THE Folkestone-based Channel Chamber has beaten stiff nationwide competition to win a £1,000 award for the Speednetworking event they held in Enterprise Week in November.

Hundreds of schools, colleges, organisations and communities took part in Speednetwork the Nation which was the UK’s biggest simultaneous ideas exchange. Channel Chamber won the award for Best Connection.

They organised a Speednetworking event between their members and the Boulogne Chamber in France and, as a result, the Kent-based design and communication collective, New Creatif, have a follow up meeting with a French company called Environment Marketing and their client, a plastic moulding company, to discuss marketing and design work in the UK and France.

Peter Hobbs, chief executive of Channel Chamber said "Given the quality and calibre of networking events throughout the country for Enterprise Week, we were delighted to receive recognition that our business events really do produce results."

During the day, events took place on the British Airways London Eye, in Trafalgar Square, on buses, in theatres, cafes, train stations and shopping malls – connecting people and ideas across the country. It took place on the Friday of Enterprise Week 2006.

Enterprise Week is run by the Make Your Mark campaign, which aims to inspire people to turn their ideas into reality. Speednetworking follows a simple format and can take place anywhere – every five minutes a whistle is blown and all those involved have to talk to someone new.

Jo Hill, networks manager for the Make Your Mark campaign, said: "Speednetworking is a great way to swap ideas and meet useful contacts."

Anyone who is interested in setting up a network, or who wants to find out if one already exists in their area, should log on to www.makeyourmarkconnect.org.