On Wednesday 20th March, Bracknell BID held a ‘Meet Your Neighbour’ Business Breakfast event at Ozone Ice rink in Bracknell’s Western Business Area. Attendees enjoyed networking and building new relationships over a complimentary breakfast, and talks from the BID, the local authority and Ozone, the event hosts.
Ozone Ice Rink is a family run state-of-the-art ice rink, founded by Berkshire native Danny Meyers, a former professional ice hockey player who had an illustrious 18 year career. Danny was recently inducted into the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame and is currently Head Coach of the Team GB’s Under 16 3-on-3 ice hockey team whom train at Ozone. Ozone prides itself on being an elite Ice Hockey facility, but also has a large community focus at its core. Ozone offers various ice sessions to the public, including public skate sessions, learn to skate sessions, skate and coffee mornings, home education group sessions, SEN mixed ability sessions, DISCO sessions, patch, and practice ice sessions.
The business breakfast kicked off with a welcome from BID manager Sean Griffin who provided attendees an overview of the BID, highlighting some of the BID’s completed and ongoing projects.
Following the welcome and introduction Abdul Azad, the Public Health Project Manager for Bracknell Forest Council gave an introduction on the Healthy Workplace Alliance, including an overview of what they do and upcoming dates of interest.
Nikki Burns tasked with developing the new Bracknell Skills and Training Hub (BSTH) provided an engaging presentation on the vision for the Hub to be the main provider for all training and skills needs to local employers. Nikki outlined how BSTH will also aim to provide direct access to skilled staff for local businesses. Nikki highlighted the need for those looking for employment to be able to find useful resources and dedicated pathways for chosen careers which will be assisted by BSTH.
Following Nikki’s presentation about BSTH, Ozone founder Danny Meyers provided an in-depth presentation on the Ice Rink’s success story. This inspiring talk covered Danny’s own background as a former professional ice hockey player, explaining how the idea for a new Ice Rink was formed, the challenges faced during building the facility and the values Ozone now prides itself on. Danny outlined the sessions available and what Ozone can offer as a top class ice rink, as well as catering, hospitality and corporate sponsorships. He also outlined how the facility has grown from strength to strength over the past three years since they first opened, welcoming over 150,000 skaters.
Following the presentations, attendees were given a further opportunity to network and build relationships, as well as take part in a tour of Ozone to see behind the scenes at the facility and hear more about the process of building and operating the rink.
The BID’s regular Meet Your Neighbour Business Breakfast events provide BID businesses the opportunity to showcase what they can offer and helps build commercial relationships.
The BID would like to thank all those who attended the event, as well as Ozone Ice Rink, Breakaway Bar & Food by Fig & Fleur for catering.
