Suffolk: Business exhibition showcases best in county
MORE than 100 firms, large and small, yesterday showcased some of the best in products and services the county has to offer at the annual Suffolk Business Exhibition.
Organised by the Ipswich & Suffolk Small Business Association (ISSBA) and Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, the popular exhibition again filled both the main hall at the Trinity Park venue on the edge of Ipswich and the neighbouring Trinity Rooms complex.
For the second year running a Question Time-style event was held as a curtain-raiser to the exhibition, with the panel this year including Deborah Cadman, chief executive of the East of England Development Agency, Celia Hodson, director of the Eastern Enterprise Hub, Peter Funnell, a member of the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership development group, and Terry Hunt, the editor of the East Anglian Daily Times.
The sessions was chaired by broadcaster Rachel Sloane, with the need for high-speed broadband, the response of businesses in Suffolk to opportunities presented by the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic games, the county’s perceived reluctance to promote itself and the need for co-operation and collaboration in overcoming economic challenges among the issues discussed.
Main sponsors of the exhibition this year included Archant, publisher of titles including the EADT, BBC Radio Suffolk, Scrutton Bland and Jackaman Smith & Mulley.
Other sponsors included Basepoint, Dummett Copp, Picasso HR, React Computer Partnership, Business Link, Ipswich Borough Council, CJV Digital and Trinity Park, with PKF sponsoring the Question Time session.
ISSBA also hosted a reception at yesterday’s event to celebrate its 25th anniversary, with new chairman Chris Barnard welcoming the invited guests.
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The association first held the exhibition in the mid-1990s and in recent years has run it jointly with Suffolk Chamber, which used its presence at the event to promote its “Shared Community” theme for 2011.
