The past 6 months at ABDN have been a period of strategic planning and development of new initiatives. From the dizzy heights of ABDN 2010, the inspirational Breaking Barriers Awards Dinner to the mundane back office work on creating the membership scheme, developing the Business Concierge Service and the exciting ABDN Women project, the dedicated team at ABDN have burnt the midnight oil to launch a new look ABDN. The new ABDN branding signifies the growth of the Network both regionally and into the mainstream. The new website brings the whole together in a professional showcase of all the strands of ABDN.

I am very grateful for the support ABDN continues to enjoy, from its members and its partners – without that support ABDN would be nothing and it is due to this support over the past 13 years, that even in difficult times, the Network has grown from strength to strength. We host the most inspirational events in the Country, we make people believe in themselves – in their ability to achieve their destiny.  There are other business networks around the country, but we pride ourselves in being different, in supporting young entrepreneurs, in supporting women in business, in being inspirational. This is why at the height of the recession we have 850 people at our awards dinner, that is why we have launched our regional network to make ABDN a truly national Network. In August 2009 ABDN South Yorkshire started operations with an autonomous board and in June 2010 ABDN North West commenced developing its Network.

The secret of our success is no secret at all, we are simply dedicated to creating and supporting an enterprise culture and we believe that we can – as the goalposts have moved with the change of government, ABDN is developing innovative schemes for business support, self sustaining and effective support.

The entrepreneurial spirit of businesses in our region will help us out of the economic mire. We believe that supporting businesses through mentoring and networking can make a real impact and this can make a positive difference to UK PLC. Times are tough, but we must keep our dreams alive and understand that to achieve anything requires faith and belief in oneself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. All things are possible for those who believe.

9 October 2010

Arshad Chaudhry