Success of Newquay Business Week 2017
Newquay Business Week 2017 was a resounding success and highlighted the increasing popularity of Newquay as a place to do business in Cornwall. According to BID Director Jenny Briant, of Britanic Industries Ltd, “This year saw Newquay Business Week continue to build on the success of previous years. The week delivered a varied calendar of topics, carefully chosen to benefit Cornish businesses and provide an insight into topics which may have otherwise been inaccessible. Business Week 2017 was a remarkable success and saw lots of engagement from the local business community”.
Nearly 700 tickets were sold this year, in comparison to the 420 tickets sold in 2016 and 250 sold in 2015. The growth of the event, and its importance to the local business community, is a very positive sign of the success of business in Cornwall as a whole and Newquay BID hope to return next year with an even better Business Week 2018. This year, each day’s sessions took place at different locations from some of Newquay’s best tourism and hospitality venues: these included the Headland Hotel, the Atlantic Hotel, Newquay View Resort, the Legacy Hotel Victoria and the Carnmarth Hotel. A welcome breakfast took place at Rick Stein Fistral and the closing reception finished off the week at Tom Thumb, Newquay. Being able to showcase these venues to speakers and delegates from all over Cornwall was a particularly positive aspect of Business Week this year and Newquay BID would like to take this opportunity to wholeheartedly thank all the businesses involved in making the week so successful.
Speakers this year delivered a wide range of inspiring, engaging, informative and business-minded sessions ranging from social media to content marketing, digital marketing to online selling, sustainability practices for businesses to the future of tourism in Cornwall. Delegates reported that they really enjoyed the variety of sessions on offer and BID will be reaching out to local business organisations and their members in the new year for suggested topics for Business Week 2018. Becky Rapson, from Newquay View Resort: “Newquay Business Week is consistently a very professional and valuable event with high quality speakers and 2017 was no exception. The organised sessions are useful to a whole range of Cornish businesses and it is great to see Newquay BID leading the way with some very practical support to help local business. Newquay View Resort was very proud to host some of the sessions this year and to be given the opportunity to showcase our services to local people and the business community”.
Newquay Business Week speakers included Chris Hines MBE, Crowdfunder, the Halto team, Aren Grimshaw (Minchin and Grimshaw), David McGuire (Radix Communications), Malcolm Bell (Visit Cornwall), Al Titterington and Miles Carden (Cornwall Airport Newquay and the Aerohub), Sarah Pugh (Eight Wire), Judi Blakeburn (Watergate Bay Hotel), Matthew Thomson (Fifteen Cornwall), Rob Edlin, Gill Pipkin (Gill Pipkin Consulting), Jamie Turnbull (Find Me on the Internet), Adam Pearson (Newquay Hypnotherapy Centre), Tom Harvey (Oceanflow Yoga), Sam Winters (Propel Cornwall), Lucy Brigden (Headland Hotel and Spa) and Martin Williams, Jackie George and Gregg Harding (Oxford Innovation). Newquay BID would like to thank all the speakers for their time, energy and commitment in helping local businesses in Cornwall thrive and flourish. Over sixty delegates were present in some of the sessions, illustrating the importance of Newquay Business Week to small, medium and large businesses in Cornwall: delegates represented some of Cornwall’s most important tourism and hospitality venues, as well as representatives from financial institutions, media organisations, marketing companies, network organisers and community groups. One of the most positive things about the week was the opportunity for businesses to make meaningful and effective networking connections, whether that was over morning coffee and a bacon roll at Rick Stein Fistral or a superb lunch provided by Newquay View Resort.
Karen Hoyle, Newquay BID Chair, says that “Newquay Business Week is really going from strength to strength, attracting more businesses than ever and lots of new faces this year. The week is firmly becoming one of the most popular business events in Cornwall and recognised as the event to attend for high quality speakers that are particularly relevant to what businesses need in Cornwall. Newquay as a business destination is growing and our thanks go to all our amazing speakers and venues”.
