A networking group that helps business owners connect is expanding into Leicestershire.
The new Catena Network franchise will be headed up by Shaun Whiting, who has 30 years’ experience in the East Midlands financial services sector.
He will work in tandem with founder Claire Bicknell to deliver networking events and resources for members, kicking off with a brewery tour and beer tasting at Everards on March 21.
The expansion into Leicestershire follows the creation of the Lincolnshire franchise in 2020 and the establishment of a second in Nottinghamshire dubbed “Nottingham Too” in the same year.
Mr Whiting said: “I’m so excited to be taking Catena into Leicestershire in partnership with Claire and her team.
“I’ve been to many events across the region ever since Catena launched and always gained huge value from them and been able to bring that value to other people in my network.
“Claire and I had discussed the potential for a Leicestershire franchise territory and the timing was right for me as I transitioned from my financial services career.
“That said, I will be bringing a lot of that experience with me in terms of the variety of business challenge focused events and content that we already have in the pipeline.
“It is all about finding where we think we can really add value to our members with expertise from both within the group and in some cases by bringing in outside specialists.”
Claire Bicknell, who founded Catena in 2013, said: “I’ve always been keen to expand the Catena model into new locations, radiating out from our Nottingham hub.
“However, in order to do that, we need a very specific sort of individual who is not only super-connected (we are after all a business ”dating agency”) but also brings that extra element in terms of knowledge and an ability to get under the skin of members’ businesses and find out who needs help from whom.
“It is far more than meeting up, whether online or offline. Shaun is precisely that kind of person.
“We have never hurried into creating franchises in any location and we have taken our time to find our own perfect match in Shaun.
“I look forward to seeing how he develops our offering whilst keeping true to our core values and unique approach to creating lasting and valuable business relationships.”
