LOCAL businesses have the chance to benefit from the multi-million pound spend by major companies based at and around Stansted Airport. The BAA Stansted Meet the Buyers is an annual event which gives local companies face-to-face sales meetings with up to 30 key local buyers of their choice.

LOCAL businesses have the chance to benefit from the multi-million pound spend by major companies based at and around Stansted Airport.

The BAA Stansted Meet the Buyers is an annual event which gives local companies face-to-face sales meetings with up to 30 key local buyers of their choice.

The event represents a highly cost-effective way of generating new leads and customers, potentially saving days of research and cold calling, and has generated £10million of income for local businesses over the last five years.

For the first time, this year's event is being subsidised for any company based anywhere in the East of England region, including Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

BAA is staging the event in conjunction with Business Link, with the cost to businesses of attending being reduced by £200 through sponsorship to just £100 plus VAT.

The event works by bringing together a group of 30 buyers who all have a large annual spend over a wide variety of goods and services and are committed to local procurement. It reverses the traditional business exhibition, it is the buyers not the suppliers who have stands.

Suppliers attending are given a list of all the buyers along with their detailed purchasing requirements and then get to select their own sales appointments. This means that local businesses will get guaranteed face-to-face appointments with buyers of their choice.

This year's Meet the Buyers event takes place on Wednesday, September 27. Businesses interested in attending should call Shamaine Watson on 020 7700 0008 or email shamaine@business-business.co.uk .