When life gives you lemons . . .

Posted by on 25 Oct 2023

During lock down the hour walk was the only escape from the home, all business meetings were virtual and for a while the old breakfast networks became a thing of the past. 

But when life gives you lemons good things can be made.
 
As a borough the business community has always had a strong history of collaboration and championing Rochdale as a great place to work.  With face to face networking not being an option and conscious of the power of bringing professionals together, Rochdale Development Agency had to do what they do best and think of how to do things differently; they made lemonade out of the lemons and NetWalks was born.

Built on a platform of social interaction, each month the team organise a walk in a different area of the borough, the walk is around an hour long and concludes coffee and a chat in a local café.  They are a great opportunity to take in some fresh air, meet new people and do a bit of business in an informal environment.

Now a regular event in the business diary, businesses of all sizes to come along and meet likeminded individuals from across the south Pennines, Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton, who understand the challenges of running a business in an informal setting, want to expand their networks or simply see different areas of Rochdale and enjoy a walk with a group of people. 

Four legged friends are always welcome and recent walks have been around Hollingworth Lake, finishing at the new home of the Rochdale & District RSPCA’s café; around the beautiful gardens and boating lake in Queens Park, Heywood; the woods around Hopwood in Middleton; and the sunning countryside of Greenbooth Reservoir in Norden.

Last week the group walked around Kingsway Business Park, a 2.7 mile nature trail around the industrial area.  Whilst it was half term and a tad wet, it didn’t put us off and we were joined by Seema Ansari (The Foodie Kitchen), Jenny Hodgkiss (Capture Design), Nathan Walker (Ultimate Commercial Interiors Ltd) and Tony Nugent alongside colleagues from Rochdale Development Agency to explore the other side of Kingsway Business Park.

Come rain or shine the walks take place each month, the next one is on Tuesday 28 November at 8:30am in Littleborough. We’ll meet outside Conservative Club on Peel Street (OL15 8AQ) and walk through Ealees to Hollingworth Lake and back to Littleborough for a coffee.

If you can’t make it, keep an eye out on the RDA LinkedIn page for the date and location for future NetWalk dates and locations.