Member Article

BUSINESSES FORUM CELEBRATES SUCCESSFUL SECOND YEAR

A group which brings together businesses in North Tyneside is celebrating a highly successful second year.

The North Tyneside Business Forum was established by North Tyneside Council in 2010, with the aim of boosting the borough’s businesses to business relations, and supporting businesses growth.

In the past twelve months, membership has risen to 550 registered businesses, and last year 640 delegates attended Business Forum events, ranging from breakfast briefings to networking cruises along the Tyne.

Satisfaction levels have also reached an all-time high, with 97 percent of members saying they find Business Forum events very useful, and 99 percent reporting that they’d made new business contacts as a result.

Elected Mayor for North Tyneside, Mrs Linda Arkley was directly involved in establishing the Business Forum, which is now led by a group of enthusiastic local business leaders, supported by the council.

Today, she praised the work of the dedicated volunteers behind its growing success.

Mrs Arkley said: “In the space of just over two years, the North Tyneside Business Forum has grown from a great idea into a great success. Membership numbers are high and continue to rise, and businesses really value the support on offer, particularly the events.

“This is directly down to the work of our local business leaders, who have voluntarily given their own valuable time to successfully steer the Forum to where it is now. It has been a privilege to work closely with these dedicated professionals, who share my vision of a thriving and successful local business community here in North Tyneside.

“The North Tyneside Business Forum has grown into a fantastic asset and its work is invaluable in supporting local businesses of all sizes, to thrive and grow. It would be wonderful if we could get to a position where every single business in North Tyneside is a member of this mutually supportive forum. I believe it would really help us to drive forward business growth and job creation here in North Tyneside.”

Peter Hedley, Managing Director of PWH Associates, is the Vice Chair of the North Tyneside Business Forum. He said:

“It is amazing to see how far the Business Forum has come since its inception. It enjoys a strong and supportive relationship with the local authority, and it is this which gives the Forum its ability to act as the ‘glue’ between local businesses and the support provided by council departments and other public sector bodies. We’re also closely connected to the three local Chambers of Trade, plus other networks like the Cobalt and Silverlink Business Association.

“The best thing for me is the knowledge that businesses really do value the support on offer, particularly the events. I know from experience that networking events can sometimes be a bit ‘hit and miss’, but the feedback we get from ours tells us that they’re really delivering results. Attendees regularly leave with leads for new work, and the events really help to cement the borough’s business to business relationships.

“Our events aim to cover a wide range of business disciplines, from tendering and procurement to sales and marketing, and offer the chance for North Tyneside firms to tap into the experience and expertise of inspirational speakers and local business leaders.

“We always try to shape the events and briefings in response to what businesses say they need. Sales and promotional techniques are key areas of interest at the moment, so we’ve got a series of breakfast events underway to help businesses pick up skills in self promotion, to increase their confidence in how they present themselves and their products and services.

“Members have also told us they’re interested to find out more about business finance, so there are plans for a meeting with the Bank of England’s regional representative early next year.“Looking back, we have had a very successful first two years, and it is our ambition to build on that success even further.”

The North Tyneside Business Forum’s future plans involve establishing more targeted support groups for particular sectors, and work is underway to establish forums for both construction and manufacturing. Like the Business Forum itself, the groups will be led by local business representatives.

Other recent initiatives include the creation of a dedicated business helpline which provides a simple, rapid response for any enquiries relating to North Tyneside Council services, on anything from rate relief to problems with potholes.Members are also keen to support local charities, and recently held a golf tournament and networking event at Tynemouth Golf Club which raised over £600 for the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade. The Forum also plans to develop and broaden the scope of its events and briefings programme in 2013.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by North Tyneside Business Forum .