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The move to a new, bigger venue
paid off for businesses exhibiting at this year’s
Business Focus exhibition with a record number of
visitors through the doors last Wednesday.
The annual event, celebrating its
11th year, took place at the East of England
Showground’s Exec, a move which organisers say
enabled them to double the seminar programme and
accommodate more visitors including a delegation of
international businesspeople.
Iain Crighton, Chairman of
Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, said: “Year on
year Business Focus demonstrates the vibrancy and
resilience of the local business community and 2011
was no exception. The success of this year’s
exhibition at its new venue, and particularly the
inclusion of the environment showcase, has sown a
seed which we will almost certainly build upon in
the years to come.”
The event was opened by Cllr Marco
Cereste, Leader of Peterborough City Council.
Gillian Beasley, Chief Executive of Peterborough
City Council, had earlier reiterated the Council’s
commitment to supporting businesses to succeed,
demonstrated in part by the authority’s continued
sponsorship of the annual event. Nine seminars were
available for businesses to attend during the day,
ranging from the legalities of trading online and
using social media through to the tax implications
and benefits for companies thinking about going
‘green’. Dobbies Garden Centre also presented a
session on the business benefits of going ‘green’ as
a large company.
The exhibition was also attended
by John Longworth, Director-General of the British
Chambers of Commerce who took the opportunity to
publically present co-organisers Cambridgeshire
Chambers of Commerce with their accreditation
certificate.
John Bridge OBE, Chief Executive
of Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce, said: “We
are just one of a large network of Chambers
representing the interests of businesses across the
UK, and regularly undertake a rigorous accreditation
process to ensure that we meet the highest standards
of quality and performance. It was a pleasure to
welcome John Longworth to this exceptional event so
that he could meet some of our most vibrant and
innovative local businesses first hand.”
Event sponsors included
Peterborough City Council, Opportunity Peterborough
and Business Link East, with additional support from
the Peterborough Evening Telegraph and the Exec. The
Environment Showcase was supported by UKCeed and
PECT.
Amanda Davison-Young of
Davison-Young Associates attended the event and
said: “The event was superb as were the speaker
events and the idea of highlighting the ‘green’ work
as a theme was genius. My clients thought it was
excellent and a great space to have this event in
future years. I have already encouraged a few people
to take a stand next year.”
Exec Peterborough account manager
Hollie Ward added: “We have been absolutely
delighted with how the event has gone, and it has
been amazing to see and welcome so many Peterborough
businesses to our venue as part of the exhibition.
“Our thanks to the organisers for
choosing Exec Peterborough to host the long-running
event here for the first time and we hope to
maintain our relationship in the future. We are also
pleased that many business people from around the
area have had the opportunity to see just what Exec
Peterborough has to offer as a conference, seminar
and events venue.”
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