Black Country Business Festival: Recipe for inspiration served up

Perfection Foods on Walsall Enterprise Park staged three separate events yesterday explaining its achievement in exporting, how new healthy products are driving growth and how to capitalise on Brexit.

There was a busy start to the day with Wolverhampton Racecourse the venue for the Black Country Chamber of Commerce's careers speed network event with more than 300 youngsters from 14 Black Country schools meeting potential future employers.

Over the course of the day 13 events were staged including Global Radio is holding an event for those interested in audio advertising and the power that it can have at the Showcase Cinema in Dudley. Wolverhampton's Grand Theatre hosted sessions offering tips for business success.

At Perfection Foods general manager Gurdeep Singh Bath explained how the home made cakes company, founded in 2000 by his father and uncle, had grown to export to 21 countries.

Mr Bath said the award-winning company, which currently employs 60, was to open a second factory this summer, employing another 20, to build on its diversification into producing gluten-free ranges of cakes.

"We will also be launching our new English Cake Company brand in House of Fraser in Birmingham on Thursday," he told guests.

The family-owned company's new factory is based around producing healthy cakes to meet growing demand for cakes free of gluten, sugar and eggs.

Mr Bath said the company, which has been exporting since 2009, had identified in 2002 that there would be future demand for cakes that met requirements for healthy eating and had started preparing for the gluten free market way back then.

"It is important to be ahead of the market and understand future trends.

"Over the last few years we been sourcing new suitable ingredients. It has been quite a challenge for us," he explained.

There are 122 events in the festival programme with another 13 taking place today and 17 tomorrow,

The chamber of commerce is holding its festival business expo in Grand Station in Wolverhampton from 9am to 12 noon on Thursday. It will showcase the best of the region's businesses.

The Express & Star hosts its own event tomorrow afternoon in its Queen Street head office in Wolverhampton with former Shadow Business Secretary and Labour MP Chuka Umunna joined by local Labour MPs to discuss business prospects for the Black Country and take part in a question-and-answer session.

The festival features events of all descriptions from workshops, seminars, networking events and trade shows to exclusive tours, round table debates and speed networking events.

Where available, tickets to events up to May 4, can still be booked via the website www.blackcountrybusinessfestival.com

The compere for the Wolverhampton Stand Up Comedy Challenge charity event has been revealed as professional comedian Carly Smallman, who has appeared on various TV and radio shows.

She will host the city’s second challenge at the Molineux Stadium tomorrow at 7.30pm.

The five contestants are all local business people, who have been training privately for weeks with a professional comedian, ready to perform their original, five-minute stand-up comedy routine on stage to a live audience, of family, friends and colleagues.

They are: Sarah Bishop from Recruit Recruit; Kim Izzard from Brookstreet; Paul Lewis from Forces Recruitment Services; James Thomas-Horton from Casino 36; and Iain Watkins from Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

The challenge is a charitable event presented by Associate Events. Proceeds from the evening go towards Big Difference Company charity – a Midlands-based organisation that is committed to life changing schemes and projects.