It was destination Fire Up, Rochdale for the latest Match event showcasing the powerful combination of Fire Up and GM Business Growth Hub. It was a packed house and great to see so many people there, with over 50 attending from across the Rochdale and local area communities. The networking event was an opportunity for local business owners to meet each other and make those connections that can lead to great things.

Attendees heard about GM Business Growth Hub and the range of business support options available to organisations of all sizes. Also, they heard about how best to network and the launch of the new ‘Freelancer Friday’ initiative at Fire Up!

Yvonne Sampson, Head of Enterprise at GM Business Growth Hub said, “It was brilliant to see so many businesses at this Match event taking the opportunity to build networks with other businesses in the area. This is a wonderful location, and we will be running lots more business activities over the coming months at Fire Up.”

BGH Match is the GM Business Growth Hub’s free business connector network, providing opportunities for businesses across Greater Manchester to network and find out about the fully funded business support available to them. Match events are held all across Greater Manchester.

 
Photography credit Harley Bainbridge

Two attendees took the time to give us some feedback on the event.

“Networking events are very helpful for people that are at all stages of their business. I've been to a few of them now, and it's really helping me with my confidence, being able to speak to people. 

I'm autistic and I've got PTSD and possibly ADHD, so socialising and speaking to people is difficult. So events like these are very helpful for that. Something about looking into helping me with is running neurodivergent specific networking events, because that's the area I want to focus on. 

So even though they've got their own events planned and they know what they want to be doing in the future, they're also open to listen to what people want and helping the businesses across Manchester in a way that they can. And that includes setting up events that people ask for.” Chris Rooney.

“We've been working with GM Business Growth Hub for about three years now. We've delivered about 30 websites for startups. We're a web design agency. 

At the moment, we're running five monthly workshops for startups on how to best develop their content on their websites. So, yeah, plenty of work. 

Today's event is really good. I've never been to this venue before. I've heard about it and a few people have mentioned it, and I thought I'd make the effort to come today. I'm glad I did. It's really busy, which is great.

I've met quite a lot of people. I've been networking for a while now, so I know that you don't walk in and expect to walk out with a deal. You know, it's just about growing that that community and the network. Connections that you get from it are invaluable in the long term. 

So yeah. Love it. Really nice event. We're a web agency based in Oldham. And we work in the local area across the UK. And we've got clients around the globe as well.” Zach Hughes, Creative Director at Portridge.

Fire Up Freelancer Friday – launching on Friday 27th September 9:00 – 11:00am, this event encourages local freelancers to meet like-minded professionals and see the benefits of working from Fire Up

Link to book Freelance Friday - Fire Up (fireuprochdale.co.uk)

The next Match event which will be in collaboration with BW3 at the amazing new Nest facility in Wythenshawe. You can register for this Match here. Stockport and Wigan follow soon.