The Sounding Board gives you the chance to cross that bridge and build a business. A safe place to bounce ideas, share challenges and celebrate victories. Join the group over a cup of coffee in a safe, relaxed atmosphere for women in business and those aspiring to be in business. It is safe to say […]

We had a wonderful outdoor event in August – in the sunshine! Twenty of us met for a Herbal NetWalk and Talk. A chance to meet each other face to face and hear about what different plants (herbs and weeds!) growing in the Platt Fields Market Garden could do for us. Caroline Daniels (Naturopath and […]

Our next regular virtual Coffee Shop is on 16/06/2021 from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm. We are pleased to welcome Simone Callaghan as our guest speaker: Simone Callaghan is founder of Social Enterprise The Goodness Collective.  She supports the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to make meaningful, impactful and mutually beneficial relationships with local businesses.  She is […]

Our next Coffee Shop event is being held on 14/04/2021 from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm. We still have to hold virtual events under current guidelines but we can still meet and talk via Zoom. This is a great opportunity to ask for help from your peers and also to give support to your fellow […]

It was lovely to meet everyone virtually at our Coffee Shop event last week. This is a great opportunity to find out each other’s business ambitions and share successes and challenges. We love to help each other and it was great to see that interaction at the meeting. Our next Coffee Shop is 14 APRIL […]

And what is financial fluency! You start a business for many reasons and you have to learn many skills.  Some will come to you more naturally than others.  But whatever business you run you will need some level of financial knowledge.  When starting out you may do this for yourself and you learn by trial […]

Join us for a meet-up on #Zoom on Tuesday 2 February 10.00 am – 12 noon and watch a presentation from Maggie Harding talking about trading on Ebay. Join us free of charge (introductory offer) – please book your by emailing info@handbagsandbriefcases.co.uk Login details will be sent after booking – please supply your full name in […]

As advised by the Government to practice social distancing, we have deferred our next event on 25th March to a future date and you will be advised of this in due course. We are very much intending to go ahead with our programme of planned events this year but obviously continue to monitor the COVID-19 […]

Join Jenny Matthews, chair of Handbags & Briefcases for our every popular sounding board on 25 March 2020. This is a chance to share successes and challenges with your peers in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Helping each other to grow your businesses and solve business problems you may have. All are welcome from pre-startup […]

Come and join us for this networking lunch and meet local like-minded businesswomen. https://eventbrite.co.uk/e/ladies-networking-lunch-tickets-89583593941 #Networking #WomeninBusiness #Romiley

Join Jenny Matthews, chair of Handbags & Briefcases for our every popular sounding board on 9 January 2020. This is a chance to share successes and challenges with your peers in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Helping each other to grow your businesses and solve business problems you may have. All are welcome from pre-startup […]

Ladies, be smart, take steps now to improve your happiness, and your health. Are you feeling the approach of Christmas? Is it going to be the last straw? Too much going on? Can’t cope with day to day life, never mind the social and financial demands of the “festive” season? Not sleeping? Can’t think straight? […]

Feeling festive but you’re self-employed or a sole trader so there’s no Christmas party? Then come and join our networking group of like-minded businesswomen for a delicious 3-course festive meal and a spot of networking. That cracker won’t pull itself, book your places today. Free for Satchel Members only, £30 for non-members. Book Now

Join Jenny Matthews, chair of Handbags & Briefcases for our every popular sounding board on 19 November 2019. This is a chance to share successes and challenges with your peers in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Helping each other to grow your businesses and solve business problems you may have. All are welcome from pre-startup […]

Why is it so hard to make the JUMP? Are you contemplating starting your own business but feel resistant, anxious, confused. Do you feel secure in your job, industry, life and wonder if it is worth the risk? Dani is a self-employed academic/transitions coach/workshop facilitator and consultant! She holds a Doctorate in career transition and […]

We are delighted to welcome a new addition to our committee Nicola Anderson who joined us in January. Nicola has over 25 years experience in the creative and print industries and has been running her own Graphic Design business October Creative for the past 5 years. We have been putting her plethora of knowledge to good use […]

Join Jenny Matthews, chair of Handbags & Briefcases for our every popular sounding board. This is a chance to share successes and challenges with your peers in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Helping each other to grow your businesses and solve business problems you may have. All are welcome from pre-startup to established SME businesses. […]

Our 2nd October 2019 Event – is for our Satchel members – and is now open for booking here. It is being held at The Village Hotel in Bury from 12.00 pm to 2.00 pm. Come and join us for a delicious networking lunch and meet local like-minded Businesswomen. This lunch is in aid of the […]

It is great to hear what members get up to away from their day to day business. Sue Weighell, our treasurer, is supporting BreastFest 2019, being run be the charity Prevent Breast Cancer. Sue is raising funds through JustGiving and would love your support. Sue is NOT running, cycling or swimming but taking on the […]

Our 18 July 2019 event – The Sounding Board – is now open for booking. It is being held at The Metropolitan in Disbury from 10.30 am to 1.00 pm. Jenny Matthews will be hosting the event and we look forward to seeing you there.

Satchel members are invited to a FREE 3 course lunch in a private dining room Where? Gusto Manchester 4 Lloyd Street, Manchester, M2 5AB (just off Deansgate) When? 12.30 pm on 16th January 2019 Why? To celebrate the start of a New Year (Handbags & Briefcases 11th year) and to find out what you want from […]

Save 16th January 2019 for free restaurant lunch for members in a private dining room. Watch out for more details coming soon

We all love something free don’t we? Well for members, Handbags & Briefcases Sounding Board events are FREE. And membership is only £50 or £100. Or do you feel if you pay more the event must be better? We would love to hear your views about what you want from Handbags & Briefcases. This is […]

Our first event after the summer break was The Sounding Board. This was again a great event – 12 ladies – lots of enthusiasm! We managed this time to fit everyone into one group so we were able to find out about everyone instead of just a few Difficult as always to keep to time […]

I am sure you will join me in congratulating Val for winning an award for one of her businesses.- Savvy Guest Savvy Guest has won a Bronze Social Value award from the Chamber Business Awards Val keeps busy running her own consultancy, Defero (a boutique marketing agency) and also runs the Business Executive Club and Let’s […]

Sue Weighell has been nominated for an Enterprise Vision Award and we ask that you support her by voting at https://evasvoting.co.uk/financial-services-award/ Events for the rest of the year Our next event is 26th September – Sounding Board at The Metropolitan (booking open) October – date to be advised November – 22nd November at Denton Golf Club […]

We are pleased to say that Sue Weighell, our treasurer, has been nominated for an Enterprise Vision Award in the Financial Services category. I am sure you will want to support Sue by voting for her – click here to vote. Voting is open now and closes on 8th September. The awards will be presented […]

There are just a few places left on our 23 May event – Plan Your Business Success. If you want to join us please use the booking link. This is your chance to work on your business in an interactive session led by Sue Weighell. Sue is a Chartered Accountant with directorships and investments in […]

In the days of looming GDPR, we are all inundated with data. But we will have to send out an email shortly asking you to Opt In to emails from us to receive details of our events and business news. Please respond to this as it will help clean our database. Did you know we […]

We are now taking bookings for all events up to May 2018 and full details are on the website with a link to booking site, Eventbrite. You can attend the ever popular Sounding Board with Jenny Matthews, where you can discuss your business triumphs and challenges with your peers – February and April. March sees […]

Our 2018 calendar events is now published. We are taking bookings for the first three events in February, March and April. We have put together a varied calendar of events so save the dates in your diary and don’t forget to book! Click on “Read More” to see the calendar link Calendar of Events 2018 to […]

Happy New Year to you all! Your committee has been working behind the scenes to plan a program of events for 2018. The calendar will be sent out in January with dates of events for the whole year. This gives you the chance to plan your diary. There is no meeting in January but we […]

If you don’t have an accountant, then you may not know what an accountant can do. In the early stages you don’t need sophisticated services. Focus on these short term anxieties to start: Set up and compliance Your accountant can make sure that you have the correct legal structure set up for your business and […]

The beginning of a year is always a time we think of our personal and business goals and targets. For each goal or target expected results will need to be identified, including measurement criteria. The focus here should be on results, not on a list of tasks or activities – what will success in this […]

Thank you to all of you that managed to get to our AGM and Sounding Board event at the end of April; I hope you enjoyed the session and came away with lots of useful feedback from the groups you were in. As always at the AGM the committee stepped down and a new committee […]

31/3/2015 0 Comments It’s that time of year Ladies!Time to give you notice of our upcoming AGM on Tuesday 28th April 2015, at The Enterprise Centre in Wythenshawe, from 12-3pm.  Join us for a free lunch, vote for your committee members and get stuck into the nitty gritty of your business at The Sounding Board […]

I really can’t believe that we have got to March so quickly, 2 months of the year gone in the blink of an eye and I have to be honest and say that the rest of the year will speed past just as quickly. Nothing we can do about it so let’s enjoy the journey […]

I’m going to be short and sweet with my chairs letter this month ladies, mostly because the festive season is almost upon us and I appreciate that you are probably similar to me and feel that we are even more stretched than usual for time. How did it get to December? As I tap away […]

It was great to see so many members and visitors to our last network event of the year recently, at the Radisson Blu Hotel at Manchester Airport. Guests enjoyed canapés and drinks whilst browsing pampering products and samples from Clarins, and catching up with friends old and new. Join us at an event in 2015!