Hoole Business Networking

Well that was an hour or so well spent all told. Good company, great location and venue, a pot of quality coffee and……wait for it…..choccie biccies!!! If ever there was a winning formula!!! So, what was this worthy event to warrant it’s very own blog post? Why it was the very first Hoole Business Networking meeting, that’s what it was.

The what? – some of you may be asking. So I’ll say it again. The first Hoole Business Networking meeting. It’s worth repeating as it’s worth making a note of it.

You now may be asking, what’s it all about?

Carry on reading and I’ll explain more.

Hoole Business Networking

It was a few weeks ago that I happened to see a post in the Next Door Neighbourhood forum (make a note of that forum as well and join the forum – it’s well worth it) inviting local Hoole businesses to an informal get together at Pinnacle Rooms in Lightfoot Street.

The invitation was offered by Dave Taylor, business owner of David Taylor Web Media, based in Hoole Lane. The question was, shall I go, or shall I come clean first and check my eligibility?

So, me being the honest ex-altar boy that I am, I fired off an email to ask if my fundamentally Chester, non Hoole specific, humble website may qualify for me to be able to attend – as after all, I do actually live in Hoole.

A message was received in the affirmative – I could attend!!! Yay!!!

First hurdle negotiated. Nice one. Mind you, I then discovered hurdle numero duo. Where are The Pinnacle Rooms in Hoole? Although I live in Hoole, I didn’t know where they were.

No need to panic though. It was easy enough to find and very local for me. The Pinnacle Rooms are based in Deva Court in Lightfoot Street. Basically, when you go down Lightfoot Street from the Hoole Road end, it is next door to the tyre place on the right hand side.

I mention exactly where it is so you can make a note for next time so you intrepid, ambitious Hoole business owners will know exactly where to go. And there’s car parking. There’s an important box ticked.

I’ve walked passed there many times but hadn’t noticed these well presented meeting rooms and work places. A very impressive venue indeed.

So, now I know I’m invited and I know where I’m going……result!!!

Hoole Business Meeting – Inaugural Get Together

I don’t know about you but I’ve been to many business networking events. To be honest I’m quite indifferent to them generally. The reason being, I’ve never really got much, if anything, out of them.

So, why go to this one? Fair do’s, that’s a good question.

The honest answer is that, for some reason, it had a good feel about it for me. I’m not sure why. As I said I have been to many other networking events and left disappointed. I won’t name the other networking organisers (“names’s withheld to protect the innocent” and all that).

I think as this was the first one, it would have been good to show up for the very first meeting and, of course, to see where it may lead.

Nothing fancy. Nothing frilly. I’m guessing it was deliberately short (just over an hour) so Dave could get a feel of who attended – numbers and type of businesses – and to assess whether it was worth arranging another.

I believe there will be. Hopefully so.

I do like the idea of being in on something from the “get-go”, so it was good to attend this very first Hoole Business Networking meeting.

Hoole Business Networking Meeting-Who Was There?

You may well be asking who attended? Well, I ain’t gonna tell yer!!! You’ll have to turn up for the next meeting to find out for yourself.

Seriously though, without mentioning any names (I’ll save that pleasure for another occasion), there was a good mix of disciplines, skills and niches. One thing that was fascinating was that we all seemed to come from another working or career background to the businesses we were now showcasing.

In fact, one such attendee was a gentleman who I recognised from my local footie days. When I knew this fella (an excellent centre-forward in his day by the way), he worked at a local large factory.

Nowadays he is a business trainer. Diverse to say the least. More incredibly, this young man used to work with my late father back in his local factory days. That indeed was a good ice-breaker and a good reason to take an impromptu trip down Memory Lane.

There were other stories of career changes as well. It was very interesting to swap notes with other attendees.

Upon arrival we were invited to grab a coffee and sneak a cheeky biccie if we wanted to. Another two boxes nicely ticked.

NB: At this point I feel I must make a confession. I couldn’t help it, but I sneaked the last, silver wrapped choccie biccie from the tin. In my defence, the tin was nearest to me and I’m fairly sure I caught the said biccie winking at me – inviting me to tuck in. Well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!!!

Invited To Mingle

Dave did a short, informative introduction and basically invited us all to mingle. And to swap stories and business cards as well of course.

As I said, I met some really interesting people. And it was also interesting to see attendees not actually from Hoole (you know who you are!!!!). But joking aside, all those service providers that were present are relevant to Hoole as well as anywhere else in Chester really.

A bit like in my situation. My website is a Chester website but it also relates to Hoole of course. I imagine this location flexibility is OK especially if your services are multi district.

In the case of a purely bricks and mortar business of course, the aim would be no doubt to have as many of the wonderful Hoole based shops, pubs, hairdressers, beauty salons, butchers etc attend at subsequent meetings. Just my own thoughts on eligibility.

Hopefully there will be another Hoole Business Networking meeting again soon. Also, I hope those that attended this first meeting will attend again. Over time it would be great to get to know these fine people a bit better and to find out more about their businesses.

Hmmm……I’ve A Few Ideas – I Wonder If Dave Will……

Fingers crossed the meetings will continue as I said. If so, it would be great if Dave was open to the idea of some ideas to be put into the melting pot. I’ve a few suggestions as I’m sure others might as well.

The meeting lasted just over an hour. Long enough to have a good chat, grab a coffee (NB – don’t forget to mention the choccie biccie…….alright, alright!!!) and to snaffle a biccie or two (two!! you said you only had the one).

If and when, or when and if there is another meeting I will post an article in here with the required information. And it goes without saying – spread the word to other Hoole businesses.

And if by any chance you are one of the local cafe owners – remember, brown sauce with a sausage bap and red sauce with a bacon bap.

I do also think it is important in these such meetings we all look to contribute to the group as a whole. You know the sort of thing, a few ideas, an offering of useful contact details and such like. That being the case, who knows, I may go wild and also bring along a packet or two of chocolate hobnobs!!!

Thanks to Dave Taylor for organising the event and thanks for the invitation. And a big thanks to Nick for making the room available.

All good so far. Here’s to the next Hoole Business Networking meeting. See you there folks.

Chester Lifestyle

As I said, my website is not a Hoole only website. It is a Chester website – the website name gives it away really doesn’t it. But what a fine topic to be writing about. And what a good opportunity to be present at (hopefully) the dawn of a great business adventure for us all.

So, as well as discussing the new Hoole Business Networking meeting, what about Chester itself and my website. For more information about Chester generally and my website, have a look HERE.

Blog Posts Aplenty

I like to think my website covers a wide spectrum of local based stories and information etc. As I say on my “About Chester” page, my aim is to make this website as much, well more actually, for the people of Chester as well as about the beautiful city of Chester.

To get an idea of what I write about have a good look around my “Latest Blog Posts” section HERE. If you have any suggestions of a subject you would like me to cover, send me an email to admin@chesterlifestyle.com

Famous People From Chester

Somebody at the meeting mentioned the actor Daniel Craig (not sure how the conversation got onto Jimmy Bond). They were a bit surprised to learn that he is actually from Chester. Yes, indeed, we have our very own “Danny Boy”.

He’s not the only famous “Danny” from Chester though. What about ex-Premier League footballer and current Match Of The Day pundit, Danny Murphy.

In fact there are quite a lot of famous people from Chester to be aware of and proud of. To see some more of them – have a look HERE. A question – have I left anyone out? If so, drop me a line.

Thanks for visiting folks – speak soon.