Harris