THOUSANDS of people are making use of Finditinworcestershire, the county’s free online business community, and the site is set to announce its 7,000th member, as it approaches its fourth anniversary.

Launched in February 2011, the Worcestershire County Council project aims to boost the area’s economy by giving local businesses, social enterprises and voluntary sector organisations the support and contacts they need to pitch for and win bigger contracts.

Organisations can register for free and are then notified of relevant business opportunities in the county. Finditinworcestershire also organises a free monthly breakfast networking event, on the third Tuesday of every month.

Cllr Simon Geraghty, cabinet member for economy, skills and infrastructure, said:

“We are immensely proud of the success of finditinworcestershire, which we set up as a ‘match making service’, linking buyers with suppliers, to increase trade between Worcestershire businesses.

“Coming up to our fourth year anniversary, we are fast approaching 7,000 members and to date have had over 1,500 opportunities posted on the site; we conservatively estimate that the contract values put on FIIW have been over £175m.”

The next free breakfast network event, entitled ‘Referral Marketing – How to Work Smarter not Harder to Grow your Business’, is on February 17 at Sixways Stadium, Worcester.

To find out more visit finditinworcestershire.com.