WATCH: Black Country Business Festival ready to put region on the map

That was the message at the launch of the Black Country Business Festival, which will take place over two weeks in April and May to raise the profile of our area both nationally and internationally.

Phenomenal support from local companies and organisations for the first ever event of its kind in the area has meant that the Festival brochure, printed by the Express & Star, contains details of 122 individual events.

WATCH: Black Country Business Festival launched

Around 1,000 seats have already been snapped up of the 7,500 on offer at the events across the fortnight, from April 23 to May 4, which range from industrial workshops and advice on marketing and business law to a guided tour of the Jaguar Land Rover engine factory on the i54 site in Wolverhampton.

Launching the event yesterday, Black Country Chamber of Commerce chief executive Corin Crane said: "This is the result of a lot of hard work, and it has come to life in a way I couldn't have anticipated, particularly in its first year.

"I believe this can become a national - even international - business festival, attracting people from across the country.

"This is an event by business for business, for people who are in work or unemployed, to discover the opportunities that are available here in the Black Country. We have an incredibly diverse economy, and we need to make it clear: 'We are the Black Country – take us seriously'."

Mr Crane said the festival was supported by a string of other business organisations, including the Institute of Directors, the Federation of Small Businesses and the EEF manufacturing body.

And he urged all those involved to put their efforts into attracting audiences for their events, most of which will be free to attend.

"People will need to be quick to book to be part of this movement," he said. "They'll be able to say they got to be part of it at the start. Because we want people right across the country to be talking about the Black Country.

"We have a story to tell like nowhere else in the country right at the moment."

The Chamber has worked with experienced organisers Associate Events to put the Festival together. Managing director Alister de Ternant said: "We have been overwhelmed by the response from the local business community. It clearly shows there was a requirement for this initiative.

"It just shows the strength of the Black Country economy, its businesses and its people."

Kelly Jeffs, chief executive of the Light House Media Centre in Wolverhampton, is the festival's sector lead for culture and the creative industries. She said: "I am delighted to know that the sector is being recognised by business as a key part of our local economy at last."

The Black Country had a broad range of cultural assets, from art galleries to theatres and cinemas, and "we need to be shouting much louder about it", she added.

Keith Harrison, Editor of the Express & Star, couldn't resist a reference to Wolves' successful new manager: "Our festival is the Nuno Espirito Santo of the business calender – new , different, interesting and putting this region back on the map at the first attempt."

The event brochure, he said: "Demonstrates superbly the wealth of diverse, innovative businesses in our growing and thriving economy.

"The Black Country really is going places and we want to use the Festival to show the UK, Europe, the rest of the world – infinity and beyond – how fantastic our region is as place to live and work."

For more information about the festival go to blackcountrybusinessfestival.com, pick up a copy of the brochure or take a look at it online at www.expressandstar.com/free-supplements/