“Cambridge is rather different to other parts of the country. There are lots of small-ish businesses and this is filtering through into the wider economy, for instance, in the bio-tech industries and educational establishments. But of course, however good things are, one always has concerns about what’s around the corner."

“Most of our work is split more or less equally between the public and private sectors and there seems to be a reasonable amount of work out there at the moment. We specialise in the acute health and education fields and seem to be well placed to pick up work in these areas, such as the development of research laboratories."

Paul has been an Interact member for four years and the Chairman of his local branch for almost two and completes his term at the end of this year.

He says “Interact is very good at providing networking opportunities through the lunches. Our lunches are not overly formal and clients seem happy to attend and enjoy them. We are lucky because of our geographical location, there’s no shortage of good guests. We also have no shortage of excellent venues and often use Cambridge Colleges. We regularly attract between 25-30 guests who are both interesting and enjoyable”.

Paul says, “For me, the benefit of Interact is its local strengths and its ability to build contacts with the local business community. We do sometimes meet up with other nearby branches and these are useful too”.

“Contacts made through Interact have cemented relationships which have generated work and partnerships”. Paul adds “I would also say that Interact has helped members establish their status and reputation and that can be very useful in business”. Paul feels that the size of the branch meetings are about right. “We don’t have a problem in attracting members and our lunches and other events are about right."

Paul thinks the Interact website and e-newsletters are important but confesses that he has only looked at the site once - to see if he’s on there! He says “the website is an easy reference point for national events. And the e-newsletter is useful to find out what other branches are doing”. “We work with a lot of people in nearby regions and there is certainly some scope for events with other branches in the region, where we can share and swap intelligence”.

You can contact Paul either through the website messaging system or at paul.phelps@frankshawassocs.co.uk