Running a small business often feels like navigating a labyrinth—rewarding, yet brimming with challenges. With limited resources, tight budgets, and fierce competition, the hurdles can sometimes seem endless.

One effective yet frequently overlooked strategy is joining a local business club. Whether it’s a chamber of commerce, a networking group, or a social club in London, these organisations can unlock opportunities you might never have imagined.

From expanding your network to boosting your credibility, here’s how small businesses can truly thrive
by becoming part of a local business club.

Build connections that work for you

One of the greatest advantages of joining a local business club is the chance to connect with people who can genuinely support your business’s growth. It’s not just about swapping business cards at events; it’s about building meaningful relationships. After all, who understands your local area better than other business owners in the community?

Networking events hosted by these clubs offer more than just a chance to mingle. They’re platforms for creating valuable partnerships, finding clients, or even discovering mentors. For instance, organisations like Business Networking International (BNI) operate globally, but their structured weekly meetings foster local connections.

Imagine a florist teaming up with a wedding planner or a graphic designer collaborating with a print shop. These connections often lead to referrals, joint projects, and even lasting friendships.

And it’s not all about business transactions. Sharing challenges, exchanging ideas, or simply discussing day-to-day hurdles with fellow entrepreneurs can offer both inspiration and reassurance.

Put your business in the spotlight

Standing out as a small business is no small feat, especially when competing against bigger, more established names. This is where a business club can be a game-changer. Many organisations offer their members visibility through online directories, newsletters, or social media posts, giving your business free exposure with minimal effort.

Membership in a well-regarded organisation also enhances your credibility. Customers tend to trust businesses affiliated with recognised groups, viewing it as a mark of professionalism.

Research from the British Chambers of Commerce, for instance, highlights that consumers are more likely to trust and support businesses associated with their local chamber. In this sense, membership isn’t just a badge—it’s a powerful trust signal that can make a real difference.

Learn, adapt, and grow

As a small business owner, you’re often required to wear many hats. But let’s face it, no one can be an expert at everything. That’s why the training sessions, workshops, and seminars offered by business clubs can be incredibly valuable. These events cover a wide range of topics, from improving your marketing strategies to understanding the latest tax regulations.

For example, many UK chambers of commerce offer tailored courses for small businesses, focusing on practical areas like cash flow management or social media optimisation. These sessions are often led by experienced professionals, ensuring the advice is not only relevant but actionable.

Beyond formal training, there’s the priceless benefit of informal learning. Simply being surrounded by seasoned entrepreneurs can provide insights and advice you won’t find in a textbook. Many clubs even offer mentorship programmes, connecting newer members with more experienced ones for guidance and support.

Amplify your voice

Small business owners often feel overlooked when it comes to local or national policy decisions. But by joining a business club, you become part of a collective voice. These organisations frequently advocate on behalf of their members, pushing for changes that can benefit small businesses, such as lower business rates or improved infrastructure.

Take the COVID-19 pandemic as an example. The British Chambers of Commerce played a pivotal role in lobbying for financial support for small businesses. By being part of such a group, your concerns gain weight, and you help shape the environment in which your business operates.

Save money and access resources

While membership fees might seem like an added expense, many business clubs provide benefits that can quickly offset the cost. These organisations often negotiate discounts on essential services like insurance, advertising, or office supplies, helping you cut down on operational costs.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), for instance, offers members access to legal advice, health and safety resources, and other essential services. For businesses operating on tight budgets, these perks can be a lifeline.

Some clubs also provide access to grants or funding opportunities. Whether you’re looking to purchase new equipment or launch a marketing campaign, these resources can give your business the boost it needs to grow.

Strengthen community ties

Small businesses are the backbone of their communities, and joining a local business club allows you to deepen those connections. Many clubs organise community events, charity fundraisers, or collaborative projects, giving members the chance to give back while increasing their visibility.

Sponsoring a local sports team or participating in a town clean-up, for example, shows that your business cares about more than just profits. These activities not only enhance your reputation but also build loyalty among local customers. According to the FSB, a large percentage of their members actively contribute to local initiatives, creating a win-win for businesses and their communities.

Enjoy the social benefits

Running a small business can sometimes feel isolating, especially if you’re the sole decision-maker. Business clubs offer more than just professional perks—they create a sense of camaraderie and belonging. Whether it’s a relaxed coffee morning or a formal gala dinner, these events provide a much-needed break from the day-to-day grind.

Some clubs even offer lifestyle perks, such as discounts on travel or leisure activities. These little extras can make membership all the more appealing.

Things to consider before joining

Of course, joining a business club isn’t a quick fix. To get the most out of your membership, you’ll need to actively participate—attend events, engage with other members, and contribute to initiatives.

It’s also essential to choose a club that aligns with your goals. Some organisations cater to specific industries, while others focus on general networking. Take the time to research your options and find one that suits your business’s needs.

Conclusion

Joining a local business club can be a transformative decision for small businesses. From expanding your network to increasing your visibility, saving money, and strengthening community ties, the benefits are vast and varied.

However, the real value lies in your level of engagement. The more effort you put in, the more you’ll get out of it. If you’re ready to grow your business and build lasting connections, why not give it a try? You might just find that a local business club is the missing puzzle piece in your journey to success.

A specialist events organiser based in Buckinghamshire is celebrating 10 years of success as one of the country’s largest organisers of live events for the trading card game Magic: The Gathering.

Axion Now has brought a unique approach to the world of trading card games in the UK by recognising the appeal of nationwide events that bring together both casual players and competitive players with a serious prize pool on offer.

Axion Now was the first company in the UK to introduce Magic the Gathering national event series ‘CommandFest’ and are the approved partner of Wizards of the Coast, the US-based creators of the Magic: The Gathering game. CommandFest is a tournament festival dedicated to the Commander format of Magic: The Gathering.

Growth of the company

Since the company’s inception in 2014, by joint founders Elizabeth Kolb and Francois Hauchard, the company has built a reputation as the place to go for the very best Magic: The Gathering events. As the company goes from strength to strength, they plan to organise bigger and better face-to-face events at exciting venues across the UK where players can gather to, ultimately, have fun. Already they have held successful events at iconic venues such as Edgbaston in Birmingham and Twickenham Stadium in London.

As a small company one of their great advantages is to be able to conceive a new idea, put it into place quickly and make an immediate impact on what they can deliver for their customers. This agility and flexibility – found in so many SMEs – enables them to continuously improve and deliver better and better innovative events.

One of the key messages of Axion Now since the very beginning, has been to create happiness and enable people to have fun at their events. That’s a striking goal for a business to be focused on but is absolutely key to everyone working at Axion Now.

The company has brought together a huge cross section of people living in the UK but from many internationally different backgrounds and from all sorts of demographics. They have a genuine inclusivity at their live events where everybody quite simply shares the same passion for playing this exciting and challenging trading card game.

Looking to the future

Axion Now celebrated its 10^th anniversary in 2024 with a special event at the iconic Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham. More than a thousand players from across the country and beyond came together for challenging competitions with fabulous prizes, casual games, and met their favourite artists or traded their collectible cards. It was a fabulous end to the live events season for Magic: The Gathering.

The company will continue to expand its event offerings and are already planning for the 2025 season. As in 2024 they will be including live events for the Disney® Lorcana trading card game in addition to Magic: The Gathering.

There have been plenty of challenges for businesses of all sizes since the start of the Axion Now journey but the team successfully weathered those challenges and are looking forward with enthusiasm to the next 10 years.

The charity Crimestoppers is offering a reward of up to £20,000 to support a re-investigation into the murder of father and son Daniel and Liam Poole.

They are offering the reward for information given exclusively to the charity that leads to the arrest and conviction of any person responsible for their murder in Spain five years ago.

A decision to treat their disappearance as a murder investigation was made in 2022.

The pair, Daniel (46) and Liam (22) from Burgess Hill, West Sussex travelled to Malaga in Spain on Sunday, March 31, 2019.

They hired a grey Peugeot 308 with the registration number 0254 KTM when they arrived in the country. This car was never returned, and their luggage was left in their hotel, together with their passports. The vehicle was later found abandoned by Spanish Police.

A man from West Sussex and another from Merseyside were arrested on December 4, 2024, in connection with the double murder.

Annabelle Goodenough, Sussex regional manager at Crimestoppers, said: “This is a shocking and sad case and Danny and Liam’s family deserve justice, answers and closure.

“We know it can be hard for some people to speak directly to the police which is why our charity is here for you. We are hoping that with the passage of time it will be easier to share what you know. Crimestoppers has been passing on information about crime whilst guaranteeing anonymity since we were established decades ago. It’s a promise we’ve always kept.

“Our charity is completely independent of the police. You can make a difference by passing on what you know whilst being protected by our guarantee of anonymity. That means no police, no courts, no witness statements. Put simply, when you contact Crimestoppers online or on the phone, there’s no comeback.

“We are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. We cannot trace your call or track your IP address. No one will ever know you contacted us. You may think your information is insignificant, however it could make all the difference, and you could be eligible for this reward.”

Crimestoppers, which is independent of the police, is supporting this investigation by offering a reward of up to £20,000 for information they exclusively receive that leads to the conviction of anyone involved in the murder of Daniel and Liam Poole.

The reward will only be payable for information passed directly to Crimestoppers and not to the police. A reward code must be asked for when calling the charity on 0800 555 111. If you contact Crimestoppers via the online form anonymously, the ‘keep in contact’ facility must be used and a reward code must be requested on your initial contact with the charity.

Productivity in project management refers to the efficiency with which resources (time, money, human effort) are used to achieve project goals and deliverables. Measuring productivity in this context involves evaluating how effectively tasks are completed relative to the resources consumed.

Project managers are well-used to managing the resources that they have available on a project but it’s important to focus on productivity to make sure those resources are delivering value-for-money.

Projects in some industries are notorious for going over budget or over-schedule (or both) and failing to deliver on promises (project scope). Just think HS2 if you want an example. That means project managers tend to focus on those three project constraints: Budget, Schedule and Scope. The perceived wisdom is this will deliver a successful, good quality project. This can be true, but without a focus on productivity the project may not have delivered good value, which would not suggest a “successful” project. That’s just one of the reasons that productivity must be measured and factored into every project during it’s lifecycle and into the final assessment of a successful delivery.

Here are some of ways productivity can measured within the field of project management:

Task completion metrics

These metrics focus on the progress and completion of tasks within the project’s defined scope. They include the Percentage of Tasks Completed which indicates progress toward project completion as a broad measure. This is not a perfect metric because it doesn’t factor in the complexity of individual tasks but is, nevertheless, useful in tracking progress. It is simply calculated as:

(Completed Tasks / Total Tasks) × 100

It is also useful to measure the Milestone Achievement Rate so you can assess the percentage of milestones achieved on time, according to the project schedule. Cycle Time is another important task completion metric as this is the time taken to complete a task or deliverable. Again, this is a simplistic metric but shorter actual cycle times than planned cycle times often indicate higher productivity. Just be aware that this metric is not incorporating any complexity measure to individual tasks. Complex tasks are more likely to over-run because of un-anticipated problems.

Resource utilisation metrics

These metrics assess how well project resources (human, financial, material) are used within a project. They include Resource Efficiency, which measures how effectively resources are converted into project deliverables. Also, Budget Efficiency, which evaluates, specifically, financial resource productivity as a percentage of the actual value of an output (in monetary terms) compared to the actual budget spent. A third key resource utilisation metric is Team Utilisation Rate, which indicates the percentage of time the team is productively engaged. It is simply a percentage of the billable hours compared to the total hours available.

Schedule performance metrics

These metrics focus on how efficiently time is used to meet deadlines and include Schedule Variance (SV), which indicates whether productivity is ahead of schedule (a positive SV) or whether there have been delays (a negative SV). Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is another valuable metric that determines if project tasks have been completed more efficiently than planned. Also, On-Time Delivery Rate, which reflects how well tasks have adhered to the project timeline.

Team performance

The productivity of individual project team members can be broadly measured by how many tasks they complete in a given time, whether tasks are delivered on time and whether delivery rate is increasing (or decreasing) over the course of the project lifecycle. A decreasing delivery rate can indicate that team morale is suffering and suggest there are issues with sustaining productivity levels. A well-motivated team with good morale amongst individual members is a fundamental part of successful teamwork on a project, which, itself, is essential for high productivity levels.

Quality assessment

It is, of course, essential to evaluate the quality of deliverables, which is a critical aspect of productivity. Metrics such as Defect Rate and Rework Percentage can be useful but, perhaps, the most important aspect of delivering quality is customer satisfaction.

By requesting regular feedback from both stakeholders and the project team you will be able to refine productivity measures and improve the quality of deliverables. Stakeholder feedback allows you to gauge satisfaction with progress, deliverables and quality. Whereas, team feedback enables you to understand any roadblocks or inefficiencies from the team’s perspective. Depending on the particular project and team members, use your judgement to decide if it may be worth requesting anonymous team feedback.

Best practices for measuring productivity

Every project should have clearly defined and measurable objectives in terms of scope, schedule, cost, and quality. On a typical project you will need to measure when tasks are completed, the resources used in completing tasks and whether they were delivered according to the project schedule. Once you have this data you will know iftasks are being completed as planned and if resources are being used efficiently, hence whether costs and timelines align with expectations. This will provide some indication during the project lifecycle if it is meeting quality standards.

Conduct periodic reviews (at the very least monthly) of productivity metrics, task progress, resource allocation and risks. This will assist with implementing continuous improvements during the project. It will also identify where there areareas of inefficiency such as underutilised resources or delays, including delays on inter-dependent tasks internal and external to the project. You will then be able to implement corrective actions, such as redistributing tasks or reallocating resources to get the project back on track.

There are plenty of tools that can be used to efficiently track project metrics, such as Microsoft Planner, Asana, Trello, Basecamp etc. By continuously monitoring and reporting these metrics you will be able to identify trends and areas for improvement, and align productivity metrics with the specific needs and priorities of the project.

By combining metrics with regular evaluations, project managers can gain a comprehensive understanding of productivity, and support data-driven decisions to optimise performance and ensure ultimate project success.

So your well-intended hopes of finishing your Christmas shopping in October went by the wayside… again? Fear not. With so much to choose it can be hard to find the perfect prezzies and perhaps you’ve just been up to your ears in kids’ nativities and Christmas parties.

Luckily our team has been perusing some gifts that make the perfect stocking fillers, so check our best last-minute picks here!

Perfect pout

How about the Oriflame Giordani Gold Iconic Matte Lipstick SPF 15 elevated with lip care benefits promoting youthful supple lips?  

With a pigment-rich formula, lips can enjoy eight hours of long-lasting colour and care infused formula with Jojoba and Cloudberry Oil. The perfect stocking filler for those who want lips which feel nourished. We love this shade – the perfect pick for Christmas. Fabulous, darling!

Available: Oriflame.co.uk, from £8.49

Christmas cooks

If you’re looking for a real treat for any stocking or a clever little gift for the Christmas Day host, these fantastic four are, literally, the taste of Yuletide in a jar – and they’re vegan as well as gluten free!

This fab Christmas Collection contains Sticky Fig Relish 110g, Cranberry, Port & Orange Sauce 110g, Christmas Spice Chutney 90g and Spiced Plum Chutney 90g. This gift pack and more sets are available from fine food delis and farm shops nationwide and online at Tracklements.

Available: www.tracklements.co.uk, £13.75

Golf guru

The Golf Lover’s Guide to England by Michael Whitehead is a great stocking filler for those who love to tee off! No two courses are ever the same and each has their own captivating story, told here. England has a prolific collection of coastal links and inland courses created by some of golf’s most cherished craftsmen. 

This guide offers a golfer everything they would require to enjoy a great round of golf at the best courses England has to offer. All the information you need is right here – par scores, yardage, green-fee price indicators, booking procedure, history of each club and how best to play the course.

Available: Amazon, £11.99

Those in the festive spirit

Bring your festive table settings to life with Fever-Tree’s impressive Christmas cracker range, featuring exciting new additions for this year. Find a cracker for every spirit lover; alongside an extensive G&T selection you’ll find crackers for tequila, vodka, whisky and rum lovers. Each cracker contains 1 x 5cl spirit, 1 x 150ml Fever-Tree can, 1 x Christmas hat and 1 x trivia.

And there’s also a brand-new concept allowing customisation of four crackers of choice, elegantly presented in a branded Fever-Tree box.

Available: John Lewis, from £9

Spice up their life!

Say hello to a giant celebration of Buffalo Hot Sauce, including the latest 3-star Great Taste Award winner. Featuring the Original and friends to excite any true Buffalo lover, the Sauce Shop Buffalo Hot Sauce Flavour Mix makes the perfect gift.

All five of these hot sauces are crafted with Sauce Shop’s very own fermented jalapeño and habanero chillies, bringing layers and layers of flavour. Step out of your Buffalo comfort zone and dabble in Smoky Maple, Truffalo or savoury Gochujang to jazz up any leftovers this festive season. For those feeling brave, try the Atomic, which brings the balanced flavour of the Original with a giant kick with thanks to barrel-aged Habanero peppers.

Available: Sauceshop.co.uk, £24.99

Creative kids

If all the talk in your house is about the Weasleys, here’s one for the kids! The Aquabeads Harry Potter Creations Kit beings the wizarding world of the boy with a lightning scar to life.

There are six different beaded creations of all the best characters to be made. Hours of fun for all the family.

Available: Very, £9.99

Bird boffins

This unique fixed perch feeder stores the food inside a refillable, closed feeder cartridge, which is simple to remove and clean and attaches securely to any window using suction cups. 

It also features coloured identification trims to help increase visibility and comes complete with a pack of WindowAlert, self-adhesive UV reflective vinyls, in garden friendly shapes such as leaves and butterflies to prevent fatal window collisions.

With two feeding perches, the smaller trough shaped, feed areas, ensure that the food stays dry and cannot be contaminated. 

Available: www.finchesfriend.com, £23.95

List lovers

If you’re on the hunt for Secret Santa presents or stocking filler gifts, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has a range of brand new items which are in its charity shops across the UK.

We love this magnetic jotter, which is not only super handy for all those list-makers out there but it will also help raise money to fund lifesaving research for the 7.6 million people across the UK living with heart and circulatory disease.

Available: British Heart Foundation, £3.50

Present for the pooch

Peamutt Balls are for on-the-go, in-the-park, on-the-beach, in-the-car, or on-the-street, when the doggy did good, there’s always time for a treat.

This extra-nutty, extra-mutty treat is made from dog-friendly peanut butter with added peanuts, then mixed with apple and strawberry puree and rolled in even more peanuts for good luck. Made with 100% palm oil free, means what’s good for your dog is good for the environment.

Available: Asda, £1.50

Racing nut

If you want an exciting gift, how about giving a share in a racecourse? Racing Club has shares available from just £25, or you could buy one of their three-horse packages for £125.

Racing Club is a syndicate that offers people the chance to experience racehorse ownership at a fraction of the price of owning a horse outright. Racing Club members can enjoy plenty of fantastic benefits including table visits, owner badges to see the horse run and the chance to attend events in their hospitality boxes at various venues across the country.

There’s even merchandise to match, including scarves, socks and even a bespoke Racing Club gin!

Available: Racingclub.com, from £25