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In early June’06 the BIN Chairman was approached by Mike Mack, Regional Funding Advisor for DEFRA. Mike had been instrumental in obtaining funding for a virgining co-operative This Cooperative was the brainchild of Jane Taylor, who was and still is running her own rural business. The simple concept was to raise the profile of rural businesses and offer them a collective conduit to enable them to generate an identifiable market presence and, at the same time, learn how to improve their businesses, by coming together with other rural businesses and exchanging views and guidance. Jane soon realised that certain basic requirements were lacking (a PC for their new office and a business knowledge base), when it came to helping the now 150 rural businesses that had joined up.. It was at this point that Mike Mack contacted me with an invitation to become a sponsor and potential mentor to PIN members. At this time, I was a member of a Dereham based BNI group, consisting of ten core members. I though it would be a good idea to invite the core group, to join me, in this sponsoring and mentoring capacity. After our first meeting our group quickly realised the business potential by affiliating, to support, sponsor and act as exclusive business mentors to the rural businesses in this cooperative, which by now had increased to 170 members. It was very quickly decided that our business group needed to have a more identifiable structure to engage with the cooperative. It was agreed to set up a non-profit making Company Limited by Guarantee, in which each member would hold a share. This Company would be run by an elected board of directors, headed by a Chairperson, aided by a Company Secretary and the rest of the 7 strong board members. The office of Chairperson and Secretary would become progressive offices, the Secretary taking over as Chairperson, every six months. This progression of senior board members ensures the board maintains continuity of contact and on-going projects. The group selected the name Business In Norfolk Ltd. (BIN) and domain names: |
