MANAMA: A Special Interest Group (SIG) for Young Professionals has been launched by the Bahrain British
Business Forum (BBBF). More than 80 forum members and their guests attended the event at The Domain
Hotel and Spa, which was conducted in a Speed Business Networking format, managed and conducted by SteppingStone
Global on behalf of the BBBF. The Young Professionals SIG was set up in 2015 by young professionals, for young
professionals. The BBBF realised that in Bahrain there were no business networking events targeted
specifically at young professionals in the early stages of their careers. “While older members of the business
community – for example BBBF members – have already established their network of
contacts and regularly attend business functions, we recognised that there was nothing
really aimed at younger or more junior professionals at the beginning of their careers,”
said HRH the Crown Prince’s International Scholarship Programme Higher Education
adviser and Young Professionals SIG head Ava Garbutt. “We believe it is important that young
professionals are able to equip themselves with a professional network that will be of
assistance to them as they progress up the career ladder.” The Young Professionals SIG aims to hold
a number of social and business networking events to give young professionals the opportunity to meet on a regular basis in a
friendly environment with members of the BBBF and invited guests so that they extend
their network and also learn from senior business community. The event featured SteppingStone Global
founder, president and Neuro-Linguistic Programme master practitioner Jean Nicolai
and SteppingStone Global Partner and a seasoned media veteran Mike Orlov as lead
facilitators. Mr Nicolai and Mr Orlov highlighted the effectiveness of networking for connecting
and fostering business relationships. The BBBF has a number of special interest
groups under its umbrella, catering to oil and gas, construction, security and legal fields.
Participants included BBBF vice-chair Paula Boast and committee members Mark
Gravener, Michael Fodor, Ms Garbutt and Daniel Edwin.
