BUSINESS owners gathered for Ashburton Chamber of Trade’s Networking Breakfast at Coljan, a local cafe owned by Nathan and Michelle Siddle.

After the isolation caused by Covid, the Chamber of Trade could see how important it was to reconnect local businesses, especially new businesses who have recently joined the town, so the event was open to all, not just members, and was free to attend.

It was hoped that the Networking Breakfast would provide vital links between different sectors; bringing together and engaging businesses with new suppliers and providing a forum to share ideas.

Nigel Ward, chairman of Ashburton Chamber of Trade, said: ‘It was a great success.

‘In all about 30 people attended and many of them were new faces to our regular meetings which was great to see.

‘There was lots of chatting, everyone was very relaxed and really enjoyed being able to get together and talk in person rather than through a screen!

‘Lots of important connections were made and we saw people attend from a wide variety of sectors - retail, hospitality, beauty as well as online businesses such as web designers who don’t have physical shop frontages. It was a nice way for them to feel part of the business community.’

Newly appointed mayor of Ashburton, Philip Vogel, also gave a short talk to introduce himself to the business owners and discuss his plans for the year ahead.

It was a good chance for businesses to ask questions / raise concerns with him / and ideas.

This was the first in a planned schedule of Networking events including early breakfast sessions as well as evenings sessions.

Anyone who would like to get involved in a future event keep an eye on the Chamber of Trade’s Social media on Facebook and on Instagram using the @totallyashburton tag