Lancashire business group brings in a total of £1.9m

BNI Invincible is part of the world’s biggest referral organisation, Business Network International.

It meets for breakfast every Thursday at the Invincibles Lounge at Preston North End.

Established over 30 years ago, BNI now has over 185,000 members in over 70 countries worldwide.

It works by organising weekly networking meetings for groups of businesses who work to find business opportunities for one another. Each group, or chapter, follows proven networking processes to ensure the maximum amount of business is generated for members.

BNI Invincible Chapter President Beccy Irving, of Bird Design & Marketing, said: “We’re really proud to have generated £1.9 million for our businesses here in Preston.

“One of the reasons BNI stands out from other types of networking groups is that we have proven procedures that ensure the early mornings are worth it, and that we really do generate a significant amount of business for each other.

“One of those procedures is the Thank You for the Business box, which is passed around each week, and is how we track the amount of business generated. The truth is though, that the box only tracks the value of business covered by each first referral, but doesn’t measure repeat or second generation referrals, so the figure is in fact probably substantially higher than the £1.9 million recorded – which isn’t bad for a group of just over 20 business people!”

BNI Invincible is one of four chapters in the Preston and Chorley area, and a total of 10 in Lancashire.

Beccy added: “We’re aiming to grow the group to 40 people with the aim of busting the £2 million a year mark. The key to success with BNI is getting the right people in the group. We’re lucky to already have a great group of businesses, but we want more.

“The more good businesses we have in the group, the greater amount of business we can generate for each other, so visitors are always welcome to come along and see if it’s for them.”