RURAL BUSINESS WOMEN NEWS AND EVENTS PAGE

Ladies from Rural Businesses visit Get Ahead Hats

30 ladies from the successful Rural Business Women networking Group which is run by Howard Worth Accountants, had their yearly visit to a local Rural Business recently.  As diversification is the name of the game for many farmers wives, Kate Clarkson has done just that.  Her Get Ahead Hats showroom opened on Richard and Kate's Farm: Park Farm, Over Peover, in February 2006 and has gone from strength to strength.  Get Ahead Hats is a farming ladies cooperative, set up by a farmer's wife for farmers wives and has recently celebrated its 21st anniversary.  There are currently 24 franchises of the company in the UK at the moment, selling and hiring hats and also offering a bespoke service.

The ladies from the RBW group enjoyed a demonstration and talk on Kate's business and of course had a chance to try the hats on!  Lunch was provided by The Dog Inn, Over Peover.  Rose Rowland, a Partner at Howard Worth said, "We had a fantastic day and the ladies of the Rural Business Women's Group are truly inspired by Kate's story of diversification.  Many of the ladies in the group have diversified themselves and it is fantastic to hear other success stories."  If you are interested in joining or finding out further information on the RBW Networking Group please contact Lynn Stenhouse at Howard Worth, telephone number: 01606 75338 or email: Lynn Stenhouse

The Rural Business Women Network

The RBW network was established in 2003 with the aim of supporting inspired and motivated women who want to develop an existing or new business in a rural area.

The group holds bi-monthly meetings throughout the year, inviting a speaker on an interesting or inspiring topic. Each year the group also organises a training day, a trip to the WiRE conference, a workshop, a Christmas meal and a Study Tour (in 2006 a part funded visit to France was organised). Rural Business Women also present their own annual award to one of its members each year at the Cheshire Rural Women's Awards.

Rural Women Awards

The 2006 RBW Award Winner 'Brenda Buxton' (far left) and guests at the award ceremony, Byley Village Hall. Brenda was presented the award for her successful Bed and Breakfast and Beef Box Enterprise.

There is no membership fee, you simply pay for the events you attend, allowing you to pick and choose to attend when you can and to the events that interest you. Some 30-40 ladies attend each event, with over 250 members now on the database, so there is plenty of opportunity for networking with a wide variety of women in rural businesses.

The majority of events are held at The Oaklands Hotel, Weaverham, near Northwich, commencing at 12pm.  Ladies start the event with a welcome drink, followed by a meal. A facilitator on each table provides everyone the opportunity to introduce themselves over the meal. A speaker or demonstration generally follows the meal, with events generally finishing around 3pm.

The schedule of events for 2007 is shown below. If you are interested in attending any of the events, please contact Lynn Stenhouse at Howard Worth Accountants on 01606 75338 or lynnstenhouse@howardworth.co.uk. Lynn will add you to the mailing list so that you will receive notification of each event and any other activity that may be organised.

The activities are organised by Howard Worth Accountants, the Rural Enterprise Gateway and North Cheshire Training Group. These organisations all offer their time free of charge to organise the events and also help the group to access grant funding to reduce the cost of many of the events throughout the year.

The 2006 French Study Tour. The Group on their final day of the tour at Brissac Castle.

2007 Schedule of Events

If you wish to know more about the RBW group, please feel free to call REG on 01270 628 621 or e-mail reg@reaseheath.ac.uk