Across the Globe - Europe
Aldwych Members Take to Skies to Beat Winter Blues

Aldwych members breakfast in Dublin.

With a chill in the air and grey mornings setting in, members of London's Aldwych chapter found an ideal tonic for the winter blues – swapping their weekly breakfast meeting at a central London hotel for a BNI business lunch in Dublin's fair city.

Chapter Secretary, Joanne McCollin, who organized the event told SuccessNet: "The idea came about because we thought members would benefit by building a greater rapport with each other outside the formality of our usual meeting environment. We found a cheap flight deal to Dublin and decided a day trip was feasible."

Members resisted the temptation to circulate the business card box around to fellow passengers on the 8am flight, or perform their 60 second in-flight commercials. Instead networking activities focused on a 'Guinness-fuelled' day along the banks of the River Liffe, the highlight of which was a leisurely lunch meeting at the aptly named 'Chapter One' restaurant.

Chapter Director, Anthony Impey said: "It wasn't a frivolous trip. We felt a day out would be an excellent way to get to know each other better. As well as offering a break from a day at the office, it helped consolidate our business relationships and build referrals. There's no doubt the group returned more enthusiastic – benefiting the chapter with more lively, yet focused meetings."


London's Vision Chapter marks a milestone
A new milestone has been reached in BNI's dramatic eight-year expansion across the UK and Ireland, with the late-November launch of our 500th chapter - the appropriately named Vision chapter in Palmers Green, North London.

Vision's arrival in the northern suburbs of the capital may not have been the biggest or the grandest event in BNI's remarkable UK history, but its initial 26 members are determined to make an early impact on the local business community, befitting their chapter's landmark status. Inaugural Chapter Director, independent financial adviser, Gordon Craft said: "We only learned after our launch meeting that we had become BNI's 500th chapter in the UK and Ireland, but if ever a new group needed an extra incentive to get off to a good start, we've now got it! We're confident that BNI is going to make a big impression in this part of London, and it's no coincidence that another core group – Business 4 U - is already meeting at the same venue which will soon give Palmers Green its second chapter."

Since launching its very first chapter – just a few miles across north-west London at Pinner - in December 1996, BNI has grown at a phenomenal rate, averaging more than five new groups every month, and establishing a strong presence in nearly every part of the UK and Ireland.

Today, BNI's UK/Ireland membership stands at almost 12,000, reaffirming its position as by far the largest business networking organization both in Britain and throughout the world. The picture is the same in mainland Europe, with scores of new chapters being opened in towns and cities stretching from Scandinavia to Southern Spain.


Big Breakfast Admission? Bring a Silly Hat!
One hundred members, from nine UK chapters around the western home counties, turned out for the region's annual 'Big Breakfast' held at Windsor Race Course just before Christmas, when they exchanged potential referrals -- worth over 1.25 million pounds!

The inter-chapter networking event is so popular that there is not even time for participants to present their 60-second infomercials. Instead, each attendee is allowed only to tell his or her Big Breakfast colleagues: "My dream referral would be an introduction to ..."

And the silly hats? Everyone attending is told they must wear a purpose-made hat depicting the trade or profession they are representing, so that others will at least know who to look for in the fervent post-breakfast networking melee.