Home to one of the largest creative communities in Greater Manchester, all the creative sectors are well represented in Stockport. In recognition of this, CIDS has been working in conjunction with Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and Stockport Economic Alliance (SEA) to develop a database of local businesses and practitioners. Whilst carrying out this work, we discovered a high level of popular demand for locally based networking opportunity and decided to host a series of pilot networking events.
The inaugural Stockport Creative Industry Network event took place at Stockport Art Gallery on 25 September 2007, offering a chance for businesses to meet and air their thoughts and ideas on what they want from a network. The event also took the form of networking with a difference, as Arts Collective, Sketch City, got people talking with their unique style of interactive and creative exercises.