Yorkshire Post joins Mafia social network at top event

The event on March 15 is free and is on course to be attended by more than 1,000 delegates.

It promises a full day of seminars, 78 exhibitors, an investment competition and question and answer sessions with some of the region's most successful entrepreneurs.

These include Dean Hoyle, the founder of the Card Factory retail business, Lawrence Tomlinson, owner of the LNT cars-to-care homes group, James Sommerville, co-founder of the Attik design agency, and Ajaz Ahmed, the founder of the Freeserve internet service provider.

The Yorkshire Mafia is a selective online networking group for business people in Yorkshire and is reckoned to be the fastest-growing business group in the UK.

It was founded in November 2008 and now has nearly 5,200 members, with a further 250 applications pending.

The Yorkshire Mafia is hosted by the LinkedIn website, the social network for white collar professionals that now has more than 85m members across the world, including more than 4m in the UK.

Analysis of the Yorkshire Mafia membership reveals that 12 per cent are owners, 29 per cent are directors and 39 per cent are managers. They come from businesses ranging in size from up to 10 to more than 1,000 employees and represent a broad spread of sectors.

Members attend networking events across the region and engage in online discussions to share good ideas and promote trade opportunities between Yorkshire companies.

Geoff Shepherd, founder of the group, said: "Yorkshire's national newspaper has been around for 255 more years than we have.

"The Yorkshire Post is woven into the very fabric of Yorkshire's history and as a new kid on the block we're extremely honoured that the Yorkshire Post has agreed to be our media partner.

"Our online presence is significant, rapidly growing and facilitates our deep engagement with our members.

"However, the Yorkshire Post has something we simply do not have; tremendous offline reach across the whole of Yorkshire and beyond.

"We're hugely excited by our partnership and very much looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship."

The conference takes place at The Royal Armouries in Leeds.

To attend, register online at www.theyorkshiremafiaconference.com