Lunching ladies make profitable connections

Yorkshire based women’s networking group Ladies4Networking is continuing to develop strong professional business relationships across West Yorkshire.

Founded by Marina Simioli in 2009 the group now has 11 groups with regular monthly meetings in several locations including among others Bradford, Brighouse, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax. It also provides strong online support presence in the forums of LinkedIn where the network was first fostered.

#Angela Power who heads up the Bradford group which meets at the Old Tramshed in Saltaire noted “We are now regularly getting upwards of 20 women attending our lunches from a variety of businesses.  The sessions attract professional women from across a range of sectors, so we have solicitors liaising with beauty therapists, fashion designers with accountants and so on.  Whether these women work in busy offices or as sole traders at home they are making genuine business contacts that are creating real increases in their revenue streams.”

The networking ethos in the group does not begin and end with looking for customers however, and group member Jane Ellison-Bates of Manifest Marketing near Skipton is quick to stress that the network has led to new partnerships and suppliers which also help her business to develop.  “It’s about how women can use their own network of contacts in order to help each other, forging new relationships and maximising opportunities that grow from fresh connections.”

The format of the Ladies4Networking meetings mixes informal networking over lunch with the more structured ‘table shuffle’.  Women get the opportunity to speak about their business and ask for the help they need in small groups, avoiding the need to stand up and speak to a whole room which can be daunting in other business networking environments.

Ladies4Networking groups are open to all business women and guests are able to come along to try out the experience without having to sign up for an annual subscription.  Meetings are charged at £10 payable on the day.

The next Ladies4Networking event is the Bradford meeting on Tuesday 3^rd June, 11.15am – 1.45pm at The Old Tramshed, 199 Bingley Road, Saltaire, BD18 4DH.  Featured speakers at the event will be Fiona Moore of Moore Family Law, Lucy Goetz Social Media and Kath Crabtree of Utility Warehouse.  Places can be booked in advance by calling Angela Power on 07811 084500 or on the website http://www.ladies4networking.com/