With support from our sponsors and partners Enterprise North Canterbury hosts regular, free networking functions open to all North Canterbury businesses.
Our free evening networking functions are hugely popular, with between 80 and 120 people coming together in a relaxed setting to listen to guest speakers present on a topical business subject. A complementary drink and nibbles are provided and attendees find they make a number of great contacts with other business people and service providers.
If you want to be the first to hear about upcoming networking and other events sign up for our monthly ENC newsletter at the bottom of this page.
Here are a few of our recent networking events:
An interesting and robust evening was held at Urban Revival in Kaiapoi, sponsored by the Waimakariri District Council.
100 people attended to hear Simon Hart run through the options the council are considering for the Waimakariri District for the next ten years. This was followed by a Q&A session where some curly questions were put to the council and then business networking.
As always, there was a good mix of regular attendees and new businesses that had not attended these events before.
A fantastic networking evening, sponsored by MoMac Socialising Media, was attended by 85 people at the Better Half Kitchen & Bar.
The food was fantastic and so were the people. MoMac gave a great presentation, talking about how to successfully market your business in touch economic times and then showed us how to utilise free AI programs in our own business.
Heather Warwick gave an update on what is happening in the business community and presented NorthCanterbury.co.nz
Despite a cold and wet July evening, a successful ENC networking event was held with 110 people joining us at the beautiful Lacebark Function Centre for wine from The Crater Rim, beer from Brew Moon and canapes from Percival Street Bakery.
As well as a lot of networking, catchups and general conviviality, Waimakariri District Council‘s Simon Markham and Simon Hart gave us an update on expansion plans for all the major Waimakariri towns and information about the current Waimakariri Economic Development Plan which is in the early stages of planning.
Heather Warwick also gave an update of the many projects that ENC is involved in or leading.
On a beautiful sunny evening on the 22nd of March we ran the first networking event of 2021 with 110 in businesses in attendance. This was sponsored by our host venue Waipara Hills Wines & Hurunui Tourism. It was held in the beautiful Waipara Valley commanding stunning views over the Block Vineyard to the Teviotdale Hills.
Stephen Caunter from ANZ kicked off the evening with his fitting presentation on ‘how to get the most out of networking’.
Jude Hart from Waipara Hills gave us some history on how it all started, her own journey and passion for the region and the industry and how it brought her to Waipara Hill Wines.
Shane Adcock – Sales & Marketing Manager from Hurunui Tourism gave us captivating visuals in his presentation on what the Hurunui District has to offer.
Heather Warwick, ENC CEO concluded with a wrap-up of ENC activities and projects including the MADE NORTH CANTERBURY initiative.
On June 25th, ENC welcomed 90 people from our local business community to the first major get together since the Covid-19 lockdown. It was a great evening in the beautiful setting of Lacebark Function Centre.
Thanks to our speakers who provided valuable food for thought, looking at recent events and giving advice on how to cope with the new business environment:
BDO Christchurch‘s Carla Martin gave us an enlightening talk on how and when to pivot your business.
Corcoran French‘s Geraldine Biggs provided a lowdown on how do navigate redundancy situations successfully.
Bold Consultancy‘s Victoria Barkway talked about building and leading a resilient team, followed by Stacey Harris who discussed how to maintain your wellbeing in a stressful time.
There are a number of business networking groups in North Canterbury. All of these have different objectives and it is well worth looking at which ones may meet your needs. If you know of other ongoing opportunities to network with businesses in North Canterbury please contact ENC and let us know.
