BUSINESSWOMEN in Dorset enjoyed the sweet taste of success when they took part in a chocolate-making workshop.

The event, at the King’s Arms in Christchurch, was the inaugural meeting of the Liddle Ladies Lunch Club for professional women.

There is no membership fee – ladies just pay for the lunches they attend and will meet around three to four times a year.

Organiser Gemma Laurent, a partner at the insolvency advisers Mark Liddle, explained: “I have found most networking to be either dominated by men or predominantly for women running small businesses, and I could find nothing aimed at professional women.” She added: “The idea of the club is to keep it very informal, have fun and learn a new skill. We are not interested in getting dozens of people there, just a small number of ladies who will get on well together and who want to build effective business relationships with each other.”

After a chocolate-themed three course lunch which included duck with dark chocolate sauce, the ladies were shown how to create their own chocolates courtesy of chef Des Burke from the Flavours School of Cookery. Self-confessed chocoholic Amanda Jellicoe of Bournemouth, who attended the workshop said: “It was a fantastic experience.

“We got to try our hand at making a wide variety of different types and flavours of chocolate. It was such good fun – Des was hilarious.”

The next Liddle Ladies Lunch Club will be held at The Kings Arms on Friday May 24 from 11.45am. Tickets cost £25 which includes a drink on arrival. Contact Torie@markliddle.com