Archive - May, 2009

Bristol Wine and Food Fair reaches out to the Business Community

May 21, 2009 in Bristol, Event with 3 Comments

Bristol Wine & Food Fair 09

Bristol Wine & Food Fair 09

Following the success of last year’s Bristol Food and Wine Fair the organisers are launching a unique hospitality and networking day for businesses on Friday 10th July. The Lord Mayor will open the private preview of the event where businesses can entertain and network with clients or colleagues, in a relaxed setting before the Fair opens to the public that evening.

The four business hospitality packages are designed to showcase the best of fine wine and gourmet food. All packages include preview entry tickets to the event, entry to Chefs’ Theatre and the Wine and Cheese Pavilions. The ‘Grand Cru’ and ‘Premier Cru’ packages offer a champagne welcome and a dedicated table for the day, lunch in the Business Pavilion, and a variety of different options for personalised tastings, lectures and tutorials from wine and food experts.

The three day festival, on Bristol Harbourside, is already becoming a firm favourite on the Bristol events calendar, where fine wine and good food are celebrated and expert tuition given, to budding wine enthusiasts, cooks and lovers of cheese. Charcuterie and chocolate lovers are not left out but are catered for in the popular food and drink market.

Visitors will be able to browse amongst the 30 wine producers and exhibitors, tasting different wines from all over the world, which they can then buy by the glass, bottle or case. The Cheese and Wine Pavilion will showcase acclaimed UK cheese producers and small independent wine importers and the popular food and drink market will sell a selection of the region’s best produce.

Susie Parker from GWE Business West Chambers of Commerce said, “We are very pleased to be supporting the Business Hospitality & Networking Day at the Bristol Wine and Food Fair 09. It’s a great opportunity for businesses in the region to get more involved with public events which attract tourism to the area, to network and to take advantage of affordable hospitality options that are priced in line with the current economy. The day will provide a unique setting for businesses to interact and offer their clients a memorable experience. We will be there on the day ourselves, and have opened the opportunity out to our 2000 Chamber members who can benefit from discounted hospitality offers”

Building on its track record at last year’s inaugural event, the Wine and Food Fair has been successful in attracting business sponsors, despite the current economic climate. Gaymers Cider Company supported the inaugural event and recognising its value is again sponsoring the producer’s Food and Drink Market at the Fair, which offers the best in regional excellence.

“Gaymer Cider Company was delighted to be a sponsor at the revival of The Bristol Wine & Food Fair in 2008.” comments Diane Abbott, Events Manager at Gaymer Cider Company. “As a South West based producer we are proud to engage with and support events that promote the very best of South West food and drink. The event proved to be an excellent opportunity for Gaymer Cider Company to showcase its portfolio of quality products to a wide audience of food & drink fans and looks forward to continuing its support of this South West event through sponsorship of the Food & Drink Market.”

Leading law firm, Clarke Willmott, is sponsoring the prestigious Chefs’ Theatre for the first time this year. Roger Seaton, Managing Director of Clarke Willmott in Bristol said: “Clarke Willmott is keen to support this community event and to play a role in rebuilding its national and international reputation. Further, we are proud to be associated with the mark of quality that its participants all bring with them.”

The Chef’s Theatre is again hosted by Barny Haughton from Bordeaux Quay and features a fantastic line up of culinary experts including Michelin starred Martin Blunos and Richard Davies, fish expert Mitch Tonks from the Seahorse in Dartmouth and the new Rockfish restaurant, vegetarian guru Mark Evans of Café Maitreya and Bristol newcomer Louise McCrimmon from Harvey Nichols, Cabot Circus.

With three levels of hospitality available, this is an ideal opportunity to network with other businesses, entertain your guests or clients, or reward your staff – all over a good glass of wine.

Chamber of Commerce members – Download an information pack here

Bristol Wine & Food Fair 09

Networking Success at Network Central 09

May 18, 2009 in Event with Comments Off

 

Katie Hopkins at Network Central 09

Katie Hopkins attended Network Central 09

Network Central 09 attracted well over 1200 business people from across the South West on 15th May, ensuring the event lived up to its name as the largest networking event in the region.

The general vibe was upbeat and positive, showing that businesses are getting on with business despite the difficulties faced in the current economy.

The event promised to deliver a pure networking experience, held within the vast hall of venue Junction24Ltd near Bridgwater, and included around 180 pop up pitches representing local business, a series of business seminars and ‘breakout’ networking areas.

A popular feature was undoubtedly the four ‘intelligent speed networking’ sessions where delegates had the opportunity to deliver a fast-paced presentation on their business around a table, before moving on to the next table, enabling them to connect with over 60 different businesses in one go.

Many delegates commented that they felt the event’s appeal and its success lay in its simple concept, its aim in mixing businesses from across the South West and in its well-priced pop-up pitches.

GWE Business West Chambers of Commerce member, Julie Cooper from Wiltshire-based FAB!, attended and remarked on the general buzz of the day.

‘We thought it was a very positive, busy day and good to know that there are still people out there wanting to do business! The idea of a free networking event is very appealing particularly in this climate and I think the amount of people that attended and the quality of the leads we took away were extremely good.’ Julie said.

I was impressed by the amount of people from all over the South West that attended. It is difficult to meet people from Cornwall and Devon in the normal run of things so this opportunity was very welcome. We will definitely consider attending again.’

Management Consultant, Katie Hopkins, who appeared in an earlier series of The Apprentice, opened the day and drew around 100 delegates to her seminar titled ‘Bright ideas for Business’.

Delivered in her ‘off the cuff’ style, Katie’s top tips for business included: selling yourself as well as your business; taking advantage of cross-selling opportunities; making use of the media; focusing on cash flow and making a list of the things you feel your harshest critics might say about your business and acting on it to make positive changes.

Katie remarked that the current climate has resulted in a ‘mixed picture’ for business, but ‘offered opportunity as well as difficulty’.

Network Central was organised by Exeter-based business network TBX, and supported by fourteen regional networking organisations, including GWE Business West Chambers of Commerce.

GWE Business West Chambers of Commerce runs a full programme of events for businesses in the South West each month, including speed networking, breakfast pitches, business card lunches, women’s networking and more.  Click here to view our calendar

Economic light at end of tunnel

May 1, 2009 in Economy with Comments Off

James Durie, Deputy Chief Executive & Director of the Initiative at GWE Business West with Dennis Turner, Chief Economist at HSBC

James Durie, Deputy Chief Executive & Director of the Initiative at GWE Business West with Dennis Turner, Chief Economist at HSBC

GWE Business West drew more than 150 people to Leigh Court in Bristol for a breakfast event which provided a rare opportunity to hear from one of the country’s most astute financial minds, Dennis Turner, the Chief Economist for HSBC.

The good news was that he said he thought the country could afford the predicted levels of public spending and that we should see an end to negative economic growth by the end of this year.

However, whilst his style was entertaining, his message was stark, that to compete in the global market, Britain must build on high value, technologically driven manufacturing, or as he put it: “We’ve got to do it smart because we can’t do it cheap.”

Speaking for more than an hour without notes, Dennis, gave an economics masterclass, bringing together history and current affairs and stressing the critical difference between problems with the economy and those created by the credit crunch.

“Business craves stability in the economy and for the last 16 years we have experienced a period where there has been a remarkable control over inflation and relatively low interest rates,” he said.

Those economic conditions allowed steady growth, but it was growth which was over reliant on consumer and Government spending.

“People have been building up debt to the extent that on average they now owe something like 19 months of their pay. At the same time, public spending was growing at a faster rate than the economy. It was predictable that trouble was coming and we could have provided a brake on the economy by raising interest rates as early as 2005 but that was an election year and not politically realistic,” explained Dennis.

Worsening conditions in the economy then collided with a crisis in banking, caused quite simply by many institutions lending far more than they were collecting from savers.

“It seems to me that all the economic levers have been pulled decisively, such as lowering interest rates and creating more funds to encourage banks to lend. As a result we are seeing some encouraging straws in the wind, the first rise in consumer confidence in two years and credit card debt being repaid.”

“It looks to me as though we may have reached the lowest point and we may soon start to see a slow upturn. Our exchange rate is advantageous for exporters, and we have the advantage of not being in the Eurozone, which is holding back strong economies like Germany who don’t have the flexibility to manage their own affairs which we enjoy.”

“What we must now do is to improve the business environment in order that we attract companies from all over the world to do business in Britain. I think we should worry less about ownership and concentrate more on where the jobs are. The simple message is that if nobody spends then nobody earns and we should never forget that everyone’s expenditure is somebody’s income.”