New festival aims to ignite Black Country business scene - PICTURES and VIDEO

The inaugural Black Country Business Festival, will take place from April 23 to May 4 and aims to bring the region’s business scene to life through a packed fortnight of events – all run by local organisations.

Business leaders joined the Black Country Chamber of Commerce – the driving force behind the festival – at a prestigious launch this morning at the Light House in Wolverhampton.

They heard how the business festival will benefit Black Country businesses and showcase the region’s outstanding innovation, culture and commerce to ultimately attract investment from outside the area.

Adrian Wright, president of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce said, “The Business Festival will provide a stage for the Black Country to showcase the unparalleled opportunity that our economy has to offer.

"This is a growing region that has seen massive investment.

"New industries have established themselves and are growing and thriving because of this commitment to regeneration.

“We now need Black Country businesses – large or small, who share the same desire to see the region reach its full thriving commercial potential – to get behind the festival and get involved.”

The Black Country Business Festival is open to everyone and there are many ways to get involved, from becoming an event partner or hosting an event to offering venue space or attending one, two or several of the events in the programme.

Any business can apply to run an event – which can take any shape from a seminar or workshop through to a trade show or major conference.

Corin Crane, chief executive of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce said: “The business festival will showcase the colourful range of businesses that proudly make up the Black Country.

“The events that take place will reflect the strengths of the Black Country’s sectorial business and economic mix. So, the programme will be structured to reflect the breadth of new and existing, traditional industries with a focus on key sectors that have been identified as key areas for growth.

“Every event will have one thing in common: it is being organised to ultimately benefit the people and businesses in the Black Country, to help them grow and ultimately have a positive impact on our local economy.

“There will be hundreds of opportunities for the local business community to connect, share best practice and collaborate for the benefit of the region and for their own business.”

Also lending their support and speaking at today's event were Ralph Findlay, chief executive of Wolverhampton-based brewing and pubs giant Marston's, and Andrew Cox, managing director of equipment manufacturing company Cox & Plant Products in Stourbridge.

For more information or to get involved, visit the Black Country Business Festival website at www.blackcountrybusinessfestival.com which is due to be launched from July 17, email hello@associate-events.com or call 0247 601 1447.

Applications to run events can be made online via the Black Country Business Festival website between July 17 and February 16 next year.

The organisers say the events can be about anything so long as they benefit the individuals or businesses in the Black Country in some way.

All event applications are reviewed to make sure they meet the criteria of the festival set by the Black Country Business Festival Board.

Events that are purely self-promotional are strongly discouraged and are likely to be turned down.

As events are accepted, they will be published in the calendar on the website.

The final programme will be available shortly after event applications close.

As soon as an event is on-line, it will be available for people to book onto on a first come first served basis.

Most events are free and they can only be booked through the Black Country Business Festival website.