The Directors BNI Central London - BNI the business referral organisation

Laura Hurren executive director

“You only live once” says Laura Hurren, “get it right and once is enough”

This specialist in putting people together to form powerful business and personal relationships has made the most of every opportunity in life. Drawing on extensive knowledge, techniques and experience gained from a myriad of industries, she has established herself as a leading business networker, presenting on the subject in the UK, USA, Scandinavia, Italy, Poland, Australia and New Zealand.

She is passionate about people making the most of life!

Laura was a founding Director with BNI in the UK and is now the Executive Director for London and Birmingham and Co-National Director in Italy.

laura@bnidirector.com

Darryl Buchanan

A Kiwi through and through Darryl brings good humour, focus and sense of commitment to his role as a BNI Director. He has achieved tremendous success within BNI opening 24 chapters in New Zealand and the UK. This brought recognition at the BNI International conference for launching one of the largest chapters in 2003 and he was awarded an outstanding performance award at the 2006 European Conference for his work in the UK.

As well as BNI Darryl is in the process of introducing a new Eco business venture to the European Market. Ecocover is a ‘world first’ in providing a cost-effective substitute for plastic and other mulch systems used in the horticultural, agricultural and land management industries.

Darryl believes if a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing well, first time, every time!

darryl@bnidirector.com

Sally Nealon - BodyKnowsBest

With a background in teaching Sally serves on the faculty of the University of Westminster teaching Craniosacral therapy at degree level, she is also a Senior Tutor with the Craniosacral Therapy Educational Trust in Islington.

Sally’s health business also offers Kinesiology and a range of Japanese ‘wellness’ products to provide an all-round service to clients who range from tiny babies, to baby boomers and beyond.

Sally’s goal is to bring the “Wellness Home” to as many people as possible.

Sally joined BNI 1998 as a craniosacral therapist to develop her health business. Later she trained to become a BNI Assistant Director and now successfully supports 4 Chapters in London.

sally@bnidirector.com

Sophia Simmonds BA Hons Cert PFS – Financial Planning Consultant

A Financial Adviser since 1991 Sophia now shares her financial knowledge with a wealth of clients ranging from the up and coming professionals to large scale business enterprise. Clients say she is ‘pro-active’, always keeping them up to date with the changes in the financial market place and providing them with tailor-made financial solutions covering life assurance, retirement planning, investment and mortgages.

As a member of the Holborn Chapter BNI since 1999, she been instrumental in helping them grow from strength to strength and has herself grown from fledgling member to an Assistant Director. Sophia is determined to put all that she has learnt over the past ten years to good use by helping the chapters and members she supports.

sophia@bnidirector.com

ALYSON ROACH

For the past 10 years, Alyson has owned and run a cleaning company with a turnover of £850,000 and 48 employees. 2 years ago, she successfully sold the company to another BNI member.

Since then she has diversified and is now running a publishing company which publishes a free weekly magazine called The Snippet. It is a five minute read with something for everyone, Horoscopes, recipes, what’s on and other Snippets of information. Currently it operates in 6 areas in West and South West London and the plan is to roll it out as a franchise operation with the potential to have approximately 350 franchises in the UK alone. It is a product that appeals to many and can easily be adapted to the non-UK market.

Alyson been involved with BNI for 6 years first as a member and now as an Assistant Director. She currently looks after 5 Chapters in West and SW London.

alyson@bnidirector.com

Nigel Troup

Starting his career in banking, Nigel has also worked as an estate agent and financial advisor before moving into financial publishing.

Using his financial skills, he now works as a specialist foreign currency broker for Interchange who offers a wide range of foreign currency services to private and corporate clients. His ideal referral would be a company trading internationally that makes and receives overseas payments.

Nigel is the most recent addition to the BNI team in London, he successfully launched the Triumph chapter and plans to open many more. He has a unique talent for remembering names which can only be good news for a BNI Director.

nigel@bnidirector.com

Maggie Spring

Maggie joined BNI a year ago taking on the business & member support role for the London Region. She also works independently providing secretarial support for a variety of clients including surveyors, authors and accountants. Maggie is a good listener and is a qualified practising counsellor for Relate.

She is married to Alex with one daughter, Grace, and Dave the dog. In her spare time, she enjoys the theatre, comedy and socialising with friends.

maggie@bnidirector.com

Adam Clark

Adam Clark helps organisations and individuals to be more confident and effective. With his energetic and fun style he helps people to change the way they think, and he gets extraordinary results. He inspires and challenges people to believe in themselves and that change is possible. Adam is a specialist in helping those who sell goods and services increase their belief and confidence in the value of what they sell, so that they sell more, and at a better price.

Through his 'Look them in the Eye' masterclass and in his one-to-one coaching, he helps people to develop clear pricing structures for their services, and gives them the confidence to ask the right price for them, every time.

Recently Adam has joined the BNI Director team and by practicing what he preaches the chapters he supports are thriving.

adam@bnidirector.com

Steve Bonnici - Chiswick Computers

Steve completed 7 years in the RAF before moving to the City where he worked for 10 years as an IT consultant. 10 years ago, he decided to set up Chiswick Computers supplying IT support and computer repairs to individuals and companies. Chiswick Computers specialize in repairing laptops and mother boards.

Steve joined BNI as a member over 3 years ago and joined the Leadership Team almost immediately. He has served as Chapter Director for a total of 18months of his membership so far. In 2009 he joined the BNI Director team in London and now supports two and soon to become three chapters in the South Central Region. Steve says he enjoys networking, helping members and the camaraderie BNI offers.

steve@bnidirector.com