NETWORKING, we are told, is a key part of growing a business. Nowhere more so than in Milton Keynes, where it has played a key role in the development and growth of the local economy over the past 50 years. Breakfast clubs abound, evening networking thrives as the business
community continues to take any and every opportunity to meet, discuss and do business. Its importance to the newer arrivals is less than it was in previous decades, when the city was in its infancy and adolescence, every business was still relatively new and the community was determined to go forward together. But the importance of face to face meetings and conversations cannot be underestimated. Sonia Coleman, managing director of D&P Recruitment, was a seasoned
networker as the business community grew. She organised supper clubs, ran the Corporate Women group, hosted HR forums and administered firstly the Business Class Breakfast Club before the City Breakfast Club. “It is so important in Milton Keynes,” she says. 'It was about people getting to know people and you can only do that through networking. Now the city has grown, it is more difficult to get to know people because companies are coming in from outside the area, outside the country sometimes, their markets are wider and they do not need to socialise and network so much here. But networking is still really strong.” It was not until 1992, the year
Roger Fennemore
Milton Keynes bade farewell to its development corporation, that networking really took off. A group of businessmen, frustrated by the absence of a regular venue in which to meet and chat, joined forces to set up the Best Cellars wine bar in Upper Fourth Street. “We needed somewhere for people to network and we came up with the idea of a venue similar to a wine bar in the City,” says former solicitor Roger Fennemore. “From that came the idea of sporting lunches and then the City Breakfast Club.”
The latter, the longest established in Milton Keynes, first met at Best Cellars, which under its various subsequent names, remained its home until the 2000s. The longer established groups such as the Rotary Clubs and Round Tables have also adapted to life in the new city. “Once the city centre opened, it became a focal point for new businesses,” says Roger. “It was a centre where people were doing business so networking moved away from its traditional form.” Another key development in the
effectiveness of networking was the opening of Woburn Golf Club in 1976. “It came at a key point,” says Roger, captain of the club in 1985. “There were golf clubs but they were all full. It became a real focal point for new and up-and-coming businessmen.” Paul Davis, chairman of the City
Breakfast Club which now meets at stadiummk, says. “Milton Keynes is
an open city and always has been,” he says. “People have come here because they want a city where they can form a community “They were arriving at the same
time, with the same purpose and the development corporation had
Business: the social network
The way we do business is changing but networking’s momentum among the business community shows no sign of stopping.
Callum Henning (badminton) and Alec Ramsden (table tennis) received their SportsAid awards from ex-England footballer Stuart Pearce. Also pictured: Sally Fennemore.
Paul Davis
created the right ambience for the business community to develop. We are reinventing ourselves but people still want to talk to each other. They work themselves into the business community and we welcome that.” Networking for women has
evolved in response to growing demand, says Sally Fennemore, president of the Women in Enterprise group. “More women are running businesses now and women seem to do as much if not more networking than businessmen.” Networking is as important
today as it ever has been as Milton Keynes prepares for the dawn of a new era. “In the old days, young people would aspire to be members of a Rotary Club,” says Roger. “That is not the case now because they do not see the benefit but I am very excited that so many people in their 20s, 30s and 40s are networking and contributing to the dynamic of the city.” Groups also play their part in helping the wider community. Roger is regional chair of the charity SportsAid which raises money to help the top local young sports stars to develop their careers. The Milton Keynes Sporting Lunch Club presents funds to such athletes at its events, with those who have benefited including Olympic long jump gold medallist
Business 55
Greg Rutherford, sprinter Craig Pickering, wheelchair fencing Olympian Gabi Down, table tennis champion Andrew Baddeley and others in sports ranging from netball and badminton to fencing,
golf and BMX. Says Roger: “If we could make
networking a force for good, that would be a great thing. For networking to endure, it has to have a purpose.”
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