Manchester Professionals trebles membership

Manchester: Thursday, 22nd July 2010 Online professional services search portal and business community, www.ManchesterProfessionals.co.uk, has trebled its number of members in under a year to over 1,700, with web traffic quickly rising to 300,000 hits per month. The online portal provides a search facility that allows visitors to find professional services in and around Manchester, as well as enabling professionals to build suitable contacts with potential referral partners. Subscribers benefit from an interactive community presence that allows them to post blogs and content to the forums, encouraging direct service enquiries from other members and website visitors. The site has seen the number of paying members treble over the last 12 months, with numbers doubling in the last six months alone. Director of ManchesterProfessionals.co.uk, James Garner, commented on the recent rise in members: 'Finding the right professional service for one’s personal or business needs can be daunting and time consuming, especially if you are unfamiliar with that particular sector. Manchester Professionals was established as a means of taking the time and frustration out of finding the most suitable professional service provider. We act as both an information resource and community for our members, as they can view a company or an individual’s profile or they can ask our forum users for advice, as well as using the site as a marketing channel for their own services. 'In a recession, people are looking for expert advisors to help them save money or grow, or to oursouce business operations for the same reasons. Being able to find detailed information and contact details for advisors local to you in one place taked a lot of the hassle and frustration out of the process. Should you still be unable to find the service you need, you can put an enquiry out to our entire community, or ask us and we will make every effort to match you up with a suitable company. We attribute thiscomsbination of ‘interactive search and networking’ approach, combined with a flat annual subscription fee to the success of the site. It’s clear that there is real demand for online business communities that focus solely on one location and we are looking to expand the model in other areas later in the year.' Pictured: Manchester Professionals.co.uk Director James Garner.