Are You Ready?

Understanding What Makes AI Projects Succeed or Fail

Two mid-sized manufacturing companies, both with around 150 employees, decided to embrace AI at roughly the same time. Both invested similar amounts. Both hired consultants. Both had ambitious plans.
Twelve months later, Company A had reduced operational costs by 18%, improved quality control, and freed up its management team to focus on growth. Company B had spent £50,000, created internal conflict, and quietly shelved their AI initiative, hoping no one would ask about it at the next board meeting.

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Cherwell Business Awards

As sponsors for the Cherwell Business Awards "Small Business Award", on Wednesday 12th March we moved our meeting to Kindlington, so that our members had the opportunity to attend the launch event for the Cherwell Business Awards.The launch event offers an excellent opoportunity to gain insights from the CBA team and their sponsors about all of the award categories for the year ahead, 

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Marketing your business through networking

Marketing a local small business through networking is one of the most effective ways to build credibility, attract customers, and create long-lasting professional relationships.

By leveraging networking both online and offline, small businesses can grow their brand presence, raise their profile, and drive traffic to their website or physical location. Here’s a guide to maximizing marketing efforts through networking with simple yet impactful strategies.

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WBC Open Meeting Presentation 24 September 2025: Zero-Waste Retail Business Model
Speaker: Dan Ludlow, Nothing But Footprints

Summary

This meeting was a presentation by Dan Ludlow, the founder of a zero-waste refill shop, Nothing But Footprints, and detailed his personal journey and the company's business model.

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The Wednesday Business Club is seeking dynamic, engaging speakers for our open meetings,

held on the fourth Wednesday of each month (excluding December). If you have a passion for business and a story to tell, this is your chance to connect with an enthusiastic, growth-oriented audience and make an impact!

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Effective Networking

For local small businesses, effective networking can make a significant difference in establishing a strong presence and creating valuable connections. But networking success is more than just exchanging business cards;

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What 600+ Use Cases Tell Us: Where AI Is Delivering Real Business Value

By Steve Nicholls – your strategic advisor from Bizedge.ai

When OpenAI recently analysed over 600 of its most successful customer use cases, the results were striking, not for their complexity, but for their clarity. Every use case fell into just six categories.

Not hundreds. Just six.

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WBC history and structure

The Wednesday Business Club (WBC) launched in 2007 as a not-for-profit business networking group that is ‘one member per category’. It is now believed to be the longest running one-member per category business networking group in the town of Bicester in Oxfordshire. In fact, you may find it is the longest running

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AI Literacy: The New Business Essential

Why Every Leader Needs to Understand Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence literacy has emerged as a critical competency for business leaders navigating today's digital landscape. While most executives may never need to code AI models, they must grasp the strategic implications, capabilities, and limitations of AI technologies (Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2017).

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Uninsured driving across the UK

Courtesy of Howden Insurance - Your local Insurance broker

New hotspots data has uncovered the worst offending areas for uninsured driving across the UK, with Birmingham leading the pack.

The data has been released by the MIB (Motor Insurers’ Bureau), the UK entity that exists to protect people from the devastation of uninsured and hit-and-run drivers, to coincide with their annual ‘Operation Drive Insured’ campaign.

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Progress Meetings - Why we have them

It is so important for every business to review their progress against their goals and the Wednesday Business Club is no different. We strive to improve and have an ideal opportunity to do so with so many great businesses contributing.

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Automate Your Marketing. Save 1 Day a Week.

Emma runs a graphic design studio. She is passionate about design, but the part she dreaded most was marketing. She spent evenings chasing social posts, writing emails, and following up with leads. It felt like a full-time job on top of her business. She believed that marketing automation was something only big companies could afford.

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Grow with the WBC

The club aims to help you grow your business, your self-confidence, your communication and leadership skills, your connectivity and your understanding of the local business environment. This is done via active participation at meetings and behind the scenes.

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Weekly Meetings to grow your business

The Wednesday Business Club meets weekly in Bicester, over breakfast with informal open networking before and after the main meeting. You will find the meetings at a local independent family run hotel. At these meetings the members, which could include you, 

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AI on a Budget: How Small Businesses Can Compete Using AI

Think artificial intelligence is only for companies with deep pockets? Think again. As I explain in my book "The AI Business Opportunity," today's AI tools offer affordable solutions that give small businesses a competitive edge without breaking the bank. Here is how you can leverage AI on a limited budget.

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The Power of Networking

Business networking is a powerful tool that often propels careers and businesses in ways that few other strategies can. While many associate networking solely with career advancement, its benefits reach far beyond this.

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