The idea for Mindful Business Services (MBS) started back in 2012. I am proud to announce that on September 13th 2023 we will celebrate our 10th anniversary. Our journey has been both enriching and rewarding. We are honoured to have supported so many charity organisations over the years, some of which are still with us today!
When you’re facing a medley of problems, large or small, it can be difficult to know where to look for solutions. Especially in this age of ready information.
I wanted to utilise my experience as an experienced Quaker volunteer and seasoned Office Manager to help others. I decided to turn my attention to managing, training and consultancy.
Today, MBS specialises in working with small UK charities, especially those with buildings owned by faith groups who want to hire them to create income. As we’re a Quaker company that’s where we started, but we are now a group of people from various backgrounds and beliefs. We work with an equally diverse range of charities, non-profits, and community groups.
To kick off the anniversary celebrations, we would like to share ‘Ten Thoughts of Ten Things’ about MBS.
Ten Things...
1.
The decision to create MBS was made in the dining room at Woodbrooke. The company went limited 17 months later!
2.
It really is a family business – before the launch my mom designed the business cards, my dad acted as a business sounding board, friends and family helped choose the logo, and now everyone in the house does something for MBS to keep it all going.
3.
MBS offices have moved through five homes and I have worked out of countless client buildings from small drafty sheds to large (but still drafty) cathedrals.
4.
Not to mention train stations and trains or buses or other modes of transportation. Wi-fi on trains means I can work there too!
5.
MBS is always happy to meet with clients face to face–especially when it means I get to explore a new area.
On the old blog I had a series of urban hiking reviews of areas around client offices and meeting places.
I like urban hiking – it’s like regular hiking with loos and coffee shops.
6.
MBS started off in London and until recently was based there.
I have had meetings at Friends House (a favourite), the British Library, the V&A, the Natural History Museum, and several other London landmarks including one that ended with a free ride on the London Eye!
Always fun to get to see behind the scenes of places I’ve walked past or visited as a tourist too.
7.
MBS may focus on UK charities, but MBS associates have lived and worked on three continents.
Here is my office in the USA last year.
Gives remote working a new angle, thank goodness for Zoom.
8.
MBS’s first professional training was for me to complete the Open University’s Introduction to Bookkeeping alongside another Quaker.
That Quaker found it all fascinating and went off to become more qualified.
Although I’d been a warden and kept the books for fifteen years I didn’t want to continue.
I decided that MBS would have a bookkeeping team – and I wouldn’t be on it.
So, Andrea joined MBS five years ago, and now heads up the Finance team. Along with Emma and Marie they keep our clients’ books balanced and reconciled.
9.
The second professional training – was to send me on the treasurers’ course at Woodbrooke.
I wanted to know how to apply this bookkeeping knowledge that I’d learned, to Quaker purposes and figured that prospective clients would trust that more than any fancier certificates.
10.
The gears in the logo represent the unseen but vital jobs that keep our organisations moving but are so rarely noticed.
They won out of a selection of six options – including owls and fancy abstract designs.
I felt they beautifully represent how MBS integrates into an organisation, providing additional layers of expertise. The MBS ethos relies on working together to truly achieve success.
Wendrie Heywood
MBS Founder
