Made in Rochdale Trade Fair

showcasing businesses at Made in Rochdale Trade Fair

Rochdale Town Hall will be a hive of activity on Tuesday 6 March, when the venue plays host to around forty local women entrepreneurs showcasing their businesses at the second Made in Rochdale Trade Fair.

The exhibitors span a range of sectors including survival skill training, finance, web design, hotel and catering, beauty and holistic therapies and innovative portable shower systems. What links them is that they are all run by women and were all helped along the way by the Women into Enterprise project (WEI).

WEI is a support service, located at the Employment Links Partnership building on the corner of Drake Street and Maclure Road and with a mobile base in Middleton. The team works with women across the borough (Pennines, Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale) to help them make that first idea a reality – either through specialised business training, funding advice, signposting to other services or through their growing network of like-minded women who motivate each other at regular events.

Barbara Davidson, WEI Manager says: “There is such a lot of talent here in Rochdale, but many women face barriers to starting their own business. The work we do helps them overcome these obstacles and as more and more businesses flourish, the boost to the local economy is sizeable.”

Mayor, Councillor Jean Hornby will open the event and keynote speaker will be 30-year old Lisa Tse. Lisa, one of three daughters of Chinese immigrants, spent her childhood years in Middleton and now runs the award-winning Sweet Mandarin Chinese Restaurant in Manchester with her sisters. She also heads up the first tri-lingual Chinese-English weekly radio show and is a key spokesperson for Make Your Mark - a campaign to encourage entrepreneurialism across schools nationwide. 

Voted Outstanding Individual of the Year by Marketing Manchester in 2005 Lisa says: “My award was a personal and professional boost. It helped me build a broad network of contacts from local and central government to the media, and services like the Women into Enterprise network help do that too.

“I am keen to share my own success story with others and hope that in some way, my tale and the challenges we faced as British Chinese will inspire these fledgling businesswomen to realise they can do it too.”

The Trade Fair is open to the public from 11am-6.30pm and will be the perfect opportunity for local businesses to source potential suppliers, or for visitors to simply pick up an unusual Easter gift from the many products and services on display. For more information please contact Jane or Barbara:

Email: barbara.davidson@rochdale.gov.uk or jane.glaysherwhite@rochdale.gov.uk

Tel: 01706 646471

The project has the much-needed support of Revitalising inner Rochdale (SRB5), The European Regional Development Fund and the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund