BNI Olympus played host last night to one of the other BNI groups, known as Invincible. The venue was Tenpin at the Capitol Centre in Preston. Invincible failed to live up to their name and you can see the winning Olympus team pictured above. A successful evening enjoyed by all, one that is sure to be repeated in 2010. Maybe we’ll even line up a trophy.
10 pin bowling last night did yield a photo or two which cry out for a caption. We’ll spare you the gangrenous one of Martin in favour of this. Click the picture to go large.
Click in to the comments and post your own caption … we’ll find a suitable accolade for the best one at the next business network meeting.
Congratulations to Primary Graphics for putting together the best 60 seconds ‘Radio BNI’ ad at this morning’s meeting.
The new leadership team with Chapter Director, Tracy Parks, wanted something different to launch her 6 months in the role and lay down the challenge last week for her first official meeting. There were many amusing and original ideas presented and it all gave an extra ‘buzz’ to the meeting, which members and visitors alike enjoyed very much.
Roger Bessent hands Susie Poppit of Derian House a cheque for £1,200
Roger Bessent of Gleeson Bessent accountants, who have offices on Preston Riversway docklands, decided to turn a hobby into a good deed and raise some money for a local deserving cause. His first choice was Derian House children’s hospice having met Susie Poppit, marketing manager at the hospice, at a recent meeting of BNI Olympus Chapter, of which he is a longstanding member. The challenge was a 68 mile bike ride from Manchester to Blackpool in the annual fundraising event held on Sunday 12th July 2009. It was a first time for Roger, and, after weeks of intense training, he completed it in a respectable 4.30 hours and raised a fantastic £1,200 for Derian. The cheque was presented at Shaw Hill Golf Club where Olympus meet every Tuesday at 6.45am.
David Borrow, MP for South Ribble visits BNI Olympus
After we heard about Gordon Brown making a surprise visit to a BNI chapter in Liverpool, we contacted David Borrow our local MP to see if he was interested in seeing how companies in the area were leading the way in developing new business. Fortunately the February recess was approacing and he was able to schedule a visit.
As well as meeting a group of very motivated local companies, he heard first hand about business challenges and opportunities in the area and was able to put members in touch with networking events involving junior ministers.
Pictured here, from the left; Martin Newton of City Investment, David Borrow MP, Carmen Parkinson BNI Assistant Director, Louise Coxhead of Coxhead Cleaning Services and Russell Treasure of Lambogenie. Photo by Martin Toole of Inspired Images.
Five years ago a group of local business people started meeting near Preston to share contacts and pass business. The group meets every Tuesday morning at the recently refurbished Farington Lodge Hotel where an average seat is worth around £26,000 to its members. Mike Gelder, one of the long standing members explains, I receive over 50% of my business through members of the group! It’s allowed me to significantly expand my client base with very little marketing spend.
The group is planning a visitors day on the 27th November where members of the local business community are invited to attend. The group is run by BNI, an international organisation with over 15,000 members in the UK. Meetings are every Tuesday and start at 7am, so members are doing business before the competition is even out of bed!
Several milestones are expected to be reached this month with the passing of the 3,500th business referral and the arrival of the 500th visitor who will be celebrating in style, with the champagne in the picture. Anyone interested in attending the open day should contact Carmen Parkinson, BNI Assistant Director on 07818 620163.
When unavoidable absence from the BNI breakfast table means having to find a substitute, then it’s important to ensure your replacement is not going to let you down.
Happily, Russell Treasure – a member of the Olympus Chapter in Leyland near Preston – had no such doubts when he had to miss a recent meeting, after arranging for his substitute to be collected from home in a beautiful orange Lamborghini Gallardo sports car, and then be chauffeur driven to work afterwards!
In fact it was all in a day’s work for Russell, whose business ‘Lambogenie.com’ hires out prestige sports cars for celebrity events and special occasions.
He said: “I’d asked a business colleague, Martin Cooke from Ribble Insurances Ltd, to act as my substitute and of course he would have been very willing to oblige, even without the VIP treatment. But I thought that since he was making the effort to get up very early on my behalf, the least I could do was provide one of my eye catching cars and have him chauffeur driven to and from the chapter meeting. I gather his arrival caused a minor stir among the other Olympus members.”
Our photo shows Martin being greeted by Chapter Director Gary Baldwin outside Olympus’s venue, Farington Lodge Hotel in Leyland.
Photo:www.inspiredimagesltd.com Contact Martin on 07737 393485 www.ribbleinsurance.com and Russell on 01254 854414 www.lambogenie.com
We’re all behind the Chorley Guardians Campaign to raise awareness of Chorley FC’s ‘save the magpies appeal’, this is what appeared in the paper recently
…The latest donor is Leyland-based BNI Olympus Chapter, which has chipped in with £100. BNI Olympus Chapter is a referral networking organisation with one representative from each business sector.They decided to step in after Jackie Williams, of Chorley-based Primary Graphics Limited, heard about the plight of the Magpies. She decided to use her presentation time at her weekly referral network meeting at Farington Lodge, Leyland, to rally support from her fellow members. She said: “Being a supporter of local causes and recognising that every town needs to have its own football team for the sake of future generations, I had little trouble convincing them to dig deep and help save the club…
The Olympus Chapter Vistor Day held on the 5th of December 2006 was a resounding success and opportunity to network with a fascinating cross-section of local businesses Рwith 22 visiting companies including some of Preston’s biggest names from accountants, signwriters, hire shop, car rental and even a model agency… hosted by Regional Director Mike Holman and our own Chapter Director Martin Toole.
this is what BNI’s powerful ‘word-of-mouth marketing referral programme’ is all about, please contact us for the date of the next Visitor Day.
One way to really liven up a morning meeting is by setting off fireworks!
and that’s what happened recently when the Olympus chapter passed it’s 2500th referral, it was kept a secret by the leadership team until the actual referral was passed, and then celebrated in style… at least it woke everyone up, talk about a meeting stimulus.
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