Thursday’s breakfast got off to a great start with the sun shining, in the beautiful setting of the Norwich Cathedrals’ Hostry. With the theme of the morning being all about the bike, it seemed only right that several of our members and staff choose to dust off their bikes to travel to the breakfast, this also included two of our guest speakers who arrived in style on their ofo bikes.
Launched in Norwich, October 2017, the ofo bikes have become part of our landscape and even now stretch out into the suburbs too. No doubt you have seen the bright yellow bikes or even taken a ride on one too. What a great concept which was originally conceived in Beijing, China. You begin your journey by simply downloading the app, find the bike, scan and off you go! ofo has not only revolutionize nationally and internationally commuting time for all the generations, but it also offers everyone a cheap, environmentally friendly, and hassle-free way to travel.
It was really great to hear about the ofo business journey from Matthew Thomas-Keeping, Regional Operations Manager, and Paul Harding, City Operations Coordinator from ofo. Matthew gave a real insight into the journey of the company and its growth too. Since 2014 when the original company was set up, over 6 billion people have used an ofo bike for their trips. In one day 32 million people across the globe will use an ofo bike, that’s a lot of cycling and on the plus side fewer cars on the road, which is great for the environment.
With over 100 of our members and some non-members attending too, there was lots of opportunity for Networking and chance to talk to some of the young entrepreneurs from the Norwich School and our business stands included our featured charity Community Sports Foundation, Norfolk County Council’s Pushing Ahead project, Big Fork, St Augustine’s Neighbourhood Forum and East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices. We also heard from Mark Shields, EDP Business editor about the launch of the Norfolk Business awards, which are open for applications https://norfolkbusinessawards.edp24.co.uk/home
The Chambers breakfasts are not just about the coffee and eggs, (although a nice treat). They are focused on building a voice for all our Norfolk Business, the Chamber is here to support and build a strong voice and working relationships for all.
Don’t miss out on our next Norwich breakfast at Sprowston Manor, or try something new with our evening networking Business & Bowling at The Bowling House!
