The Peer Networks programme provided a community for business leaders to get together to discuss their collective business challenges; think-up solutions to them; and plan long term recovery and growth.
Kelvin from CK Couriers shares his experience with delivery partner Pete Lawrence from AI-CM on what he has taken from Growth Platform’s Peer Networks programme.
CK Couriers, founded in 2021, are a family run, mainly same day courier and medical courier company based in Knowsley. The business specialise in moving things that are important and/or valuable. Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, CK Couriers had a long term growth plan in place, but COVID-19 of course threw challenges their way. During the pandemic Kelvin Gearing, Managing Director of CK Couriers signed up to Growth Platform’s Peer Networks programme and shared what attracted him to take part:
“I got an email from my Local Growth Hub broker, which is where I found out about the Peer Networks programme. To have the opportunity to reach out to other like-minded businesses, to see how they were feeling, what sort of challenges they were facing and how were they getting over those challenges, was hugely beneficial. From a business point of view, I also missed the interaction with my peers and being able to bounce ideas off of each other.
My experience from the Peer Networks programme was extremely positive. In fact, more positive than I expected. I think many of us have had down points throughout the pandemic so I think Peer Networks has really helped, and personally I got a lot from it. There was a sense of community where myself and other like-minded businesses in my group discussed a series of issues and came up with solutions for each other. We actually found that we were all facing similar challenges, and hearing how others had dealt with it, was a very positive experience. Even though we couldn’t have face to face meetings, there was still a light-hearted element, which in the current climate probably helped everyone that was involved in the group. With regards to the delivery as well, the sessions were good, they were well presented, well facilitated and a good community element came out of it. I know I will stay in touch with some people as we move forward.”
You can hear Peter and Kelvin talk around the Peer Networks programme on the below video: