Wed 4Nov
Fortnightly brunchOpen to visitors
Trafford City Wednesday
Stretford · In person
25 years · The UK's original referral breakfast
Grow your business in
90 minutes a fortnight
One seat per profession. A room of business owners who know your work well enough to send it your way — same faces, same table, every fortnight, with food included.
- 25 years of referrals
- One seat per profession
- First visit free
90 minand you leave two introductions better off
What every Business for Breakfast group guarantees
- 25 yearsRunning referral groupsThe UK's original referral breakfast
- One seatPer profession, per groupEvery referral for your trade comes to you
- FreeYour first visitFood included, no card needed
- 90 minEvery meetingSame agenda, start to finish
The person behind the table
Hi, I'm Mel.
Together with my husband John, we created Business for Breakfast after wasting years trying to get cashflow to our business. We realised that relationships are key therefore created an environment that welcomes business people and allows them to thrive.
Is this for you?
Three stages of business. One reason to be in the room.
Different problems, same answer: people who understand your business well enough to recommend it when you're not there.
StartingStartups
First-year founders, new practices, side-hustles going full-time
The problem
You're starting from zero: no client list, no word of mouth, and nobody out there recommending you yet.
What changes
Twenty-plus established owners learn what a good first client looks like for you, then open their contact books. You borrow a network instead of spending years building one.
Your first clients by introduction, not advertising
ScalingGrowing business
Agencies, trades firms, installers, manufacturers
The problem
Ad costs go up every year and the leads get worse. You need growth you can forecast.
What changes
Referred work arrives already trusting you. It closes faster and haggles less, and every referral is tracked, so you can see exactly what your seat returns.
Lower cost per client and a shorter sales cycle
ExitingExit
Owners planning a sale, a retirement or a handover
The problem
A business that only wins work because of you is hard to hand over — the pipeline walks out of the door with you.
What changes
Your seat keeps the introductions coming while you step back, and because every referral is tracked, that pipeline is something a buyer or successor can see rather than take on trust.
A pipeline that outlasts the owner
How it works
Three steps from first coffee to first referral
No application form and no interview panel. See a real meeting, then decide.
Check your seat
Tell us your profession and postcode. We'll confirm the seat is open and send you the venue, the parking details and who to ask for.
Come as our guest
Eat with the room, watch a real meeting and take 60 seconds to introduce your business if you'd like to.
Claim your seat
Your profession is yours alone in that group — every referral in it for your trade comes to you, and to nobody else.
Get invited
Takes two minutes. We confirm your seat is open before you travel.
The method
The method Mel teaches every member
Four habits, drilled in every meeting and every Academy course. None of them are complicated. All of them are why the referrals keep coming.
Same seat, same faces
Turn up every fortnight and sit with the same people. Referrals follow familiarity, not business cards.
One clear ask
Name the exact introduction you want this fortnight. A room can't refer 'anyone who needs a hand'.
Give first
Open your own book before you ask anyone to open theirs. The fastest way to get a referral is to pass one.
Track what it's worth
Log every introduction and what it closed for. If your seat isn't paying for itself, the numbers will say so first.
Running a business in itself will have its own challenges. We'd like you to have a comfortable journey — and somewhere you can look into the best tips and tested process that others in our group have been sharing with us.
— Mel
Inside a meeting
Ninety minutes. Every minute has a job.
No mingling and hoping. Every meeting follows the same structure, which is why the referrals keep coming.
- 20 min
Arrive and network
Coffee and open conversation. No forced icebreakers.
- 10 min
Food and welcome
A hot meal while the group leader welcomes visitors by name.
- 20 min
60-second pitches
Everyone gets the same minute: who you are, what you do, and the introduction you want this week.
- 15 min
Member spotlight
One member goes deep, so the room can refer them precisely.
- 15 min
Referral round
Members pass named introductions and thank each other for work that has closed.
- 10 min
Close
Diaries out to book one-to-ones. Visitors get a straight answer on open seats.
- The times above are a 10:00 brunch group. Breakfast groups run exactly the same agenda from 07:00, and twilight groups from 18:00.
Why it works
Same faces, same time, same seat. That's what makes people refer you.
Referrals don't come from meeting people once. They come from people who've watched you for months and trust you with their own reputation.
- 90 min
In and out, on time
Every meeting runs the same 90-minute agenda and ends when it says it will — a 10:00 brunch is over by 11:30. It takes a slot out of your day, never the day itself.
- Fortnightly
A slot you can protect
Same day, same time, every fortnight. A rhythm that predictable is easy to hold in your diary — so the room actually shows up, and the referrals follow.
- Your trade
No competition in the room
You're the only one of your profession at the table, so every other member is a potential referrer, not a rival. That changes what people are willing to share.
What membership gives you
Relationships, referrals and the skills to use both
Trusted relationships
Repetition turns a contact into an advocate. Same faces, same slot, same seat — month after month, until they know your work well enough to stake their own name on it.
- Your profession's seat, held exclusively
- Structured one-to-ones that go deeper than small talk
- A member directory across every group in the network
Referrals you can measure
A referral group, not a mixer. Every introduction is named out loud in the meeting and logged afterwards, so you can see what your seat is actually worth.
- A referral dashboard that tracks every introduction
- A quarterly report on what your seat has returned
- Visitor days to reach beyond your own group
Skills from the Academy
Short, practical courses written by members who win work this way — not theory from someone who has never had to ask a room for an introduction.
- Four core courses, around 40 minutes each
- Live workshops and regional training days
- A new course every quarter
Come and see one
Join us at a BforB meeting
Visiting a group is the only way to know if the room is right for you. Pick the one nearest you and we'll get you on the guest list — your first visit is free.
Opens the group's booking page. No charge to visit.
If you're starting up
The room you wish you had walked into sooner
A table of people who already know your town, your trades and who to call. You introduce yourself once; after that the room does it for you.
Startup
If you're growing
Growth stops being guesswork
Referrals arrive warm and arrive weekly, so the pipeline stops depending on how much selling you felt like doing that month.
Growth
If you're thinking about exiting
A business worth handing over
Mel calls exiting a privilege. It is also a skill — and a business whose relationships outlive its owner is the one that sells.
Exit
See it for yourself
A minute inside the network
Short films from real meetings and workshops. Member stories — the member, the figure from their dashboard, their own words — are being collected now and will be published with permission.
Grow your network
Two members talking before the room fills up — the ten minutes where most introductions actually start.
BforB workshops
Practical skills sessions that run alongside the fortnightly meetings, open to members across the network.
Network and grow
A member walking her table through how she wins work — the part of the morning where everyone else takes notes.
From the Referral Academy
A minute with Mel
Mel introduces the three stages the Referral Academy is built around — starting up, growing, and exiting — in under a minute each.
Membership
One price. Food included. No upsells at the table.
Visit free first. Join only if the room is right for you.
Visitor
Get invitedby invitation
No joining fee, no card needed
See a real meeting before you decide anything.
- A full meal, included
- 60-second introduction
- Meet every member
- A straight answer on open seats
- One free Academy course
Most popular
6 months
£59per month
Plus a one-off £125 joining fee
Your seat in one group — a six-month plan, billed monthly.
- Your profession's seat held exclusively
- Every meeting, food included
- Full Academy access
- Directory of every group
- Referral dashboard
- Guest passes
Best value
Annual
£647.60per year
Joining fee waived — a £125 saving
Save £185.40 in year one — and no £125 joining fee.
- Everything in the six-month plan
- Priority booking for training days
- Two free guest meals for your clients
- A guaranteed member spotlight
- Annual referral report
Prices exclude VAT. Food is included at every in-person meeting.
One seat per profession
Each group holds a single seat for each trade or profession. If you're the mortgage adviser in the room, you're the only one — so every mortgage referral in that group comes to you. It also means seats genuinely run out, which is why we check availability before you visit.
Your first visit is on us
Visit any group as our guest, completely free — food included. Come twice if you want to be sure. There is no pressure to join and no follow-up sales call you didn't ask for.
Get invitedThe BforB Academy
Referrals are a skill. We teach it.
Short, practical courses built from 25 years of referral meetings. Finish one on a lunch break and use it at your next meeting.
- Free for visitors
Mastering your 60-second pitch
Why 'a bit of everything' gets you nothing, and the one specific ask that makes a room remember you.
Taught by Mel - Core
The referral mindset
How to give first, spot a referral in ordinary conversation, and never sound like you're selling.
Taught by Mel - Core
Running great one-to-ones
The 45-minute structure that turns a polite coffee into a working referral partnership.
Taught by Mel - New
Using AI to grow your business
Practical, no-jargon AI for small businesses: quoting faster, following up properly and writing less admin.
Taught by Mel
Free PDF
Mel's 30-Day Referral Playbook
One action a day for 30 days: the exact asks, messages and follow-ups that get referrals moving.
- Word-for-word referral asks that don't feel pushy
- A one-to-one agenda you can print tonight
- How to thank a referrer so they do it again
One email with the PDF. Unsubscribe in one click.
Upcoming meetings
Where you can visit next
Every meeting below has visitor places. Book by 5pm the day before so the venue can cater for you.
- Book your seat
- Fri 6NovBook your seat
Fortnightly brunchOpen to visitors
The Point Astley Brunch
Tyldesley · In person
- Wed 11NovBook your seat
Fortnightly brunchOpen to visitors
Didsbury Brunch
Didsbury · In person
- Thu 12NovBook your seat
Fortnightly twilightOpen to visitors
Warrington Brunch
Culcheth · In person
How BforB members benefit
Relationships that refer
Same faces, same slot, your profession's seat held exclusively — month after month, until the room knows your work well enough to stake their own name on it.
Referrals you can count
Every introduction is named out loud in the meeting and logged afterwards, so you can see exactly what your seat is returning.
Skills that compound
Short, practical Academy courses, live workshops and regional training days — written by members who win work this way, not theorists.
Beyond the breakfast table
Book Mel to speak or train your team
Years of referral meetings condensed into a talk, a training day, or a brand-new group in your town.
Speaking
A keynote or a lunch-and-learn on referrals, networking that actually converts, and the one-clear-ask habit.
Training days
A half or full day with your team on pitching, one-to-ones and building a referral pipeline that doesn't rely on ads.
Start a group in your town
No BforB group near you? Mel helps local founders launch one — venue, format, first members and all.
Questions, answered
Questions people ask before their first visit
How much does it cost?
Your first visit is free, food included. Membership is £59 a month on the six-month plan, plus a one-off £125 joining fee, or £647.60 a year with the joining fee waived. Prices exclude VAT.
What times do groups meet?
It varies by group. Most meet for brunch at 10:00 or 11:00 and finish 90 minutes later; some meet for breakfast at 07:00, and some in the evening at 18:00. Every meeting runs the same agenda, and each listing in the diary above shows its own start time.
Is my profession's seat open?
Each group holds one seat per profession, so it depends on the room. Tell us your profession and postcode when you book a visit and we'll confirm the seat is open before you travel — there is no point driving across town to find your trade already taken.
What if I miss a meeting?
Let your group leader know as early as you can. Groups differ on sending a colleague in your place and on making up a missed meeting elsewhere, so ask your leader when you visit and you'll get a straight answer for that room.
How are referrals tracked?
Every introduction is logged in your member dashboard, with its value recorded once the work closes. You get a quarterly summary of exactly what your seat has returned — which is the only honest way to judge whether membership is worth it.
Can I leave?
Yes. We'd rather you left easily and spoke well of us than stayed reluctantly. The notice period is set out in the membership agreement — ask for a copy before you join, so you can read the terms at home rather than at a breakfast table.
Still wondering something? Ask us directly — Mel or the team reply, usually before lunch.
Your first visit is on us
Your seat might still be open
Pick a group, come along and watch business owners pass real work to each other. If it isn't for you, you've still had a meal with twenty people worth knowing.
- Food included
- No pressure to join
- Done in 90 minutes