City conference season taking off
A weekend Festival of Food & Drink in Wolverhampton has been the centrepiece of a major Visit the City programme, running until next week.
It attracted thousands of people to the city centre In turn and the city council's economic chief, Councillor John Reynolds, said: “We are delighted with the amount of interest the city’s inaugural food and drink festival has attracted.
“The summer Visit the City of Wolverhampton programme has even more on offer and this festival is a great event all the family can enjoy.”
Visit the City is part of a three-pronged conference season organised by the council targeted at local people, visitors and the business community.
It has become a regular part of the calender since the launch of the first Wolverhampton Business Week in 2014, which showcased the city's ambitions to attract new businesses, support existing companies and encourage job creation.
As the programme of events continues to expand, the council says it is seeing positive economic benefits.
Tim Johnson, City of Wolverhampton Council strategic director for place,said: “We have developed the city conference season to showcase the city’s offer and opportunities at local, regional, national and international levels.
“We have three distinctive programmes throughout the year each with a focus on either residents, visitors or businesses.
“Carefully planned activity brings concrete benefits to all these groups – supporting the economic growth of the city.
“The evidence shows conference season helps businesses grow, delivers inward investment, supports residents into work, boosts the local supply chain, increases footfall and spend in the city, and promotes our heritage and cultural venues, as well as the housing and schools on offer.”
A string of recent reports have flagged Wolverhampton as a leading retail hotspot for investors outside London and as one of the best cities in the UK to start a business and raise a family.
Home to a number of FTSE-listed companies, Wolverhampton received a major boost when beer and pubs giant Marston's decided to invest £10 million on rebuilding its headquarters in the city.
With more than 150 cafes, restaurants and bars in the city centre alone, council research estimates the city's shops see 30 million retail customers a year.
At the same time a £4.7 billion regeneration and development programme is under way, which includes major investments in the cultural, learning, university, leisure and canal-side quarters in the city centre. The University of Wolverhampton is also leading on an initiative to create an “arts park” near the city’s train station and transport interchange.
The city's conference season, which includes a residents' week as well as the Business Week in September, is sponsored and supported by local businesses and other partners, and information on the season has reached 4.5 million people locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, more than 40 delegates attended a VIP reception to discuss how they will work together to promote the city’s visitor offer and plan the 2018 Visit the City of Wolverhampton programme.
