Virtual reality – Catena on a mission to beat business isolation

A specialist business ‘dating agency’ says it is now able to help more businesses to connect than ever before with the launch of a new digital model.

Catena Network, which has over 150 members, helps like-minded business owners connect to grow or address specific business issues.

Traditionally, much of that has been done in-person at events across the East Midlands, with the first ever Catena franchise starting in Lincoln in February 2020.

However, whilst Covid-19 has meant a pause to such physical meetings, it has also led to the acceleration of Catena’s digital networking offering ”Catena+”, which has been led by Catena founder Claire Bicknell with support from Bev Crighton from the University of Derby Business Services team.

Claire explains;

‘The digital offering ”Catena+” has been in the pipeline for many months but the present situation has meant we have had to bring it forward and go into beta-testing of the offering sooner than we envisaged.

‘To accelerate the process we needed some external support and were delighted to work with the University of Derby who introduced us to a fantastically talented digital marketing expert in Claire Morrison who has been a huge asset in getting the new service up and running for testing.

‘Our vision has always been to connect like-minded businesses and we believe this is needed more now than ever, so our Catena+ virtual events are designed to connect the business community nationwide.’

The new Catena+  events will follow the same format as regular events with the Catena team helping delegates to meet the business people they would like to get to know better, by facilitating introductions to specific attendees. They will then put them face-to-face virtually with people who want to build the foundations to do business, as they would usually do with their ”Would Like To Meet’ matching approach.

Claire Morrison adds:

“My Digital Marketing degree from the University of Derby has highlighted the importance of working with small businesses throughout my studies. The course ensured we are always ready to work through practical learning and working with Claire during this uncertain time has enabled me to put the digital marketing skills learned in my degree into practice.

Claire concludes;

‘We are offering a limited number of free places to help beat business isolation by making connections across-regions, providing an opportunity to start to build long-term business relationships, something to benefit from when “all this” is over. If anyone is interested in securing one of those places they can contact me on claire@catena-network.co.uk .’

More information of the new events and the first ever Catena+  event can be found at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/beat-business-isolation-with-the-catena-network-tickets-103122032776

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