Another networking group? We’ll have a Bita that . . .

Word reaches us from our man in London about the launch there of yet another networking organisation for Irish business people. So many have emerged at this stage that someone should coin a collective noun to describe the swathe of such groups.

The British Irish Trading Alliance (Bita) was launched on Monday at the Irish Embassy in Grosvenor Place, at an event hosted by Ambassador Dan Mulhall.

It joins a crowded pitch already populated by the likes of the Irish International Business Network, the Irish Construction Network and many others.

Bita's motto is "people who know people, who help people" – a creed, says one of its patrons, the Dragons' Den judge Gavin Duffy, that has worked well for him throughout his business career.

The new body bullishly declares that its contacts and connections have already brought business for Irish firms from UK clients.

It promises inclusion for any company – free of charge – in a detailed register of UK and Irish businesses. The list is available to all members, each of whom pays a €100 annual fee.

A foreign exchange firm has already agreed to offer members a no-fees deal on sterling or euro purchases, while ZipCars, a London-based “hire by the hour” car rental firm, is also offering reductions for members.

More ambitiously, Duffy says Bita is also hoping to sign Ryanair up for cheaper "bereavement" flights home for funerals, often at short notice. No time like the present to capitalise on the airline's new cuddly image.