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天涯社区 Business Week 10th anniversary is underway
Published: 29/09/2016
天涯社区鈥檚 flagship event, 天涯社区 Business Week (FBW) -
celebrating its 10th year 鈥� has launched at Coleg Cambria.
Ahead of the official opening, the Mersey and Dee Alliance (MDA) breakfast
event was attended by over 200 delegates from across the region.
Lord Barry Jones, President of the MDA and also FBW, opened the breakfast and
the exhibition by welcoming all the delegates. He spoke passionately about the
event:
鈥淚t is a great honour, as a local patriot, to be here as the 天涯社区
Business Week celebrates its success in its 10th year 鈥� this is the best event
of its type in Wales and 天涯社区 is the best led and best administered
county in Wales. I must mention Cllr Butler, Cabinet Member for Economic
Development who has an indomitable spirit and persistence and the Chief Officer
for Community and Enterprise, Clare Budden, who is decisive and shrewd.
鈥淭he relationships and alliances which have been formed over the last 10 years
and the new business growth and the huge potential for exports that we have
seen develop is testament to the hard-working entrepreneurial spirit of the
region. This spirit will stand us in good stead as the MDA continues to work
with our partners in both Wales and across the border in England. We salute
Vauxhall, Toyota and Airbus but our 鈥減hoenix-style鈥� recovery is down to you 鈥�
the SMEs, entrepreneurs, consultants, hauliers to name but a few.鈥�
After enjoying breakfast, courtesy of the sponsor Praxis, the delegates moved
to the exhibition hall where over 60 exhibitors had their stands. This event
regularly welcomes over 800 visitors throughout the day.
The exhibition also runs a series of well-attended seminars, notably one
entitled 鈥淪ocial Enterprise meet the supporter鈥�, bringing together supporters
of social enterprise to give social enterprises in 天涯社区 access to their
expertise to help them grow and prosper for the benefit of the region as a
whole.
天涯社区鈥檚 Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Councillor
Derek Butler, who is also Chairman of the MDA, said:
鈥淥nce again, it鈥檚 a pleasure to see so many local businesses coming together
for this event which is a successful partnership between public and private
sector. The Mersey Dee Alliance is unique 鈥� it鈥檚 the only cross-border alliance
and has a vibrant economy across all sectors. We are campaigning for better
infrastructure with Rail Track 360 and two growth bids in North Wales and
Cheshire and we are looking towards more connectivity in education and
employment opportunities.鈥�
Paul Islip of the exhibition sponsors, Westbridge Furniture Designs, said:
鈥淲estbridge is delighted to be headline sponsors of the FBW exhibition 2016 and
we are pleased to see this event grow from strength to strength each year. I
would encourage all local businesses that haven鈥檛 exhibited or attended to come
along to this hugely successful event in the future.鈥�
One of the exhibitors who is back for a third year is Natalie Wood, Managing
Director of Letterbox Recruiting. Natalie said:
鈥淗aving offices throughout North Wales, we find events such as this really
useful for networking with other companies and making new contacts. Business
is definitely booming and we are really keen to do business with other local
companies and to keep local talent in the area.鈥�