What do maternity clothes, cycling holidays and horse massage have in common? The answer is that they are all to be found within a few square miles of each other in the village of Tackley.

The unsung talents of various villagers were uncovered by businessmen Paul Ryan and Robert Scott, whose idea for a local network of contacts is now being held up as a shining example of how self-help can lead to better business.

The story started ten years ago when Mr Scott, who runs a publishing company, read an article in The Oxford Times about Mr Ryan's business consultancy, and realised that he lived just around the corner.

Mr Ryan said: "Robert contacted us and has been a client ever since.

"Then, a couple of years ago I was looking to research a market I don't know very well and I mentioned it to someone in the village who I play cricket with, who turned out to know everything I needed.

"I thought that there must be lots of other people around all these people living next door to you, but you don't know what they are doing and they might be able to help you."

When it started, the network was heavily male dominated, he said, but it rapidly expanded to include a wide cross-section of people.

"We had a new office development in the village with another six businesses, so we got more members from that. There are also a number of people here who are thinking about a business idea, who have no idea how to market themselves.

"Most of the people starting new businesses are keen to pick up ideas about marketing or other issues, while other people are keen to discuss ideas for their well-established businesses."

The network has spawned at least two new businesses. French woman Lydia Douet set up Rural Routes to offer cycling holidays around Oxfordshire, while Jin Langstone's company, Horse Power, provides massage and stress-point release for horses.

Other members include Definitely Baby, which sells high-quality maternity wear, Niche Marketing, which markets 142 food technologies and 20 products, including fried, toasted and flavoured bread snacks of unusual shapes and flavours, and a probe to check the harvest date, shelf life, fats, carbs, protein, skin texture and acidity of fruit and vegetables.

Other networkers range from Intrim Fabrications, which creates steel, mild steel and copper structures such as candlesticks, railings, water features, wall lights, gates, exhibition stands and artistic work; to Andrew Smith, who translates documents from German to English.

Being a lively village, Tackley has many points of contact where informal networking was already going on.

Mr Ryan said: "As well as the cricket team, we also have a football team my son, who is 17, plays football and I was treasurer. Some of the young people meet like that. There are lots of associations and clubs in the village, right up to the Silver Threads."

The main focus for the business network has been bi-monthly meetings, which have been increased by popular demand to monthly, plus a website and online newsletter which has attracted new members, as well as providing spin-off benefits for existing members, such as a list of recommended suppliers.

Mr Ryan said: "We tend to use each other's services. I have got insurance through the network, as well as a computer repairer and an accountant, who I still use. For the first six months we had presentations to tell each other about our businesses, but now we tend to pool our problems.

"We might say: This is my experience; these are my ideas; these are my problems.' The PC repair man, for example, told us about how to manage our computers and explained about computer networking.

"We have a few members who are selling through websites who want to know how they can generate more customers. When people bring along their problems it gives us a different theme each time."

Membership is free, and it costs £10 to promote your business through the website. Meetings are held in the offices of Mr Scott or another member, business consultant Graham Hughes. Many members work on their own, said Mr Ryan, and welcome the chance to bounce ideas off other people in the same way they could in a big office.

"We are also considering getting some office space and offering hot-desking' to people who want to talk through their ideas over a coffee," said Mr Ryan.

There are obvious benefits in co-operation, but what if members are in competition in the same line of business, like Mr Ryan and Mr Hughes?

"We aren't in competition," said Mr Ryan. "We had a conversation only last week about planning time to see how we could help each other."

The Government-backed business advice service Business Link sent a representative to a meeting and was so impressed that it wants to copy the idea elsewhere.

Mr Ryan added: "We are a sort of local Business Link, and they said it would be nice to replicate the network in other places."

Contact: www.tackley.biz