Being a veritable hot bed of entrepreneurial zest, zeal and success (blush) here  on our Kelham Island, Sheffield with The Chimney House, LARK and 93ft – we’ve teamed up with MADE to give you a little gift  to make your attendance and undivided attention on the 10th and 11th of September a little easier.

We figure everyone needs a hand to get ahead so feeling all ‘Friday-esque’ and from one entrepreneur to another contact me immediately to receive our exclusive discounts …we’re not talking pence here… we’re talking HUNDREDS of pounds!! Drop a line to sally@thechimneyhouse.com before the 7th Sept at 6pm.

Here’s the blurb…

School for Start-ups are bringing their national tour to our fair City of Sheffield to deliver what they hail a ‘remarkable boot camp’ led by BBC2′s Dragons Den investor Doug Richard.

The event… which we are presuming you will already know about is called MADE in 48hrs and is designed to accelerate the growth of your business literally in 48hrs…

This is a unique and intensive bootcamp for small businesses that want to grow and grow fast. We will immerse you in every technique to leverage the internet to accelerate your growth, lower your costs and increase your profits. Every business, whether it’s a local shop or a small growing company must understand that if you give us just 48 hours we will help you change your company forever.

We will help you stake your identity across the web, build your brand, attract new customers, leverage social media, learn the tricks of SEO, master the art of Google, discover the secret of distribution channels, reach overseas or around the corner, and learn the tools and techniques of the world’s fastest growing companies.

Boot camp covers delectable business building gems such as…

You know you’ve arrived when you get hailed as a ‘chair scrubber’ ….

Meant in the nicest possible way I’m sure (?) but a poignant thought for a Sunday morning nonetheless.

So there we were rescuing our newest additions for The Meeting Room… salvaged from some sort of derelict shed literally Victorian-esque scrubbing brush in hand and curses aplenty… chair scrubber was probably quite apt…especially with 2 terriers rumbling around proceedings…

We are absolutely delighted to be hosting this event… what an amazing way to actually have your say… so many of us love to comment on what we’d do better, what we’d like to see… and so this is your chance!!!

Rumour has it on the hush hush mind you that there may even be Fancie cupcakes here… but you’d better get down here to find out… (and have your say of course) There are some great people coming bringing their view of life in the City and how they can make your living experience in Sheffield absolutely tip top!

Serving up delightful treats including all the afternoon tea essentials…

Selection of finger sandwiches;

Ham and Mustard

Cucumber (of course)

Chicken and tarragon mayonnaise

Roast Beef and horseradish creme fraiche

Smoked salmon and lemon cream cheese

Mature cheddar cheese

Cheese straws freshly baked

Freshly baked scones served with homemade Jam and fresh from the dairy Cornish Clotted Cream

Fresh cream and strawberry mini pastries

Mini  Fancie Cupcakes

We’re EXCITED!!!!

Numbers are limited to 50 and you will be requested to sign in on arrival.

See you all there!! Details above if you need to get in touch!

The answer to the latter … ‘because an elephant called Sarah used to live here’… provokes a stunned look followed by an absolute delight… ‘REALLY???? HERE? and then the story unfolds…

But really you have to come here and find out for yourself the next bit…we’ll be happy to tell you all!!  But in the meantime… here she is as her fabulous eli self… a true beauty and we love her!

Check out Kelham Island signage in the background and you can just see the chimney of the House!

This is a mini status report…

We at The Chimney House are DELIGHTED!!! The response we have had to our reclaimed/salvaged/restored from derelict former elephant house, former rolling mills, factory former furnace has been spectacular!

Since opening in March we have hosted amazing events and everyday meetings… each week since opening…(you can’t ask for more than that) We’ve also drawn towards us Chimney House ambassadors – we haven’t asked them… they’ve just done it… who have either conducted their daily meetings then have spoken and written fabulous praise and support or have heard about us – liked what we do and have told us, pledged support or referred.. and have been – without condition – true supporters of a new and fairly kooky offering to the Sheffield business scene.

So we’ve reached 4 months… and have thought how do we reward those who have supported us?  Which is why we’ve come up with Business Class.

Business Class is an invite only membership scheme for individuals so we can show our gratitude and as such support for their business and them as they have shown to ours and us.

Business Class gives fabulous benefits to the business community… we’re really rather proud of it… it’s focussed on exceptional value and ongoing perks, exclusive invites and treats!

For details on membership feel free to drop a line to sally@thechimneyhouse.com quoting Business Class.

We feel a responsibility to share our findings…and show off our new ‘how to’ knowledge taken from odd places online.

Here we find out useful advice about how to ‘tackle honey bees in chimneys’…

Next is useful tips on ‘how to get rid of a raccoon in your chimney’

Birds naturally…

Strange men… although this doesn’t give an actual method of removal – I would recommend lighting the fire…

Ducks…

Squirrels…

And of course robbers…

Thanks for reading our ‘How to Guide’ #1

You should know by now we like our own style… so here are a few bits and bobs that we do for our guests using The Meeting Room at The Chimney House.

We’ve also got a thing about tinky glasses…and ditzy florals…

Summer view from The Front Room windows…

Of course we planned it that the sun would come through and cast a shadow from the window signage… onto the hand scraped red birch floor… it’s all part of the mega plan…of course….

More tinky stuff….for window ledges and tables

Fancie cupcake minis…. only the best for our house guests… don’cha know?

Huzzah for summer views…!! Oh it’s through our window… how convenient

Lovely florals for our lovely guests…

They say it’s the little touches that make all the difference… we agree wholeheartedly that everyone needs a touch of tinky-ness in their life. (Officially filed under ‘house guest treats’) courtesy of The Chimney House!

Georgian glassware comes in handy…

Stay tuned for more treats… we have an abundance of them!

Naturally we like to inform our guests, customers and anyone else who likes to listen in about stuff we like, things ‘on trend’ and topical… sometimes we even like to spot a trend and make it into a Chimney House fashion… such as using tiles for place mats… just for example… we’ve done other stuff… surely…???

Sometimes there are somethings  or occurrences  that can’t be controlled –  they  just are… The buzzing around of footie fervor is one of those times… persistent and constant… ultimately you will get deliciously and unceremoniously nipped by the footie bug… which is where we stumble –I mean elegantly side step into the equation.

So you know we have The Meeting Room yes, yes… booked up by the great and the good for business, training and meetings who really quite love it … but get this…over  The World Cup we’re turning it into our Front Room… to watch FOOTBALL!!!

The games will be shown on our huge screen, the room goes completely black-out or you can be pleasantly surrounded by the greenery and foliage of the island.

Here’s the plan.

1. There needs to be at least 20 of you (perfect for an office or department escape)
2. You must all want to escape to the island (we have lots of parking or easy walking routes)
3. You must all want to watch the game
4. You must all want to eat amazing food
5. Ice cold beers must be brought with you… or champagne … or anything you like really
6. You must all be ready for a luxurious and very cool viewing of the beautiful game – privately and just for you (and your guests)

Prices start from  £30.00   and include a magnificent feast of Yorkshire-ness from food heroes  and Jay Rayner’s latest foodie squeeze The Milestone…   including handmade pies, great big sides of honey glaze ham, huge wheels of cheese and the quintessential potato salad and homemade organic breads!

Cheers! To Victory!!

Packages are based on a minimum of 20 people and start from £30 per head.  Please contact info@thechimneyhouse.com for more details and your preferred match viewing date.

So far the polls have come back rather fondly in favour of the latter.

So lets Dinner Party!!!

We’re hosting some amazing dining events at The Chimney House… this is what happens…

The Meeting Room is transformed into a dining hall… ambient and sultry lights down low add in a stack of candles and beautiful stems of the most divine florals and you are catching the vibe.

Cool tunes naturally. Food which is tailor made to measure… menus which are created rather than printed out. We’re interested in doing nice things for you… and what better place to start than how to eat your way through the next 3 hours.

We’re into gastro feasting and work with the best chefs who make the most of the best locally produced and sourced delights that our Yorkshire can kick up at us. We especially love working with The Milestone as they get our crazy musings about what is possible.

The Front Room is the first port of call for a boho little drinks reception – room to circulate the room and of course to admire our lights (everyone admires the lights) You’ll probably get snacks as well… others call them canapés… we don’t – purely for that reason.

Onwards and upwards up a candle-lit stairwell for your grand entrance into your dining hall… the rest they say can’t be told… more to be experienced.

There is the small matter about guests leaving… they don’t ever seem to want to go… I guess we could do a pop up campsite as well as pop up dining… we’ve got a heated floor…. Mmmm deluxe camping….

The other point worthy of a tinny mention is that we’re rather booked up… I take it as a sign of appreciation for our zany lights… maybe everyone wants a peek…

Dinner Parties at The Chimney House start from £45 per head and are based on a minimum of 20 guests. For an informal light viewing (and a bite to eat) drop a line to info@thechimneyhouse.com

Happy Feasters from Irwin Mitchell!

Aim for the chimney we told our La Squadra guests…when asked how to find The Chimney House… which seemed to work really quite well until somebody pointed out when in the old industrial heartland of Kelham Island there was a couple of options on rather tall chimneys… I maintain ours is by far the largest…

Chimney size aside – and onto business.

Question. How do you welcome members of La Squadra to the inaugural meet?

Answer. Take one restored grade II listed Chimney House, fill it with amazing food from Nonnas, perfectly chilled beers (courtesy of Nonnas) put our drapers cabinet to good use and cram it with 93ft designed jerseys, show off the new Planet X Nanolight road bike and Exocet time trial bike, throw in some chilled ambiance and lots of eye candy (rare mags, maps, collectors items, posters and books) carefully selected by Marco (Gusto Cycling ) and you’ve pretty much got the basis for plenty of hearty bike chat.

The Chimney House was a hive of industry…  at one point a queue had formed going from the design office where Nick was signing new members up curving down the stairs, members trying on jerseys, The purloining of food by Mini (check the pics), training schedules being swopped and new people meeting each other, plans hatched and adventures in the making being created with chat of European trips.

Delighted you all came down – comments were really great for the evening and of course about the squad. Happy to report there was barely a skerit left and our drapers cabinet is looking particularly roomy this morning.

Members of La Squadra I salute you…