AN exhibition to showcase businesses from four Suffolk Coastal towns has taken place at Framlingham College.

The event, organised by the Heritage Coast Market Towns Initiative (HCMTI), which represents the towns of Aldeburgh, Saxmundham, Leiston and Framlingham, also included a full programme of seminars covering topics from social media to employment law, wealth management and the opportunities posed by proposals to build a new nuclear power station in the region.

HCMTI project co-ordinator and event organiser Annette Mason-Gordon said she was thrilled the event had been so well supported.

“We wanted a way to showcase the many successful businesses we have here in Suffolk Coastal and the idea of an exhibition came up at a board meeting about 18 months ago and it just snowballed.

“The vast majority of the 43 exhibitors are independents and more than 50% are from our four towns.

“Lots of people see Suffolk coastal as a tourist destination, which it is, but we wanted to emphasis that it is also home to a wide range of businesses and not just the ones involved in food or tourism, but business-to-business enterprises too.”

Annette added that a date had already been set for next year’s event. “We were oversubscribed on stands but we resisted making it bigger until we knew we had got it right. Now we can start to build.”