Bridgnorth entrepreneur urges businesses to indulge in new style of networking

Nicola Peake, 44, founder of Peakes Private Members Club, is planning to take business owners to Raymond Blanc’s coveted Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons on November 17 as part of her plan to provide 'creative, luxurious, rewarding experiences' for self employed company founders who often work alone.

She said statistics show more than a third (39%) of women in business find working from home lonely.

Nicola says she did so herself, which led her to sell the thriving six-figure business she created in lockdown.

She has since spent the last 12 months creating opportunities for business owners to network in a variety of unusual settings, from spa days, comedy clubs, afternoon teas, drag queen tours and luxury retreats in Scotland.

Nicola left the financial advisor world in 2020 to create a business on her own terms set up Peakes when working alone proved to be incredibly lonely.

She said: “I started to realise that as entrepreneurs we treat ourselves terribly.

"Not only do we isolate ourselves much of the time when we become business owners working from home, which can have a direct impact on our mental health if we are naturally people oriented, but we also forget to reward ourselves.

"Often as entrepreneurs we work even longer hours than when employed at a high level and the stress levels are elevated too but we don’t feel we deserve any downtime. When we are high achievers in the corporate world we get rewarded with bonuses, with perks, with events, dinners out -because our employers are saying thank you for our contribution.

"When we work for ourselves we don’t thank ourselves but we must!".

She added: “After being in the online world for a while, surrounded by other high achieving ambitious founders, I began to realize that I wasn’t the only person missing the connection that came from being employed – and the perks.”

Nicola started to explore existing networking events and groups but found that many were built around ‘cliques’ which made her retract back to feeling like the odd one out, from her school days, or she found they just didn’t suit her playful personality.

Nicola could see a great opportunity in building a business that would fill these gaps, for her and others. It made sense to build a community of other business owners who felt the same, who wanted support, in a friendly, community where genuine connections, and friendships were made, and fun was had.

She has seen entrepreneurs win business, create collaborations, overhaul their company, create new services, and address personal problems and challenges – all through the power of the connections.

She said: “When you start to network in circles like this, you introduce, recommend, and realise just how connected the world is. You can walk away with new business friends, possible high-value clients, or an awe-inspiring collaborator.

To book onto Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons on November 17, visit https://npeake.kartra.com/page/PFQ235