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Global business referral organisation turns to South Tyneside

A GLOBAL business referral organisation - which has over 130,000 members and has generated business in the region of £230m - has promoted a South Shields associate as its Area Director.

Carl Mowatt of South Shields who runs print and design company, Agrafica, joined BNI, (Business Network International), in 2006 and has seen his business grow at an increasing rate ever since.

Mr Mowatt will now manage his own team of directors and aims to further strengthen the organisation by recruiting additional directors by the end of the year.

Presently there are around 300 members in 15 Chapters from Sunderland in the south to Morpeth in the north with others occupying prime, advantageous business locations in Newcastle, North Tyneside and South Tyneside.

The region is now planning to grow to 20 groups by the end of 2011 by opening new Chapters in Alnwick, Boldon and Berwick upon Tweed.

Mr Mowatt said: “Knowing how to get business for your fellow members in the right way is vital.”

“What makes us different from other groups is the way that we professionally train our members, showing them how to network and how to introduce work for their fellow members. It pays massive dividends.”

BNI was founded in the 1980’s by American management consultant, Ivan Misner who created a highly structured referral group with the philosophy of “givers gain”.

Now, the organisation has grown to more than 5778 chapters and 132,562 members worldwide. I

n the UK and Ireland there are more than 646 Chapters which last year gave 6.6 million referrals, leading to business repoted to be worth £230 million.

Members of BNI Northumbria, which is headed up by Lynley Robb from Whitley Bay, last year brought in a staggering £3m in the form of business referrals, a figure that Mr Mowatt has been tasked to increase even further for the benefit of it’s members.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .