Local business leaders who look for new thinking to support their business (and personal) development now have a new option to consider. After all, it's lonely at the top!

Often the best people to learn from or to help solve business challenges are people who are working on similar issues every day in their own businesses.

Paul Fileman and David Dunbavand as joint Chairmen, who are both highly experienced  in business, are joining forces to launch the East Midlands Leadership Group - with a free "taster" Breakfast Meeting on 22nd April in Leicester for those who might be interested.

East Midlands Leadership is a small groups of leaders who meet regularly in a learning environment, who relish the opportunity to build trust and to explore and input to challenging business issues from members - all in complete confidence. The business is based on a successful model already established in the West Midlands, where Paul and David developed the idea from.

Members benefit from personal development that would normally cost a great deal more - both financially and in time away from the office. They also get the opportunity to bring a guest along - a neat way of acknowledging a key customer or a means to reward and develop an employee.

Full Meetings are bi-monthly and only take one day away from the office, they consist of three main parts:

Business Update Dinner - the evening before the main meeting, members meet to review what has happened to themselves and their businesses in the period since the last meeting. It's a chance to discuss the last workshop and what they have done as a result  of the ideas they took away - did they work - well? They also discuss the issues that were brought up at the last meeting and find out what the member did to resolve them and how well it worked. Members hold each other to account - and therefore provide each other with the services of trusted advisors with a degree of impartiality rarely found in organisations or paid third parties.

Workshop - the following day, members meet for an interactive workshop. A variety of business topics will be covered throughout the year. Paul and David ensure that only the best speakers are used to run these sessions - specialist authorities on a business topic who, through a highly interactive session, ensure that members and their guests obtain knowledge and know-how that they can take back into their organisations and turn into action.

Member Issues - this facilitated and highly structured session is designed to ensure that each person gains the benefit of the collected experience of all those  in the room. Issues are raised, discussed and suggestions noted. Members each have something actionable to take back into the business. Members guests have the same opportunity, but in a separate session to preserve confidentiality.

Commenting on the new initiative, David Dunbavand said: "East Midlands Leadership represents tremendous value for money. Having experienced and supported the Leadership Group that is already established in Staffordshire, I was blown away by the quality and depth of the professional development opportunity."

Paul Fileman added: "It is high time that Leicestershire businesses were able to benefit from such a novel Leadership programme - we have some of the most talented business leaders in the country in this area and the people we have spoken to all regard our initiative as a positive step forwards in ensuring that Leicestershire businesses are able to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by a recovering economy."