Monday, 1 December 2014

Cyprus Forces School Visit

A huge last minute surprise offer was afforded to me last week whereby I was asked to fly to a Cyprus RAF base and speak to the pupils in two different forces run schools to support them during their entrepreneurship week.

Stunning View of the Cyprus Coastline
Sunset over Cyprus

After a bit of last minute juggling, I managed to rearrange my busy schedule and I found myself boarding a plane from Gatwick to Larnaca airport where I was met by one of the RAF paid staff and ushered through all RAF base security procedures at the massive Akrotiri site which was about an hours drive away from the airport.

The head teacher of the primary school, Vicky, is very proactive in promoting entrepreneurship into the curriculum, equally so, the head teacher of the forces secondary school, Dan browning.

I gave five one hour talks on the basics of successful business start ups and helped the primary school with ideas for making quick money during their forthcoming school fete. I spoke with over five hundred pupils from both schools in total.

Some of the children from the Cyprus forces school
All the age groups of pupils were extremely keen as I was bombarded with constructive questions and innovative ideas. My feeling is these children are more worldly wise than ‘non-force kids’ as many have been multi-sited in many different countries during their upbringing. This seems to instil self-confidence; and the ‘will to win’ was extremely evident.

One teacher approached me on the second day to say that the parents of a lad who is dyslexic had contacted her after one of my talks where their son was present saying that he had returned home that night with a total change of heart saying that it didn't matter that he had dyslexia, if Kevin could be an entrepreneur despite him having it then so too could he!!! that little story alone made the visit worthwhile.

The time I had left between the talks over the two day was crammed full of tours of the RAF base, I have never been in that kind of environment before, as two tornado’s left for a mission to Syria the reality of all hit home when the flight commander said he hoped that both would return without either of the pilots losing their lives!

I was not allowed to take pictures of all aircraft and activities for security reasons however, I did manage to gain authorisation for the pics below.



Flight Controls

One of the highlights of the tour was being invited  to the flight control tower and be shown all the methodology to keeping all flight movements safe, the monitoring for in-flight refuelling was epic. Thank you Ken for giving your valuable time for this.

Air Traffic Control
My next stop was at 8 Squadron who run two helicopters, largely for RAF reconnaissance missions but also in helping the local Cypriot community with air sea rescues and fire fighting, you can see the joy on my face as I sat in the helicopter cockpit and learnt how it all worked. One amazing statistic I was told is every 400 flying hours the helicopters are completely stripped down to every last nut and bolt so one helicopter is always in the hanger !!! Ah there were actually 3 there!

RAF Helicopter
I think I may want lessons in one of these!

I thank all the RAF team for the trust they placed in me in giving a great insight into the role of this very active base, I look forward to returning to help future pupils with entrepreneurship engagement.


Reflecting on this visit it's a classic example of grabbing an opportunity despite the fact I did not really have the time, a bit of creative planning by my P.A. Suzanne led to an amazingly successful and worthwhile whirlwind trip.

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

HELP!! BMW R1200GS LC 2013 engine rattles

I have been without my treasured motorbike a BMW R 1200 GS LC 2013, for 6 weeks now. She has been in BMW Ryders' in Cardiff since 4th October 2014 with a rattle in the engine which has so far had the following attempts to fix the noise made on it:

  • 2 full cam shaft & decompression lever in the right cylinder changes
  • The decompression mechanism changed
  • Separately new cam shaft gears changed 
  • and most recently now a new cylinder head! 

How ever STILL she rattles!

IF any BMW or bike mechanic / fanatics can help solve this mystery for me I would be most appreciative!

If you have suffered the same issue on your boxer engine please get in touch and let me know of the steps you have taken and what (if anything resolved it!)

See the video of the rattle below by clicking the picture - as a note it is most apparent once the engine has warmed up.


I am totally at my wits end and very frustrated with both the dealership and BMW who seem to be stabbing at 'cheap fix' options as opposed to the consideration of a replacement engine

Wednesday, 5 November 2014

New Zealand 2014

Over the last month I have been extremely active with overseas speaking engagement, namely New Zealand Property Investors Federation (NZPIF), Christchurch and for NZ Wealth Mentor in Auckland New Zealand.

I also had some time to enjoy the fabulous sights of this beautiful Country and I made time to personally witness the impact and devastation caused by the Christchurch earthquakes in November 2011 and February 2012, which claimed 200 lives.



The impact these events had on the central business district of Christchurch has resulted in more than 70% of the buildings being declared unsafe and demolished. The upside to these catastrophic events is the rebuild of a completely new City Centre framework and whilst I was there Christchurch reminded me very much of South East England in build type and rolling beautiful countryside. The people are very resilient and the earthquakes have brought together the communities with the common aim to support and rebuild the City, to a far higher standard than previously.

The innovation of the local community could be witnessed in the Restart Mall, Where by the retail outlets were formed using shipping containers. This area in particular has become a huge tourist attraction and has become a very vibrant area of the city.







Locals hope that the Council will retain this superb feature post rebuild because it is such a a good magnet to increase tourism and in-turn to increase the GDP of the the area.

I was very fortunate to be given access to the 'Red Zones' of the city. These areas of the city are sealed off from the public due to the instability of the surrounding area and buildings caused by the quakes. My knowledgeable guide was a very kind and generous gentleman called Stephen who was one of the damage losss assessors employed by the insurance companies and also a delegate of the NZPIF event at which I was Keynote Speaker.



It wasnt just the business district that was hit, there are residential districts, which are now totally zoned off, where due to the unstable sub-strata and liquification there will be no future rebuilds allowed, because of this all peoples concerned have been relocated to other areas on the outskirts of the city.

Damage to residential property

Damage to properties


The second most innovative area of the city, that I witnessed was the Cardboard Cathedral which was erected quickly after the second earthquake in February 2012 severely damaged the damaged the main Cathedral in Catherdral Square.

Cardboard Cathedral

Side view of the cardboard cathedral

Inside the cardboard cathedral


After Christchurch I travelled North to Rotorua, to catch up with Vicki & Colin Millar, old friends of mine in their wonderful Lakeside property. Colin has remained a friend since the late 90's when he brought his engineering skills with him to help me build a 'New Zealand style' cow-friendly milking shed and stall work out of a pile of stainless steel piping!

He is now enjoying semi-retirement as a multi-ownership property landlord, and as Colin and Vicki showed myself and close friend Lindsay around the volcanic and geothermal areas, we felt like the whole place could erupt at any second. It was quite an unnerving experience of what nature has to offer!



The highlight of this section of the trip was enjoying the delicious prawns grown in the waters of the high mineral content geothermal ponds at Taupo farm, whilst overlooking Waikato river.  

Waikato river

GEO-Thermal Pools

Geo Thermal Pool

Geo Thermal Pools


Auckland was amazing as always, this being my 7th visit to this stunning and welcoming place. After the fabulous meals and meetings had taken place in the viaduct area of the city, and once I had delivered my Property and Business speech to over 500 knowledge thirsty delegates on behalf of David Leon of NZ Wealth Mentor, the next stop was a day exploring the vineyards of Waiheke. My most favourite vineyard was 'Mudbrick' with its fine wines, generous food platters and stunning views looking over the sea to Auckland City.



I could literally sit here all day writing about New Zealand's beauty and the great experiences I have had there, however I must tell everyone that it is the generosity and welcoming nature of the people that I look forward to every time I visit. I cannot stress how much the people of  the country mean to me and how much I enjoy spending time in their company.

I will be returning to Christchurch on 21st and 22nd March 2015 to deliver a Kevin Green Wealth 2 day Business and Property Foundation Training event with an excess of 160 Delegates already attending. Please click this link to see more information on the event and book your place. I look forward to seeing you there!

Family Time

After returning from New Zealand (I was in the UK for less than 1 day), I flew to St. Lucia, in the Caribbean, with my 3 children for a week's family holiday in Marigot Bay.

My Daughter, Llinos loved the one and only Hotel Chocolat where we all sampled a hot chocolate, made from their own plantation's cocoa beans & hot milk - It was delicious!


Hot Chocolate from The Hotel Chocolat

Myself and my two sons felt the highlight of this amazing week was the private charter of a yacht under the expert control of Captain Joe, where we sailed from Marigot Bay to the world famous Pictons (Volcanic Mountains) and we witnessed the Caribbean sunset on return leg of the journey

Picton's Mountains

Caribbean Sunset


The most humorous event of the holiday, involved the tiny Cheverolet hire car that could hardly make it up the very steep roads of this paradise island, we thought we were going to have to get out and push on more than one occasion!!

Hire car


A Big thanks to HRH The Princess Royal and the Carers Trust who's charity dinner auction afforded us this opportunity.

Kevin and HRH The Princess Royal

Its head down and full steam ahead now. I am back home in Wales and we are dealing with  new licensing requirements in relation to our residential lettings business together with some very exciting business developments in the pipeline. I will let you know more details soon in a future blog,

The Kevin Green Wealth training and coaching brand is going from strength to strength and I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge on the 22nd and 23rd November 2014 event which is being held in the Sheraton Heathrow Hotel, London.

If you wish to reserve your seat at the final KGW 2 Day event of 2014 click here. As a thank you for being a regular reader of the blog, the first 10 people to book a seat by clicking this link will receive complimentary access to the event, tickets usually retail for £1200 (excluding special offers) 

Hints and Tips for being a success

Click the picture below to download a few hints and tips at becoming successful in business and property.


Wednesday, 1 October 2014

Wonderful time at the Introbiz Wales Business Show






It was a great honour to be one of the keynote speakers at the Introbiz Wales Business Show staged at the Hall of Sport next to the Cardiff City Stadium.
The event is the biggest business show in Wales and attracted more than 200 trade stands and hundreds of visitors.
It was great to meet Julie James AM, the Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology with the Welsh Government (she is the lady in red pictured above).
It was also lovely to catch up with one of my Kevin Green Wealth clients, Diana Brook. Diana (the lady in white pictured above) has just published her first book.
It was a mad dash to get to the show - I had to drive over from Gatwick after flying in from Tobago!
But it was well worth it as I cranked up the volume to rock the house in the Hall of Sport.
The event was staged by the Introbiz team led by Paul and Tracy Smolinski, who did a great job of pulling it all together.
The speaker line-up was superb.
Here is a slideshow of some pictures from the day -


Wednesday, 24 September 2014

Thanks for all your birthday wishes

Many thanks for all your birthday wishes.
I was 51 this week.
I celebrated my birthday at the Coco Reef resort in Tobago in the West Indies.
This is what the staff did for my birthday!


I also managed to tour the island, including Englishman's Bay, where they filmed The Pirates of the Caribbean.


It is, as you can imagine, an amazing island.

It's been quite a hectic few weeks!

By any standards, it's been a hectic schedule this summer and autumn.
Here's a press release on what's been happening in my world!

Kevin Green celebrates breaking through onto world stage as public speaker





Social entrepreneur and multi-millionaire Kevin Green has plenty of reason for celebrating this week.
He’s spent his 51st birthday in Tobago and he also been able to celebrate a breakthrough moment as an in-demand international motivational and business speaker.
“This summer and autumn has seen me break through onto the world circuit of speakers,” Green said before taking the stage at Wales’ biggest business exhibition in Cardiff.
“I’ve done public speaking on an international level on plenty of occasions, but the last couple of weeks have seen the whole thing take off to a new level.”
Green completed a whirlwind tour of Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia before taking a short holiday break in the West Indies and then returning to home territory for the Introbiz Business Exhibition at the Cardiff City House of Sport.
“I’ve been clocking up the air miles,” Green laughed.
“But it’s been a wonderful experience and the chance to talk to so many people on my tour of the Far East was one not to be missed.”
Green is already an annual visitor to New Zealand and Australia for public speaking engagements.
He is in regular demand on the UK speaking circuit and regularly lectures in London on his own Kevin Green Wealth seminars.
This year, he has branched out into speaking engagements in The Netherlands and Belgium.
“Europe has been a great growth area for my brand of business speaking and training. I get a wonderful response the other side of the English Channel.
“The response in the Far East, meanwhile, is mind-blowing.
“The audiences are massive and the venues superb. The people are wonderfully friendly and you get a great vibe and great feedback from helping people further their business and entrepreneurial ambitions.
“Occasionally, it gets a bit scary, in a nice way. Especially in Vietnam, as we had to use translation facilities and I had to slow down my ‘full-speed’ Welsh accent for the translators. It’s a nervous moment waiting for some of the jokes to be translated, I can tell you.”
Green, the UK’s largest private landlord, is currently in negotiations to return to Vietnam to deliver training on property investment.
He added: “Most of my talks in the Far East were on the theme of creating wealth and happiness and the response was very positive from all the delegates.
“Next in the pipeline are trips to New Zealand and, hopefully, Australia.
“It all sounds like a ‘jet-set’ existence, but, in reality, it is also hard work.
“You have to be prepared for what are major public speaking events. The audience at these business events pay good money to come and listen to what you have to say, so you really have to be on the top of your game as a public speaker.”

Photos:
And the crowd go wild as Kevin Green speaks in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
Kevin Green with fellow speaker and investor Mary Buffett, who discussed her own Buffettology theories.
Kevin Green enjoys a drink at Saigon's famous Chill Sky Bar.

Website -
http://www.kevingreen.co.uk/

Friday, 12 September 2014

It was 'back to school' for me yesterday!

It was a case of going 'back to school' yesterday as I visited the children of Swiss Valley Primary School in Llanelli.
Here is the press release from the day - 

Entrepreneur Kevin Green gives Swiss Valley pupils a lesson in business



Multi-millionaire and social entrepreneur Kevin Green took time out from his busy schedule to give a special talk to the children of Swiss Valley Primary School in Llanelli.
Mr Green delighted the children by turning up for the talk in his Aston Martin car.
He gave the children a 20-minute talk on how he's managed to turn his life around from being homeless in 1988 to running a property portfolio which makes him the UK's biggest private sector landlord.
Mr Green stressed the importance of hard work in striving to achieve your dreams.
He also gave the children some handy business tips.
"There's a budding entrepreneur in everyone," Green said. "The children of Swiss Valley School have been working hard on a gardening project in the school and are now working on selling their produce and their seeds.
"It's great to see first hand such enthusiasm and it's also great to see teachers like Neil Lane working so hard to develop children's sense of achievement alongside practical skills and business skills."
Mr Green was given a guided tour of the school's gardening project by headteacher Ceri Morris.
The children also grilled Mr Green on his achievements in a question and answer session.
"It was wonderful fun," said Mr Green.
"I work alongside the Welsh Government in helping to develop entrepreneurial skills with young people.
"As far as I am concerned, you can never start to early when it comes to learning about business and being an entrepreneur.
"From little seeds, great things grow and I am sure that at least some of the youngsters involved in the Swiss Valley gardening project will develop into the entrepreneurs of tomorrow, helping to drive the Welsh economy forward."
Mr Green's visit followed an earlier trip to Ysgol Gymraeg Teilo Sant in Llandeilo, where he gave a similar talk on developing business skills.

Weblinks -
http://www.kevingreen.co.uk/
http://kevingreenwealth.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.swissvalleyprimary.ik.org/

Photo slideshow from the visit -

Sunday, 31 August 2014

Fab evening watching top class acts at The Corran in Laugharne





Wow! West is Best for live music!
Fabulous evening last night at The Corran spa resort venue at Laugharne in West Wales.
The place is earning a first class reputation for hospitality, service and live music.
I was lucky enough to be in the VIP wing of the hotel for the latest Live@TheCorran event.
I was in great company and it was great to chat to The Corran boss Peter Burnett, a man on a mission to bring the very best performers to West Wales.
It was also lovely to chat to the host for the evening - Mr Producer himself, the one and only Stifyn Parri.
Other notable faces in the celebs wing included ITV weather girl Sian Lloyd and Swansea City football ambassador Lee Trundle.
The Corran's first big music event was the Curtis Stigers gig back on the summer solstice in June.
That was a big event to beat - but Peter Burnett and The Corran team did just that with their latest musical extravaganza.
The headline act was Sister Sledge, very ably supporting by the wonderful Micah Paris and The Real Thing.
It was a real trip down memory lane for many of us.
Above, you will see some photos from the event -
The main stage at The Corran.
Peter Burnett with Sister Sledge.
My partner Lindsay with Sister Sledge.
Finally, me with Sister Sledge!
Peter Burnett deserves congratulations on another successful concert at The Corran. He is working tirelessly to bring quality acts to this corner of West Wales.
The venue is simply stunning.

Saturday, 23 August 2014

Great to meet up with Mary Buffett


As part of my public speaking adventure in the Far East, it was great to meet up with astute investor Mary Buffett.
If you've heard of 'Buffettology', then you've heard of Mary Buffett.
She believes property and stocks complement each other.
She was kind enough to pose for a photo before our latest Success Resources Wealth Seminar in Vietnam.
Mary Buffett is a best-selling author, international speaker, entrepreneur, political and environmental activist. Ms. Buffett’s first book Buffettology, co-written with David Clark in 1997, was an immediate New York Times and Business Week best-seller.
Since that time, all seven of Ms. Buffett’s books have been best-sellers.
Ms. Buffett appears regularly on television as one of the top finance experts in America including CNN Business News, CNBC’s Squawk Box, Power Lunch with Bill Griffith, Bloomberg News, Fox Business News, MSNBC’s Headliners and Legends and BBC News.
She has appeared around the world as a principal speaker at some of the world’s most prestigious organizations including recent appearances with Bill Cosby, Laura Bush, Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani and other prominent achievers filling arenas around the country as part of the Get Motivated seminar series.
Ms. Buffett has worked successfully in a wide range of businesses including extensive work as a consultant to a number of Fortune 500 companies including AOL Time Warner, as an executive at Columbia Records and as co-founder or her own music and editorial post-production companies, Independent Sound and Superior Assembly, working with many of the music industry’s biggest stars. She has also taught Business and Finance at several California State Universities, including UCLA.
She serves on the Corporate Board of the Environmental Media Association on the advisory board of The Luncheon Society and a founder of the board of The America China Bridge.
Her continued advocacy of women’s issues is shown by her featured role in the upcoming documentary, Femme, focusing on successful international women making a difference in society. She is the proud mother of three successful children and lives in California.

Website -
http://marybuffett.com/

Thursday, 21 August 2014

I'm a very proud dad!


 

I'm proud of all my children, but I have give a special mention today to 16-year-old Emyr after he received some great GCSE results.
GCSE results day is a nerve-wracking occasion for many youngsters, but Emyr has shown that all the hard work is well worth it.
He got a A* grades in physics and biology, A grades in business studies, chemistry, geography and maths, B in English Lit and Lang, C in Spanish and PE.
Emyr, pictured on the left in this holiday snap, is the youngest of my three children.
They all seem to have inherited their dad's work ethic as they are all 'can do' people keen to make their way in the world.
Emyr has a summer job at the Carmarthen Bay Holiday park in St Ishmael's, not far from my West Wales home.
He's thriving on the independence and has got a scooter to travel to and from work.
Currently, 'dad' is on a public speaking tour out here in the Far East, but here's a quick message

'Congrats on your exam results, Emyr. This is one very proud dad. Love and best wishes and see you soon' - Dad.

Wednesday, 20 August 2014

First visit to Ho Chi Minh City is a memorable one

This is my first vist to Ho Ch Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, in Vietnam.
I am here as part of a public speaking tour of the Far East in conjunction with Success Resources.
The city is a real eye-opener.
For example, I just exchanged £400 in Sterling for 14million Vietnamese Dong.
You can see that becoming a multi-millionaire is very easy here!
As regular readers know, I am a big fan of motorbikes.
So I found a great way to get around the city and do some sightseeing.


There are plenty of sights to see, including this one which made me chuckle.
It's an illuminated sign on the wall of the restroom in a city centre restaurant.