Thank you to everyone who attended the Girlings-sponsored Canterbury Business Improvement District January networking event at Canterbury’s Metro Bank and Clarendon Fine Art this morning.

While we at Girlings are conscious of our long-standing presence in East Kent (going right back to 1881), today's event was an overt celebration of some of the newer businesses that adorn Canterbury’s historic streets.

The event began at Metro Bank, which opened its doors in St George’s Street in 2017. Hosts Melanie Sewell and Darian Lewis led our networkers on a tour of the bank (including the thrill of seeing the vault!).

Attendees were also treated to delicious pastries from the nearby Cornish Bakery, which opened in September 2023.

For the second leg of the event, our guests crossed the road to another new addition to St George’s Street: Clarendon Fine Art. This glimpse at original works, limited editions and sculpture from a wide range of artists was always likely to provide the wow factor, particularly when arranged in such a brilliantly light and open space. Thank you to Louise Shepherd for showing us around.

We hope everyone enjoyed the event, with special mention to Girlings Solicitors’ David Redgate, who provided some words of welcome - and to our own recent addition Beth Norman, who was sampling the Canterbury BID networking experience for the first time.

And finally, as ever, many thanks to the Canterbury BID team who organise these events so efficiently and consistently create such an informal, friendly environment.