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Networking every minute of every day

By Gerald Couldrake

Partner

Howes Percival LLP

FOR over 200 years, Howes Percival has been part of, and has made it its business to look after, Northamptonshire’s business community.

If longevity is any standard against which to judge the success of a business, then surely working with other businesses in the county has stood the test of time. Having personally worked in Northamptonshire at Howes Percival since 1986, I think that the smart business decision is to look to source suppliers locally wherever possible.

Why? There are some obvious ‘wins’: being close to your suppliers and customers geographically makes it much easier to work together to find solutions when things need to change or go wrong.

Particularly in the service industries, while much can be achieved via email and phone communications, sometimes it is crucial still to be able to meet up to discuss a problem and find a solution. I know from experience that having some real human contact will, somehow, produce a better solution for a client than a long-distance communication. My local clients appreciate being able to phone up to ask if they can pop in to chat about an issue on their way in to work or their way home. It is something I encourage because I know it produces a better result for the client.

The significant benefits of exploiting contacts that are local to you rest in the ‘softer’ areas. Knowing the local bankers, accountants, surveyors and the like can be an enormous help to achieving a favourable outcome, it smoothes the process, potential pitfalls can be discussed and talked around. Although that can happen during a phone conversation with someone in London or Birmingham, in reality you are much more likely to get a good result if you are dealing with someone who you have got to know, and have a relationship with, a rapport with, on a very basic human level.

Since Howes Percival moved to the established Rushmills and The Lakes business area, we have initiated a monthly networking meeting for the local businesses after work on the last Friday of the month. It encourages contacts, laughter, common understandings of similar challenges and sometimes a new idea to take away and ponder. New connections were made, all of which will help oil the wheels of local commerce.

So, networking in Northamptonshire? It is what we do every minute of every day. If you want your business to still be around in 200 years time, then to me, it is the smart thing to do!

To find out more about Howes Percival, call 01604 230400 or email

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