Cherchez Tameside

Cherchez Tameside events are hosted by Jane Michael of JAM Business Services who was formerly with the Tameside Business Family as a business advisor and facilitator of the Tameside Women’s Enterprise Network. Jane recognises the importance of networking not just to build your enterprise but also the nuturing and safe environment which a women-only group can give, particularly to those who have newly set up their businesses. She is looking to build the group in Tameside to reflect Cherchez’s “How can I help your business” ethos.

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OUR NEXT EVENT

DATE: Thursday 1st March 2012
TIME: 12 noon - 2pm
VENUE: 5 Moorgate Farm, Carrbrook, Stalybridge, Cheshire, SK15 3NS
COST: £8 Members; £10 non-Members, including refreshments

The next meeting of the Tameside Women’s Enterprise Network/Cherchez Networking Tameside Group is being hosted by Deborah Heywood of Uniquely Upholstered and the venue is 5 Moorgate Farm, Carrbrook, Stalybridge, Cheshire, SK15 3NS. Please do not use this post code in a SatNav as apparently it takes you to the wrong place.

We are delighted to announce that our speaker for this meeting will be Karen Hands from Thought into Action Ltd who will giving us tips about building the confidence we all need to give great presentations.

“From Panic to Poise – Powerful & Persuasive Presentations”
How many chances have passed you by because you didn’t feel confident about speaking to an audience or giving presentations? Everyone gets butterflies before talking in front of people – the skill is to recognise that they bring an edge to your performance which draws people in. No matter what your business, we all need to communicate what we do effectively to others. Karen will entertain you with stories of life on the podium while subtly provoking you to examine your attitude to presenting yourself. Unless and until women speak up, we will never discover how we can help each other to grow and succeed in business. This talk is a taster of a 2-hour seminar Karen and business partner Catherine Sandland run at locations in Cheshire and Lancashire under the banner Phenomenal Woman.

Book your place for this fantastic event right here using the button below.

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Previous Events

17 January 2012

Our January event was split into two sessions - one lunchtime and one evening - as it was a Marketing “Hot Seat” session so numbers were limited. Whilst the groups were small, they were perfectly formed and this concept of a more focused debate centred on real issues was certainly a great hit. Watch out for more of the same in our other Cherchez areas in the months ahead. And if there’s more demand for it in Tameside, who knows, we may just do it all over again. Email us if you’d be interested.

The groups that met at this session already have plans for a follow up in a couple of months time.

Here’s what some of the ladies had to say……….

“Very useful, comfortable environment. Would like more sessions like this.”

“Brilliant session - engaging and mostly enlightening. Thank you!”

“Really enjoyed it thank you! Great tips from all.”

“Good fun, nice group. Useful comments - especially mine!”

“Excellent, informal meeting, lots of useful information and enjoyable evening. Thank you.”

“Very interesting and learned what marketing is. Also have some really good suggestions.”

Well, with comments like these, why wouldn’t you want to try out Cherchez for yourself? It works!!

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13 October - Reborn Holistics, Audenshaw

The October meeting was hosted by Amita Patel who runs Reborn Holistics. This business offers the complete range of holistic therapies including Ayurveda, Reflexology, Homeopathy, Aromatherapy and various types of massage. Those who attended, enjoyed some freshly cooked samosas together with other snacks and a range of herbal teas and other hot drinks. Amita had set up a display of various products which she sells in addition to the therapies. The whole ambiance was very soothing and everyone left their stresses of the day at the door!

Amita very kindly donated three sessions at Reborn for our business card draw: either a massage or one of her Bliss half hour taster sessions. These were won by Collette Ratcliffe, Tricia Gibbs and Gill Bradley with Adele Fielding winning the free place at the next meeting. All in all, a successful outing for the ladies!

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16th June - Joshua Bradley, Gee Cross

We enjoyed a lovely venue this month with delegates that included Julie Baudelin from France who has been on a work experience placement with Kate Millett from Staly Mag for five weeks. Unfortunately Tracey Rush was unable to attend at the last minute but her husband and business partner (and the technical side of Asone) Joel came in her place (no one minded!) and he was excellent. We also had two winners from the recent Pride of Tameside Awards: Bradley’s Bakery (who have also won a Silver Medal for their meat and potato pies recently at the British Pie Awards) were Retail Business of the Year and Asone were Innovative Business of the Year. Guide Bridge MOT were runners up in Business of the Year.

Joel gave an informed presentation on why and how you should use Social Networking (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others) for your business. He explained the growing importance, even above search engine optimisation in using this type of media and he answered questions which were many and varied. As you will see from the feedback everyone appreciated the advice being given.

This month’s business card draw winners were Kate Millett who walked away with the bottle of bubbly and Gillian Bradley will be coming along again to another meeting free of charge.

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12th May - The Sycamore, Ashton under Lyne

“The meeting itself was very friendly, comfortable, felt relaxed. No pressure. Enjoyed meeting other business ladies. Will definitely come again”

“Nice opportunity to meet and discuss issues. Thought good idea to have sessions on business issues”

“The meeting was well run with lots of opportunitites to talk/listen/network and good information to take away…”

Despite some catering problems, the feedback received was very positive. and for a relatively small group there was certainly a lot of chatting going on and some great business contacts were made. Jane would like to arrange future meetings around a theme relating to a topical business issue and the ladies present thought this was a great idea. As well as businesses already operating in Tameside, we were also joined by Deb Feather and Heather Pearson from Temple Spa who are currently based in Holmfirth but are looking to expand their business into the Tameside area. Heather very sensibly decided to join Cherchez and took advantage of the discounted rate for meeting delegates. Welcome aboard Heather! The business card draw winners this month were Karen Anderson from Je Suis Lingerie who has a free place at a future meeting of her choice and Dot Birchfield from Willow Wood Hospice who took the bubbly. Well done to you both.

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We had a great launch meeting on 14th April at The Priory Tennis Club in Stalybridge. A nice mix of businesses were represented with some familiar faces being joined by a number of newbies.

“Very informal, relaxed atmosphere. Good networking opportunities.”

“First networking event. I was very nervous about attending but have found it to be a really useful and enjoyable few hours.”

After a light lunch, Jane Michael took to the floor to explain how Cherchez and the Tameside Women’s Enterprise Network had come to work together to promote networking for the business women of Tameside. Despite Jane recently leaving her job with Tameside Council, she remains a great ambassador for women’s issues and and she will bring her energy and enthusiasm to the Cherchez group going forward.

Winners of the business card draw this month were Ginny Diggle from EJD Mortgages who bagged herself a free place at a future Cherchez event, and Theresa Cearns of Collective Legal Solutions who walked away with the bottle of fizz. Congratulations to both of them and we’re looking forward to our next event which will take place on Thursday 12th May at a venue to be confirmed.

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