Attending networking events is a great way to build lasting relationships with other driven and ambitious people and it will help you grown both personally and professionally. As the second city Birmingham has a wide range of networking groups to suit all organisations. We’ve listed some popular groups below, to give you a glimpse of what Birmingham has to offer for both your career and your business.
Birmingham Chamber of Commerce
The Birmingham Chamber of Commerce hosts events around the city with over 5000 attendees a year. The Chamber runs a variety of events including networking, seminars, training courses and exhibitions. Although some events are exclusive to members, non - members are open to attend the majority of events as an opportunity to network. With members from all business sectors the Birmingham Chambers events are a great place to network with key decision makers.
Birmingham Business Breakfast Club
The Birmingham Business Breakfast Club is the oldest networking event within the city and has been running for almost 30 years. Taking place every third Wednesday of the month at Hotel Du Vin, the event runs from 7-9am. Every session typically features a guest speaker discussing local business issues, upcoming speakers include PJ Ellis from Love Brum and Judith Armstrong CEO of Millennium Point.
BNI
BNI Business networking has been in the city for 15 years and currently has 16 groups within the Birmingham area, with over 15,000 referrals a year totalling up to £13.6m of a business a year. Each group only allows one member from a particular business sector so that you are not in competition with other organisations. As well as business networking the BNI also offer training events and business workshops.
The Brummies Networking
The Brummies Networking group is held every second Tuesday in the month at the G Casino in Fiveways from 10am – 12 noon. There are no membership fees and attendees are free to arrive and leave at any time. With no set format the atmosphere at Brummies Networking is fairly laid back with attendees free to grab a coffee and biscuits and have a chat.
Of course these are just a selection of networking groups you will find within Birmingham. Websites such as Eventbrite and Find Networking Events have listings of all upcoming business networking events around the Midlands region.
To read further about the benefits of networking you can read our previous post here.