The Island’s business community has hailed the Business Expo 2015 as a resounding success. The Chamber Of Commerce’s annual event saw hundreds of people passing through the doors of the Lakeside Park Hotel in Wootton which was hosting the Expo for the first time. Stallholders engaged with a steady stream of visitors across the one-day event which also featured a packed programme of well-attended seminars. Business Expo 2015 was sponsored by Crossprint who also published the Chamber’s new Island Business Directory which was launched on the day.
“It’s been a fantastic event,” says the Chamber’s Chief Executive Kevin Smith. “I’d like to thank all of the businesses that took part as well as everybody who attended. We’re already thinking about things that we can do with Business Expo 2016 and we’re committed to the event as a key part of our calendar. The Lakeside Park Hotel provided a great setting for a unique opportunity for Island businesses to network with each other. The feedback I’ve been getting from stallholders and visitors alike proves that this is a hugely valuable event and that Business Expo has delivered, with many new partnerships being formed as a result of the day.”
Business Expo was launched with a preview event on the evening before the doors opened. The launch, sponsored by PC Consultants, was attended by dignitaries from the Island’s business community. Jonathan Bacon, Shirley Smart and John Metcalfe from the Isle of Wight Council met with members along with the Island’s High Sheriff Ron Holland. Kevin Smith welcomed delegates to the Expo and introduced IFPL’s Geoff Underwood, the Chamber’s President Elect who spoke about his hopes for his time in the role, ahead of being officially sworn in as President at the Chamber’s AGM later this month.
The morning of the event began with a networking breakfast for stallholders and attendees, with visitors arriving from 9am. Outside the Lakeside Park Hotel delegates were able to admire vehicles from Premier Ford, Mitsubishi Motors, the electric Renault Twizy and also karts from Wight Karting. A busy schedule of seminars across the day included presentations from Dee Becker, Travel Counsellors, IW Ambulance Service, Chris Court and Dale Howarth. Delegates also heard Kevin Smith unveil the Chamber’s brand new Quality In Business accreditation.
Jonathan Bacon, Leader of the Isle of Wight Council
“There’s a fantastic selection of quality businesses here, showing exactly what’s on offer on the Island, which is a fantastic centre for industry. I’ve been doing an awful lot of networking here and that’s how business works. Lots of people are meeting new people here and increasing their network.”
Jonathan Thornton, PC Consultants
“We’ve been established for 20 years and for 19 of those we’ve been Chamber members. We sponsored the evening launch of Business Expo 2015 and we have a great relationship with the Chamber, which provides us with excellent networking opportunities to meet with our existing business customers and promote ourselves to new businesses across the Island. When I talk to existing and new customers I’m still surprised by the amount of entrepreneurial spirit here on the Island – events like today help us to promote ourselves and showcase the best that the Island has to offer.”
Tim Sell, managing director Crossprint Limited
“Networking and communicating is essential. We’re very pleased to be the main sponsor of the event and I felt that if we were in the right place we could do a lot of business with each other and today we have done a lot of business. The strength and variety of the businesses on offer here shows that the event is needed. If we show off what we’ve got, we can do business with each other. One of the biggest problems in business is that people often don’t realise what you can do as a company. This is a great way to be able to tell other companies what you can do and what you can offer.”
