BNI Divergent launches in Kirkham

A new brunch-time business networking group has launched in Kirkham to help Fylde coast businesses grow.

BNI Divergent will now meet for brunch at the Ribby Hall Conference Centre every Thursday from 9:30 to 12 noon. The group is part of BNI (Business Network International) which is the world’s biggest referral organisation with around 240,000 members in over 70 countries.

It works by organising weekly networking meetings where local businesspeople get together to build professional relationships and pass new business opportunities to each other.  Groups, known as chapters, use their combined network of contacts to find business opportunities and referrals for one another, to a specific brief that members outline at every meeting.

BNI Divergent is one of twelve chapters operating in Lancashire and is the only group on the Fylde, while also being only the second group in the county to meet at brunch-time rather than breakfast-time.

Chapter president Simon Cocker of digital marketing company Voodoo Agency said: “We’re incredibly proud to be launching this BNI chapter in Kirkham, which is a brilliant location for businesses coming from across the Fylde as well as down the M55.

“The group has actually been meeting for a few months as a ‘core group’, while we built the membership up to the point where we are happy to go ‘live’.  In that time, members working together have already generated nearly one hundred thousand pounds of business.  With over twenty members, we’re now set to operate as a fully functioning group and aiming to build those numbers.

“Other chapters in Lancashire are currently regularly hitting £2 million in business a year and East Lancashire is actually the top BNI region in the UK, so we’re really excited about what we can achieve here on the Fylde Coast.

“The magic of BNI comes from getting the right people in the room so our doors are always open for any businesspeople who are interested in visiting us to find out what it’s all about.”  

To find out more about BNI go to www.bni.co.uk.