About Matrix
Independent, single seat, run by the members.
Three things that sound like small print and are actually the whole point.
Independent
Not a franchise and not a branch of anything. No head office takes a cut, sets the script, or decides what the group does next. The members do.
Single seat
One business per category. Your accountant isn't sitting across the table from two other accountants, so a referral that fits you comes to you. It also means seats run out — ask before you come.
Non-profit
Run by the members for the benefit of the members. Fees cover the cost of the events, the stationery and the promotion. Nobody is taking a margin off the top.
What it costs
Published in full, because a group that won't tell you the price until you've been to a meeting is telling you something else.
- Your first two visitsCome, eat, listen, decide nothing
- Free
- Joining feeOne-off, when you decide to join
- £150
- MonthlyCovers both lunches
- £30
- Annual renewalDue 1 July
- £70
The shape of the day
First and third Thursday of every month, at The Mount Pleasant Hotel on 50 Belle Vue Terrace, Great Malvern.
An hour and three quarters, twice a month. That is the entire time commitment.
What the group is for
In the members' own words: to help small businesses achieve their ambitions, and to generate business for each other. In practice that is four things.
New contacts and referrals
Businesses across the three counties, each with their own network behind them.
Knowledge and experience
A second opinion from someone who has already done the thing you are about to do, and has no stake in selling you anything.
Visibility
Sixty seconds, twice a month, in front of people who remember your name, plus a profile page that turns up when somebody searches for what you do.
Staying current
What is actually happening in the local economy, from people trading in it, rather than from a report.
Where it came from
Matrix has met on the first and third Thursday since 2013. For most of that time it was the Worcester Independent Networking Group; the name changed , the group didn't. Same people, same room, same habit.
Thirteen years is the part worth saying out loud — networking groups are easy to start and hard to keep going.
Who runs it
A leadership team drawn from the membership.
- Jane Lander Taylor Continuum
- Nic Rawlings Nic Rawlings Limited
- David Cox John Goodwin FRICS