The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 34: Dec/Jan 2017/18 | Page 47

BUSINESSWISE BusinessWise takes business owners and senior employees beyond networking- it creates powerful relationships Let us help spread the word about your business www.businesswise.org.uk Member Benefits: BusinessWise is not a networking group – it’s a small, bespoke referral group with members who believe meeting regularly builds strong, lasting and knowledgeable relationships in business. We are a Swindon-based group but attract members who live and work in outlying areas – not just in the town itself. For the group to succeed in its aim of providing high quality referrals, members have to commit to building relationships and make the most of networking opportunities within the group and externally in the Wiltshire business community. Over the last 12 months over £750,000 of business has changed hands between members. It is also an evolving group which is currently re- shaping its meeting structures and agendas to maximise engagement and provide a variety of discussion and areas for learning. Andy Phipps, of Crystal Ball, is a recent new member who is just learning the robes when it comes to being part of the group. He said: “I’ve been working in the vehicle tracking industry for more than ten years and joined BusinessWise to help grow Crystal Ball’s local business reach as they focus on their customer base in the South West. “The company provides mobile and vehicle tracking services for companies with vehicles – from one car right through to a large fleet. “In the short time I’ve attended BusinessWise it has generated three strong, qualified referrals which I would not have got if I had not attended meetings. On top of this, the benefit of sharing ideas and best practice with other like-minded people, helps me focus on my goals and pushes me to achieve more.” BusinessWise is a non-competing group – this means one member will not compete with another similar business in the room. There will only ever be one accountant, one solicitor, one printer or one website developer as a member. Visitors can come along free of charge to the weekly breakfast meetings – 6.45am every Friday morning at Jury’s Inn, central Swindon – also during 2018 there will be several events which will be open to visitors. At the time of writing we are particularly looking for a plumber, a beautician, a hair stylist, an architect, an office supplier, a graphic designer and a cleaning company to name a few. Please contact us to find out more information or to book a free visit to our group, we would be more than happy to see you and make you feel welcome. BusinessWise would like to take this opportunity to wish the Swindon and Wiltshire business community a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous 2018. • Not for Profit Organisation • Fees re-invested into the group • Exclusive business category • Opportunities for new business across all sectors • Low annual membership fee VISITORS If you are interested in visiting BusinessWise (all visitors can come along free of charge), we meet on Friday morning at 6.45am at Jury’s Inn, Swindon town centre. We are run on a not-for-profit basis and, as a non-competing group, one member will be the only member representing his or her sector in the room. We are currently looking for new members in these areas: Architecture Retail Dentistry Opticians Graphic Design Floristry Restaurant or food industry Plumber Fitness Sport GP practice Education Wellbeing/health-based Interested? If you would like to find out more – or come along as a visitor, please visit our website or call the BusinessWise Chair, Fiona Scott: 07789 270030 For more info: www.businesswise.org.uk THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017 47