Business, Bolton and Balls (Rugby)

Despite having lived in the town for over a decade, I'm still never entirely sure what county Bolton comes under in terms of its geography, politics or whatever. Lancashire or Greater Manchester? It's a frequent argument down the pub quiz.

For the purposes of sport, however, it seems my hometown falls squarely in the Greater Manchester gridlines.

How do I know this? Because Greater Manchester as a county has been very active over the last few months in throwing their weight behind Bolton's bid to host the 2021 Rugby World Cup when it comes to England in three years time (in case you couldn't do the maths based on the date).

As a town, Bolton's pretty great at getting stuck in to epic projects, and the last few weeks in particular have seen the town stride proudly closer towards the final stages to securing our little Carrs pasty-filled corner of the world as a place to welcome teams, tourists and tournament matches should the bid be successful.

Whilst I don't know geography, and I know even less about rugby, I do know a few things about business, building engagement, and bringing up a family in this town, and that's why Andrew Rosler, Director of Ideal Corporate Solutions - Bolton Council's official bid partner for RLWC2021 - has invited me onto a panel of local business people and employers who will form the Business Engagement Team for the bid and beyond.

The focus of the team will be to highlight and promote the roles that local businesses and business people can play in the run up to the main event, and will also be to plan for how best our town can capitalise on the commercial growth in the tournament aftermath. My own personal hope is that as well as boosting employment and opportunity, such a high profile and high octane event will also have a motivational impact on local people 'going it alone' - like me - to start up their own business ventures. Massive sporting events always have some kind of positive impact on increasing things like health and participation, and so why shouldn't opportunity and prosperity be on that list, too? It's something that ICS are keen for the Business Engagement Team to consider and zone in on in putting this team together to both boost the bid - and boost business.

I'll probably start harping on about my role in the Business Engagement Team as it develops in line with the progressive bidding process, and will shout about it even louder when - yes when - our 'little' town is successful as a host for the biggest, most diverse, and most inclusive Rugby League World Cup to date. Why will I be so vocal? Well, I'm proud of Bolton for certain, either with or without this bid, but I'm also proud of my business, and I have to admit that where I live and where I'm 'from' has in some ways been a noticeable factor for me in being able to build, brand and boost my business as I've wanted and needed to out here on my own.

For my role in this project, I get to write, I get to promote and champion local business (including my own), and I don't even have to leave my hometown to do it. Why wouldn't I be involved?