The Power of Networking

There are few people who would doubt the benefit of business networking and the impact that this can have on both professional and business development.EP has built an active engagement programme and David Cheeseman, Director of Chef Express UK, the UK trading arm of Gruppo Cremonini of Italy, notes just how these events have impacted positively for the business. Although this evolves around EP events, the underlying point is how networking is important and delivers back to the business on the front line

David’s core point is that one should never underrate the importance of informal business information through good business relationships. So often the importance of effective alliances and relationships are overlooked but used effectively, new doors do open.We appreciate that David is being very complimentary about EP’s role in the market but his point in return is that Eurostar has initiated two new partnerships; one with Waitrose and one with a new juice provider as a result of the strong engagement programmeThe way to Waitrose.....“We have just completed a deal to use an extensive range of Waitrose products in the bar buffet car on the trains”, commented David, “which is a real step change improvement in the quality of product available on trains in the UK.“When I was originally looking for a ‘branded’ partner, EP put me in touch with Rupert Ellwood (operations director), who I had known for some years since his time at the Natural History Museum, but unbeknownst to me, was working for Waitrose. This came from a conversation swapping some ideas and from this, a partnership has been built. Both Eurostar and Waitrose are passionate about great quality customer service, delivering outstanding value, food provenance and the environment. Eurostar got a high quality branded supplier and Waitrose got a potential 10 million additional customers and brand exposure to Northern Europe. The detail of the deal was put together by Momentum Services, but the deal was born from a simple conversation at an EP event.”A new juiceIn May last year David participated in an EP Innovation Forum, where a number of new concepts were presented to industry leaders. It was through this meeting that David initiated a process to introduce the juice and nectar product Jus De Pommeraie (JdP) on Eurostar services, who presented at the forum. He shares his thoughts:“Personally, I think that the forums are an outstanding opportunity to see new products and hear new ideas. I particularly like the sessions with young entrepreneurs’ and new businesses, people setting out on their industry journey, present concepts and innovations - ostensibly to tap into panels of expertise and experience.

“The JdP contract with Eurostar came from such a forum. With JdP I was immediately struck by the quality of the core product. I work with a company called Momentum Services who supply all the crew and catering to Eurostar International Trains. We are always looking for new, exciting, high quality products from local suppliers or products that are regional or have a story or pedigree about them. JdP brought all those elements together at the same time.”

Just because a connection was made through the forum didn’t mean that the process was of getting it onto Eurostar was going to be easy. Even though the product was something David had identified that would be good on the trains, there were many more steps to take before the launch in June this year. He comments:

“In many ways the forum is just the initial showcase. I think many suppliers expect to turn up and be listed, but the JdP and EP team worked incredibly hard with the Momentum Services team over more than a year to adapt and refine the offer, which involved changing both the bottles and the marketing. I think that the other advantage for the JdP team was accepting the expert mentoring of the EP team who had the experience and perseverance to get them over the line.”