Building on initiatives in many countries, particularly Denmark and Norway, a pilot programme to foster business networks was launched in New Zealand in September 1994. Eleven network brokers were trained and after eight months 25 networks were in various stages of formation. This paper describes the Canterbury pilot, and provides an early evaluation of the programme to June 1995, ie, after only eight months of operation. A number of negative influences on network formation were identified, indicating areas for improvement to the programme. In particular, broker remuneration during the exploratory phase was viewed as essential. The Tradenz Board has subsequently decided to scale up from the pilot to a national programme, to be launched early in 1996.