Hello again! If you set a reminder for my next blog post back in June, I owe you an apology (and possibly a new phone battery). In my defence, I’ve been busy. Busi, even. I’ll be here all week.
Actually, I’ll be at my desk in Lowton all week, which is sort of the point of this post.
Here’s the funny thing about running a virtual assistant business: you spend your days making sure everyone else’s to-do list gets done, and your own blog quietly slides into the “I’ll sort it later” pile.
Which is exactly the pile we spend all day telling clients to get rid of. So consider this me taking my own advice. Grab a brew, because a lot has happened.
Your Local Virtual Assistant in Lowton (Who Works Right Across the UK)
If you’re new here, hello! I’m Emma, founder of The Busi Bee: a team of specialist virtual assistants based in Lowton, near Wigan. We give small business owners, founders and busy teams the business support they’ve been crying out for: admin and inbox management, operations and project flow, bookkeeping, event coordination, branding, CRM setup and tech systems that actually behave themselves.
Some of our clients are just down the road in Golborne, Leigh, Wigan, Warrington and Worsley. Others are at the opposite end of the country and have never once had to hear me moan about the traffic on the East Lancs.
That’s the beauty of remote business support: a local heart with nationwide reach.
Event Season: Name Badges, Spreadsheets and Very Strong Coffee.
If I had to sum up the last few months in one word, it would be events. (If I had two words, they’d be more lanyards.)
We’ve been behind the scenes on events with Engage 5, handling attendee lists, name badges and all the tiny details nobody notices until they go wrong. I can now spot a duplicate name badge from across a room, and I have strong opinions about logo placement that I genuinely didn’t know I had.
Ask me about it at a party. Actually, don’t.
We’ve also built a full Event Management Tracker that keeps more than ten events in one place: attendees, sponsor connections, business leads, follow-up actions and profit margins, all feeding into one live dashboard. Because if your attendee list currently lives across three spreadsheets, a WhatsApp group and the back of a receipt, you’re not alone, and we can fix that.
The Manchester VA Conference 2027 Is Coming, and It’s Bigger
One of my proudest moments this year was co-hosting the very first Manchester VA Conference with the brilliant Vic. Forty people (speakers included) in one room, all talking about how to build better virtual assistant businesses.
The energy was unreal.
So naturally, we’ve decided to do it again, only bigger. Tickets for 2027 are already on sale. Four of our five speakers are already locked in, and we’ll start revealing who they are from December. I’m not saying anything yet, but I may have done a little dance in my kitchen when the confirmations came through.
If you’re a VA, thinking about becoming one, or you just want to be in a room full of people who get it, have a look at The Manchester VA Conference page and grab your place before I start sending you increasingly enthusiastic reminders.
Who We’ve Been Working With
Alongside the events, the hive has been buzzing with client work. One I’m especially proud of:
Taking Emerald Gleam Cleaning digital.
We’ve set the lovely team at Worsley-based Emerald Gleam Cleaning Services up with a back office booking system that streamlines their scheduling and invoicing in one place.
No more juggling diaries, chasing paperwork or spending evenings on invoices. It’s already giving them hours of their week back and saving them money on admin hours.
They spend their days making other people’s homes sparkle, so it only felt fair that we gave their admin a good deep clean too. (Their processes are now so shiny you could check your reflection in them.)
In fact, Worsley is fast becoming a second home for the hive. Alongside Emerald Gleam, we also support Bold Beginnings Tutoring and MCR Injury Clinic, both just up the road.
If you run a business in Worsley and haven’t met us yet, honestly, you’re missing out on all the fun.
This is the bit of my job I love most. Small changes to how a business runs can give someone hours of their week back. That’s not just admin. That’s time with their kids, a proper lunch break, or finally starting the thing they’ve been putting off.
Growing the Hive
None of this happens without the team. Leanne, Emma Meadowcroft and Sam have been absolute stars, and between them they bring years of experience in property, construction, insurance and design.
Sam also brings three sausage dogs to video calls, which I consider a significant business asset.
And I’ll let you in on a little secret: the hive may be growing again soon. Keep an eye on my LinkedIn for news.
A Little Bit of Inspiration (Because It’s Nearly Q4)
We’re heading into the last few months of the year, which is usually when business owners look at their to-do list, look at the calendar, and quietly lie down on the floor.
Here’s what I want you to hear: asking for help isn’t giving up. It’s growing up. Your business is supposed to give you a life, not swallow it whole. The most successful people I work with aren’t the ones doing everything themselves. They’re the ones who worked out what only they can do, and handed over the rest.
My happy place is Centre Parcs (much to my husband’s annoyance), surrounded by trees with my phone switched off. I want every one of my clients to have their own version of that, and to be able to switch off without the business falling apart. That’s what we’re here for.
Your Questions, Answered
What does a virtual assistant actually do?
A virtual assistant (VA) provides remote business support: anything from inbox and diary management, invoicing and bookkeeping, to social media, event coordination, CRM setup and building systems that run your business more smoothly. At The Busi Bee, we’re a team of specialist VAs, so you get the right skills for each job rather than one person stretched thin.
Is a virtual assistant worth it for a small business?
If you’re spending hours on tasks that someone else could do faster, then yes. Outsourcing admin frees you up to focus on the work that actually grows your business, and you only pay for the support you need, without the cost of a full-time employee.
Do I need a virtual assistant near me?
Not at all; our support is fully remote, so we work with businesses across the UK. That said, if you’re local to Lowton, Wigan, Leigh, Golborne, Warrington, Worsley or Manchester and fancy meeting for a coffee, I’ll never say no.
How do I get started?
Easy: book a free 30-minute call and tell me what’s driving you mad. We’ll work out where we can help, and you can have a look at our services and packages in the meantime.
Let’s Make the Rest of 2026 Your Calmest Yet
So that’s what’s been happening at The Busi Bee: events, conferences, LinkedIn glow-ups, paperless blinds and a growing hive. I promise the next blog won’t take four months (I’ve literally put it in my diary, so you can hold me to it).
If your to-do list is starting to feel like a full-time job, let’s have a chat.
I’d love to help.
Emma x