Island Business Network

Name: Island Business Network
Address: John Cheverton Centre, Mountbatten Hospice, Halberry Lane, Newport, PO302ER, GB
Telephone: +447712569886
Rating: 5

IBN is a collection of business people who pass business and referrals to fellow members, meeting on Personal recommendation is a major source of new business.
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IBN is a collection of business people who pass business and referrals to fellow members. Business on the Isle of Wight, perhaps more than anywhere else in the UK, is very often obtained by personal recommendation and word-of-mouth. IBN members pass referrals between one another, which they have been able to identify through the course of their working week. We only admit one member per profession or trade, so make sure that you join and benefit before a competitor does. We are here to offer that helping hand.

24/09/2026

Founded in 1994, Bayliss & Booth has evolved from its original Newport location to the distinctive showroom on Lushington Hill. Carole talked us through that journey and the thinking behind the business today. Her approach to retail is perhaps best summed up by a quote from US retail entrepreneur Katherine Barchetti:

“Make a customer, not a sale.”

We saw some beautiful photography of many of the products available at the store including upholstered furniture from Tetrad, Lacanche range cookers and home fragrance from Maison Berger Paris - emosia Group

We welcomed two visitors this morning; Jason Ince with Durman Electrical Ltd and David Smith of Fleet UK.com Ltd 🤝 - we hope to see you again.

Visitors are welcome to join us; please contact us at [email protected] for details and to reserve your free breakfast. We meet every Thursday in Newport 07:00 to 08:30.

The winner of this weeks door prize for referrals was James Tregoning 👏 and finally our Director closed the meeting by posing this question to the group:

"What conversation are you avoiding that could change your business?" 🤔

Amber Beard Ben Silk Blake Nash Claire Beasley Harry Wall Martha James Mark Price Mark Hayward Cert CII Nicholas Gale Paul Spreadbury Rebecca Taylor Tom Durman Vicki Sitch Louise Rippon Hannah Woodford Suzy Morris David Ross Gavin Kelly Trevor~ Cook Stuart Vass

17/09/2026

One of the things we enjoy about our Island Business Network meetings is that, every now and again, someone says something that makes us reflect and look at networking slightly differently.

This morning, one of our founder members, Nicholas Gale of Churchers Solicitors talked about the purpose of IBN and came back to one word: trust.

✅ Trust is built by showing up.
✅ By having the informal conversations over breakfast.
✅ By listening to someone’s 60-second update or longer presentation and gradually getting to know more about them and their business.
✅ By hearing testimonials from other members.
✅ And, of course, by seeing people deliver when they are recommended.

It was a useful reminder that networking isn’t really about turning up once, handing out a few business cards and hoping something happens.
It takes time.

You become known. Then understood. Then trusted. 😊

And that consistency is probably where the real value lies.

Martha James then shared with us the attributes of her ideal client at Plan Research: it's preferably someone who listens and acts on the advice provided 😉 and definitely always makes contact with her BEFORE buying the land.

This weeks meeting was a little different to our usual format and after each members 60 second update, instead of a member presentation, we had a group discussion about referrals led by our Network Coordinator, Rebecca Taylor. She shared the data for August and the members who gave the most referrals were her and Nick Gale and James Tregoning introduced the most visitors. 👏 👏 Chocolate medals were awarded.... 😋

Tom Durman shared his experience of being a member for 18 months. He has received a significant amount of business £££££ in that time and his business has grown from just him to a team of three now and potentially an apprentice starting soon 💪 It's a great story of someone who has gained the trust of the group and has seen the direct benefit to his business.

The meeting closed with a quote said to be an Ethiopian proverb: "When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion."

Reflection: No one business can solve every challenge alone. Together, we're much stronger.

If you would like to come along to one of our weekly meetings in Newport, please contact us at [email protected] to arrange a visit. We meet every Thursday 07:00 - 08:30.

03/09/2026

Two new members were inducted at our meeting today 😊 :

Louise Rippon of Preziosa Therapia and Hannah Woodford of Emerald Elite VA Services. Welcome Louise and Hannah 🤝 🤝

(New members make a commitment when they join which covers off regular attendance, providing referrals and bringing visitors, building trust and goodwill with other members, following up on referrals received and providing high quality products and services.)

Mark Lounds from RPL Construction told us about his "Purpose of IBN" and Stuart Vass from Red Squirrel Property Shop Ltd shared his thoughts on his Ideal Client.

Today we also welcomed a visitor, Katherine Harvey of LPA Solutions Ltd who gave us a brief overview of her business which helps people set up Lasting Power of Attorney forms with friendly, face to face assistance.

Visitors are always welcome. You can attend as a visitor twice before deciding whether or not to join Island Business Network; please contact us in advance at [email protected] for more details.

Finally our thanks go to Ekiñe Fernandez for her presentation on how her work at Solent Careers Hub supports and connects schools, colleges and employers to help every young person find their best next step on the Isle of Wight. Ekine explained the concept of "modern work experience" which is much more flexible for employers and potentially more useful for young people than what most of us remember about work experience. Modern work experience now starts in Year 7 (age 11) and the more experiences a young person has before they leave school, the more likely they are to secure permanent employment.

It was good to hear from those group members who are already offering work experience to young people through placements as well as supporting T-Level students.

The meeting closed with a quote from Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, who said "When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."

Reflection 🤔 "We can't control markets or economies, but we can always choose how we respond."

27/08/2026

We've had a busy morning at Island Business Network weekly meeting. 😊

We welcomed back Hannah Woodford and Louise Rippon and visiting for the first time were Suzy Ross and Joanna Macaulay. Gemma Hobbins came back for her second visit.

Vicki Sitch shared her Purpose of IBN with us and Mark Price described his Ideal Client. These statements really help IBN members understand how best to provide referrals for each other.

Matthew Jones CFP APFS member presentation from Rouse Limited built on the "Freddo" theme from last week, with plenty of example of how many additional Freddos can be purchased through wise financial planning decisions. 😉

We always ask our speakers to describe their dream referral and this is what Matt had to say, "a dream referral for us is someone who has an idea of where they want to get to, recognises that they will need help to get there and understands that their best chance of achieving their goal is through a long-term partnership with a financial planner."

Finally on the week that we lost Dolly Parton, our Director closed the meeting sharing a quote attributed to her:

"Find out who you are and do it on purpose."

'A useful reminder in business too; be clear about what you stand for, what you are good at and make sure people know it.

If you are interested in knowing more about how Island Business Network can help you grow your business, join us as a visitor by contacting [email protected].

20/08/2026

Our thanks go to Gavin Kelly, member from Bright Brown Accountants who delivered an excellent presentation this morning. Using the price of a Freddo bar (now 39p) Gavin demonstrated the impact of inflation against various tax thresholds which don't move (or have hardly moved) since a Freddo bar was 10p - The Great Freddo Tax Freeze. We all recognise that prices of goods and services have gone up and it led to a short discussion about when and how to increase our own prices of good and services. A quick show of hands indicated that several members had raised their prices this year.

Thanks to Trevor~ Cook for sharing with us his "purpose of IBN" and also Blake Nash for describing his ideal client 😊

We welcomed visitor Gemma Hobbins this morning and also Georgia Hinton representing Red Squirrel, joined us for the first time.

Rebecca Taylor, our Network Coordinator, shared attendance and referral stats for July. Congratulations to Martha James for being top at giving referrals 👏

If you would like to join us for a free breakfast and find out more about Island Business Network and how it can help you grow your business, please contact us at [email protected] for more details. Visitors are welcome every week and we are holding a special Visitors Day 15th October, 07:00 - 08:30 in Newport.

Our Director, Claire Beasley closed the meeting with a quote attributed to Walt Disney:

"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."

Reflection: "We've all had good conversations this morning. Which one will turn into action?"

11/08/2026

Island Business Network is a collection of business people who pass business and referrals to fellow members.

We meet weekly on Thursdays in Newport, Isle of Wight 07:00 - 08:30. Visitors are welcome and if you would like to join us and find out more please contact us at [email protected].

We only admit one member per profession or trade, so make sure you join and benefit before a competitor does.

Each week a member presents to the group and this week it's the turn of Amber Beard. On her LinkedIn profile she describers herself as follows: "I create compelling written content. I am also a punctuation pedant." Amber is a freelance writer - copywriter, feature, blogs, website copy, sales literature.

We are looking forward to her 10 minute presentation. 😊

07/08/2026

Island Business Network members had a lie in this Thursday and instead of our usual early start we enjoyed a balmy evening at our Summer Social event.

We were welcomed by James Tregoning, founder of WightLife Group to St Thomas' Chambers in Newport, Isle of Wight. By day the building is home to fabulous serviced office suites and with the gorgeous garden, it was a brilliant venue allowing space for a delicious barbecue created by Jack Read and Mark Holmes from Wight Pubs and a gin tasting, hosted by David Brooks and Mermaid ~ Isle of Wight Distillery.

We are back to our regular schedule of meetings next week 13th August 07:00 - 08:30 in Newport. If you would like join us a visitor, enjoy a free breakfast, meet members and find out more about the power of networking, contact us at [email protected]

27/07/2026

Island BusinessNetwork members meet weekly in Newport, Isle of Wight. Each week as well as enjoying a delicious breakfast, each member updates the group on their business. It's how we find out more about each others businesses so that we can promote them to others. 😊

In addition, each week on a rota basis a member speaks for 10 minutes with a fuller presentation about some aspect of their business. It can be daunting the first time you do it but we've all been there and we are a supportive audience. Presenting well is a great business skill to develop and our meetings provide the perfect opportunity to try things out whether that's creating slides or trying more interactive presenting formats.

This week's speaker is Andrew Nordbruch, Managing Director, Wight Computers Ltd.

Wight Computers Ltd partners with over 200 Isle of Wight businesses. Acting as their dedicated IT team, they give those businesses peace of mind and help them work smarter, safer and more efficiently.

Award-winning, friendly and highly reviewed, they take the pressure out of IT and keep your business moving forward.

If you would like to join us as a visitor, please contact us at [email protected]. You can visit us twice for free (including the breakfast 😉) before joining and membership is just £40 a month - 'amazing value.

23/07/2026

"The currency of real networking is not greed but generosity." This is a quote from Keith Ferrazzi. Our Director's reflection on this quote is:

"Networking works best when we arrive asking, 'Who can I help?' rather than, 'What can I get?'"

This sums up the spirit of Island Business Network 😊

At this weeks breakfast meeting we welcomed back Beth Websdell, visiting for a second time and visiting for the first time, Sarah Coltham 🤝

Our member speaker this week was Stuart Vass from Red Squirrel Property Shop and he shared with us the art and science behind his role valuing properties. He describes his role as "analyst, advisor and negotiator." When he values a property he looks at it through four lenses:

✅ Location & demand
✅ Comparable evidence
✅ Property condition
✅ Timing and motivation of seller

Thanks to Stuart for his first presentation to the group. We know it can be a daunting task but it really helps us understand each other's businesses so that we can refer business to each other.

If you would like to join us as a visitor please contact us at [email protected]. We meet weekly in Newport 07:00 - 08:30 and you get a delicious free breakfast 😉

Address

John Cheverton Centre, Mountbatten Hospice, Halberry Lane
Newport
PO302ER

Opening Hours

7am - 8:30am

Telephone

+447712569886

Website

http://www.islandbusinessnetwork.co.uk/contact.html

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