BlogFrom world-class professional rugby to trendy micro-brewery business start-ups; there’s something to...

From world-class professional rugby to trendy micro-brewery business start-ups; there’s something to interest everyone at Salford Red Devils’ first Club 13 business networking event

Club 13, a new business club run in association with Salford Red Devils, has today announced guest speakers to launch its inaugural event as international rugby star Robbie Hunter Paul and Seven Bro7hers brand owner, Nathan McAvoy.

Aptly held on 13th March, Club 13’s business networking event will discuss the transition from field to office. Exploring how elite athletes have taken skills developed in sport and applied those talents and competitive mindsets to life after sport.

New Zealand born Paul, former international rugby ace with an impressive 243 tries under his belt, will be sharing insights from his past professional rugby career at Salford Red Devils, Huddersfield Giants and Bradford Bulls. To then discuss the path that then led him to his current role as Managing Director for TXM Sports Ltd, a Sports marketing company specialising in sponsorship and content creation.

Fellow retired professional sportsmen, Adrian Morley and Paul Highton, who led successful Rugby League careers, and both played for Salford Red Devils will join guest speakers at the Club 13 event. Morley, the first British player to win both a NRL and Super League championship, will discuss life after a successful career in sport having retired from Rugby League just two years ago.

Adding to the business club’s first bill of guest speakers, Salford born micro-brewery and Manchester bar owner, Nathan McAvoy, of beer brand Seven Bro7hers will also speak at the AJ Bell Stadium on the topic of building strong business networks steeped in community and discuss ideas to create opportunities to take local businesses to the next level, whether nationally or globally.

Local lad, McAvoy, 41, alongside his six brothers turned their love of beer into a brewery business and are now living the dream having opened their first bar in Manchester’s hipster-favourite neighbourhood of Ancoats, while operating a micro-brewery in Salford that now employs 20 people across the two sites.

Since Seven Bro7hers launched in 2014, the business has gone from strength to strength with 2017 exceeding the business estimated £500,000 annual turnover mark. Stocked nationwide in Co-op, Booths and with Tesco knocking on the door, it’s the business ambition to occupy a larger brewery site and launch two further bars in Leeds and Liverpool to meet demand for the much-loved beer.

Speaking ahead of the first Club 13 event, Andrew Rosler, a founding director of SRD Holdings, said: “We are excited to unlock the key to successful business networking here in the North, and provide inspiration from our guest speakers.”

“We have carefully hand-picked Club 13’s first guest speakers to pave the way for future events, always held on the 13th of the month, to assist our Club 13 members in their business aims whether new ventures or helping to take business plans to the next level.”

“Robbie is testament to how retiring rugby players can turn their unique career path into a profitable and successful business, likewise, Nathan is a fantastic example of how small-scale family-run businesses using start-up loans can profit and grow from strength to strength and all in under just three years.”

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