Time for Business to Step into the Lymelight

When Pete Herbert got together with Geoff Beadle last year, they spoke about the major role business in shaping the future of Newcastle under Lyme. But just how could local businesses connect and acknowledge the impact it has, and the power it has to drive economic regeneration?

Business in the borough needed to be celebrated. Their achievements amplified and the power of their influence and inspiration to others, needed to be released. Could some form of cultural activity be a catalyst for economic regeneration?

The journey from that initial meeting to the production of a vibrant, week-long business festival, involving multiple venues, multi-faceted themes and a multitude of inspirational speakers, panels and workshops and entertainment, has been eventful, it’s been exciting, and it’s been thoroughly energising!

From the outset, core partners Newcastle Borough Council, Keele University, NSCG Newcastle College, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Growth Hub and Shepherd PR united to form a strong foundation of support for the Business Festival.

Connect Network contributed by attracting input from a wide variety of local businesses and organisations and coordinating the promotions. PH Productions, alongside the core partners, called upon some fantastic keynote speakers, panels and hosts and went on to deal with all the intricacies of the event programming and production.

Newcastle under Lyme is blessed with a vast variety of venues which eased the logistics of staging the festival. There was fantastic connectivity between Keele University, NSCG Newcastle College, Newcastle Markets, Keele in Town, King Street Studios, Lancaster House, Castle House and The Philip Astley Centre. Not just in terms of location and facilities, but in the way they all worked together to connect and host local business operators and organisations. It was a real showcase for the nature of business life in Newcastle and the business support that’s available.

The festival began in style with an Entrepreneurs Day at NSCG Newcastle College, which saw an emotive keynote speech from Keith Brymer Jones. Next came, Innovation Day at Keele University’s Denise Coates Foundation building, involving two panels looking at the UK’s Modern Industry Strategy and Future Technology – thought provoking indeed!

Business Networking was the theme for Wednesday, with presentations at NSCG Newcastle College, with workshops, entertainment and drop in business advice taking place in the town centre.

At the incredibly popular Women in Business Day innovation, inspiration and an in-depth dig into running your own business and growing into becoming an employer were the key topics of the day. The pop-up coffee van was a big hit and kept our King Street Studios boys busy, ferrying the drinks to a thirsty audience.

And finally, Friday saw a vibrant, interactive Business Market Showcase supported by Newcastle under Lyme BID on the stones of Newcastle Market, where businesses connected with the community in really engaging ways. One lucky NSCG Newcastle College student even won an iPad in a basketball challenge. Slam dunk young man!

We employed festival culture to celebrate and welcome people to experience what a great place Newcastle under Lyme is to do business. The week was an invigorating reminder of the buoyant and varied economy of the borough. Stories of innovation and success which will be used to grow existing enterprise, inspire new business and attract inward investment.

What a week it was! What a showcase for the town, and ahem – for the united efforts of Pete, Russell and James representing every arm of our organisation. PH Productions responsible for event management, programming and staging, Connects Network doing what they do to raise the positive profile of local business connectivity in Newcastle under Lyme and providing a warm welcome to delegates at King Street Studios.

Major thanks go to Geoff Beadle and the team at Newcastle Borough Council, all the core partners, everyone who presented, hosted and participated in any way to make the week the success it was.

If you want to get involved in a thriving business community, check out Connects Network programme for the coming months… and who knows? Maybe we’ll hook up at a future-shaping business network in a town near you, sometime soon!

https://www.connectsnetwork.co.uk