Networking group forms partnership

A new series of business clinics is coming to north Shropshire – thanks to a pioneering partnership between a Whitchurch business group and regional development experts.

The Whitchurch Collaborative Networking group has teamed up with the Marches Growth Hub to organise the clinics in the town later this year.

First details of the service – which will launch later this year and feature one-to-one advice sessions – were revealed at the networking group’s latest meeting.

Tracey Flint, from the Marches Growth Hub, said the clinics would be launched later in the year, though no firm date or venue had yet been arranged.

“We hope to be ready to come out within the next six months to offer support and advice at these clinics to businesses in the area,” she told the meeting.

“They will include one-to-one sessions where we can give advice on grants and the support available to businesses as part of an outreach service,” she added.

Group ambassador Teresa Jones said the initiative was exactly what the not-for-profit group was set up to achieve over two years ago.

“We have grown very quickly in the last two years and are now reaching out to the wider region to bring high-quality and informative business support services to the area. That’s what this collaborative networking group is all about.”

The meeting – which attracted nearly 30 guests from an increasingly diverse range of businesses – also heard from Ray Hickinbottom, chairman of the regional branch of the Federation of Small Businesses.

The next meeting is on April 5 at the Hill Valley Hotel in Whitchurch, starting at 10am. It will feature guest speaker Paul Allman, group board director of north Shropshire plant hire company Hawk.

More details of the group are available at www. collaborativenetworking.co.uk

Picture caption: Teresa Jones from Whitchurch Collaborative Networking.