Networker Profile: Maxine Stead

• Stuart Russell
• Monday 14 May 2012

What is your business called?

Alexandra House Holistic Health and Wellbeing Spa

Briefly describe what your business does?

We give people time and space to switch off, recharge their batteries and de-stress.

Alexandra House is health spa in a grand Victorian villa in Huddersfield. We offer pampering treatments including hot stone massage, body massage, facials, reflexology, reiki, body wraps, and meditation. We offer clients a personal, individual and relaxing experience - the ethos is to make every client feel special and looked after, providing high quality treatments with excellent customer service. Treatments are tailored to the clients’ needs, providing a truly holistic approach.

Which networking group(s) do you attend?

I attend several women’s and mixed networking groups in the Huddersfield/Halifax area, the Huddersfield Town Centre Partnership Group meetings and the Mid Yorkshire Network meetings. I like to attend different groups in the area as I find it better to network with a range of people rather than just attend one group.

How often do you attend networking events?

I try and attend 2-3 networking events per month. It’s important to have a regular presence to keep your profile up.

How much of your business is directly or indirectly derived from attending business networking events?

It’s difficult to assess because people at the networking groups also refer clients to us, but I can certainly say that networking has been one of the main ways in which the profile of the spa has grown.

What format of networking event do you most enjoy?

I prefer some structured networking with a table shuffle or option to speak to the whole group. Although I’m a confident person I’m also shy when it comes to walking up to strangers and so the structured networking is really beneficial for me!

What do you feel you gain from attending networking events?

I used to work in cancer research for the NHS and so had no business experience when I set up my spa nearly 5 years ago. I thought business was really competitive and so was pleasantly surprised to see that so many businesses were keen to help each other out and so open to collaboration. I also knew no other business owners in the area when I first started out and I found that difficult to start with as I’d had a national reputation in the cancer research field. However, after a year I attended a local Business Conference and it was great to see that I knew about a third of the 500 delegates and I have to put that down to active networking.

I've also made lots of new friends as a result of the networking, again, something that I never imagined would happen when I set up my business.

As a sole trader it’s great to meet like minded people, to get some peer support, to make links with other business owners, to get business and to step outside my comfort zone sometimes.

What is your top networking tip?

Always be open-minded about how you can form links with other businesses and business owners. I’ve done some great collaborative working with many different businesses that you wouldn’t necessarily link with a spa and I’ve also made contacts with local organisations such as the University and council and set up special offers with them.

www.alexandrahouse.org.uk

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