EARLY birds' in Bury are waking up to the benefits of doing business over breakfast!

A dynamic group of like-minded business people meets every fortnight at the town's Bolholt Country Park Hotel and is already reaping the rewards of networking and forging lasting friendships.

Business for Breakfast (B4B) Bury currently has 20 members but is looking to extend up to 30 by the end of the year. It is anxious to recruit members involved in certain, designated sectors.

Behind the success of B4B is Louise Yates who joined the Bury group 18 months ago as a training and development consultant. She said: "I found my true passion for working with small businesses and helping them grow. So, when the opportunity arose for me to buy the B4B franchise it took very little time to decide that this was a superb opportunity to buy into a concept that I loved and had seen work.

"I bought two established groups, Bury and Accrington, and I am now on a mission to build a total of ten dynamic B4B groups across Lancashire and Greater Manchester. We meet at the Bolholt in Bury every other Tuesday at 6.45am to exchange business with one another. The aim of the group is to build strong relationships so members can feel confident that they can recommend members' services to others."

Louise added: "A success of a group has to be measured by the results it produces for its members. The B4B Bury achieves this in a number of ways.

"We recruit the right members at the outset, business people who are committed to regularly attending and contributing to the fortnightly meetings and who genuinely want to help fellow members. Training is also important and is provided to ensure that everyone gets the most out of their membership."

B4B Bury has a number of professional sectors which are not represented and to which the group is particularly looking to pass business. These are an estate agent, insurance agent, telecoms installer, property management/development company, security installer and consultancy, independent travel agent, optician and a beauty salon.

Additionally, the group is also anxious to attract providers of business-to-business services such as a health and safety consultant, corporate finance specialist, interim recruitment agency and compliance consultants in financial services.

Louise added: "For many, it is not only an essential way to build business but is an opportunity to link up with like-minded business people who may sometimes feel isolated during the day-to-day running of their own business.

"It also means members have a trusted bank of quality suppliers they can turn to when they need particular products or services."

Louise can be contacted on 0845 618 0034 or 07947 040478 or e-mail louiseyates@bforb.co.uk