I am trying to find a way to subtly link the IoD business column this month to my birthday, which happened on June 2. Nope, can’t do it.

What has your Kent branch been up to in the last month? There was my quarterly South Region meeting in Pall Mall where I can share best practice or gather more thoughts on a wider geographical basis.

Unfortunately, I never made it. I was actually held up on an actual train by a man with an actual gun.

I may have made it sound a little more dramatic than it was but nevertheless, the train came to a standstill outside Tonbridge for over an hour while the station was evacuated. Armed police arrived to apprehend the suspect.

I have to congratulate Southeastern on their customer service. We had no idea what was going on as they managed the panic situation. I even got a free Kit Kat during the delay.

But I never realised how dangerous the role could be at the IoD. It’s not for the faint-hearted.

This month I have also dipped into an events committee meeting and had a glance at the upcoming schedule for the rest of the year. Already more than 40 are planned and more to add. Please keep an eye out on the website and on our Kent Facebook page.

I recently met Nova IT Solutions director Heather Nowak.

Via our shared equine interest, we chose to involve my horse Jack in this discussion and all I will say is that it didn’t go to plan – never work with children or animals. Feel free to ask her if you see her. She is the one with flowing, long, blonde hair and a slight limp.

I also had a visit to the Port of Dover to learn more about the vision they have for the area.

It is a subject close to my heart and we are looking at ways we can help highlight the vast scope of the project for Dover.

Also down that way, I had a look around the Duke of York Royal Military School. It’s now open to non-military families. And the pupils are a wonderful advert for the place.

I enjoyed a busy day at Kent 2020 Vision Live, which is a great way to achieve loads of meetings in one day. I never cease to be amazed by what a chance chat will throw up as an opportunity. Now I just have to fit in all the meetings it stimulated.

Thank you to Hadlow College for the Audit Court Dinner and nice to bump in to Fourayes Farm, Clive Emson and Amanda Cottrell.

Now I’ve run out of space to mention our membership benefit of the month but do look – I was impressed. Visit www.iod.com/advisory