BoB Network (Business over Breakfast) - Terms & Conditions of Membership
The Following Terms and conditions apply to BoB Network Clubs operated by:
Additional or slightly different T&C's may apply at BoB Network Clubs that are run by the above licence/franchise operators or country directors to take into account that different terms and conditions may be required due to different legal requirements in those countries. Additional/amended T&C's must be agreed in advance by the Directors of BoB Network Ltd.
Force Majeure
During a pandemic or circumstances outside of our control, BoB Network Ltd and the club operators listed above may not be able to fulfil our obligations and/or liabilities to our members.
Punctuality
It is important that all members and visitors arrive 5 to 15 minutes before the meeting commences. The starting time of each club could vary.
Attendance
All members agree and understand that all BoB Network Clubs meet on a Fortnightly basis. For BoB Network to work, it is important that all members attend the breakfast meetings as often as possible. We understand that every member has a business to run and a life to lead but attendance is crucial to the success of every club. If you can't attend, please try to send somebody to stand in for you if possible. It is important that we know how many members, visitors from other clubs and guests are attending so that we can inform each venue BEFORE we turn up on the day. Please contact either the Chairperson or club steward to inform them if you are unable to attend. The Chairperson will assume that you will attend every meeting unless you inform otherwise. In the event of long-term absenteeism, the directors of the above listed companies will decide if a member will be allowed to continue their membership or if they will be asked to resign so that a new member can take over their exclusive position. Should any member have attendance of less than 70% over any given 6-month period or miss 3 consecutive meetings without good reason we reserve the right to terminate their membership. Members who are aware that they will be unable to attend for a greater period than this must inform the Regional Director as soon as possible. Based upon the circumstances of the upcoming expected absenteeism, the regional director will then decide if they will hold that member's place open for them or not. No refund of membership fees will be made.
Membership Fees (including fees to become an Area Coordinator or Regional Director/ Licensee)
Members are required to pay a one-off registration fee on application to join an existing club or a club in formation. Annual membership fees are payable in advance upon invoice. Fees are NON-REFUNDABLE on receipt of membership application and subsequent membership acceptance. Members who pay the one-off registration fee are also agreeing to pay the annual membership fee upon invoice and within 14 days.
PLEASE NOTE: there is NO 'cooling off' period for members, Area Coordinators or Regional Directors
During a Covid-19 Pandemic or Similar Event: any person paying to secure their exclusive place at any live club or at a club that is In Formation; understands and agrees to the following:
1. Our online video meetups are only a temporary member benefit and that as soon as we can return to our normal face to face meeting that they will attend those face-to-face meetings at the chosen venue of the club they are a member of.
2. Any outstanding membership fees or registration fees will be payable within 14 days of invoice
3. That they will start or resume paying meeting fees on request.
As we slowly begin to return to face2face meetings, members who decide to attend do so at their own risk. We of course are working closely with each of the venues we use for our meetings to ensure that each one is Covid safe for each of our members, visitors, our leadership teams and the venue staff.
Visitors and Guests
Visitors are allowed to visit a BoB Network Club once before they decide to take up membership. Visitors are allowed to take part in the Referral Generation programme. They are also allowed to give referrals to any member of the club. Visitors should not be given referrals as this would be unfair to members who have paid their membership fees. If a visitor attending a meeting is found to conflict with an existing member, both parties should be notified before the commencement of the structured part of the meeting. The visitor will be allowed to be part of the meeting, however, if there is a serious conflict of profession or services offered, the visitor will be asked to be respectful throughout the meeting to the incumbent member and the relationship they will have established with their fellow members. An alternative club will then be sourced (where available) for the visitor to attend in the future.
Club Structure
Directors of the above listed companies reserve the right to create, suspend/postpone clubs or meetings or close or merge individual clubs; to change venues, meeting times, frequency and the day that club/s meet. However, the views of all members will be taken into consideration before any changes are made. BoB Network Ltd offer places to individuals NOT companies and reserve the right to not accept a person other than the business owner as a replacement for the original member. BoB Network Ltd reserves the right to replace a member at the end of their current year membership and not offer renewal of membership. BoB Network Ltd reserve the right to ask a member to leave their club if complaints are received from other members of the club about any members behaviour towards any other member or any visitor or should they provide a bad service or poor-quality product. BoB Network reserve the right to cancel any members annual membership should that member's attendance level be unacceptable. Membership fees are nonrefundable in all instances. Membership renewal is by invitation and is not automatic.
You agree that you will not attempt to form any type or style of face2face or online networking clubs, meetups using any platform including, but not limited to Zoom, Microsoft Teams etc (or promote to members of any BoB Network Club), membership to a new referral based, networking/business group/club/chapter/online meetup that will compete with any BoB Network Club (be that club/s be existing club/s, club/s that are In formation, planned club/s or club/s that may have been suspended) for a minimum period of 12 months from the expiry of your membership at any BoB Network club. This also applies to any meeting be they held at any time of the day i.e.: Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch or evening. You also agree that you will not invite any existing member of any BoB Network Club to visit any other networking group, club, chapter, event or online event whilst you are a member of a BoB Network Club nor for 12 months after leaving or being expelled from a BoB Network Club. for a period of 12 months. You also agree that you will not join or register for any business club/group/chapter that has been or is being formed by any current or former BoB Network Clubs Regional Director and/or Area Director and/or Area Coordinator and/or licence operator and/or JV partner for a minimum period of 12 months from the expiry/termination date of your membership at a BoB Network Club. You also agree that you will not promote membership of any other networking club/group/chapter (apart from another BoB Network Club) to members or visitors of any BoB Network Club that you are a member of, either at meetings or outside of meetings by any method be it verbal or by any other means of communication. This does not stop you becoming a member of any other existing networking club including but not limited to: BNI, 4N or BfB etc However, joining multiple clubs could damage your credibility and/or the amount of referrals that you give or receive. You further agree not to undermine the credibility or damage the morale of members of your BoB Network Club, our Regional Directors, Area Directors, Area Coordinators or any member of the leadership team of any BoB Network Club, by means of verbal and/or written and/or electronic communications or via Social Media platforms including, but not limited to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram. All members agree that they will not use inappropriate language, make sexist, racist, xenophobic, homophobic' anti-Semitic comments or comments regarding any religion. We reserve the right to suspend any member if we believe that our Terms & Conditions have been contravened or if we believe that any member's behaviour has been unacceptable allowing for a full enquiry to be carried out. We then also reserve the right to terminate the membership of any member who we believe contravenes these T&C's. Membership may be reinstated at the discretion of the above operating company and/or by the directors of BoB Network Ltd after a full enquiry has been carried out. Should it be decided that a member who has been suspended is not to be reinstated that member will be deleted from the BoB Network website, but no refund will be due to that member.
Members who decide not to renew their membership with BoB Network will not be invited back to future BoB Network meetings unless they decide to rejoin. Ex-members are not permitted to return as a guest or a substitute for an absent member.
Diversity
BoB Network Ltd embraces and promotes diversity of membership within each of our business clubs operated under the BoB Network brand by our Licensees in the UK. We welcome both visitors and members equally regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, race, religious beliefs, or disabilities. We also encourage existing members to invite any of their contacts who are either business owners or an employee of a larger company. The only restriction in force at every BoB Network Club is that only one person per business category is allowed to become a member, thus ensuring that no member has any competition. A member is also only allowed to become a member of a single BoB Network Club and should not visit any other BoB Network Club unless it has been authorised by the Regional Director or Area Coordinator of that particular club.
Membership is offered on the understanding that the member agrees that they will only promote their allocated business category at club meetings and to members of their club outside of meetings. Any member found to be promoting any other business category/categories will be asked to cease and should any member continue promoting other products and/or services at club meetings or outside of the meetings to members of their club; their membership will be terminated. No refunds will be offered in this situation. Multi-disciplinary businesses (for example law firms/Solicitors who have multiple service offerings) wishing to join a club can be represented in either of the following two ways; by buying separate memberships for each discipline, or a single membership where a member may be substituted occasionally by a colleague to present other disciplines. The disciplines must be agreed by the club leadership team and the Regional Director beforehand. Companies may not be represented by more than one employee at the same meeting. BoB Network Clubs are structured so that a Leadership team made up from the club membership are collectively able to run meetings, administer their club and market the club. This means that once a club has been launched the Area Coordinator/Area Director/Regional Director is not required to attend every club meeting.
BoB Network Clubs, Regional Director and/or Area Director and/or Area Coordinator must always be involved in all decision-making processes. BoB Network Clubs, the Regional Director and/or Area Director and/or Area Coordinator is responsible for negotiating with venues and no changes can be made by the club without authorisation. Any decisions taken without the approval of the Regional Director and/or Area Director and/or Area Coordinator can be over over-ridden by the Regional Director and/or Area Director and/or Area Coordinator.
The selection of the leadership team, whose role is to run the clubs, is the responsibility of BoB Network Clubs Regional Director and/or Area Director and/or Area Coordinator. There is no fixed period for any leadership role within the club and BoB Network Clubs, Regional Director and/or Area Director and/or Area Coordinator will advise accordingly.
Meeting/Breakfast Fees - Are charged separately to membership and should be paid on arrival at each meeting, in advance or by Standing Order. All attendees (member and visitors) are required to attend each meeting, if a meal (breakfast, brunch or dinner) is included in the meeting fees and the member or visitor does not want to take the meal, they are still required to pay the full meeting fee, for which they will be emailed a receipt within 24 hours after that meeting. It is likely that after a club has officially launched that all members will be asked to setup up a monthly standing order or Direct Debit to pay each month's meeting fees in advance. Any member who fails to pay membership/meeting fees will have their membership terminated. No refunds against membership will be made in these circumstances. Should any member confirm that they will be attending a meeting and then fail to attend that meeting, we reserve the right to charge for the member for the meeting/s that they missed. Failure to pay could result in the member being suspended or expelled from the club. Please note that all meeting fees are handled at club level and none of money from meeting fees goes to either BoB Network Head office or the company/individual who owns the licence for the club you are a member of or are visiting.
Club Closure
Very occasionally we may be forced to close a club for reasons outside our control. In this case we will try to offer as many members as possible a transfer to another local club that has a vacancy for their business category. There will be no charge for this transfer and the remaining membership will be attributed to the new club the member has been transferred to. If there is not a vacancy at another club for a member, they may be entitled to a pro rata refund of membership fees received. However, any missed meeting will be deducted at the rate of 1/26th of the normal membership fee. When a club is closed down the club funds must be returned to BoB Network Clubs Head Office who will then distribute those funds to one or more local charities who have been a member of a BoB Network Club for more than one full year.
Discounts
All members pay the same for membership. The only discount is as follows. For each visitor that a member introduces to a club, who subsequently joins any local BoB Network club; the sponsoring member will receive a 1-month free membership voucher for each member who joins a BoB Network Club.
Refunds Policy
Our refunds policy forms part of our Terms and Conditions and can be viewed here >> Refunds Policy
Membership Fees
All new members who pay the one-off registration fee to secure their exclusive place at a BoB Network Club that is 'In Formation' are also agreeing to pay their annual membership fee upon invoice when the club has between 9 and 12 paid up members (unless a new member is taking over the membership from someone else who represents the same company or organisation - but please see Transfer of membership section below). Should a member who registered for a club In Formation subsequently decide that they do not wish to continue as a member will be subject to the following charges:
Cancellation of membership:
From time to time, it is possible that some clubs may fail to launch within 9 months of the first member/s signing up and paying their registration fee/s. Should the Regional Director decide that the group is not growing sufficiently enough to make it a viable proposition for the members who have already signed up, then it is the responsibility of any member who signed up between nine (9) and ten (10) months earlier to submit a claim for a repayment of the registration fee. Should a claim not be submitted between the 9th and 10th months after the date of the first meeting the new member attended as a member after their payment had been made, we will assume that the member is prepared to wait until the club is officially launched. From time to time a club may lose members making operating that club unsustainable under the current format. In these circumstances that club's status will revert to a club 'In formation' and the above conditions relating to it will apply. Any outstanding membership will be added to the 12-month term upon receipt of payment of the annual membership.
Please Note: founder members will only be eligible for a refund of registration fees if they have attended a minimum of 75% of the pre-launch meetings.
Referrals
Referrals passed between members are never charged for, nor will the recipient of a referral be expected to pay for that referral or any commission on any subsequent sale. No financial gain or reward should ever be levied on any referral being given or received. Any member, leadership team member, Area Coordinator, Regional Director/licensee, Country Directors will be expelled if it is found to be the case, nor will BoB Network Clubs Head Office ever take a commission or reward on any referrals passed by members or visitors within any club.
Transfer between clubs
Transfer between clubs is not permitted unless there is a change of address to another area. If a member wishes to be part of another club where there is a position available to them, they must submit a fresh application and pay the necessary fee. In the event of a member requesting to be transferred from the club they joined to another club during or at the end of their membership period or during pre-launch period of a club that is In formation, we reserve the right to refuse this request. However, if we do agree to this request, the member will be asked to pay an Administration fee of £50 (or equivalent in other countries). In the event of a member requesting to be transferred between clubs that are operated under licence by a different Licensee, Franchise operator or a club under the control of Head Office an amount equal to the remaining period of membership is chargeable. The transfer of membership from one club to another can only be authorised by the Regional Director, Country Director or Head Office and will only be allowed if there have been significant changes in the member's circumstances. It is extremely important that members see through their commitment to their original club and members within that club. If there are exceptional circumstances to warrant a transfer and the member has less than 6 months membership remaining, that member will be required to make a commitment of a further 12 months membership to show commitment to the new club.
Transfer of membership
Membership is non transferrable. Should a company wish to replace a member of staff with another member of staff in a BoB Network Club this will be considered by cannot be guaranteed. Should a transfer of membership be granted we reserve the right to charge an administration fee of £50 (or equivalent in other countries) In the event of a member wanting to transfer to another club, we reserve the right to request a payment equal to the membership period used up at the original club giving them a full 12 months membership at the club that they are transferring to. However, if there is three months or less of the membership remaining at the original club, we reserve the right to charge for a full 12-month membership at the club that the member is being transferred to. In this instance the remaining membership will be added to the 12 months membership.
Change of Business category
Should any member request a change of business category, we reserve the right to refuse this request. However, if we do agree to this request, we also reserve the right to charge an Administration fee of £50 (or equivalent in other countries). Unless the request is made by an existing member whilst the club is In Formation, before the official launch of the club and that no other member already occupies that business category, no charge will be made. All prices quoted exclude VAT
Area Coordinators
When we recruit a new Area Coordinator, we provide access to our comprehensive back-office administration system, advanced marketing tools, and a robust prospect database. This support significantly simplifies the process of running a networking group and enhances its professional appearance. As a membership organisation, we offer tools to create an online presence that rivals the best networking organisations, benefitting both our members and their companies. To demonstrate your commitment, we require an upfront payment equivalent to one year's membership fee, which is £460.00 plus VAT, totalling £552.00. This fee is compulsory whether you are a current member or not. In the first instance, discuss the availability with Head Office and complete an application form https://www.bobnetwork.co.uk/pay/application
Website
Members agree that their contact details including phone numbers (but excludes their email address which is not visible on the website to stop robots spamming our members), personal photograph and company logo can be displayed on the relevant website in each country. This information is automatically removed when a member is deleted. No unauthorised use (or data scraping) of any content from any of our websites (including, but not limited to member details, photographs, profiles, meetings, venues, maps etc) on external websites is allowed without our express permission being granted. Legal action will be taken against the owner of any websites using data from any of our websites including but not limited to www.bobnetwork.co.uk
NON-MEMBER TERMS & CONDITIONS & GDPR Privacy policy
We will never sell or rent your personal data to any other organisation or individual. However, your data will automatically be shared with the company who operate the BoB Network Club that you have enquired about or booked to attend as a visitor. You can see a list of those companies at the foot of this webpage.
When enquiring about a club
I agree that my contact details can be stored in your database for no longer than necessary and that I am happy to receive marketing emails, calls or texts regarding upcoming meetings, vacancies at local clubs for my business category and new clubs that are launching. I understand that I can unsubscribe at any time and that my personal data will be permanently removed from your database.
When booking to attend a meeting of a BoB Network Club
I agree that my contact details can be stored in your database for no longer than necessary and that I am happy to receive marketing emails, calls or texts regarding upcoming meetings, vacancies at local clubs for my business category and new clubs that are launching, and emails from you after this meeting I am booking to attend, one of which will contain a receipt from you for the amount I will pay on arriving at this meeting or paid prior to attend that meeting. Also, the person or company who operates that BoB Network Club may need to contact you prior to the meeting you have booked to attend to make sure that your business category does not conflict with an existing member as we only allow one person per business category to become a member. I understand that I can unsubscribe at any time and that my personal data will be permanently removed from your database.
When contacting us
I agree that my contact details can be stored in your database for no longer than necessary and that I am happy to receive marketing emails, calls or texts regarding upcoming meetings, vacancies at local clubs for my business category and new clubs that are launching. I understand that I can unsubscribe at any time and that my personal data will be permanently removed from your database.
When signing up to our newsletter
I agree that my contact details can be stored in your database for no longer than necessary and that I am happy to receive a Newsletter (no more than once a month) and occasional marketing emails, calls or texts regarding new clubs that are launching. I understand that I can unsubscribe at any time and that my personal data will be permanently removed from your database. Note: this may take up to 30 days
Who is the Data Processor for the club that I am enquiring about or booking to attend as a visitor? (Only applicable in the UK and EEC)
The above Terms and Conditions supersede all previous Terms and Conditions