One of the top BNI groups in the UK
Guildford Business is one of the top BNI groups in the UK
Constantly growing membership
With people from all areas of commerce and trade
We regularly exchange over £1 million
We regularly exchange over £1m in confirmed business every year
The meeting structure allows each member and visitor the same opportunity to introduce their business to the group and ask for any referrals or introductions that they require.
The Guildford chapter has around 26 members and there are often around five visitors each week, so make sure you bring a box of business cards with you to hand out to all of the members.
6:30am
When we meet in person it’s a 6:30am meeting time, when we’re on Zoom it’s a little later at 6:45am.
Every Thursday
We meet in person on the first Thursday of every month, and on Zoom for the other weeks.
Guildford
Seasons Cafe, Guildford Cathedral, Stag Hill, Guildford GU2 7UP
Meeting structure
Whether face to face or virtually, the meeting structure listed below stays the same. At face to face meetings, informal networking takes place over a tea or coffee, there is no need to worry about being left on your own, we genuinely pride ourselves on the warmth of our welcome and any member will be delighted to introduce you to anybody that you particularly want to speak with.
At around 6.45am we ask everyone to help themselves to breakfast, which includes some fabulous options, grab your food, pick a seat and get ready for the meeting.
7:00am – The meeting starts with the chapter leadership team introducing key people and their roles and explaining a little about group progress.
7:05am – ‘What BNI means to me’ gives an individual member the opportunity stand up and tell us what they gain from membership, this helps visitors and guests to gain an understanding of why we continue to get up at such a ridiculous hour every Thursday!
7:10am – ‘Education Slot’ – A short presentation of a few minutes on how members and visitors can get the very best out of membership and how we can each improve our own networking skills.
7:15am – This is affectionately known as the ’60 second round’ where every member of the group takes it in turn to present their business and ask for introductions. Members will go first with visitors then delivering their own sixty second pitch at the end.
There is absolutely no need to worry about your presentation skills, some people are naturally better than others but as long as you tell us who you are, what you do, where you do it and what type of business you are looking for, that’s just fine.
8:00am – We break at this point for a short five minute comfort and coffee break and to stretch the legs!
8:05am – ‘Members ten minute presentation’. Each week, one of the members of the group delivers a ten minute presentation on their business so that the group can get a far better appreciation of how to best make introductions and referrals on their behalf.
8.20am – The Referral Round – The final part of the meeting is the most important, this is where we pass referrals, or business introductions. You would be amazed at the quality and quantity of the introductions that are made and we encourage visitors and guests to play a full part in this so do not be shy about asking… you never know who you might meet.
It is worth noting that the principle of BNI is to have one member for every discipline so it is always best to let a member of the group know before you are coming to ensure that there is no conflict with an existing member.
If your category conflicts with an existing member you will still be welcome but sadly you will not be asked to present your 60 seconds. The good news is that there are lots of BNI groups and if we cannot accommodate you at Guildford we will introduce you to other groups.
Please check out the members’ page of this website and if you are in any doubt about a potential clash just send us a message through the contact form and we will be delighted to help
We meet every Thursday, 6.30am till 8.30am
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