Welcome to Wilmslow Business Group

Newly featured members on WBG Wilmslow:

• Beauty Salon

Little did I realise how far the business group would have grown in the 18 months since Julie Hatton (mgr of Sainsbury's) and I formed the group. Now it is a vibrant mix of diverse businesses from the powerful multi nationals to the one man band and from offices to retailers and everyone in between all seeking to achieve a common goal.

What is our goal I hear you ask? Well the reason the group came about was because we saw a need - Wilmslow was looking tired and run down in many areas. The business didn't work together, we had no voice and we had no hope of achieving anything on your own! And so the WBG, the Wilmslow Business Group was formed.

We have three main aims:

To network with other local businesses and know what services they offer, so that we can use and recommend each other. It also means supporting them when things are difficult.

Our second aim is to liaise with the authorities such as the council, police and other Organisations, building bridges and where necessary challenging decisions, so that we can improve Wilmslow. This can be a slow process but as we now have over 60 member businesses we have a strong and powerful voice, and so now our aim is to start to achieve improvements.

Our third aim is to put something back into the community by raising money for charities. This is a clear way of working with our customers and showing them we are aiming to achieve a long term partnership.

 So what does it mean to Wilmslow?

Let's look at what we have achieved so far. As the group has grown so quickly we now have a dedicated networking time at the beginning of each meeting to exchange business cards and familiarise ourselves with each others business. To facilitate this further, each meeting a chosen member is able to give a five minute insight into their business. One outcome of this networking has been that the larger multi national businesses have been able to help smaller, independent businesses with waste recycling. Our second aim is to improve the look of Wilmslow, with this in mind we invited our MP George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, to attend one of our meetings. As a direct result of our discussions, he has promised the group that he will help achieve active dialogue with the council.

This is a new group was a major coupe!

We also directly addressed the appearance of the town by facilitating extra Christmas lights & decorations at the businesses expense and not the tax payer. Hopefully this will give a real feel good factor to the town as well as make it look so much more festive over the Christmas period.

We have kept our members informed of all issues that affect them such as the development of the new multi storey car park and the major water works that have impacted on the town. I would personally like to thank the Morgan Est team and the Emerson group for their regular and helpful updates. We have also looked at minor issues such as the general look, housekeeping and facilities that can make the town sparkle. All of which will see improvements over the coming months.

During the groups short life we have had two successful charity Quiz nights, one in support of Comic Relief, and one in support of the Guide Dogs for the Blind. The latter will benefit one of our members directly. Mike Newman, Business Manager at Barclays Bank has a guide dog that is soon due to retire, and so money raised will help fund a new dog for him.

So what of the future? Well I believe a strong business group with a voice to speak out about issues that effect them will in the long run keep Wilmslow a vibrant place to work, shop and live and by putting some thing back into the community we are proving with out doubt that the WBG is a force to be reckoned with and Wilmslow can be proud to have it.

If you have a business in Wilmslow we would love to welcome you to our next meeting, email us at info@thewilmslowbusinessgroup.co.uk if you are a resident do the businesses you support belong to the WBG and if not why not. Being a business in the village is not just about taking but putting something back.

Dave Bolton - manager of the Flower Shop and Julie Hatton - manager of Sainsbury