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03 February

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Women’s Business Networks in Northern Ireland

Posted by Dawn Baird, Partner in business,entrepreneurship

Having heard about women’s networks in NI and looked up a few online, I soon began to feel a little confused (like some others I spoke to), due to the similarities in names. Below, I have set out each organisation I am aware of and a little of their flavour.

Business Women’s Network

Area: This is a joint venture, including Antrim, Londonderry, Tyrone and Down. Individual networks are listed in order below.

Website: www.bwnni.com

Contact: Each individual organisation’s contact details are available by clicking a link to their website. For full contact details, visit individual websites, or InvestNI.

Women on the Move

Area: Ballymena

Website: www.womenonthemove.org.uk

Contact: Joanne Brown-Kerr

Membership: £30 (annual)

They run monthly networking events, with invited speakers, some of whom are from among the membership.

Women in Enterprise

Area: Londonderry

Website: www.womeninenterprise.org.uk

Contact: Toni Forrester

They run networking events and supply business information.
At the time of posting this blog, many of the menu links were not working, so it was impossible to investigate the membership, events or other information further.

Network for Enterprising Women

Area: Fermanagh and Tyrone.

Website: www.networkforenterprisingwomen.net

Contact: Ruth Daly

Membership: £50 (annual)

They run joint networking events with other NI women’s networks and deliver both training and business news, including an e-zine.
They’ve had a nice idea of highlighting one particular business by adding a Role Models page.
A Business Information page lists some useful business websites, together with a full listing of network members’ websites.

Enterprising Women’s Network

Area: Armagh, Banbridge, Craigavon, Down, Newry and Mourne.

Website: www.enterprising-women.net

Contact: Margaret Andrews

Membership: £40 (annual)

They meet monthly and offer information sessions and training events.
Inter-trading, Mentoring, and Confidence Building are some of their more unique services.
They emphasize that they are men-friendly!

Women in Business

Area: Belfast

Website: www.womeninbusinessni.com

Contact: Nicki Bayes

Membership: £100 (annual)

This organisation is independent of the Business Womens Network.
Unique features include a News and Podcasts page and online booking for events.
Small, invitation-only lunches are held on a regular basis, to assist women to network more effectively, and to allow interested parties to find out more about the network. I attended one recently held at the Ramada Encore.
They also run Women Into Business, an organisation dedicated to those women who’re thinking of starting a business, but not quite there yet.

Finally, if anyone’s interested in meeting other Twitter business users, we’re having a TweetUp in Belfast, next Thursday! Let us know you’re coming.