We’re happy to say that over 300 members and non-members from across the region enjoyed a hugely successful day of networking at our Business Expo, held on Thursday 20th September.
Business Expo welcomed businesses from across Herefordshire and Worcestershire to The Bank House Hotel, Golf and Country Club in Bransford, where they took the opportunity to network over breakfast, before entering the interactive Exhibition area with over 50 stands hosted by local businesses.
Chief Executive of the Chamber Mike Ashton officially opened the Exhibition, commenting on the first-class quality of businesses across the two counties, and the need for regular networking opportunities for those companies to share knowledge, experience and inspiration, in order to develop and grow their businesses alongside each-other: “Networking isn’t necessarily about the conversations you have here today, it’s about you being able to connect people together when someone asks you in a few weeks from now 'do you know anyone who…?'. Having the answer is satisfying and trust-building for both of you. That is the strength of networking, and why we’re all here today.”
During the exhibition, the Chamber ran three workshops presented by celebrated speakers from the region: Peter Roper, ‘Are your prospects slipping silently out of the door without telling you the truth?’, Kelly Salter of Nexus Creative who discussed ‘How to leave a lasting impression through your marketing activity,’ and Mark Wormald, founder of the Sandler Sales Institute on ‘Break the rules and close more new business.’
The speakers were in big demand with all three workshops proving to be hugely popular, plus there was the opportunity to take away a signed copy of ‘…and death came third!’, Peter Roper’s bible for networking and public speaking. The queue formed around the exhibition hall should go some way to demonstrating just how inspirational he is!
The event came to a close with a networking lunch attended by over 150 people, taking the final chance to discuss opportunities and best practice with new contacts, whilst throughout the day our Chamber of Commerce workforce were all on hand to discuss membership of the Chamber and building business and profile of business in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Event Organiser and Membership Executive Cassie Cartwright is thrilled with the success of the event, “Today has been a fantastic success. I’ve spoken to a number of attendees who have come away from the day with viable business opportunities and that is exactly the outcome we’re hoping for. At the end of the day we want to help companies to build business and therefore the profile of our two fantastic counties Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Building a strong working relationship based on trust can only really come from a strong networking ethos and that is something all the attendees today have in common.”
Cassie Cartwright continues, “We’ve had more exhibitors and attendees than ever before, and I’m very happy to say we’ve had an excellent number of new members sign up to join the Chamber, each taking away a bottle of champagne! But most importantly, the attendees are happy and have taken something valuable away from the day – whether that’s new contacts, or knowledge from our 3 terrific speakers. Businesses build and develop from the strength of these events and that’s what we want to see.”