A Shropshire networking club set up during the pandemic is taking to the road as it continues to thrive. The Friday Hub – a collaboration between the Marches Growth Hub Shropshire and Bridgnorth-based business consultancy Good2Great – will visit different towns across the county every other month as it adopts a new hybrid networking format.
The roadshow events allows members to attend both in person or virtually and follows a successful trial staged in Bridgnorth earlier in the year. Roadshow events planned for the next few months include: 18th March – Whitchurch, 20th May – Church Stretton, 15th July – Ludlow, 16th Sept – Oswestry, 18th Nov – Shrewsbury.
The usual virtual event – which has attracted hundreds of people after being launched during lockdown to give the business community a chance to continue to come together – will continue every Friday as normal. Emma Chapman, Marches Growth Hub Shropshire manager, said the hybrid events help the hub continue to grow as the world of work recovers from the pandemic.
“The Friday Hub has been a real success story over the last two years, regularly attracting more than 50 guests every week and proving a great way for businesses to learn from guest speakers, each other and to continue to network. “Now that we can all meet in person again it seemed only logical to take the event out to its members and give them a chance to get together. But for those who cannot make it in person, there is still a chance to attend the roadshow events through Zoom.
“We trialled the hybrid structure in February and it went down really well, so we are looking forward to giving even more companies the chance to meet up throughout the rest of the year.”
Johnny Themans of Good2Great added: “It has been wonderful to see how the Friday Hub has evolved over the last two years to provide members with valuable opportunities and a supportive local business network. And it’s a real joy to be able to take it on the road to bring many of those people together in person. We look forward to watching more of our hub members thrive and grow over the coming months. The next Friday Hub will be on March 18. To register visit https://bit.ly/FridayHubRegistration
CAPTION: Friday Hub regulars enjoy a get together.
