A GROUP of Helensburgh business owners teamed up to show off the benefits of working together at an event in the town's Mackintosh Club last week.

Michelle Beavers-Conway, from Helensburgh Eyecare, and Carolyn Wilkie's, manager of the town's Wilkie's fashion store, joined forces to organise the 'customer appreciation' event – and quickly found there was no shortage of local businesses keen to get on board.

Michelle and Carolyn approached Nicola and Bruce Jamieson, owners of the Mackintosh Club in Sinclair Street, who were delighted to agree to host the event.

And they were joined on Thursday evening by local restaurateur Milan Nikolic and image consultant Shirley Thornley – and by an eager throng of excited customers.

The event showed off a new range of Spanish-themed frames on offer at the local optician's, while Milan added to the Iberian atmosphere by cooking up a delicious paella for those in the audience.

The day-long event reached a climax with a fashion show in which six local models Claire Spendlow, Alison Elias, Jane Shields, Scott Magee, Alan McNamee and Lorna Gunn showed off the latest ranges on sale at Wilkie's in West Clyde Street.

Michelle said: “Carolyn and I had always talked about doing an event together but finding the right space was always a problem.

“I knew very little about the Mackintosh Club beforehand but I dug a little deeper and we thought it would be the ideal place.

“We're beginning to stock a new range of independent bespoke designs, and one of them is Etnia, from Barcelona, so we thought we'd invite Milan along to do some Spanish-themed cookery.

“Local businesses in Helensburgh have to work together and play to each other's strengths to succeed and this event was a great example of that.”

Carolyn Wilson from Wilkie's added: “Michelle asked if I'd join her and hold a fashion show, and we've just started selling some brands aimed at younger customers so an event like this is ideal.

“The idea was to get businesses together and show people that Helensburgh can do quite a lot. For a first attempt it's worked really well – and the Mackintosh Club is an amazing venue for it.”

Nicola Jamieson from the Mackintosh Club added: “This is our first proper collaboration with local businesses and it's a joy to see everyone working together so well.

“It's really important for us to engage well with whoever is using this space and show them the potential of the building. Many of the people who were here for the event hadn't seen the Mackintosh Club before and it's been great to see how interested they are in it.”

The Mackintosh Club recently played host to the filming of a new video by the folk group Barluath, whose lead singer, Ainsley Hamill, hails from nearby Cardross.

The venue is also being prepared for a four-day exhibition of work by members of the local Suffolk Art Group, running from 10am-4pm from Saturday, April 1 to Tuesday, April 4.