An exhibition this Friday (October 30) – attended by the D2N2 Growth Hub team – will showcase the investment and business growth potential of Derby and Derbyshire.
The Derby Business Expo will run from 9am to 4pm on Friday at Derby’s Roundhouse. Key speakers will include Chris Hobson, Director of Policy at the East Midlands Chamber, and Paul Harris, Director of Economic Development at Rolls-Royce.
The D2N2 Growth Hub will be attending; alongside a wide variety of businesses and organisations including East Midlands Trains, Derby County Football Club, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Geldards Solicitors, Peugeot, UK Trade & Investment and The Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS).
Set up in December 2014, the D2N2 Growth Hub provides ambitious businesses across the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire area with free and impartial support and advice to help them grow.
The Growth Hub is part of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership; which promotes economic growth and jobs creation across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, with the help of Government and European funding. Its over-arching target is to help create 55,000 private sector jobs in its area over ten years (by 2023).
At Friday’s event, fellow business support organisation Pera Consulting will be offering a taster session of free innovation support,as well as offering a full day of consultancy support for innovation to businesses at a later date.
Other workshops available on the day are:
- 9:30am: Swindell and Pearson – Intellectual Property (IP) masterclass
- Providing an overview of the different types of intellectual property for protecting innovations and creations to help give businesses a commercial edge.
- 10:30am: Status Social
- Award-winning BBC editor Mark Saxby formed one of the UK’s first specialist social media consultancies and has gone on to help hundreds of businesses achieve social media success. His company, Status Social, has trained more than 1,300 business people from the UK, Europe and across the world, as well as managing scores of social media accounts. Mark will present on how social media can be used to increase sales leads and boost a business’s presence online.
- 11:30am – The real cost of downtime – what you need to know and do to protect your business ICT systems from threats and disasters.”
- Exploring the existing and evolving challenges businesses face in 2015 and beyond: explaining the current threat landscape, the importance of business continuity, planning ahead and prevention, and calculating the true costs when things go wrong.
- 1:30pm – Derby Connected
- Businesses are being encouraged to sign up to Derby’s new Community Car Club which is operated by the UK’s leading independent car club, Co-wheels. The scheme gives businesses and residents access to ten low and ultra-low emission vehicles across the city on a flexible ‘pay-as-you-go’ basis.
- Businesses who sign up for corporate membership on the day for the workshop will receive free membership (no joining fee plus no monthly minimum fee), plus a £20 driving credit on their account – giving an overall saving of up to £100 in the first year.
Promoting innovation among businesses is a key commitment of D2N2’s Strategic Economic Plan, its strategy for economic growth. Actions to help innovation are further set out in D2N2’s Time to Innovate , available to view HERE.(http://www.d2n2lep.org/write/INNOVATION_SECTOR_FINAL_-_Oct_2014_(Signed).pdf )
The D2N2 Growth Hub will also be at Nottingham Trent University on Thursday Morning (October 29), for a free breakfast event providing a guide to innovation for business.
The Innovation Summit will run from 7:30am to 11am on Thursday, at the Nottingham Conference Centre (pictured) in Burton St, Nottingham (NG1 4BU). The event will begin at 7:30am for breakfast, with presentations beginning at 8.15am. There will be an opportunity for business networking from 9.50am to 11am.
A D2N2 Growth Hub presentation will offer case studies on Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire businesses which are already are innovating to access fresh markets, expand trade and create new jobs.
For more information on the Derby Business Expo, click here
To book a place on this Thursday’s Innovation summit, click here
To view a copy of the D2N2 Innovation plan, click here
To learn more about the work of the D2N2 LEP generally, click here
